The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones Page A

stage back to her chair. Lola sat in the chair beside hers. Picking up the doll, Mackenzie hurried from the auditorium into the bathroom. She pulled a thermometer from her purse and took her temperature. The baby-making hour was upon her. And she had two more appointments before it was time to pick up Maddie. She returned the thermometer to her yellow leather handbag and exited the bathroom.
    She couldn’t skip the after-luncheon conversations, but she moved more quickly through them than usual. When the door of her car finally closed, she set Lola between her and Jessica, noting the stickiness in Lola’s wiry blonde hair and wondering how many layers of syrup were actually in there.
    “I need to make a change on our itinerary today,” she said, knowing the mere mention of a scheduling blip would make her assistant squirm. But she’d warned Jessica when she and Gray started their new round of fertility drugs that on certain days the schedule would just have to bend. Thankfully, Jessica hadn’t asked a lot of questions and, for the most part, had handled it well. She twitched a little more, but Mackenzie could deal with that.
    Now Jessica tugged at her skirt as if that would fix what she was about to have to undo. “Are we talking change everything or just an appointment?”
    “Well, what’s Gray’s schedule today?”
    Jessica reached into her portfolio and pulled out a piece of paper. “He’s just finishing up his Monday afternoon lunch briefing. And he has a two o’clock meeting with the joint Education Oversight committee and the TEA.”
    Mackenzie glanced at her watch. It was one fifteen, and Gray’s office was only a ten-minute drive away. That gave them thirty minutes before Gray had to leave for his meeting.
    “Perfect,” she said. “Let’s head to the capitol. Move my meeting with the Child Advocacy Coalition to another day this week if they can. Let them know I’m really sorry, but this is something that can’t be avoided. Ask Chandra if we can talk first thing tomorrow. Then we can move the meeting with Chef Robert to after I pick Maddie up, and all will be well.”
    By the sound of Jessica’s voice as she began her conversation with their one thirty, she guessed that all was not quite as well with Jessica.

    As many times as Mackenzie had visited the Tennessee state capitol building, she always felt a little twinge of pride when she approached it. Finished in 1859, the white limestone Greek Revival building—one of only eleven state capitols without a dome—had served as a fortress during the Civil War and still struck a dignified presence amid the bustle of downtown Nashville.
    Their car pulled into the underground entrance. Mackenzie had already made Gray aware that she was coming and that her intentions were completely sordid. He had laughed out loud—and told her that was exactly what he had wanted to add to his day. Though he sometimes wearied of the demands the fertility treatments made on their life, he never objected to impromptu visits like this.
    She made her way straight to his office, having encouraged Jessica to take a thirty-minute break. She knew her assistant was incapable of taking time off, however, so she supposed Jessica would find a place to work. Mackenzie had considered forcing the woman to take a vacation, but she feared a complete emotional breakdown would ensue.
    “Good afternoon, Mrs. London.” The senators from Memphis and Clarksville greeted her as she hurried up the elegant hallway.
    “Good afternoon, Stan, John. Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday night. Tell Jane and Meredith I can’t wait to see them either.” She took two more strides toward Gray’s office, then turned. “John, how did Carlton do in his cross-country meet? I forgot to ask Meredith.”
    The senator’s eyes registered surprise. “He was in the top ten.”
    “Tell him great job.”
    “I’ll do it.”
    The thickness of the navy carpet stopped the noise of her heels as she entered