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showed up.”
    The laugh almost slipped out before Gray could stifle it. He knew the situation wasn’t funny. But sometimes, well, you just had to laugh. Like the time when Dad was still living at the governor’s mansion, escaped his nurses, and mooned an entire busload of tourists. . . .
    “Governor, I have to tell you, we’re getting complaints. He seems increasingly agitated, and the doctor is wanting to change some of his meds.”
    The laughter subsided. He knew what she was saying. “What do you think, Harriet? You know I trust you.” And he did. The last five years of overseeing his father’s care through his slow decline, even before they put him in the nursing home, had earned her that confidence.
    “I think it’s time to up the meds.”
    Gray sighed. “Okay, I’ll talk to the doc about it. And I’ll come by tonight to see Dad.”
    “He’d like that.”
    He hung up the phone and took the back exit out of his office. He wasn’t exactly embarrassed by his tryst with Mack, but he’d just as soon not look Sarah in the eye before he left for his meeting with the Joint Select Committee on Education Oversight.

    The meeting room was bustling with activity when Gray arrived. The high-backed tan leather chairs sat at attention around the mahogany tables as if aware that what went on within these four walls was important. Democrats and Republicans from both houses were there, along with three members of the Tennessee Education Association. The Speaker of the house was in one corner talking to Fletcher while Kurt poured what Gray was sure was his tenth cup of coffee. Assistants buzzed around the walls like bees waiting to swarm. The committee members offered their hellos and took their seats around the table when Gray entered.
    Gray tried hard to be a leader who led by example. He didn’t ask his staff to do anything that he wasn’t willing to do himself. When he asked them to cut their budgets, he cut his. When he asked them to stay late, he stayed late too. When he asked them tough questions, they could be assured he had already asked those questions of himself. That style of leadership had gradually earned him a level of respect from both parties. Respect was what had them here today, in a month when the General Assembly wasn’t usually in session.
    The economy had plagued him since his arrival. Every item on the state budget, from schools to highways, seemed to be hemorrhaging money, and Gray had been forced to get drastic in his measures—such as the controversial release of nonviolent prisoners—to stop the flow. More still had to be done—and done now. Despite small signs that the economy was improving, a government shutdown was still a possibility. Schools were also having to tighten the belt strap—the reason for this week’s emergency session.
    Gray had to give the committee members credit when it came to the reform bill that was coming up for a special vote on Wednesday. They had all worked diligently to avoid hindering teachers’ ability to actually teach. But it had taken months to get everyone here and remotely happy.
    “Mr. Governor,” Speaker Norm Johnson began, his white hair a measure of his tenure and his Southern drawl a measure of his roots, “there are some teachers who are furious about this here legislation.”
    Gray shook his head. He had read each of the hundreds of letters he had received about the bill—pro, con, and in between.
    “Plenty of ’em love it as well.” Ted Lamont, the house majority leader, tugged at the back of his toupee as he spoke, a nervous habit that indicated he didn’t like the way a conversation was headed.
    The three TEA members sat across from him, taking in the beginning dialogue without offering any words of their own. They had submitted their thoughts in writing months ago, and today was more about formalities. It was a final consensus meeting before the bill came up for a vote in the General Assembly.
    Speaker Johnson continued. “We do