Across the Aisle by Stephanie Vance

Author:Stephanie Vance
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: City Life Fiction; Contemporary American Fiction; Contemporary Women's Fiction; Humor & Satire Fiction; Romantic Comedy; Women's Fiction; American Humorous Fiction; Enemies to Lovers romance; Washington DC; Entangled Publishing; Amara; Single Title Romance; Stand Alone Romance; Across the Aisle by Stephanie Vance, Contemporary Romance; Romantic Comedy; romcom; D.C. insiders, Liberals; Conservatives; Lobbyists; Congress; Congressmen; Congresswomen; Congressional; Bills; Acts; Laws; Baseball; Washington Nationals; Capitol Hill; Senate; Senator; Crossing the Aisle; Fundraising; jazz; Political Romcom; jazz clubs, contemporary, workplace
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2022-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

When Dallas told the driver to take them to the National Cathedral, Grant recoiled, something she noticed because they sat so close.

“So you’re…um…religious? Now I feel bad about taking you to The Exorcist steps.”

Dallas laughed, a little shakily. “Not at all. This isn’t a religious visit. There’s just something in the Cathedral I want to show you.”

As they walked across the grounds and toward the vestibule, Grant stumbled a few times as he gazed around.

“Wow. This is incredible.”

“You haven’t been before?”

“To be honest, no. I always thought it was just a church.”

Dallas took in the space through his eyes. Three generations of stonemasons had created the Cathedral, molding fifteen thousand tons of stone into a three-hundred-foot tall Gothic edifice, complete with one hundred and twelve gargoyles and two hundred and fifteen stained-glass windows.

She turned back to him and he grinned down at her. “You win another point in the ‘Dallas knows DC’ game. So, tell me about this religious edifice that means so much to you.” She caught a flash of raw tenderness in his face that hardened to something like keen interest.

Dallas understood that it was her turn to be brave. He’d taken her hand at the drum circle and in front of the O Street Mansion. In telling her about his experiences in Asia, he’d shared something he’d never told anyone else. She needed to step up.

“For many people, it’s a church. For me, it’s a treasure trove of beautiful architecture and artwork.” Her heart beat fast as she walked through the space. She loved what she was about to show him and didn’t know how she’d keep from crying if he didn’t like it. Doubt overwhelmed her. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why am I doing this?

“Interesting.” He said no more as they passed through the vestibule and she directed them toward the south wall.

They walked through the towering archways, past the Lincoln head pennies embedded in the floor near the Lincoln statue, past Woodrow Wilson’s casket, and down a long hallway under towering arches.

She sighed. “I can practically hear you musing. What do you mean by ‘interesting’?”

He paused for a long moment before answering. “You like searching for treasure, don’t you? The Mansion on O Street. The treasures here. It’s…interesting. You seem like an explorer.”

“Perhaps I am,” she said, stopping to point to one of the stained-glass windows. “Because that’s my favorite one.”

They stood in front of a window of deep blue and green glass adorned with thousands of pinpoints of white along with yellow, red, blue, and white bursts of color swirling around black circles. A small rock sat in the center.

“Wow,” Grant said. Dallas was thrilled to have made him say that twice during this one visit.

“It’s the space window,” she said. “That rock in the center is a moon rock from Apollo 11. The rest of the pattern depicts orbiting planets and stars. It was designed by Rodney Winfield, and it’s the only window here where all three lancets show one image. See?”

She pointed

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