“We’re going to come out as a couple and deny Crystal’s accusations.”
“You would do that?”
“Of course. We present a united front. And while we’re doing that, you have your lawyers looking into Crystal’s background, see if she’s been treated by an OB/GYN, see if she has filed any papers, see if we can get a paternity test done before birth, all of that. But I think if I’m standing next to you, your brother, your sister, your father, and we’re all saying it isn’t true, it will set off alarms. The media will start scrutinizing her story closer.”
“Shouldn’t I just have my lawyer say it’s not true? I don’t actually have to do interviews, do I?”
“I don’t know. Let’s call your sister. She’s the expert.” Tamara squeezed his hand. “But no matter, I’m here with you. And if you have to do interviews, you’ll do them with me standing next to you.”
ELEC needed a beer. Hell, he needed a whiskey. He had retreated to his coach with Tamara, Eve, and Evan, and they looked almost as lousy as he felt.
“Dude, that was awful,” Evan said in sympathy. “Can I get you a beer?”
“Jack Daniels,” Elec said. He had just suffered through reading a statement to the media, then a round of grueling questions before Eve had pulled the plug on the reporters. He was feeling battered and bruised and disgusted with Crystal, the gossip-hungry media, and himself for even going out with the woman in the first place.
Evan glanced at him in surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Oh, yeah.” Elec collapsed on the couch, and pulled Tamara down next to him. He needed to feel her hand in his. “How do you think it went?” he asked Eve.
“I actually think it went fine. The statement I wrote was neither defensive nor unsympathetic. Saying you feel for Crystal’s situation and wish the best for her and her child, but that you are one hundred percent certain you are not the father, was the only tactic you could really take. You can’t say much more than that and you don’t want to sling mud back.”
“I blew it when they started asking me questions.” He had never been able to get his precise meaning across with words, and in his determination to make sure they understood the truth, he was pretty sure he had rambled. But it had helped tremendously to know that Tamara was standing behind his right shoulder through the entire thing, silently supporting him.
“No, you didn’t,” Tamara said, squeezing his hand. “You did just fine.”
“Thank you,” he told her with a smile. “But you’re biased. Eve will tell me the truth.” He looked at his sister, who was pacing, as usual. “What do you think?”
“The first few questions were fine, and it was awesome that Tamara was there with you and you got to introduce her. I think that leant credence to your clean image. But then you got a little overwhelmed, so I just pulled the plug. All in all, not bad considering how much you hate these and the shitty nature of the interview.”
High praise from his sister. “Thanks.”
Evan handed him a shot of Jack and raised a second glass. “Cheers, man. We’ll get you through this.”
“Thanks, Bro.” Elec tossed it back, and let the whiskey race down and settle into his gut, spreading out in fiery tendrils. That was better.
“How come no one offered me a shot?” Eve asked.
Trust his sister to get ticked off. Eve never liked to feel like she was being left behind or slighted.
“Do you want one?” Evan asked, not really answering the question of why he hadn’t offered her one in the first place.
Most women would say no at that point, that it was the principle of the thing, but Elec could have bet money that Eve would say yes, and she did.
“Yes.” Her chin came out and she stuck her hand on her hip. She was wearing a summer floral dress that hit right above the knee and showed off her thin frame and her toned shoulders.
It struck Elec as funny that she was going to insist on shooting whiskey at two in the afternoon dressed like an ad for Working Woman.
“Alright, but don’t blame me when you have a headache.” Evan walked back into the kitchen. “Tamara, how about you? Want a shot?”
Tamara gave Elec an amused smile. “No thanks, Evan, you’d be peeling me off the floor if I did a shot.”
“Chances are we’ll be peeling Eve off the floor,” Elec told her. “But that doesn’t stop her.”
“Shut up,” Eve said, with all the love of a sister.
There was a knock on the door, then it opened and Elec’s father strolled in wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a ball cap. Monroe men’s uniform.
“Well, that does a man proud,” he said by way of greeting. “Walking in and seeing my only daughter throwing back a shot in the middle of the day. Good Lord, Eve, what are you doing?”
She was choking, is what she was doing. Eve had tossed the shot and now her face was in horrible contortions, wincing and grimacing and shuddering, her eyes watering and her hand waving wildly. Elec and Evan started laughing. That was funny, Elec had to admit.
Eve finally caught her breath and said, “Damn, that’s horrible. How do you drink that crap?”
“We have balls,” Evan said. Then he glanced over at Tamara. “Sorry, Tamara, don’t mean to be crass.”
“Yes, you do,” Eve said, wiping her eyes and sniffling.
“That’s okay,” Tamara said. “I’ve spent plenty of time in the company of drivers.” She stood up and went over to his father. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Tamara Briggs.”
“Of course I remember you,” his father said, taking her hand in both of his. “It’s good to see you again, sweetie. So how exactly did my youngest son manage to snag a beautiful woman like you?”
Elec unfurled himself from the couch and stretched. Every muscle in his body was sore from all the tension of the day. God, this wasn’t how he wanted to spend the day after getting engaged. He had wanted to introduce Tamara to his parents under much better circumstances, not have them see her hovering behind him on camera. But then again, if Crystal hadn’t gone to the media, Elec might not have actually proposed to Tamara, and he was so glad that he had.
That alone was what was getting him through the day. He was going to have Tamara as his wife. They were going to be married and share a bed and he could make love to her whenever he wasn’t on the road.