Piazza - Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2018 by Johanna Aster

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First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition July 2018

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Interior design by Carly Loman

Jacket design by Zak Tebbal

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Piazza, Jo, author.

Title: Charlotte Walsh likes to win : a novel / Jo Piazza.

Description: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster, July 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017057730 | ISBN 9781501179419 (hardback) | ISBN 9781501179433 (trade paper) | ISBN 9781501179426 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: Women politiciansFiction. | Working mothersFiction. | MarriageFiction. | WomenUnited StatesFiction. | Political fiction. |

BISAC: FICTION / Contemporary Women. | FICTION / Family Life. | FICTION / Political.

Classification: LCC PS3616.I214 C47 2018 | DDC 813/.6dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017057730

ISBN 978-1-5011-7941-9

ISBN 978-1-5011-7942-6 (ebook)

For CharlieMay you grow up to be the kind of man who wants women to win

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.

M ARGARET T HATCHER

If I didnt define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other peoples fantasies for me and eaten alive.

A UDRE L ORDE

Tell people one true thing before you tell them a lie. Then it will be easier for them to believe the lie.

It wasnt the best advice Marty Walsh ever gave to his daughter Charlotte, but it had stuck with her for almost forty years. Marty had been a garbage collector by trade, though he insisted sanitation specialist had a smarter ring to it. He wasnt a successful man by most peoples standards and he died drunk in his bed before his fiftieth birthday. Now his daughter was running for the United States Senate and Martys words held a new utility for her.

Charlotte hadnt expected her campaign to begin with an interrogationan aggressive one at thatbut the questions just kept coming.

Have you ever used any drugs besides pot?

No.

Paid any undocumented workers under the table?

Nope.

Ever killed anyone?

Not yet.

Ever get an abortion?

No.

Infidelity in your marriage? Affairs? Secret ex-husband?

I love my husband. We dont have anything to hide. One of those things is true. Charlotte punctuated her sentence with a chuckle, hoping the laughter would sooth her nerves and add confidence to her answer.

Josh Pratt, who if all went well today would sign on to be her campaign manager, twisted his mouth in a way that told Charlotte he wasnt sure he believed her. He had a tiny blob of something yellow, maybe mustard, on the side of his thin lips. As he asked his questions, Charlotte had a hard time focusing on anything except for the golden dribble.

Im running for national political office, she wanted to answer back. Ask me my thoughts on immigration, on the flat tax, on school vouchers, abortion rights. How much do I think we can raise the minimum wage? Can I bring more jobs to Pennsylvania? Will I create more affordable housing? Will I fight for college tuition assistance? What do I think about trade with the Chinese? Why does my marriage matter?

Youre thinking, Why does it matter? Why does your husband matter? Josh read her mind. Your husband matters. Your marriage matters. As a woman, you bear the burden of having to appear to be charismatic, smart, well-groomed, nice, but not too nice. If youre married, you need to look happily married. If you have kids, you should be the mother of the year.

Goddammit. Its 2017. There are plenty of women in Congress. A woman ran for president. It shouldnt matter that I dont have a penis. Charlotte rolled her eyes. Its unbelievable that we have to deal with that kind of shit anymore.

Well, Im sorry, but it matters a lot. Josh shot her a stoic stare. You do still have to deal with this shit. No one likes to say that out loud, but its true. Youre running in a state thats never elected a woman to the Senate or as governor. That should tell you something.

Tug Slaughter is a serial philanderer, Charlotte fired back at Josh. Pennsylvanias longtime incumbent senator Ted Tug Slaughter had been married three timeshis current wife was thirty-five years younger than he. The man was a walking clich. For more than forty years, Slaughter had reigned as the senior senator from the state. Most men in Congress would be easy to miss in a crowd. Not Slaughter. Pushing eighty, the man still oozed raw ego. He was known to strip his shirt off and perform sit-ups onstage at events. Just last month hed climbed the trestle of the Black Bridge in Marshfield Station with a pack of teenagers and leapt into the icy Delaware River below. Last winter he announced that he donated a kidney to a complete stranger hed met at an Eagles game.

Its true, Tug does more cocktail waitresses than he does lawmaking, but hes not the one who needs to create a legitimate candidacy. You do. Josh had an answer for everything.

Thats bullshit.

Charlotte drummed her nails on her desktop, an expensive slab of glass through which she could see her boot tapping the wooden floor. Shed flown Josh here to Palo Alto from Philadelphia on her dime to convince him to run her campaign. Hed insisted on first class because he knew she could afford it, and Charlotte took this as a sign that he didnt think he needed to impress her. All the right people told Charlotte that hiring Josh, a political wunderkind with four consecutive congressional wins under his belt, could give her a solid shot at winning. She needed him more than he needed her money, though she knew that if he said yes to working with her, she would be paying him in the high six figures for a little more than a year.