Read Online Mirror Image by Sandra Brown - Free Book Online

shouldn’t expect too much from Mandy.”
    “I say ditto.”
    “I’m not angry with Mandy for not performing on command,” he snapped irritably. “That’s what the psychologist implied, and it made me mad as hell. But my little girl sits and stares like she’s got the weight of the world on her shoulders, and that’s just not normal behavior for a three-year-old.”
    “Neither is living through a plane crash,” Eddy pointed out reasonably. “Her emotional wounds aren’t going to heal overnight, any more than her physical ones will.”
    “I know. It’s just… hell, Eddy, I don’t know if I can be what Carole and Mandy and the voting public need, all at the same time.”
    Eddy’s greatest fear was that Tate would second-guess his decision to remain in the race. When Jack had told him that there were rumors in journalistic circles of Tate withdrawing from the race, he’d wanted to hunt down the gossiping reporters and kill them single-handedly. Luckily, Tate hadn’t heard the rumors. Eddy had to keep the candidate’s fighting spirit high.
    Sitting forward, he said, “You remember the time you played in that fraternity tennis tournament and won it for us our sophomore year?”
    Tate regarded him blankly. “Vaguely.”
    “Vaguely,” Eddy scoffed. “The reason the recollection is dim is because you had such a hangover. You’d forgotten all about the tournament and had spent the previous night drinking beer and banging a Delta Gamma. I had to rout you out of her bed, get you into a cold shower and onto the court by nine o’clock to keep us from getting a forfeit.”
    Tate was chuckling with self-derision. “Is this story going somewhere? Does it have a point?”
    “The point is,” Eddy said, scooting farther forward so that his hips were barely on the edge of the bed, “that you came through, under the worst possible conditions, because you knew you had to. You were the only chance we had of winning that tournament and you knew it. You won it for us, even though minutes before your first match you were massaging your blue balls and puking up two six-packs of beer.”
    “This is different from a college tennis tournament.”
    “But you,” Eddy said, aiming an index finger at him, “are exactly the same. Since I’ve known you, you’ve never failed to rise to the occasion. Through those two years we spent together at UT, through flight training, through Nam, when you were carrying me out of that goddamn jungle, when have you ever failed to be a fucking hero?”
    “I don’t want to be a hero. I just want to be an effective congressman for the people of Texas.”
    “And you will be.”
    Slapping his knees as though an important decision had been reached, Eddy stood up and set his empty beer can on the dresser. Tate stood up, too, and he happened to catch a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror.
    “Good God.” He ran his hand over the heavy stubble on his jaw. “Who’d vote for
that
? Why didn’t you tell me I looked so bad?”
    “I didn’t have the heart.” Eddy slapped him lightly between the shoulder blades. “All you need is some rest. And I recommend a close shave in the morning.”
    “I’ll be leaving for the hospital early. They told me that Carole will be taken out of the recovery room about six and moved into a private room. I want to be there.”
    Eddy studied the shiny toes of his shoes for a moment before raising his eyes to his slightly taller friend. “The way you’re sticking so close to her through this—well, uh, I think it’s damned admirable.”
    Tate bobbed his head once, tersely. “Thanks.”
    Eddy started to say more, thought better of it, and gave Tate’s arm a companionable slap. Tate wouldn’t welcome marriage counseling from anyone, but especially not from a bachelor.
    “I’ll leave and let you get to bed. Stay in touch tomorrow. We’ll be standing by for word on Carole’s condition.”
    “How are things at home?”
    “Status quo.”
    “Jack said