Page 102 of State of Alert

“Have a nice evening.”

“You do the same.”

For fuck’s sake,Sam thought as Vernon held the door for her.

“Everything all right?”

“Never better. Just another day in paradise.”

Vernon smiled. “Try to have a nice evening with the family.”

“Oh, I will. Don’t worry. Best part of the day.”

“Are we bright and early tomorrow?”

“You get to sleep in, my friend. I have an early meeting here, so let’s plan to leave around eight thirty.”

“See you then.”

“Thanks for everything.”

“A pleasure, ma’am.”

Sam shot him a scowl over her shoulder that made him laugh.Ma’am.Worst title ever.

“Evening, ma’am,” Harold the usher said. “Hope you had a nice day.”

Sam held back a laugh at yet anotherma’am. “My day was busy and often not so nice, but it sure is good to be home.”

“The president and the children are upstairs in the residence. I believe they just sat down to dinner.”

“Hope they made enough for me.”

“I’m sure they did.”

As Sam took the stairs two at a time, she was relieved to note that her hip was now fully recovered from the break she’d suffered after a fall on the ice over the winter. It’d been a while since she’d raced up the stairs, and it felt good to be strong again. She had no time or patience for the injuries that seemed to strike her far more often than they did most people.

Upon reaching the residence, she followed the voices to the family dining room, stopping short when she heard Aubrey saying that Scotty ate too many eggs, and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to have a chicken.

Scotty’s laughter was the best thing she’d heard since breakfast.

The twins let out a shriek of excitement when Sam walked into the room. They got up from their chairs to come hug her. “Hello, my loves. How was your day?”

“Collin ate paste at school and threw up in the cafeteria!” Alden reported.

“Gross. Why did he eat paste?”

“He said it tastes good.”

“It doesn’t.”

“I think he figured that out.”

Laughing, she scooted them back to their seats and dropped a kiss on Scotty’s head as she made her way to Nick for a different kind of kiss.

“Children are watching,” Scotty said.

“Mind your business,” Sam said as she smiled at her husband.

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