Free The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank Page B

these days . . . well, I hoped she’d be safe and not do anything incredibly stupid.
    “Just be careful.”
    “Oh, come on! I’m always careful!”
    “Okay. Tommy does look pretty amazing,” I said and walked away from Mary Beth and in Tommy’s direction.
    I’d say hello to him. Big deal. It wouldn’t be nice to ignore him since I worked here and all. But who was coming toward me from the other direction, waving to get my attention? Porter Galloway’s aide.
    “Hi!” he said and then whispered to me, “The senator wanted to know if you’d like to join him for a drink when this is over? Say about ten? He’s staying at Charleston Place.”
    “Sure,” I said. “That would be fun.”
    “So can I have your cell-phone number? You know, in case something comes up?”
    “Sure,” I said and gave it to him.
    Before I could ask for Porter’s number, his aide gave me his card with his own cell number.
    “In case you can’t make it,” he said with a wide smile.
    “Thanks,” I said and thought, Well, it was a good thing that I didn’t embarrass myself again by asking for the senator’s number. Of course he wouldn’t have given it to me! For all he knew I might tweet it to the entire world!
    I continued across the room looking for Tommy. He was taking a tray of dirty glasses to the service area behind some pipe and drape.
    “Hey!” I said. “How are you?”
    “Great,” he said. “Wow. You sure look, um, wow.”
    “Thanks! How’ve you been?”
    “Good. Really good. You?”
    “Okay, I guess. You know, working and just regular stuff.”
    He noticed the card I was holding.
    “You going out with that jerk?” he said.
    “What jerk?”
    “The politician’s gofer?”
    I don’t know why but he really irked me when he said that.
    “No. For your information, I’m meeting the senator for a cocktail.”
    “Really? Well, have fun.”
    We were just standing there now, staring at each other. I was being reminded why I even sort of liked him in the first place (because he had this way about him that made me feel like he was in charge and I’d be better off for it, even though he had no life plan as far as I could tell) and why suddenly, Porter Galloway made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. I was meeting Porter for a drink and that was all. Big deal. Still, Tommy’s disapproval made me uneasy.
    When the last light was turned off, I said good night to the Turners.
    “Fabulous night,” Judy Turner said. “Didn’t you think so?”
    “It was!” I said, still floating on air, knowing where I was headed.
    “I saw the senator flirting with you,” Bill Turner said.
    “Hush, Bill!” Judy said. “MYOB! I think Porter Galloway is absolutely adorable!”
    “Me too!” I said. “Night, y’all!”
    So I made my way to my car and drove over to Charleston Place, a supernice hotel in downtown Charleston. I went to the first bar, the one inside the restaurant, and there was no sign of him or of his aide. So I went to the other bar where there was a man playing piano. I sat on a sofa and ordered a glass of white wine. Was I being stood up? I opened my purse and took out the card Porter’s aide gave me. George Zur was his name. Should I call him? I decided, oh, what the heck and dialed his number. He answered right away.
    “Hey! It’s Ashley from the gallery. Where’d y’all go?”
    “Oh, hey! Right, I forgot to call. Senator Galloway wants you to come up to his room.”
    “Really? Well, I don’t know, I mean, who’s in his room?”
    “Just him as far as I know. I’m hitting the sack because we have an early call in the morning. Gotta be back in Columbia by nine for a breakfast meeting.”
    My mind was racing about a million miles an hour. And my face was so hot I knew I was blazing red with embarrassment. There was no way I was going up to a man’s hotel room, even if he was Porter Galloway. I wasn’t like that. In fact, the idea of him expecting me to just hop on up there like a ho made me feel a