A Political Affair (37 page)

When Helen woke up that morning, she started her day as she always did and immediately picked up her phone. The number of messages surprised her, so she went to the first from her state director back in Idaho, Joe Riggs. Next to her chief of staff in D.C., Joe was her closest confidant. Since he lived a few time zones away, he often had news that came in after she’d gone to bed.

Catching her breath in shock, she placed her right hand on her chest as she read Joe’s first text.
 

Unbelievable! McEvoy eloped w/ his intern on Sat. Announcing today. Rumor is she’s pregnant. Another Dem bites the dust!
 

She scanned her remaining texts and e-mails; every one of them was about the scandal. She gasped aloud, “Oh my God. What did Stephen do?”

At once, she turned on the television, and Fox News appeared. The plastic morning news show personalities filled up airtime by picking apart Stephen and Anne’s
Denver Post
interview, which posted online only hours earlier. As the female announcer read a quote from Stephen or Anne, her male counterpart batted it down.
 

“Let’s be honest here. Senator McEvoy has been quite the high-profile ladies’ man. He’s been linked to everyone from Hollywood starlets to Members of Congress. Why would he pick an intern to marry unless there was something else going on? Is she pregnant? The interviewer never really asked.

Only a few months ago, actress Jennifer Hamilton called the senator her, and I quote, ‘boyfriend.’ Now, she’s saying it was just to get some animal-rights bill through Congress. Was he seeing both of them?

The senator started seeing this girl while she worked in his office. You have to wonder if he’s been with other staffers. Is this really a one-time incident? That’s not usually the way these things turn out. The Senate Ethics Committee is going to have to investigate.

How will the voters in Colorado view a sex scandal? Is this the kind of behavior they want in a senator? Not many voters in the United States would put up with this. After all, this is America, not France.”

With the chatter in the background, Helen raced through her other messages and listened to voice mails. As she learned more, she wondered if they’d gotten married because they’d been found out or if Anne was pregnant.
 

When her phone rang, it showed her fiancé’s name. She let it go into voice mail. He probably wanted to gossip, but he wouldn’t have any new information. Instead, she tapped away on her phone and pulled up the newspaper interview.

She shook her head as she read because Stephen came across as completely honest. When she finished, she was shocked. “I think he’s in love with her.”

Her lip curled in disgust.
Why would he want her when he could be with me? Everyone wants to be with me.
She wondered if Stephen married her in part because she’d disclosed Anne’s name to Walter, but she felt no guilt.

“Serves him right,” she said to the empty room.

A few hours later, the briefing room inside the Denver Federal Building was packed with local, national, and international media holding cameras, microphones, and reporters’ tablets. The small space was loud as they shared information with one another and awaited the start of the press conference.
 

In the anteroom, the McEvoy and Norwood families spoke in hushed tones, and Anne rubbed the sweat off her hands. Looking down, she squinted with anxiety and centered herself with a deep breath of determination.

Ever punctual at nine sharp, Stephen led Anne into the room, with Greg and the rest of the McEvoy and Norwood clans filing in behind them. Stephen looked his daily senatorial self in a dark blue suit, white shirt, and red tie. He stood at the podium with Anne at his side. She looked svelte in a pencil skirt, with a wide belt tightly cinched to counter any pregnancy comments. Stephen wasted no time in making his statement.

“Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming for what we view as a very happy announcement. We’d like to make short statements and then open it up for questions.” Letting the press corps nod in agreement, he said, “I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Anne Norwood McEvoy.” Pausing for a moment and beaming with pride, he looked at her, and they shared a smile. “We married on Saturday at my family’s cabin in West Virginia. A longtime family friend, Federal Judge Worthington Clements, performed the ceremony. Our witnesses were my father’s best friend, former colleague, and my current colleague in the Senate, Senator Grayson York and his wife, Laura. It was important to me to have a reminder of my father at our wedding, as his presence has weighed heavily on my mind since I first met Anne. It’s true Anne worked as an intern in my office. I was taken from the moment we first met, but I denied my feelings for her. I continually asked myself, ‘What would my father do?’ The answer was always the same. Patrick McEvoy would stay away from such a politically dangerous relationship.

“It was only when I found myself in too deep with Anne that I spoke with my mother, Lillian McEvoy, who eventually gave me the opposite answer. As she can tell you herself, above all, my father would want me to be happy. After spending time with Anne, she said if my happiness depended on pursuing a relationship with Anne, then I should do just that. Anne and I started off as friends, sharing a love of the outdoors, public service, books, and our families. I mention our families since we had a bit of an old-fashioned courtship, with my family almost always around us. With so much in common, our relationship soon turned romantic. In December, I sat down with her family and told them I had every intention of marrying Anne one day. That day came this past Saturday, and I’ve never been happier.”

Smiling again at Anne, he moved aside and offered her microphone. She’d been coached for two hours that morning by Megan and Patty. While still anxious about the spectacle of it all, she was confident about her prepared remarks. They were short and written in her own voice, rather than public-relations speak, and they showed her to be a very normal, down-to-earth person.
 

She happily greeted the room. “Good morning. Please, first let me apologize if I stumble. I’m not accustomed to making headlines.” The line was perfect, showing her as both humble and humorous.
 

“I’m also happy to be here today as we announce our marriage with our families at our side. I never expected my life would turn out as it has, but I feel very fortunate to have met my husband so early in life. I know many will say ours was a whirlwind romance, and it will never last. I look forward to proving them wrong.” Laughter filled the room in response, and she waited for the chuckling to die down. “I went into this relationship with my eyes wide open to the risk I was taking, both to my personal reputation and future career. I quickly realized, though, that I’d make no greater mistake in my life if I didn’t spend the rest of it with Stephen. Of course, I could say more, but I’m sure you have questions for all of us.”

Anne stepped aside, and Stephen moved to the microphone to field the onslaught of questions, answering each one—no matter how personal.

“Could you tell us more about the timing of the relationship?”

“We started seeing each other in late October, early November.”

“When did the relationship become inappropriate?”

“The relationship was never inappropriate. Internally, we followed all the rules and simple good judgment. My chief of staff talked with Anne to ensure it was a consensual relationship. While we kept the relationship private, our families were well aware, as were some friends.”

“According to press accounts, you were seeing other women last fall. When did you stop?”

“As soon as I set my mind to be with Anne.”
 

“Just a few months ago, actress Jennifer Hamilton said you two were still dating.”

“Well, she was wrong.”

“Why did you elope?” The local news station poked further. “What does it say that you didn’t marry in Colorado?”

“Obviously, I couldn’t get a marriage license in Colorado without it becoming public, and a public wedding would be a news event. We were lucky to have a private ceremony, even if it meant that our families weren’t there.”

“How do you respond to the comments that you only married to avoid a scandal?”

“Considering the hundreds of millions of people who will hear about our marriage, I’d say we haven’t avoided public scrutiny.”

“Are you worried about the Senate Ethics Committee investigating you?”

“Not at all. I have nothing to hide, and I’ve broken no law.”

“Why did Anne continue to work for you after you started dating?”

“Quitting really wouldn’t have solved anything. Suspicions would still be raised. The fact she’d worked for me would still hang over us.”

“Are you concerned about the impact this scandal will have on your reelection?”

“No, because it’s not a scandal.”

“You said that your friendship changed to a romantic relationship. What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means? It went from a platonic relationship to a romantic relationship. I’m not going to elaborate more than that.”

“The timing seems odd to many people. Is there any other reason why you married?”

“Other than we love each other? No.” He looked at Megan with her hands clasped over her baby bump. Beside her, Lillian beamed at the room. “My mother is expecting only one grandchild.” Stephen smiled. “I’m sure others want to speak for themselves. I’ll let you ask questions of Anne and our families.”

The local ABC affiliate pounced on Elton next, and Anne held her breath. Elton refused to be coached, saying he talked to the press all the time. The reporter asked a deadly question. “What did you think when Senator McEvoy first came to your house?”

“I thought it was peculiar.”

“But what about when he announced his intentions with your young daughter? He’s ten years her senior and her boss. You must have thought something of that.”

“Like any father, I wanted to kill him.” The room gasped, while Elton simply said matter-of-factly, “But in the end, my daughter is an adult. It’s her choice who she spends her time with, and eventually, I saw him differently.”

“Mr. Norwood, you’re a Republican elected official, but you’re now related to the McEvoy family by marriage. Who are you going to endorse in the senate race?”

“No one today,” Elton quipped. “And that’s all I’m saying on the matter. Don’t even try to ask it again.”

Anne smiled at her father in relief at his comments.

It was then Mary Beth’s turn for a question. “Mrs. Norwood, how do you feel?”

“It’s not how I would’ve planned things for Anne, but it’s her life. She’s happy, and we support her.” She smiled for the cameras. “As for the elopement, I think it’s terribly romantic, don’t you?”

As the questions dwindled, an ITN reporter directed a question to Marco. “Mr. Zamora, you’re a State Department Official. Does the Administration have a statement?”

“I’m here as a brother-in-law, not in my professional capacity, and I’m also a career diplomat, rather than a political appointee. And I will say, in my career of traveling overseas, I’ve consistently heard the question, ‘Why do Americans care so much about a politician’s sex life?’ I’ve never found a good answer.”
 

When he uttered the word “sex,” Anne’s eyes widened, and she glanced at Megan. Megan shot her husband a fierce look. As another reporter asked a softball question of Mary Beth, Marco shrugged and whispered, “I think it needed to be said.”

When the press conference ended, the McEvoys met in Stephen’s office conference room to review the remaining press strategy. As Megan laid out the additional interviews, Patty stared at the television, monitoring the current news. “Not bad, all things considered,” she said. Her smile quickly disappeared, when a commercial came on the screen. “Well, shit. They wasted no time,” she muttered. She adjusted the volume, turning everyone’s attention to the commercial.
 

The room gasped when Anne’s innocent-looking high school yearbook photo came on the screen. And everyone was instantly silenced as the commercial’s narrator read the caption below Anne’s photo. “Stephen McEvoy. Sexual Predator.”