She thought about the myriad of replies she could give to that question and shrugged. "I will be," she finally offered. "What's up?"

"That's what I was going to ask. You're back early, and you've been sitting here for almost ten minutes."

Charisma shook her head. "I'm trying to figure out if I'm the windshield or the bug."

Kent's eyes went into his hairline. "It's kind of early to be having that kind of a day."

Charisma smirked. "I know," opening the door as she rolled up the window. Kent stepped back to allow her to exit the vehicle. "And yet all indications are it's going to be a bug kind of day."

Kent winced. "Ow. Oh, did you turn your cell phone off?"

Charisma slumped. "Yes. I turned it off when I got to Es'. I guess I forgot to turn it back on. Why?"

"Laura Maxwell's been trying to reach you for the last couple hours. She said it wasn't an emergency, and she refused to leave a message other than that she called, but the phone was ringing every twenty minutes like clockwork. If it wasn't for the fact that your brothers were coming into town today, I would have unplugged it."

Charisma frowned. "Was she rude?"

"Not really rude, per se... but definitely annoying. I realize you need her backing if you want to make a run for the White House, but her people skills leave a lot to be desired."

"You do understand she's one of the most powerful women in America right now?" Charisma asked as she headed towards the house.

"You do understand that doesn't make her any less annoying."

Charisma chuckled and Kent smirked. "It probably makes her moreso."

"Well, whatever - please call her back before you do whatever else is on your schedule today. She already woke Adam up early, so she's not among my favorite people at the moment."

"Where is he now?" Charisma asked as she crossed to the coffee machine.

"In the family room with Okasa. She's going to keep an eye on him for a little while, and then try to put him down for a nap before his cousins arrive."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. I have an appointment. Bad timing, I know, but it couldn't be helped. I'm going to go straight to Es' from there."

Charisma nodded slowly, hoping Kent would elaborate. When he didn't, she sighed silently and pulled the phone from her purse. "Well, I've turned the phone back on if anything comes up."

"I will. Go take care of your business; I'll be back later." He headed towards the garage, then faced Charisma again as she pulled the fresh coffee from its spot. "Is there anything you need me to pick up on the way back?"

Charisma sipped slowly, letting the air cool her tongue as she savored the taste. "Call me when you leave Es' house. We'll see who's here and what's going on."

"All right," Kent nodded. "Now go call that infernal woman before I have to take out a restraining order," he said with a grin. "Oh! And make sure you call her private line - she was adamant about that." Charisma just stuck out her tongue and waved him off. She waited for Kent to crank the SUV before she headed to her home office, determined to discover what Laura Maxwell needed from her.

************

"Where have you been??" Laura practically screeched in Charisma's ear as soon as she picked up the call. "I've been trying to reach you all morning!"

"I heard," Charisma replied drolly. "Did we declare war somewhere?"

"No... why would you...?"

"Is the threat of nuclear destruction any greater than it normally is?"

"No," sounding a little more impatient.

"Is there a crisis that has shifted us into a Def-Con one status?"

"Well, no, but...."

"Then whatever you're calling about could have waited until a later hour, Laura."

"Even if it's going to affect your Presidential campaign?" Dead silence, and Charisma could hear Laura's smirk in her tone when she spoke again. "That's what I thought."

Charisma pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger as she blew out a frustrated breath. "Laura, I have a friend who passed away and left a distraught wife behind, and you woke up my son with your incessant phone calls this morning. I can honestly say that any type of campaign is pretty much the last thing on my mind right now."

"I heard about the custodian's... partner," Laura enunciated with a hint of hesitancy. "I understand it was unexpected, but we can't let it derail years of work and planning."

"Laura, if taking a couple of days to take care of a friend in her time of need is enough to wipe out all the work I've done and overturn the years of time and effort I have put in serving the constituents of my state, there isn't any amount of power or influence that will make a difference in my campaign for the Presidency."

"Charisma, please don't be stupid. This isn't about you being friends with a custodian - on the contrary, that is something we could easily spin...."

"NO!!" The word wasn't shouted, but the whisper was biting enough to cause complete silence for thirty full seconds. Charisma took a deep breath. "No, Laura. This is not something we're going to spin; this isn't something that is going to be brought up at all. Are we clear?"

"All right, Charisma," Laura replied calmly. "I never said we were *going* to; I simply said that we *could*. However, that is not the reason I've been trying to reach you this morning."

"Which is...?"

"Your rather innocuous announcement of your separation from Kent is stirring up talk and speculation. We need to get out there and be aggressive about this, Charisma."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why, Laura? What exactly do you expect me to say that I haven't already said? Kent and I have amicably separated by mutual agreement."

"Is that the only reason, Charisma? Are you certain there isn't more to this than an amicable separation?"

Charisma frowned and her voice took on a sharper tone. "What are you implying, Laura?"

"Nothing, Charisma. I'm asking a question."

Charisma frowned and bit her lip. "Laura, Kent and I did agree to separate and we have done so without losing the friendship we've always had. I'm not going to say anything more than that. I refuse to share what are private matters between my husband and myself. And I'm not going to allow Kent to accept sole blame for this situation because it's not his fault." She paused a moment. "It's no one's fault, Laura. It's just something that happened."

Laura blew out a frustrated breath. She knew there was a lot more to this story than Charisma was telling her, but she also understood they had hit an impasse. Charisma wasn't going to tell her anything more than she had already shared. It was fortunate for Laura Maxwell that she had long ago learned to plan for any number of contingencies. She felt positive she would get a better result from the appointment she had scheduled with Brianna Walker. Some days, it paid to keep a private investigator on your personal payroll.

"All right, Charisma," Laura acquiesced quietly. "You know I'm just looking out for your best interests here, right? We can't have anything coming back to bite us in the ass about this later."

"I understand you're doing what you think is best, Laura. But I refuse to deal with any of this until after the service and the wake tomorrow. If it can't wait until Monday, I'll just have to deal with the fallout as it happens."

"I think we can probably release a statement to buy us some time until then, Charisma, but you're going to have to meet with me so we can release a statement to the press as soon as possible. We've worked too hard to get to this point just to let it go due to a lack of diligence on our part. There are too many people counting on us to make this happen."

"I know, Laura... I know. But it's going to have to wait until after tomorrow."

"I understand, Charisma. Oh," Laura added quickly, "I don't really understand *why* you feel this is more important, but I get that you *do*. So let's plan to get together first thing Monday morning, and we'll work up what we need for a press conference."

Charisma sighed. "Fine. That sounds reasonable. I'm going to go check on my son."

"About that - I'm sorry for waking him up. I didn't even consider the fact that he would be home sleeping."

"Fortunately, he's resilient, Laura. He won't even remember it by the time his cousins arrive. I'll talk to you Monday."

"Goodbye, Charisma."

Charisma hung up the phone and sat at the desk for a long moment staring at it before heading out of her office and towards the family room to see Adam.

************

Kent parked the SUV in Charisma's reserved spot, locking it securely then slid into his jacket. The wind blew across him as he stepped out into the open was cold and he spared a moment to shiver as he searched for his appointment. When he found what he was looking for exactly where he expected her, Kent strode forward without hesitation. He reached the bench in front of the National Gallery quickly, and gestured to the empty space.

"May I join you or would you prefer to walk?"

Brianna looked up and nodded towards the seat. Kent sat down and clasped his hands between his knees. Then he took a deep breath, and started to speak.


Chapter C

"Charisma and I go back a long time," he began quietly, "though not as far as the two of you. We met when she was still in the House, so probably three or four years after you...." He felt her nod her understanding and he cleared his throat. "It was casual at first... our acquaintanceship, I mean. We were in some of the same circles because of some of our shared charity interests, so we'd see one another at various dinners and fundraisers and we'd share a bit of casual conversation. But that was the extent of our contact for the first couple years we knew one another."

Kent spared a moment to look at Brianna, but she didn't return his gaze and she didn't speak, so he breathed out slowly and resumed his narrative.

"It wasn't until after Charisma became a Senator that things changed between us, and I have to admit to being a little surprised by it all. Don't get me wrong - we had developed a good, solid friendship by that point. We could talk to each other about practically everything, and we were pretty honest about things." He paused and shook his head. "Most things, anyway." Kent turned and faced Brianna, waiting for her to turn and meet his eyes. "I want you to understand that I didn't know about you, Brianna. If I had...."

She smiled sadly at him. "If you had, it wouldn't have made a difference, Kent."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"I am. Besides, whatever else has happened, you got Adam out of your union with Charisma, and even I can't fault either of you for that. He's a great kid."

Kent chuckled. "He's a handful all right. He's also the reason we decided to get married."

"I don't understand. I thought you got married for Charisma's image."

"We got married because we both wanted a child, and for Charisma's sake, we needed to be married to share that. We cared about one another... still do, actually - but we never loved one another passionately or completely. We loved each other without ever actually being in love." He sighed. "It was a mutually satisfying arrangement whose time is over."

"How can you say that? You still have a child to raise together, and if Charisma wants to make a bid for the White House...."

"Brianna, we can still raise a child together without being married."

"Kent, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me." Kent nodded and Brianna nodded back before looking back over the Mall. "If I hadn't come back into Charisma's life... however peripherally... would you and Charisma have separated?"

Kent offered her a small smile. "Brianna, we were separated long before you came back into her life. We've been living different lives for most of the time we've known one another. Except for a few months when we first married, Charisma and I have been roommates more than husband and wife."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Kent gave her an embarrassed smile, then dropped his eyes to the ground beneath his feet. "Charisma and I have always been good together - we're friends and enjoy a lot of the same things when we actually spend any quality time with each other. And we learned to be content with what we had together, because it meant we had someone on the occasions we needed them." He paused and Brianna waited. Kent looked out at the Mall, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. "But I had never seen her genuinely happy... until I saw her with you."