Page 57 of Campaign Season
“The polls?—”
“‘Poll’ is a four-letter word,” Candace said wryly. “Not one I care to repeat.”
Jonathan muffled a yawn, trying to hide it. Candace leaned closer. “Jon, you don’t need to stay up for this.”
“I want to see if you flip that seat,” he said. “Then I’ll turn in.”
“Fair enough.”
“You know what we need for luck?” Jonathan’s eyes twinkled.
Candace grinned. “I’ll get the bottle.”
“The bottle?” Michelle asked suspiciously.
“Jameson,” Candace said, ignoring her daughter. “Grab some glasses, would you?”
“What bottle?” Michelle pressed.
“You’ll see,” Jonathan said, lips twitching.
Candace returned with a heavy amber-filled bottle and set it reverently on the coffee table.
“Holy shit!” Jonah exclaimed. “Is that what I think it is?”
Jonathan tilted his head in confirmation.
“Would someone fill me in?” Michelle demanded.
“Me too,” Melanie added.
“That,” Jonah declared, “is a bottle of Hermitage Siècle d’Or.”
“And that means what to me?” Michelle asked.
“It means that’s a twenty-thousand-dollar bottle of cognac,” Scott said.
“What?” Michelle gawked. “Where the hell did you get that?”
Candace and Jonathan exchanged a conspiratorial smile.
“It was a gift when I got elected,” Candace said.
“From who?”
Candace poured a careful measure into each glass, then held hers up, eyes locking with Jonathan’s.
“To—?”
“To flipping Arizona,” Jonathan said, his grin wide. “May Candy keep kicking ass while Gerry cries in his beer!”
Glasses clinked.
Michelle took a cautious sip and grimaced. “God. It tastes… a hundred.”
Jameson snickered. “Sniff and sip, Shell. It’s not Bartles & Jaymes.”
“Who are Bartles and Jaymes?” Michelle asked. “And why would I drink them?”
