“Then I can go back to running campaigns.” She actually enjoyed being mayor. She could see herself staying for a while. There was a lot she could do here to help her city. But if they didn’t want her help, she wouldn’t stop or go into hiding. She had a thick skin and a good sense of self-esteem. It was required to do her job. “I assure you no one in DC will pay any mind to that rumor. In fact, if Charles wants to put it out there, he’ll find out that the congressman’s affair was with another woman on the campaign who was a colleague of mine. The original oppo research listed me because the man who did the investigation couldn’t tell the difference between two black women. Charles has bad intel, and it will hurt him, not me. But I love that you had faith in me. Rene, it’s going to be all right. No matter what Charles does. No matter what happens to the company. We’re going to make it through together. We have to rely on each other from here on out.”

“I’ll get a job. You’ll see.” He turned toward the road that led to her house. “We don’t have to worry about a place to live, and I’ve got money in savings, but I would like to save that for a rainy day. We need to be able to take care of Lady.”

She loved that he thought of the dog. Had she worried about him becoming a father? He was going to be a great one.

He really needed to talk to his mom. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, and I sincerely doubt you need to go take Zep’s old job at Guidry’s. Your mother said things she regrets, too. We’ll sit down with her tomorrow and hash this all out as a family. I know you think you need to be perfect to have people love you, but it’s not true. You can make mistakes and we’ll still adore you.”

“I’m glad you think so because we’re about to face one of those mistakes,” he said as he pulled into the driveway. “We’re not alone in the house, but I’m going to let you handle it. He told me I should do that as often as possible. It’s probably time to take his advice.”

“What are you talking about?” She didn’t give him a chance to come around and open her door. She wanted to know who was in her house. She knew Rene wouldn’t have gotten angry and brought a woman back with him, but she couldn’t think of who would be there.