Page 29 of State of Suspense

“No problem.”

When she entered the White House, Harold, one of her favorite ushers, greeted her with a warm smile. “Evening, Mrs. Cappuano.”

“Evening, Harold. Is the president upstairs?”

“He is, ma’am.”

“Thank you. Have a nice night.”

“You do the same, ma’am.”

Sam trudged up the red-carpeted stairs, feeling far more exhausted than she should have been after a week-long vacation. But the so-called vacation had been filled with far more drama than they’d anticipated, making it much less restful than it could’ve been.

She looked in on the sleeping twins and then on Scotty, who was watching a Caps game. “Who’s winning?”

“Caps are up by two in the third.”

“How’s the book?”

He gave her a withering look. “It’s horrible. Worst thing I’ve ever been forced to read.”

Sam sat on the edge of his bed and scratched behind Skippy’s ears, making the puppy sigh in her sleep. “I remember having to read stuff that just didn’t interest me and how painful it was.” Especially with undiagnosed dyslexia. Those were some seriously unfun years.

“‘Painful’ is a good word for it.”

“I’ll get that study guide for you right away.”

“You’re the best. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, kid.” She leaned in to kiss his forehead. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“This book will put me to sleep in no time.”

Smiling, she said, “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She went into the suite she shared with Nick to find him tucked away in the small office attached to their bedroom. Each night, he drafted handwritten responses to ten letters from citizens in addition to reviewing the massive briefing books he brought “home” from the office.

Sam cleared her throat so she wouldn’t startle him.

Prior to him becoming vice president, she would’ve snuck up on him and taken great pleasure in scaring him. That wasn’t as much fun now that he lived with endless threats to his life.

He turned to her, smiling. “There’s my favorite wife. I was just about to check on you.”

“Here I am.”

“How’d it go?”

“A lot of wheel-spinning so far.”

“I heard you might’ve interviewed my AG.”

“You heard correctly.”

“How’d that go?”

Sam thought about how she should answer that question. “I think it’s best if we don’t talk about that.”

---