CAITLIN AND I are lying in the claw-foot tub in my bathroom, steam filling the air and fogging the mirrors. The tub is wide enough that she can lie nestled in my left arm, her cheek on my shoulder. The only light comes from a lamp in the corner, throwing strange shadows across the walls and the hardwood floor. Annie has been asleep for an hour, so we decided to risk a bath. Prior to our engagement, Caitlin never spent a whole night here; she was always gone by the time Annie awakened. Now she occasionally stays until morning. Often, though, she leaves after making love, to work late at the paper or simply to pay her staff a visit as the next day’s stories start going up on the website and the print edition gets put to bed.

“How are you going to cover Dad’s arrest?” I ask. “If it happens.”

She takes her time answering. “We’ll have to print it in the police record section. But other than that, I don’t think we’ll do anything.”

“That will probably upset a lot of people. Even if Shad doesn’t press for coverage—”

“He’d better not press for anything. I’ll publish that dogfighting snapshot so fast he won’t have time to get dressed before splitting town.”

I run the fingers of my right hand through her damp hair. “I’m just saying that Viola’s son is likely to make a stink, if his intention is to make it as hard on Dad as he can. Not to mention some black community leaders, and my political enemies among the whites. You won’t be able to keep it out of the paper altogether.”

“Let me ask you something,” she says in a tone that makes me catch my breath. “Do you think Tom slept with Viola back in the day or not?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“How attractive was she?”

“In my memory, she was pretty.”

“One to ten.”

“Uh … eight? Maybe nine.”

“Plus the forbidden-fruit thing, you can’t ignore that.”

“Well … I’ll find out tonight.”

“You’d better assume it’s true, no matter what he says.”

“Why? This is Dad we’re talking about.”

“Yes, but until a DNA test proves otherwise, Shad is going to proceed as though it’s true. I think he must believe it; otherwise he wouldn’t risk you destroying his career.”

“I know.”

“If Tom is arrested, will the judge set bail? Do you know which judge it will be?”