“Only myself, of course.”
“Of course,” she said with a smile.
“What does Terry think?”
“He’s excited by the idea and eager to hear what we decide.”
“You’d be working with both of them. Every day.”
“I know,” he said with a giddy laugh. “How cool would that be?”
“It’d be too cool to pass up, but you have to promise me that Sundays are ours. Unless there’s a crisis, that’s your day off to be with us.”
“That’s a promise I can make because Nick values his family time as much as we value ours. He would never stand in the way of that unless he really needed me.”
“Well, then, Mr. Vice President… Shall we share the good news with the guys?”
“Before we do that,” he said, standing to lean over her chair for another kiss. “Thank you for always being there for me, for understanding me like no one else ever has and for seeing the many facets of this situation without me having to spell them out for you.”
“I get it, and Nick needs you.”
“I might need him a little bit, too. You know how I’ve missed it.”
“I do know, but you’ll need to pace yourself. No stress-induced health issues allowed, you hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“Make that call, love.”
Chapter Thirty
“Dad’s on the phone for you, Mr. President,” Terry said, smiling from the doorway of the Oval Office.
Nick took Terry’s smile as a good sign as he took the call from Graham. “Are you calling me with good news, my friend?”
“I am indeed. We’re in.”
“Thank you.” Nick closed his eyes as relief flooded his system. Help was on the way. “Thank you both so much. Please tell Laine, too…”
“I’m here, Mr. President,” she said. “We’re honored to serve in your administration and to help you make it an even greater success.”
“I have no doubt you two will make all the difference. I’d like to announce this fantastic news as soon as possible. I desperately need to change the conversation after firing my VP. Any chance you could come in later this afternoon? We’ll send the car back for you.”
“We’ll make that happen,” Graham said.
“Thank you so much. See you soon.”
Nick hoped the announcement that Graham would be joining his team, pending Senate approval, would bump the situation with Gretchen out of the headlines long enough to allow him to have productive meetings with the NATO partners.
Everything in this job was a delicate balancing act, especially with his former vice president possibly facing criminal charges.
“Are you ready to make your statement to the media?” Terry asked.
“I am. Let’s get it done.”
He walked with Terry to the press briefing room, which was packed tight, with standing room only, the way it was whenever the shit hit the fan, which had happened far too often for his liking since he’d become president.
Trevor, who was standing at the podium, said, “President Cappuano will make a brief statement and take a few questions. Mr. President?”
