Page 149 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“She’s known me for years,” Nick replied. “Nothing to flip her lid about.”

“You really don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?”

“How exciting it is for the rest of us to see you here,” Harry said, gesturing to the iconic office. “My mom has known you for years as my friend, but not as her president. That’s a whole other level.”

“It’s just still so weird, you know?”

“I do, and the way it happened makes it harder to wrap your head around it, but you’re doing great. People are excited about your presidency.”

“Not everyone.”

“Pish,” Harry said, “as my grandmother would say. Focus on the positive and ignore the detractors. They’re going to be there no matter what you do. Don’t give them any mental energy.”

“That’s easier said than done, but I’m trying to follow that plan. I can only do what I can do and hope for the best, right?”

“Exactly. You’re giving the job your best effort, and that’s all anyone can ask, even if it’s not enough for some people.”

Terry returned a few minutes later to tell Nick it was time to go to the East Room for the announcement about Gretchen Henderson.

“Since it looks like my date is going to stand me up,” Nick said to Harry, “will you join me?”

“I’d love to.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sam was confused about where she was and what had happened until a searing pain in her left arm brought it all back. Lucas Tappen had shot her after he’d murdered Mark Ouellette to keep up his end of the bargain with Grace Ouellette. Teenagers committing murder over an affair between their parents. Just when she thought she’d seen everything…

“Be still,” Dr. Anderson said as he did something to her arm, which was strangely numb other than a tugging sensation.

“How bad is it?”

“A pretty nasty flesh wound, but you’re going to survive. We’re cleaning and suturing.”

Sam glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was ten after six.

Six… She was supposed to be somewhere at six… Oh shit, fuck, damn, hell, the vice president thing. “I have to go.” She tried to sit up, but was put right back in her place by a nurse.

“Please don’t move. The doctor is suturing your arm.”

“Hurry up, Doc. I have to go to the announcement of the new VP. I promised Nick I’d be there.”

“You’re not going anywhere for a while, Sam. You lost a lot of blood. We need to keep an eye on you for the next couple of hours.”

“Oh, come on! It’s a flesh wound.”

“That resulted in significant blood loss. You need to take it easy and let us monitor your vitals until we’re sure it’s safe to release you.”

Resigned to doing as she was told, Sam asked for Freddie.

“He’s in the waiting room.”

“Can you get him? I need to talk to him. It’s urgent.”

“If you promise not to move, I’ll send someone to get him,” Anderson said.

“I won’t move.”