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Chapter Nine

Talia

Talia was five seconds from leaving Gabby’s when a bike came flying around the corner. She startled, nearly dropping her tray of coffee.

“Talia!” Gabby said, skidding to a halt. “This is a surprise!”

“Thought I’d swing by,” Talia said, heart thrumming, head pounding from the cackling flamingos.Flamingos. What was going on around here? “I brought coffee. And bagels.” She lifted the sack. “I hope it isn’t a bad time. Are you in the middle of something?”

Gabby shoved her bike into a bush. “No, I was just up at the yurt,” she said as they stalked up the grassy hill toward the house. “Catching up on things. What about you? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Took the morning off so we could discuss Dad’s big plans.”

“You came all this way forthat?”

Talia shrugged. “Why not. It’s important.” She figured she’d get a better read on Gabby face-to-face versus over the phone, and also the trip would give her a chance to check out the Collective in person. Talia hadn’t visited since Gabby moved in and was curious to see what she was up to since her sister was so evasive about things. Apparently, she was up to flamingos. “You left so quickly the other night, we didn’t get a chance to debrief,” she said.

“What’s to debrief?” Gabby unlocked the door. “It’s pretty straightforward. No thanks and good luck.”

They walked into the kitchen, and Talia set the coffee on the center island. “The conversation’s a bit more complicated than ‘no thanks,’” she said, passing Gabby the bagel bag. “The fact he’s running the campaign from the Ranch blew my mind. It’s like, why does he even still own the place?”

“Yeah, no.” Gabby scooted up onto a stool. “That surprised me, too.”

“Spencer’s theory is that he feels hehasto keep it, since he lost everything else. Makes sense, I guess,” Talia said, using a napkin to clean what she mistook for coffee drips, until realizing they were flecks of amber glass embedded in the countertop. “You have to admit, it’s quite groundbreaking he asked us to join him.”

“Eh,” Gabby said and took a chomp of bagel. “Groundbreaking or not—who cares? I’m an ally to the cause, but leave me out of it.”

Talia blotted the dry countertop again. “I’m doing it,” she said, just spitting it out. “I’m joining Dad’s campaign.”

Gabby’s eyes bugged. “No. Talia. Don’t get sucked in.”

“But he asked. And he’s survived the worst year of his life. We couldn’t help him then, but we can help him now.”

Answering Dad’s call was the right thing to do regardless but Talia did need to get at least one sibling involved to avoid being dumped. She doubted Spencer would make good on his threat but wasn’t looking to roll the dice. Ozzie was a lost cause, but Gabby was smart, and people were oddly drawn to her, and Talia liked the idea of teaming up. Maybe the campaign would bring them closer, and she’d finally get to the bottom of whether Gabby secretly blamed her for what happened all those years ago.

“It just seems to make sense,” Talia said. “And... And...” She swallowed. “I want you to go with me.”

Gabby laughed. She laughed! Talia’s face burned all the way to her scalp. “Yeah, no. And don’t fall for the guilt trip. There’s a reason none of us ever worked at FDG.”

“We were never asked,” Talia said. “Please, Gabby? Nobody’s claiming the job would be easy or fun, but we could actually help him. Don’t you want Dad to be happy?”

“Friends will be friends but still cheese costs money,” Gabby said, performing a pretty solid Ustenya impression. It meantI can’t go around helping other people when I need to take care of myself. Half of their stepmother’s idioms, she’d noticed, involved refusing to do a favor for someone else. “I’m not looking to turn my life upside down on the off chance it might make Dad feel good about himself. The question is, why areyoudoing it? You’re the one with a boyfriend and a real job. Who’d fight the man without you around?”

“My job is not that important,” Talia said, gaze sliding away. “I’ll take a leave of absence or something.” The partners would think it was exciting, right? One of their own working on a senatorial campaign? Worst case, she’d find a new job once it was over. People like her had options. It wasn’t fair, but facts were facts.

“And Spencer? What’s his take on all this?”

Talia sighed. “He’s not thrilled. But it’s a finite period of time. The primary is in March, and he can travel back and forth in between. Plus, we’ve been so busy lately, he’ll hardly register my absence. If anything, we’ll speakmoreoften, since we won’t both be in the office until ten o’clock every night!” These were valid points, and Talia made a mental note to remind him later.

“Hmm.” Gabby sipped her coffee. It had to be cold by now—Talia’s was—and it was so very Gabby to feign drinkability. “I don’t suppose you’re giving Ozzie this hard sell.”

“God, no,” Talia said, and Gabby narrowed her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Oz, but he’d do something dumb, like usecampaign funds to purchase Mussolini’s Alfa Romeo, and we’d all end up in jail.”

“Okay, that’s unfair—”

“Come on, Bags.”

“Don’t call me that.”