Addison turned up the sound on her phone, despite the others’ groans.
“We need to know what they’re saying about us so we can counter it.”
“Angus and Win,” the female announcer was saying. “I mean, come on—Win’s family could buy a ranch like Base Camp five times over. So who cares if they win it or not? They can reproduce their community somewhere else if they lose.”
“Her family is pretty shady, though, Marla. I hear Win hasn’t talked to her parents in months, and can you blame her? What kind of sick parents arrange for their own daughter’s kidnapping, not once but twice? Angus ought to be on his guard. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, you know. When they have children of their own, I’d sleep with one eye open if I was him.” The male announcer chuckled. “Who knows what she’ll get up to with them.”
“Is he implying I’ll keep up the family tradition and start kidnapping my own kids?” Win cried.
“For a bunch of do-gooders, they sure are a barrel of rotten apples, Paul,” Marla agreed. “Take Leslie and Byron. They’re not even supposed to be on the show! Byron’s a cameraman. Leslie’s one of the ‘backup brides’ we keep hearing about who never actually marry anyone.”
“She’s going to marry Byron,” Paul pointed out.
“Maybe. They’re sure taking their time about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just a hoax the directors cooked up to keep the rest of those backup brides from continuing to picket the show. Bet you the minute the show is over, Byron kicks her to the curb and finds someone more suitable.”
“More suitable?” Leslie echoed. “There’s no one more suitable for Byron than me, and I’d like to see that Marla woman try to find someone better. She could search everywhere, in all fifty states and the territories—even Puerto Rico! Did you know that people in Puerto Rico are US citizens, but they can’t vote for president because Puerto Rico is a territory, but if they move to any of the fifty states, which they can at any time, of course, because they’re US citizens, they can vote for president because they are in a state, which doesn’t make any sense to me. Either you’re a citizen or you’re not, and citizens should be able to vote no matter where they are, and what about those people in Washington, DC? It’s a district, not a state. Does anyone actually live in Washington, DC, or do they all have homes somewhere else like representatives and senators and just go to Washington when the government is in session? But what about all the houses and stores and restaurants there. Someone has to keep them all running, and they can’t just stop and empty out anytime Congress isn’t in session, and anyway the president lives there, and he or she has to be able to vote, right? So—”
Savannah grabbed the phone from Addison’s hands and tapped at it until the broadcast stopped.
“I am so done with Star News!” she proclaimed. “And you’re perfect for Byron, Leslie,” she added.
“And people in Washington, DC, do get to vote for president,” Nora said. “The district gets as many electoral votes as the least populous state does. They don’t have any representatives or senators, though, so they’re not represented in Congress.”
“And it’s not just Puerto Ricans who don’t get to vote when they live in Puerto Rico,” Win piped up. “No US citizen living in Puerto Rico gets to vote in a federal election, even if they were born in Texas or Montana or anywhere else.”
“Which is really strange because when a US citizen lives in a foreign country, they absolutely get to vote in US federal elections,” Addison said. “Unless the last place they lived before moving abroad was Puerto Rico, I guess.”
“I’ve got to go see what Brody’s up to.” The political discussion was making Avery’s head spin, and she was desperate to escape it, even if she had no real intent to actually track down the man. No sooner had she said the words than she spotted him heading her way, breaking off from another work group making for the bunkhouse.
“Damn that Boone,” he called out before he even reached her. “He keeps giving me the worst chores on the place, and what does he mean by assigning me to a different work group than the one you’re in?”
“I don’t know,” she said innocently. Bless Boone, he was doing his best to make this easier for her.
“If you think you’re going to scare me off with a little hard work, you’re wrong.”
“We all work hard around here, but this kind of place isn’t for everyone. You could admit our marriage is fake and help get it annulled. Then you could be on your way.”
Leslie’s recommendation to wave him like a red flag in front of their intruder came to mind, and she had to admit she was tempted. There’d been another sighting a couple of nights ago. Nearly all the men patrolled through the dark hours, which meant everyone was losing sleep. Avery wondered if Montague was behind it, trying to slowly drive them mad playing whackamole with a man who refused to be caught.
“I don’t want to be on my way. I came here to be with you. Looks like you ladies are having a much better time than I’ve been having. What’s going on here? Why all the cameras?” He raised a hand to settle his hat on his head at a different angle.
“Just talking about Star News. They keep trying to make us look bad,” Riley said.
“Well, you know what I always say—all publicity is good publicity!”
Savannah let out an exasperated sigh. “What is it you do again? Because you’re not very good at ranch chores, obviously.”
Brody puffed out his chest. “I’m a country singer. I’ll play you a tune tonight. See if you like what I’ve got. You won’t be disappointed.”
“I wouldn’t be disappointed if you fell off
