“I wish you’d come with me,” Tami said.
Jake replied, “I wish I could.” But he shook his head. “Too much to do here. I’ve got this meeting with NASA’s top management, and a ton of work to get ready for it.”
They were in their bedroom. Tami was packing her roll-along suitcase for a trip to Iowa, where Senator Tomlinson was making a dozen campaign appearances in three days.
“I don’t like to leave you alone,” Tami said, as she tucked a zippered bag of toiletries into the suitcase.
“I’ll be okay,” said Jake, standing by the bedroom doorway, watching her. “You just be careful with those news guys. Don’t let them buy you drinks.”
Tami stared at him.
“Well, you’re a damned attractive woman, and you’ll be all alone out there in the Wild West.”
“While you’ll be on your own in the nation’s capital with a million single women.”
“I’ll be too busy working to notice any of them.”
“Same here,” she said.
Almost whispering, Jake said, “I love you, Tami.”
She melted into his arms. “I’ll phone you every night.”
“I’ll be here,” he said. Then he added, “Or at the office.”
* * *
The first evening Tami was away, Jake sat in their living room eating half a pizza and watching Tomlinson on the TV news while he waited for his wife to phone.
The senator attracted a good deal of media attention on his whirlwind tour through the state. He spoke at a county fair, a tractor factory that was about to close up, and on the campus of the university at Ames.
Outdoors under the summer sun, in his shirtsleeves, bareheaded, Tomlinson told a surprisingly large crowd of mostly students:
“Six years ago, when our energy plan went into effect, I wasn’t very popular in these parts.” A few scattered laughs from the audience. “The farming industry didn’t like our plan’s de-emphasis on ethanol additives to gasoline.
“But today, energy costs are lower, our nation’s carbon footprint has been reduced by more than 10 percent, and American farmers are feeding the world once again.”
Cheers from the crowd.
“Today we face a new challenge and a new opportunity,” Tomlinson went on. “It’s time we used our space technology to create new industries, create millions of new jobs for Americans, and lead the human race back on the path to the stars.”
The predominantly young audience roared its approval.
“It’s time to unleash the energy, the creativity, the skills of the American people to develop a new frontier in space.
“It’s time to go back to the Moon. And this time we’ll be going back to stay.”
Wild cheers. Tomlinson stood on the podium, handsome, smiling, youthful, vigorous.
Jake glanced at the clock on the wall next to the TV: a little past seven thirty and Tami hasn’t called yet. She must be pretty busy. Besides, it’s an hour earlier out there.
The TV had switched to a pair of news analysts discussing Tomlinson’s speech: both males, both middle-aged, both wearing dark suits, plenty of makeup and—Jake guessed—beautifully coiffed toupees.
“Senator Tomlinson appeared to win over his audiences,” said the first analyst.
“Especially the college students,” agreed the other.
“His stand on farm subsidies went over well.”
With a wry smile, “Well, he is in Iowa, after all.”
“He didn’t spend much time on national defense, did he?”
“No, but he worked up the crowd about his ‘Back to the Moon’ plan.”
“You wouldn’t expect that in Iowa.”
“No, that was something of a surprise.”
“Well, his audience was mostly college students.”
“That’s true enough. He’ll have a tougher time selling the Moon in New Hampshire.”
Jake’s phone rang. He grabbed for it with one hand and muted the TV with the other.
“Hello, Jake.” It wasn’t Tami’s voice.
“Amy?”
“Right the first time.”
“Why aren’t you in Iowa with Frank?”
“I’m going to have to traipse across the country for the next year and more,” Amy Tomlinson replied. “I decided to stay home for this first one. You did too, huh?”
“Yeah.” Jake’s mind was racing. Frank’s wife should be with him on the campaign trail. She shouldn’t have stayed home. It looks bad.
“I thought maybe we two hermits could have dinner together. Nothing fancy, just here at the house.”
Jake said, “I’m already halfway through a pizza, Amy.”
“Hah. The bachelor’s dinner.”
“Nature’s perfect food,” he joked. It sounded lame.
“Want to come over for dessert?” she asked. It sounded almost suggestive. Jake immediately tossed that idea out of his mind. Don’t be an idiot! he commanded himself.
“Uh, Amy, I’ve got a lot of work to do…”
“Really?”
“And I’m expecting a call from Tami any minute.”
“Oh. Of course.”
“Thanks for asking, though.”
Amy sounded mildly amused as she said, “Okay. But tomorrow night, eight o’clock at the house. No sense the two of us sitting around staring at four walls.”
Jake didn’t know what to say.
“I won’t take no for an answer, Jake,” she said sternly.
“Well … okay, I guess.”
“Such enthusiasm!”
“I’m, uh, just kind of surprised, that’s all.”
Amy laughed lightly. “Jake, two old friends can have a dinner together without the blogs going viral over it.”
“Yeah. I know. I’ll see you tomorrow, eight o’clock sharp.”
“Good.” The line clicked dead.
Two old friends, Jake thought as he hung up the phone. We were a lot more than that. Remembering their nights in bed together, he repeated, A lot more than that.
When Tami finally called, Jake didn’t say a word about Amy. He felt rotten about it, but he didn’t say a word.