Dissident Read Free Page B

did nothing but make her more unhappy.
    So when candidates started asking the keynote speaker for an endorsement after the convention, they got it. Caroline would stand up next to them in gyms or union halls, and say horrible, awful things about their opponents. She’d only done it a few times before Christine took her aside and talked some sense into her, telling her that she was destroying herself by behaving so incredibly out of character.
    There was one endorsement she regretted the most – her criticism of Representative-elect John McIntyre. A former Villanova basketball player and Wharton MBA who’d made himself extraordinarily wealthy through a series of land deals, corporate investments, hostile takeovers, and startups, he’d run for Congress in the suburban Philadelphia district adjoining Christine’s.  His Democratic opponent was a complete ass, but Caroline didn’t discover that until after she had stood up and given the jerk her support in front of a packed American Legion post. McIntyre won narrowly, no thanks to her behavior, which had probably done more damage to his campaign than anything else.
    Caroline had begged Christine to invite him to her New Year’s party.  She didn’t want to apologize on the floor of the House. She wanted to do it in person, in an informal setting. Maybe that made her a coward, since forcing him to come to the Sullivans’ house was probably far more intimidating to him than the marble floors of the U.S. Capitol. But Caroline wanted to make it right. It had taken a lot of effort; Christine’s New Year’s party was not intended for political players. She didn’t even invite her own staffers. Caroline and Nicky received yearly invites only because they were practically family.
    Caroline and her daughters had readily accepted Christine’s invitation to spend the holidays with them that year in the Sullivans’ sprawling home in Bryn Mawr.  Like Christine, Caroline was an only child, and both of her parents were dead. She dreaded the prospect of the three of them spending Christmas in Rockville alone and was grateful that Tom and Christine had made them feel so welcome. Tom’s extended family was large and rather boisterous.
    Christine was a bit older than her and gave birth to her first child relatively young, while she was still in medical school. Her oldest daughter, Susannah, a corporate attorney, was therefore only about ten years younger than Caroline. Christine’s younger daughter, Jessica, was in her senior year of high school and was headed to Lehigh on a basketball scholarship after she graduated. Jess adored Marguerite and Sophie. Caroline’s spirits rose during the week they all spent together, and the girls loved it too. But the days had gone by far too fast, and it was almost time to go back to the reality of their life at home in Maryland.
    Caroline glanced over Tom’s shoulder. “I’m going to go over and talk to Bob. You know how much he loves me.”
    Her tone was laconic but there was more than a grain of truth to the statement. The Speaker was an Illinois native like Caroline, and they’d both graduated from Marquette University, albeit decades apart. They had a nice bond despite their party differences.
    Tom laughed. “Go talk about how the MU basketball team is gonna wake up and destroy the competition come March.”
    Caroline crossed the room and was pleased to find that Bob brought his wife. Adeline Allen was a born and bred Southsider and her accent always reminded Caroline of childhood trips on the L to go to the Museum Campus or shopping at Marshall Field’s.  Adeline spotted her first.
    “Caroline! Oh, I was hoping to see you.” She gave Caroline a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.
    Caroline spontaneously reached in for an additional hug. Adeline was one of her favorite people. “We’ve been here the whole week, actually. Heading back to Rockville tomorrow. Or the day after, depending on how much I drink tonight.” She’d already