The President's Daughter - Mariah Stewart [64]
“An older married man who has children and happens to be the President.”
“The President of what?” Jude frowned.
“Of the United States.”
It was a long moment before Jude could react.
When she did, it was to laugh. “Blythe, that’s ridic . . .” Her laughter caught in her throat. Blythe’s face was white and drawn, and it was obvious to Jude that her friend was not joking. “Graham Hayward?” Jude all but fell into her dinner plate. “You’re having an affair with Graham Hayward?”
Blythe whispered, “Yes.”
“Graham ‘High Road’ Hayward? Graham ‘I’ll never lie to the American people’ Hayward?”
“Stop it, Jude. This is difficult enough.”
Blythe covered her face with her napkin. “There’s more.”
“No. Don’t tell me.” Jude leaned all the way back in her chair.
“I’m due in late September.” The whispered words were thin and formless and hung in the air between them.
“I can’t believe this. How could . . . oh, hell, what’s the difference now?” Jude muttered. “For heaven’s sake, Blythe, what are you going to do?”
“I’ve been trying to work it all out.” Blythe tried to smile. “Want to hear the short version?”
“Sure.”
“I’d like to move out here with you, if you’ll let me. We’ll get a house. I’ll go back to D.C. from time to time, until Graham is finished.”
“Until he’s finished what?”
“His term. He’s thinking about maybe not running again, but of course no one knows that yet.”
Jude’s jaw dropped open. “He’s not going to run for a second term?”
“He’s only thinking about not running.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants to leave his wife and marry me.”
If the words had come from the mouth of any other woman, Jude would have laughed in her face. But this was Blythe Pierce speaking and if ever there was a woman for whom a man would be willing to give up his world, Jude suspected it might be Blythe.
“This hasn’t been easy for either of us. Graham has been married for a very long time. His children mean the world to him. He absolutely dotes on his daughter. And the last thing I ever thought I’d do is have an affair with a married man. It sure wasn’t something I was looking for. But there’s this . . . connection between us. It’s stronger than anything I could have imagined. I never intended for any of this to happen, Jude, I swear. But it did, and I have to deal with the consequences. Graham doesn’t want me to deal with it alone, that’s why I think he’s talking about leaving his wife and the office, but I think that’s guilt speaking. Frankly, I don’t want that to happen.”
“What do you want to happen?”
“I told Graham that I thought he should go for the second term, follow through the commitment he’s made, and then we’ll see how things are after he leaves office and is out of the public eye. I think it would be best for everyone, especially for his wife and children. By then, both of his kids will be out of college.”
“You know that he’s a shoo-in for a second term. Hayward’s the most popular President we’ve had in years.”
“I do know that. He knows that.” Blythe smiled wryly. “And we both know they’ll never let him not run.”
“Christ, just like Prince Edward and Wallis what’sher-name Simpson,” Jude muttered. “Giving up the throne for the woman he loves . . .”
“Except the Prince wasn’t already married with a family and wasn’t the leader of the free world.”
“This is too much.” Jude pushed away from the table. “This sort of thing is way, way out of my league.”
Jude stood up and began to pace. “I never moved in your world, Blythe, and God knows I don’t understand it. You grew up on an estate where diplomats and other important people came and went all the time. I grew up in a rented house in a small town with a mother who waited tables and a father who pumped gas. I don’t even know how to react to something like this.”
Blythe reached out and took Jude’s hand. “Getting you as a roommate was the best thing that ever happened to me. You’re the best friend I ever had. If you don’t want to be involved in this, if it makes you too uncomfortable, it’s okay. I’ll understand.” She tried to make a little joke: “Hell, I’m