Chapter One

Sarina Hampton was doing her best to not draw attention to herself by clinging to the wall of the art gallery. Sipping a flute of champagne, she knew all eyes would be on her tonight after the scandalous party last weekend where she was photographed after slipping in the hotel fountain at her dad’s re-election campaign fundraiser.

She had tossed a coin in like everyone else. But unlike everyone else, her diamond tennis bracelet chose that moment to come loose and follow the coin into the fountain. Unable to reach the bracelet from the edge of the fountain, Sarina was forced to remove her heels and tip toe into the coin laden fountain to retrieve the expensive piece of jewelry that was very sentimental, having been given to her by her grandmother. It should have been a quick and easy task, with only minor repercussions from the press who took delight in her unfortunate circumstance and photographed her every move.

But nothing was ever quick and easy for Sarina. With bracelet in hand, she turned to walk back to the granite wall to exit the fountain and lost her footing. The slipperiness of the fountain floor caught her off guard and before she knew it she had fallen on her butt in the water, dress ruined, humiliated and camera flashes surrounding her.

It came as no surprise that she graced the front page of every New York newspaper the next morning, lying in a fountain, soaked with streaks of mascara running down her face. Every newspaper had fun with their headlines.

“Senator’s daughter at it again.”

“Socialite goes for a swim.”

“Party girl entertains at daddy’s fundraiser.”

Sarina had been in seclusion all week since that fateful night, wanting to give the newspapers time to find another headline and forget about her. Sarina was never going to live down the reputation that the press forged for her. Party girl. Spoiled brat. Bored Senator’s daughter. She was not any of those but the media couldn’t sell papers writing about a politician’s adult daughter who was good. Scandals sold papers. And Sarina just so happened to always find her way into a scandal. 

Tonight was another fundraiser. It seemed they never stopped. But her father’s Senate race had heated up, mainly thanks to bad press coverage of her and her unfortunate luck. Being present at this fundraiser would show her resolve to face her problems and support her father. And she intended to stay out of the spotlight and clinging to the wall while others mingled suited her just fine.

The world-renowned art gallery situated in the heart of Manhattan had gone through extraordinary lengths to deliver an evening that showcased the works of famous artists while providing her father the opportunity to solicit the millionaires in attendance for campaign donations and support. There were even murmurs of her father having potential to run for President of the United States someday.

Nothing could go wrong at this event, her father had warned. Tired of defending herself for false accusations, Sarina was determined to keep to herself until the evening was over. 

Coming toward her, smirk on his face, was the reporter from the national gossip magazine who had harassed her for the past six months, using her scandals to boost his career. Once a no name freelance reporter, Rex’s photos and stories now fetched huge money in bidding wars between the top gossip magazines in the U.S. She arched her back, ready to face him head on like the predator he was.

“Sarina, always good to see you,” he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Plastering a smile on her face, she spoke calmly. “Wish I could say the same. You shouldn’t be here, Rex. This is a private invitation only event.” He may be dressed in a suit and tie instead of his regular cut jeans and T-shirt, but clothes did not make a man all of the sudden become a nice person.

With his pudgy fingers, Rex wiggled a press pass hanging around his neck. “Seems my employer paid dearly for my attendance.”

She mentally counted to ten, not wanting him to get under her skin. “Well, then, you make sure you enjoy yourself, get your employer’s money’s worth.”

As she stepped around him to walk away, he maneuvered to the right, blocking her escape. “I thought we could spend a few minutes catching up, Sarina.”

She laughed, keeping a forced smile on her face not knowing who was watching. “Why, Rex, dear, you act like we’re friends or something.”

His hand covered his heart. “Aren’t we? You’d break my heart if you said otherwise.”

She rolled her eyes. “As I’ve told you a hundred times before, I have nothing to say to you. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Stepping to the other side, she tried to move away from the pushy reporter. Again, he blocked her exit. She tried to step to the other side and he continued his cat and mouse game. Refusing to play any more of his games, she twirled around leaving her back to him. Instead of having a clear path to freedom, she bumped into an elderly woman speaking with a small group. The woman lost her footing and stumbled backwards as Sarina and two elderly men reached for her to stop her fall. One of the men was successful in grabbing the woman’s hand and kept her from falling. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough to keep the woman from bumping into a marble pedestal holding a ceramic bust.

The large eloquent bust of a mermaid, teetered on the pedestal as Sarina’s eyes popped. The room hushed as all eyes watched the scene unfold.

Nothing could go wrong at this event. Her father’s words rang in Sarina’s ears. With the expensive bust teetering dangerously on the edge, Sarina rushed forward. The bust fell from the pedestal as Sarina dove to catch it, ending up splayed out on the floor in her gown with shards of the bust and her champagne glass broken around her. A collective gasp from the room told Sarina all that she needed to know. She’d be tomorrow’s headline. Again.

Some gentlemen rushed to her side to help her up. Thanking them quietly, she brushed her dress off, unable to hold her head up. She knew what she’d see. Everyone staring at her, whispering about her, judging her.

She faced the woman she had bumped into who was visibly shaken. “I’m so sorry,” Sarina whispered and walked away. She kept her pace slow, even as her feet wanted to run. One glance across the room showed her father watching her, his assistant talking in his ear. Her father didn’t look angry. Angry she could deal with, just let him rant a little. No, he looked disappointed. She’d much rather he be angry than disappointed.

Two of her father’s staff members joined her and escorted her from the building to a waiting limo. The limo would take her to her parents’ home where they would try to do damage control. It was a routine she was all too familiar with. Sarina leaned her head back and ignored the two staff members who huddled across from her devising their plans to tackle yet another one of her scandals.

Why did this always happen to her?

****

Sarina had been wrong. Her father wasn’t just disappointed, he was angry. Senator Theodore Hampton prided himself in always having complete control over his emotions. You wouldn’t be able to tell that now by the way he paced the floor, speaking his mind about the disaster at the art gallery.

“For once, Sarina, I would like to have an evening without you ending up as the next day’s headline,” her father scolded. His six-foot-three frame was lean and trim for his age, with thick gray hair impeccably styled and held in place with hair gel. His sky blue eyes bore into her with a determined glare. Furrowed eyebrows highlighted thin wrinkles on his otherwise flawless skin as she faced his scrutiny.

Sarina stood staring at her father. “I told you, Daddy, there was a reporter harassing me. He wouldn’t let me pass. He’s who you should be angry with, not me.”

Her father grabbed his forehead, other hand resting on his hip. “Oh, Sarina, stop with the excuses. Us Hamptons must deal with the media every day. Yes, they can be a nuisance but that’s no reason to nearly knock over an elderly woman and destroy a very expensive piece of art.”

“Not just any woman, Senator Hampton,” his assistant, Ned Bernake, pointed out. “But from one of New York’s wealthiest families. One that I was about to close a major donation to the campaign,” he said, turning to glare at Sarina.

Ned was tall and lanky and a total suck up to her father, doing his bidding without ever a question. The man would be handsome with his clean cut short brown hair and matching eyes if it weren’t for his snarky attitude, always prevalent when Sarina was the topic.

Ignoring Ned, she spoke to her father. “Daddy, you act like I did that on purpose. All I did was turn from the reporter to walk the other way and accidently bumped into the woman. It was an accident.” She took a steadying breath. “And I tried to save the bust. And what did it get me? Nothing but grief.”

“I’ll tell you what it got you,” he father said. “Tomorrow’s headline on every newspaper in the state. For the second time in a week!”

“I told you I shouldn’t have gone tonight.”

“And, if you didn’t, it would appear that we were hiding you out of embarrassment.”

“Sounds like that’s what you should do. Hide me to keep from embarrassing you anymore,” Sarina said, exhausted and tired of feeling embattled.

Ned got a delirious look on his face, like he was up to something. What was going on in that mind of his?

“That’s perfect,” Ned said, like he’d discovered world peace. “We will hide Sarina.”

Hide Sarina? “What are you talking about, Ned?” she asked, mystified as to where he was going with this.

“Senator, it would be best to keep Sarina from exposing herself to anymore unfortunate incidents.”

“Now that’s an understatement,” the senator said.

“To do that, we get her out of the city for a while,” Ned said, like the plan was unfolding as he spoke. “Staying in New York will only keep her in the spotlight and onto the next inevitable scandal.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Sarina said in her defense. “I don’t look for trouble, Ned.”

“No, it just has an easy time finding you,” he replied and continued talking to her father. “Sarina takes a few weeks out of the city, somewhere the press won’t find her and no one will really know who she is.”

“Where? The moon?” the senator asked, sarcastically. If he was being sarcastic then he was indeed fed up with the situation.

“Even better,” Ned said with a wide smile. “Vermont.”

“Vermont?” Sarina and her father said in unison.

Ned answered his cell phone and quickly ended the conversation. “That was a close source who just saw tomorrow’s papers. The stories say Sarina’s daddy will write a check to get her out of the mess. It’s as bad as we expected. Being election time, Senator, you can’t afford any more problems from Sarina, whether they’re her fault or not.”

“Why Vermont?” the senator asked.

“I have family, a cousin, who owns a dairy farm in a small town. He has plenty of room to host Sarina for a few weeks. We pay him well and it will solve our problems.”

“A dairy farm,” Sarina said, hands on her hips. “What am I going to do on a dairy farm?”

“Hopefully stay out of trouble,” her father said.

“We really have no other options other than to keep the press from getting to Sarina,” Ned explained. “Vermont is beautiful this time of year. There’s the foliage and harvest time. And most of all, privacy.”

Ned looked like he was enjoying this way too much, planning her exile to a dairy farm to be rid of her.

Sarina spoke up hoping to rely on reasoning to stop this madness. “Daddy, I am not going to Vermont. I will stay and face the controversy and move past it.”

“Move past it?” her father asked, his voice strong. “Until when? Your next controversy? You’re twenty-seven years old, Sarina. People expect more. No, Ned is right. We need to get you out of the city. Immediately. And it should look like it was already scheduled and not a reaction to tonight.”

“But, Daddy-”

“Sorry, Sarina. It’s for the best. Think of it as a mini vacation. My political rivals are eating this up and taking time and attention away from real issues. I need to focus on the campaign and not on putting out fires started by your escapades.”

Her mother entered the room in a whirlwind of concern. “Sarina, are you alright?” Beverly Hampton was a force of glamour and sophistication, something both her parents wished had worn off on Sarina. While Sarina inherited her mother’s beauty, she failed miserably in the sophistication section through no fault of her own. Beverly Hampton was always in control of her emotions. Her slender figure kept its shape through vigorous exercise and healthy eating habits and boasted an emerald evening gown sequined to light up a room. Long blond hair swept up in a fanciful style matched Sarina’s, although Sarina suspected her mother had help from artificial means now that she was aging. Still, the woman stood a picture of perfection with her golden brown eyes holding sorrow and concern.

Sarina allowed her mother to smother her in an embrace. “Yes, I am fine.”

“I would have left with you, but your father thought it was best that I stay behind to see our guests off.” She turned to her husband, her height inches shorter than him even with stiletto heels. “Theodore, I think I calmed many people’s fears tonight. You’ll be getting personal phone calls in the coming days from attendees wanting to further discuss the campaign.”

Her mother’s sweet demeanor could calm any situation. For a politician’s wife, she had the unusual reputation of being honest and caring, two attributes that went a long way in the high-class circles of New York’s political world.

“Thank you, Beverly,” he replied, giving her a light kiss on her cheek.

Ned spoke up. “Senator, if you want I will phone my cousin right now and make the necessary arrangements.”

“Yes, make the arrangements for her to arrive first thing in the morning.”

Ned dialed his cell, stepping from the room.

“What’s this?” Beverly asked, looking from Ned to her husband.

“Daddy wants to hide me away in Vermont.”

Beverly’s hand covered her heart. “Theodore, is that really necessary?”

“It is. For her own good as well as the campaign’s. It’s only for a few weeks until the election is over. You can’t keep coddling her, Beverly. Actions have consequences and, quite frankly, I’m tired of those consequences damaging my campaign.”

Her mother took a moment to contemplate her father’s words. She may voice her opinion from time to time but rarely strayed from what her husband decided.

Grasping Sarina’s hands, Beverly spoke in a quiet voice. “Sarina, I know the situation isn’t ideal, but your father is right. I believe you that the reporter was antagonizing you tonight and this was a huge accident. But you will remain the focus of these deviants until the election is over. So, take this time away to relax, focus on yourself and when you come back, you’ll see this has all blown over and you can start fresh.”

Her mother’s voice of reason always made sense. It comforted Sarina in ways she couldn’t explain. Her mother was probably the one person who truly believed Sarina was jinxed with bad luck and wrong-place-wrong-time syndrome.

Sarina sighed, accepting the plan as the best option to put this all behind her. She could handle a few weeks in a small town embracing anonymity. She would treat it like being undercover, taking time off from being in the spotlight with everyone knowing who she was, who her family was.

“Sarina, you’re not to tell anyone where you are. Tell your friends that you’re on a much needed spiritual retreat to refocus your passions in life.”

Her friends were too nosy to believe any of that.

Ned walked back into the room. “Senator, we’re all set. Jack will be expecting her first thing in the morning. Since it’s a six hour drive we should get her on the road within the hour.”

“Six hour drive?” she complained. “I need time to pack. Why are we not taking a flight?”

“Ah, there’s no airport anywhere close to my cousin’s house. Much easier to drive.”

“For who? I don’t want to be stuck in a car for six hours.”

“Sarina, you will cooperate in all aspects of this plan or I’ll cut off your money, credit cards, everything.”

Well, that hardly seemed fair. “Daddy, I said I’ll do this so no need to bully me. I need to pack.”

“We’ll have a driver bring you to Cattlebury,” Ned explained. “This way we ensure you arrive without further incidents. I’ve arranged for a rental car to be left at the farm for your arrival. It’s necessary to have a vehicle in Vermont since nothing is in walking distance. This time of year can be colder than New York so you will want to bring appropriate attire.”

Sarina glared at him as she walked to the stairs. “Ned, why don’t you be appropriate and make yourself invisible?”

Ned smiled like he’d won a battle. “Be ready by one.”

One in the morning traveling to Vermont. Good grief. Sarina trudged up the stairs, holding her gown to not trip. At least she had a driver so she could sleep on the way there. And she planned to sleep the entire time she was in Vermont, waking up when it was time to come home.

Coming Soon!