More Than Rivals by Mary Whitney Page B

occasional icy glare. Though time had passed, her insults still stung, and her current attitude only reinforced his recent conclusion that she was a raving bitch. How could she have thought he was talking to her just to screw her over?
    Unfortunately, even if he didn’t want to interact with her, they were at the same events, and he couldn’t tune her out entirely because, after all, she was his opposition. He had to pay attention to what she said in public. The problem was he often liked what she had to say. She was funny, smart, and very gracious, and unlike so many elected officials, she actually cared. She wasn’t faking it. Her facial expressions changed as she listened and spoke, and her speeches were laced with empathy or at least sympathy. He had to remind himself she’d never speak that way  
    He also watched her from afar and saw her private moments with her friends and family. She joked often with Jordan, and they seemed to be more like best friends than candidate and staffer. More than once Jordan caught Jack watching them, so Jack had to immediately stop looking their way. He always wondered if Jordan then mentioned it to Lily.
    Usually her mother or father lurked somewhere in the background. He often couldn’t understand what they said because she’d speak with them in Spanish, but the interactions were interesting. Sometimes her parents seemed like helpful campaign staffers who do as she said when she’d assign a task. Other times, they were the supportive parents of an adult child, standing next to her proudly.  
    But on occasion, the parent-child relationship of years ago must’ve come back to life. While he couldn’t understand the conversation, Lily would sneer or pout, dismissing them like a fifteen year old. Jack always wanted to laugh when they bickered.  
    And then there were Luke sightings. He saw Luke two additional times, and at each, Luke waved to him with a smile, but hung close to his mother. Jack would observe as Lily would place a hand on Luke’s shoulder or smooth the back of his hair. Those loving gestures gnawed at Jack. He regretted being so upset by her behavior. He still thought she was being unreasonable, but if Lily really did think he was out to get her, it made sense she wouldn’t want him around her son. Luke was a great kid, and she only wanted to protect him.  
    A month after their blow-up, Jack was cheery as he strode around the high school auditorium in Marin. Though there were other candidates with ties to Marin, this was his political turf, and with every self-confident handshake and back slap, Jack showed up his opposition. He scanned the room as his opponents introduced themselves to people he’d known for years. It was the most affluent and populated county in the entire congressional district, and Jack’s competition would be lucky to get more than a couple of dollars and handful of votes. Feeling smug, he raised his shoulders in pride of ownership.
    After he finished speaking to some donors and friends of his parents, a bitter sounding voice came from his right. “Well, she’s certainly working that Spanish thing.”
    Jack turned and saw Herb Yancey, standing next to him with his arms crossed in obvious annoyance.
    “Excuse me?” Jack said, his eyes squinting to discover the source of Herb’s attitude.
    “Lily … or Ursula … whoever she is. She’s only half-Spanish, but she talks to every single Spanish speaker she can find.”
    A child of the diverse city of San Francisco, Jack’s racism radar went on red alert. He cleared his throat. “Herb, Lily’s not from Spain.”
    “All those countries are the same, right?”
    “Uh. No. Just because they speak the same language. They’re different countries. Would you say America is the same as Australia?”
    Herb flashed him a look, so Jack continued, “I believe her father emigrated from Mexico. She’s Mexican-American.”
    “Hmpf,” Herb grunted with a snide expression. “Whatever she is