Read Unfinished Business Online
Authors: Karyn Langhorne
“No, really?” he asked, his eyes crinkling with mischief. “I thought that was just a really dark tan.”
“And liberal.”
“I'm willing to overlook that unfortunate fact.”
“And you, Senator Newman, are a jerk.”
He laughed, wheezed, choked and sobered. “Okay, let's
take
your premise,” he countered in his best I'm-smarter-than-you tone he could muster. “But you love me.”
“Oh stop it.”
“You love me,” he insisted, catching her by the arm and pulling her close to him. “Youâ¦loveâ¦me,” he murmured, covering her mouth with his own.
She wanted to fight him, wanted to deny him. But it was impossible. Everything within her surrendered to the flame of desire the man ignited in her, everything within her abandoned its fight for the safety and security of being in his arms.
“I love you,” she whispered when, breathless and spent, their lips broke apart. Erica pressed her head against his chest, feeling the necessity for separation but unwilling to let him go. “God help meâ¦I love you. But, I have to leave, Mark. I just don't see how this can work.”
“Did I ever tell you about Katharine?” His voice rumbled in his chest, filling her ear. “About how I asked her to marry me the first time we met?”
Erica shook her head. “Tell me.”
“It's true. I just looked at her, and I knew.” He chuckled. “Of course, she disagreed. See, you gotta understand. In high school, I was a slack-jawed, tobacco-spitting redneck who didn't care for much more than drinking beer with my buddies and getting into fights on Saturday nights. And she”âhis voice grew wistful with the memoryâ“She was sophomore class president, on the varsity cheering squad and taking all honors classes.” He chuckled a bit. “She was way out of my league. So far out of my league no one ever thought it would happen. Least of all her. I'll never forget it. I was smoking a cigarette
with one of my buddies outside the school and she walked by with some of her cheerleader friends and I yelled out, âLittle Missy, you're gonna marry me one day!'”
“What did she say?”
He frowned a little, trying to recall. “I think it was either âDrop dead' or âGet lost.' Something like that.” He chuckled again. “Took me five years and a lot of changes to make that happen. But she married me. And I like to think she was happy in the bargain.” He pulled away, capturing her eyes in his own. “I knew from that first secondâwhen we were staring each other down in that hearing roomâyou were the next woman in my life. And I'd like to think you'd be happy in the bargain, too. I'd work hard,” he said earnestly. “I'd work hard to make sure of it.”
Yes
, her heart said.
Yes, oh yes, oh
â¦
“Will you still feel that way when you lose, Mark?” she asked in a strained voice, feeling the tears she'd been fighting for so long welling up in her eyes again. “Will you still love me? Or will you blame me?”
“So that's it,” he said, looking suddenly relieved. To Erica's surprise, a smile spread across his face. “You're worried about the election.”
“And you're not? What the hell are we here for if you don't plan on winning?”
“Did I tell you that I love your spirit? That I love the fight in you? Becauseâ”
“Oh stop with the love sonnet,” she snapped at him, slapping the tears from her face. “You can say you love me all you want to, but I know full well how much you hate to lose. All this admiration is going to go straight out the window if you lose this primaryâif you're sitting at home next year with meâbut without a job. This primary race has already gotten way too ugly because of me. Malloy's been taking ad
vantage of the worst in people, spreading all kinds of ugly rumors and nasty innuendo.”
“All of which turned out to be true,” Mark interrupted with a chuckle. “If you recall a certain extremely intimate moment between us⦔
“Laugh if you want. But I don't think it's particularly funny that someone tried to kill your white ass.”
“Why? Would you miss my white ass?”
Yes, damn it
, she almost shouted, but he had that self-satisfied smirk on his face already, like he was enjoying knowing just how much she cared for him. “That's beside the point,” she said huffily at last. “The point is you're a good senator. You're good for this state. You really have your constituents' interests at heart and”âshe swallowed like her throat hurt to admit itâ“you're a decent man. You'reâ¦strongâ¦and passionateâ¦and when you want to be, you can be really”âanother hard swallowâ“gentle and tender and sweet.” Her eyes met his again. “But you're ambitious, Mark. You want your seat in the Senate, and pursuing this crazy idea about our marriage is one sure way to lose it.”
Mark shook his head. “I don't think so. First of all, I don't think the people of this state are either that racist or that stupid. I did some checking, Erica. Did you know that in the 2000 census, almost twenty percent of the population here classified itself as mixed? That means there's a lot of carrying on between people of different culturesâeven here in the Deep South. And second of all, yeah, there's been some nastiness, but on the whole, you've been far more of an asset to this campaign than a hindrance. People who never voted beforeâand certainly wouldn't have considered voting for meâare interested, are coming to events and listening to speechesâall because of you. They like you. They like
us
. They like hearing me flesh out my
positions with your objections. They like that you keep me on my toes. I predict that not only do I win the primary, but for all this bullshit about a âclose race,' we take it by a landslide. And after you marry me, we'll win the general election without breaking a sweat. That's what I predict.”
“And if you're wrong?”
Mark bent toward her, laid a hand on either shoulder and pulled her close.
“I have lost many things,” he murmured, staring hard into those deep brown eyes. “I have lost them and had to pick myself up off the ground and start again. And you're right, it isn't always easy. And sometimes it completely
sucks
.” He paused a moment, searching her eyes as if to be sure she was really listening, to be sure she really understood. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that if I lose my Senate seat, the next day there will be other things I can do, other ways I can serve, other titles I can hold. But if I lose
you
”âhe shook her shoulders gentlyâ“it will be a long time before I find anyoneâanyoneâwho will fill the void in my heart like you do.” He shook her again. “All I'm asking is for you to follow your heart. Hell, read your T-shirt. And if it's really true, it won't matter who's what color, or what political party, or anything. Will it?”
“What about all those women who are in love with you?” she said softly. “What about them?”
“What do they matter, if I'm only in love with you?” He traced her cheekbone with a finger. “So, what about it? I can't promise it'll be easy and I'm pretty sure it's going to take a hell of a lot of patienceâfrom both of us. But I want to try. I really want to try.”
Erica looked down at her shirt, considering its message, the moment and her heart. A power beyond her own mind must have selected it, the words spoke
so fully to this moment, this decision, and this war within her.
All blood is red.
“Let's try,” she murmured, brushing her lips against his. “Let's try.”
Senator Mark Newman married Erica Johnson today in a private ceremony here in Billingham. The couple, who had been engaged for the past year, exchanged vows at St. Matthew's Church.
“It's been a long time coming,” said Angelique Dawson Alexander, one of the new Mrs. Newman's oldest friends. “These are two of the most stubborn people on the planet.”
Mrs. Alexander, who is black, and her husband, Senator Newman's chief of staff Chase Alexander, who is white, say that the couple are a powerhouse in Washington because of their differences. “I think they fight it out at home,” said Mr. Alexander, chuckling. “Then the senator comes in ready to work toward the best outcome. Marriage is all about compromise, and government is all about compromise. So it works for everyone.”
According to media relations director Bitsi Barr, the couple will honeymoon in Baghdad, visiting with our servicemen and -women stationed there. “It's an unusual honeymoon, but they are both very committed to seeing our troops return home safely.”
Political pundits speculate that Newman is still considering a presidential bid in 2012, but Barr neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. “Right now, he just wants to be a good senator and a good husband. Let's let the newlyweds have a bit of âhappily ever after' before we deal with all that.”
âThe
Billingham News
This book is based on an idea for a novel I had almost seven years ago. It's been through a lot of versions, formats and revisions since thenâmost notably as a play that ran off-Broadway in early 2001. That play was called
Primary Loyalties
. Before it was a play, though, these characters were presented in a television script that was selected by Lou Viola, then director of a program called “PSNBC.” PSNBC gives fresh voices the chance to perform their work in front of NBC television execs, in the hopes of getting a TV deal.
I got to perform a version of this story for PSNBC in May 2000. My good friend Jill Richburg, a sometimes actress and sometimes lawyer (as well as a host of other titles and roles she plays well), played the part of Erica and directed the reading for me. She cast a wonderful actor name John Canary in the part of Mark.
Well, I didn't get a contract with NBC, but I did make a friend in Lou Violaâand in John Canary. Both Jill and John reprised their roles as Mark and Erica in the play I wrote a year later. I can never thank them enough for giving these characters life!
Without Mona Washington (who urged me to turn these characters into a play in the first place) and Lou Viola, who encouraged my writing efforts, I probably never would have finished those early versions of this story. Much love and thanks to you both!
There are plenty of people involved in helping me to tell you these stories, Dear Reader. Most important is my family: Kevin, Sierra and Sommer. They are my “street team”: They travel with me to events, listen to me complain about this deadline or that and make dozens of sacrifices for “Mom's career.” I love them dearly!
Then there's my mom and dad, Thomas and Evelyn; my sisters, Michele and Ellyn; my brother, Tom. I'm lucky to have you guys. I also want to shout out props to Kevin's family: his mom, Teresa; sisters, Mary and Eileen; brothers, Jimmy, John and Brian. Thanks, guys!
This book would never have been finished without the input of Linda Kenyon, a radio journalist and dear friend who covers Capitol Hill. Linda was willing to share her knowledge of the Senate to give this book a basis in reality.
Tamra Dyson entertained baby Sommer so I could think, and the staff at Ronald McNair Elementary School's BAR-T after-school program entertained Sierra for the same reason. Both deserve awards for their patience and kindness.
Rachel Swartz-Hartje, my personal trainer, made me get on the treadmill and lift some weights while she provided an ear for plot twists and dialogue.
Deep and sincere thanks go to the “dream team”: my editor, Esi Sogah; my agent, Audra Barrett; and my publicist, Gabrielle Faulcon. You ladies are beyond fabulous!
And as always, thanks go to you, the reader. I always love hearing from you and getting your thoughts on my work. Republican or Democrat, red state or blue, you're the best!
KARYN LANGHORNE
graduated from Harvard Law School and was a law professor for several years. She eventually gave up her practice in order to devote more time to her husband and two daughters, and to pursue her writing career. She is the author of
A Personal Matter, Street Level,
and
Diary of an Ugly Duckling.
In addition, she has written three nonfiction books, a play that was produced off-Broadway, screenplays, and several legal articles.
www.karynlanghorne.com
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
. Copyright © 2007 by Karyn Wynn Folan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © APRIL 2007 ISBN: 9780061861031
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