Mirror Image

doing, Tate.” Nelson stood and reached for Zee’s hand. “Let’s go try to calm down our frustrated campaign manager.” They left together.
    Jack was just as agitated as Eddy. He glared at Carole. “Satisfied?”
    “Enough, Jack,” Tate said testily.
    His brother aimed an accusing finger at her. “She’s manipulating you with this good-mother routine.”
    “What goes on between Carole and me is none of your damned business.”
    “Ordinarily, no. But since you’re running for public office, your private life is everybody’s business. Whatever affects the campaign is my business. I’ve devoted years to getting you elected.”
    “And I appreciate everything you’ve done. But today I’m taking an hour off for my daughter’s sake. I don’t think that’s asking too much, and even if it is, don’t give me an argument about it.”
    After casting another hostile glance at Carole, Jack left the suite, slamming the door behind him.
    She came to her feet. “Is that what you think, Tate? That this is just a good-mother routine?”
    The hell of it was that he didn’t know what to think. Since his first sexual conquest at age fifteen, Tate had exercised control over all his relationship with women. Women liked him. He liked them in return. He also respected them. Unlike most men to whom romantic encounters came easily, his friends among the female sex numbered as many as his lovers, although many in the first category secretly lamented that they’d never joined the ranks of the second.
    His most serious involvement had been with a San Antonio divorcée. She sold commercial real estate, very successfully. Tate had lauded her success, but didn’t love her enough to compete with it for her time and attention. She had also made it clear from the beginning that she didn’t want children. After a two-year courtship, they had parted as friends.
    Jack did most of the hiring and firing at their law firm, but when Carole Navarro had applied, he had solicited Tate’s opinion. No living man could look at Carole impassively. Her large, dark eyes captivated his attention, her figure his imagination, her smile his heart. He had given her his stamp of approval and Jack had put her on the payroll as a legal assistant.
    Soon, Tate had violated his own business ethics and invited her out to dinner to celebrate a case the jury had found in favor of their client. She had been charming and flirtatious, but the evening had ended at the door of her apartment with a friendly good-night handshake.
    For weeks, she had kept their dates friendly. One night, when Tate had withstood the buddy system as long as he could, he had taken her in his arms and kissed her. She had returned his kiss with gratifying passion. They made a natural progression to bed, and the sex had been deeply satisfying for both.
    Within three months the law firm had lost an employee, but Tate had gained a wife.
    Her pregnancy came as a shock. He had quickly and agreeably adapted to the idea of having a child sooner than they had planned; Carole had not. She complained of feeling shackled by an unwelcome responsibility. Her engaging smile and infectious laughter became memories.
    Her sexual performance had turned so obligatory that Tate didn’t miss it when it was suspended altogether. They had had blistering arguments. Nothing he did pleased or interested her. Eventually, he gave up trying to and devoted his time and energy to the election, which was still years away.
    As soon as Mandy was born, Carole dedicated herself to getting her figure back. She exercised with fiendish diligence. He wondered why. Then the reason behind the zeal became apparent. He knew almost to the day when she took her first lover. She made no secret of it, nor of any of the infidelities that followed. His defense was indifference, which, by that time, was genuine. In retrospect, he wished he had gone ahead and divorced her then. A clean break might have been better for everybody.
    For months they occupied the same house, but lived separate lives. Then, one night, she had visited him in his room, looking her sexiest. He never knew what had prompted her to come to him that night—probably boredom, maybe spite, maybe the challenge of seducing him. Whatever her reason, sexual abstinence and imprudent drinking with his brother during a poker game had caused him to take advantage of her offer.
    During the blackest hours of their estrangement, he had considered resuming his affair with the