The Other Side of Goodness Read Free Page B

ago.” And, “You know half of the fun of getting there is getting there.” He, of all people, knew how Paris could be and how much she liked to get what she wanted when she wanted it. He also knew she was spoiled.
    But since Andrew hadn’t known she’d been trying for four years instead of the one he was aware of, he didn’t know there was a really bad problem and everything pointed in her direction.
    The delivery guy showed up forty minutes after she placed her order. He’d come to the back door and knocked as instructed. Normally, Paris would have told Andrew the food was there so he could come in and fix his own plate. But she knew her father didn’t play that at all . Her father believed women should fix a man’s plate. Since she didn’t cook (that often anyway) and her father had turned up his nose about that, she decided it was best to just fix their plates and take it to them to keep her father from even knowing that she’d ordered in.
    She went into the den to see if they were ready. William Threadgill, her father’s forty-nine-year-old best friend and chief of staff, was there now.
    â€œHi, Paris,” William said as soon as she entered and he’d looked up and seen her.
    â€œHi,” Paris said, looking at him only briefly before directing her attention to her father. “The food is ready.”
    â€œWell, that was fast,” Lawrence said. “I hope it’s real food and not some sandwich or somebody’s helper you threw together.”
    Andrew snickered. Paris threw a hard look his way. She knew that he knew she’d merely ordered in. Andrew cut off his snickering, then smiled as he winked at her. She couldn’t help but smile, no matter how much she hadn’t wanted to.
    â€œYou can bring it in here,” Lawrence said. “There’s no need in you going to the trouble of setting up the dining room table just for the three of us. We can eat in here while we finish up.”
    Paris nodded, then grinned. “No problem.” She was glad he’d said that, since she’d had no intentions of setting up the dining room table. It was enough to have to put the food on a plate, deciding what was too much or not enough for each man. But to have to set plates and utensils as well as dirty up extra bowls just to put it on the table? No way.
    She turned to William. “Would you like something to eat as well?”
    William smiled. “Why, yes. Thank you, Paris.”
    Paris wanted to roll her eyes at William but held back. William was always so polite and respectful to her when he was in her father’s and husband’s presence. Nothing like he could be when it was just the two of them. She even hated how he said her name: Pa-ris . Dirty old man. She went back to the kitchen to fix three plates.
    William and her father had been friends since before she was born. He was truly her father’s best friend, his right-hand man, and now his chief of staff in the world of politics. Most folks knew that before they could ever get to her father, they had to get past William. And William was a silvery sly fox. He didn’t care about how he looked to others or what they thought about him. So much so that Paris was convinced that was why he was allowing his hair to go gray while her daddy dyed his, which caused William to look older than her father even though he was a year younger than him.
    On the other side, her father claimed he dyed his hair because he had to maintain his image, being that he was a politician and always in the public’s eye and all. He argued that people judged public figures harshly on their looks. They liked their male politicians to be tall, with deep manly voices, and good looks were always a plus. Politicians needed to have firm handshakes and know how to work a crowd, yet still be effective when it came to being one-on-one.
    But Paris also knew that Andrew was right when he’d said she and