“Ok, what if I could give you political cover?” Logan asked.
“You’re asking me to pass a bill while only making the concessions that would help my family and the other millionaires who own houses with that view? I’m not seeing much political cover there. In fact, I’m seeing the basis of the next campaign against me. I can’t run as the guy who helped the environment if I can’t make a few sacrifices myself.”
“So make some sacrifices,” Logan said.
“I’m going to, but this takes time.”
“I don’t have time,” Logan said.
“Maybe it’s time you learned that the world doesn’t revolve around you, Logan.” Jack shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. “I’m trying to do good here, and it’s going to take months and months to win everyone over to the idea of wind power in Nantucket Sound.”
“What if my father’s nonprofit came back into the process and asked that the windmills be taken out of this law. The rest would still be there right? It would still have a positive impact.”
“That was a big part of the law. I don’t know if it’s worth passing without them.”
“So they can request that the windmill plan undergo further review,” Logan said. “They can do something like state their desire to mitigate any possible concerns about adverse environmental impact. Would that work?”
“Trust me when I say it was difficult for me to do this.” Jack still hadn’t said no. That was a positive sign. “What if you brought that idea back to your district? Could you spin it?”
“I’d need some support. That could work though. We split out the provisions for wind power and place them in another bill after the recess.”
“If I deliver the revised recommendation from my father’s nonprofit, can you deliver the rest?”
“I can try, but I need to know something first,” Jack said.
“Sure what is it?” Logan asked.
“Why are you doing this? You’ve never cared about any of this stuff, and then you show up out of nowhere, wheeling and dealing. What gives? I mean this in a good way, but this is not the Logan we’ve all come to love and tolerate.”
Logan tried to look serious, but he couldn’t hold back his grin. Jack was going to kill him when he heard his motivation. “Would you believe me if I told you this was about a girl?”
Jack slapped his hand over Logan’s back and burst into laughter. “I spoke too soon. Same old Logan. At least this time some good will come of it.”
“Hey, good things happen when I’m around. Remember when I set you up with Corinne Cantor?”
“She had a crush on you, Logan, and you wanted her off your hands,” Jack said. “Remember how poorly that relationship ended? She drove her father’s Aston Martin through one of my mother’s hedges after I broke it off.”
“Yeah, but that bush had it coming,” Logan said with a shrug.
Jack laughed. “Give me a few days and I’ll see what I can do. Just promise me you won’t try to set me up with anyone again.” He walked back to his desk and wrote himself a note. He added, “It’s good to see you during normal business hours.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. This is a one shot deal. I’ll give you the number for my father’s personal assistant, Donna. Have a member of your staff call as soon as I leave. Donna will get back to you within the hour. She’ll either set up a call between you and Hank or she’ll want to ask you a few questions first. That’s your decision. Personally, I’d talk directly with her. She’ll be able to do whatever you need. Give her your assurances that you’ve thought everything through and that you need only a few minor concessions. That way you won’t have to deal with my father. She’ll run it by him. He’ll hem and haw for a few hours before giving in. Then he’ll want to talk to you about a timeline for figuring out the windmills. You know him, always fascinated by big, complex machines. Congress just happens to have more moving parts than most. As soon as you make the decision, you’ll have their request, backed by at least a dozen of leading environmental groups..”#p#分页标题#e#
“Will you be in town long? Some of the guys from school are going to be here this weekend, and I’m sure they’d love to catch up and have a beer or two.”
Logan looked down at his watch. If Jack did go through with this, how much more time would he have with Callie? “I’d love to, but there’s something I have to do.”