Page 158 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“Are we going to be able to get their financial situation into it somehow? You know this is all about the billions that come with those two angels.”

“Andy’s working that angle.”

Sam rested her head on his shoulder. “How will we ever get through the weekend with this hanging over our heads?”

“We’ll focus on the kids and getting ready for Christmas, and it’ll be Monday before we know it.”

“I hope so.”

“We have to believe that the wishes of their parents will take primary precedence,” Nick said.

Before Sam could reply to that, the pilot announced their initial approach into Des Moines, and just that quickly, her stomach began to ache even harder. She wished she hadn’t eaten so much for breakfast. “Stay close to me down there, will you, please?”

“You got it, babe.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sam had spent her entire adult life working with victims of violent crime, but nothing could’ve prepared her to meet with the grieving families of those killed in Des Moines. The children who died had ranged in age from six months to ten years, and the adults were twenty to eighty. They’d included parents, grandparents and volunteers who’d left their homes that morning to help bring the magic of Christmas to local schoolchildren and their younger siblings.

In an elementary school gymnasium, they hugged devastated parents and siblings, listened to them talk about the children they’d lost and offered all the compassion and empathy they possibly could, knowing it would never be enough to soothe shattered hearts.

“Thank you so much for coming,” a tearful mother named Cath said. She’d lost her six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. “The kids were so excited for Christmas. What are we supposed to do now?” She looked at Sam for answers she simply didn’t have.

“What were their names?” Sam asked, dabbing at tears that refused to quit. She’d stopped trying to contain them when it quickly became clear that nothing could stop them.

“Julia and Mason,” Cath said. “Julia was in first grade and Mason in preschool. He was so excited to come to Sissy’s school to meet Santa.”

“Do you have pictures?” she asked, even though she’d seen pictures of all the victims.

Cath produced photos of her blond, blue-eyed children.

Sam studied them, wondering how their mother would possibly survive losing them. How did anyone survive such a thing? “They’re beautiful.”

“It makes me feel better to know they’re together wherever they are now. They were inseparable when they were here.”

Sam held the woman’s hand. “I’m so, so sorry for your loss. I wish there was something else I could say.”

“There isn’t anything anyone can say. I just wish we lived in a country where things like this didn’t happen.”

“I wish that, too.”

“I hope people won’t forget about what happened here. I hope something will change.”

The other family members echoed that comment over and over, and by the time they were back on the plane, heading home after three excruciating hours on the ground, Nick was on fire with determination to try to do something, anything to make it stop. “After the holidays, we’re going to give this issue some time and attention,” he said. “We’re going to try to do something. I don’t want to ever again have to do what we did today.”

While Sam wholeheartedly supported his desire to fix an issue that had vexed previous administrations and Congresses, she understood better than most how difficult that challenge would be. But if anyone was up for it, Nick was, especially if he stuck to his determination not to run in the next election. Having nothing to lose might make him the perfect president to find a way to bring about real change on the emotionally charged issue.

During the flight, he asked her to go with him to speak briefly to the small group of media traveling with them.

Sam’s inclination was to avoid the media, but she went with him because she sensed he needed the extra support after the grueling day.

The reporters in the back of the plane sat up straighter when they walked into their part of the cabin.

“I wanted to just say that Sam and I were deeply moved by the families we met today. Their grief is overwhelming, and our hearts are broken for them. Part of my job as president is to be the comforter-in-chief, and that’s a role I willingly embrace, but at times like this, when it’s something that shouldn’t have happened, I’m also angry. I’m angry as a father, as a man, as a human being and as the president. I can’t believe there isn’t a way to find a path to common sense gun legislation that zeroes in on the people who simply shouldn’t be in possession of a weapon that can do what was done in Des Moines. We face an uphill battle, but it’s one I’m willing to undertake if it means Sam and I never again have to do what we did today. After the holidays, my administration will be addressing this issue on every possible front. While I’m well aware we may not succeed, doing nothing simply isn’t an option. That’s all I wanted to say.”

They threw questions at him, and Nick answered every one with patience and thoughtfulness and the empathy that made her love him so fiercely. He spoke from his heart, and she had to believe that sincerity would connect with the American people when they saw the footage and read his comments.

Marine One landed on the White House lawn at just after five o’clock, which got them home in time to eat dinner with their own children, for whom they were ever more thankful after the dreadful day they’d spent with grieving families.

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