Page 105 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

The others laughed, which went a long way to making her feel more relaxed.

“I’ll be sure to let the pastry chefs know that Mrs. Cappuano has a sweet tooth,” Roland said.

“She has a sweet tooth, a pizza tooth, a chips-and-salsa tooth,” Tracy said, using her fingers to count. “She really has all the teeth.”

“You be quiet,” Sam said teasingly. “We don’t need them to know all my faults on the first day.”

“We’re here to fill you in, Roland,” Angela said with a wink.

Amused, he said, “That’s good to know, ma’am. Please let us know if you need anything further.”

“The staff is amazing,” Gloria said after Roland left the room. “You’ll be pampered to within an inch of your life. They work so hard to make your lives easier.”

“I have to confess that the idea of having people wait on us is going to take some getting used to.”

“I felt the same way you did when I first arrived. I was accustomed to taking care of myself and my own family, but Mrs. Harrigan told me something I’ve never forgotten,” she said, referring to her predecessor. “She said this is their life’s work, to take care of the presidents’ families. We have to honor and respect that and allow them to care for us the way they’ve been trained to do.”

“That’s a lovely way of putting it,” Sam said.

“They’re here for you. If you don’t need them, they don’t have jobs.”

“She needs them,” Tracy said. “You have no idea how much she needs them.”

“Whose idea was it to bring my sisters?” Sam asked.

Gloria laughed. “Leave it to your sisters to tell it like it is.”

“For sure. I do need all the help I can get, if I’m being honest.”

“I heard you intend to keep your job, and if I may say, I think that’s marvelous.”

“I’m glad you think so. It makes me antsy to know the eyes of the world will be on me, my husband, our family, even more so than they were when he was VP.”

Gloria stirred some honey into her tea. “The one word of advice I’ll give you is to stay true to what matters most to you—your husband, your marriage, your children, your work. David and I… We got caught up in the madness and paid a terrible price for that. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

Sam swallowed hard at the thought of anything coming between her and Nick the way another woman had with the Nelsons.

“Anyway,” Gloria said, making an attempt to rally. “Have you given any thought to who you might like to have as your social secretary? I know Cornelia would be happy to stay on, but I’m sure you have your own people to draw from.”

“I do have someone in mind,” Sam said. “I haven’t yet spoken to her about it, but we’d appreciate Cornelia’s help during the transition.” The Nelson administration’s social secretary was a Washington institution and would be invaluable to Shelby, if she agreed to come on board. That was a big if for Shelby, who had a soon-to-be one-year-old son and another baby on the way.

“I’ll make sure Cornelia is available as long as needed. The one thing to keep in mind about being first lady is there’s no guidebook to follow, which is a good and bad thing. Each of us makes it up as we go along, which in some ways gives us tremendous power to carve our own paths. Jacqueline Kennedy famously disliked the title of first lady. She said, ‘It sounds like a saddle horse. I felt as if I’d just turned into a piece of public property.’ In many ways, she was right about that. You do become public property, but it’s up to you to decide how much or how little you choose to give.”

“I appreciate knowing that,” Sam said. “I’ll confess that while I’m indeed determined to keep my job, I’m also intimidated by the idea of being a mother and first lady at the same time.”

“You’ll have lots of wonderful help. Rely heavily on the people whose jobs it is to make it easier for you. Now, enough talk of business. Let me show you around your new home.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Sam, Tracy, Angela and Lilia followed Gloria to the hallway. “First, some stats. The White House is an eighteen-acre property, and the mansion has one hundred thirty-two rooms, thirty-five bathrooms, twenty-eight fireplaces, eight staircases, three elevators and two hidden mezzanine levels that make for six floors tucked inside a building that has the appearance of three floors from the outside.”

“Am I required to know all that?” Sam asked, at once impressed and horrified.

Gloria laughed and squeezed her arm. “I’ll make sure you get a cheat sheet.”

“That’d be appreciated.”

“You’ll give the tour often enough that you’ll have it all memorized in no time.”