ts pressed together. Sarah Thompson stood by her father' s grave, the freshly turned earth a raw wound under the gray

s of condolence, the weight of her father' s flag-draped casket, the sudden

ate room off the main hall of the funeral home. Her head throbbed

voice. He

Senator Carter

elevant now." Senator Carter' s tone was like ice. "The Davenport girl, Brittany, her

h caught in her throat,

usiness merger. "I' ll find a polite way to do it soon. Brittany' s a much

sliced through the fog of her grief, leaving behind

e man she was supposed to marry, the man who had held her hand and

r stomach, pushing aside the nausea. They tho