Page 42 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“Thank you, Andy,” Eli said. After Nick had ended the call, Eli said, “I would’ve told you sooner if I’d thought it was relevant to the custody case, but juvenile records are sealed, and my other lawyers told me there’s no public record of them. It hadn’t occurred to me that Cleo would’ve told anyone about it, but I know she and her mom talked every day.”

“I don’t blame you for not telling us about this before now,” Nick said. “Juvenile records are sealed for a reason. The focus is on rehabilitation and not ruining the life of a young person who made a mistake.”

“Candace wasn’t a mistake,” Eli said fiercely. “I didn’t even know it was illegal for a seventeen-year-old to have sex with a fifteen-year-old. The age of consent in California is eighteen. I found that out the hard way.”

“Is this why you don’t see much of your mother these days?” Sam asked.

Eli nodded. “My dad was so mad that she let this happen, but it wasn’t her fault. We were sneaky teenagers. She had no idea what we were doing.”

“How did Candace’s parents find out?” Sam asked.

“She got a UTI that led to an exam, and when the doctor asked if she was sexually active, she said she was. Her mom blew up right in the doctor’s office and demanded the doctor call the police.”

“I haven’t been a mother very long, but I can’t imagine ever doing that. A fifteen-year-old isn’t a baby, and she was in a loving relationship.”

“Candace’s mother was the queen of the overreaction, from what she told me. She was super strict and wanted to know where she was every second of every day. I guess after her dad left her mom, she went a little crazy and wasn’t as vigilant with Candace, which was such a relief to her. I’ll never understand why she had to call the police.”

“If I had to guess,” Sam said, “it was probably more about sticking it to the dad for leaving and allowing this to happen than it was about you.”

“And yet I’m the one whose life was nearly destroyed by it.”

“We’re not going to let your life be destroyed,” Nick said fiercely. “We’ll do whatever it takes, including play some hard ball of our own, to keep our family together and to protect you from people who’d harm you to get what they want.”

Nick was never sexier to Sam than when he was in protector mode. The family they’d made for themselves with Scotty, the twins and Eli was the most important thing in Nick’s life, and Sam had no doubt he’d do whatever it took to protect them from harm.

“Are you hungry?” Sam asked Eli.

“A little, but I’m not sure I could eat.”

“Let’s try. What do you feel like?”

“Pizza maybe?”

“Coming right up.” Sam picked up the phone that connected them to butlers twenty-four hours a day and asked for a supreme pizza, knowing that was Eli’s favorite, and a Coke.

“We’ll be up shortly,” the butler replied.

“Thank you so much.”

“A pleasure, ma’am.”

“If there’s one thing to love about the White House, it’s the room service,” Sam said.

“There’s only one thing to love about the White House?” Nick asked, amusement dancing in his gorgeous hazel eyes.

“Well, you live here, so there’s that, too.”

“Oh phew, that’s a relief.”

“I want what you guys have,” Eli said wistfully. “What my dad and Cleo had. I had that with Candace. I miss her so much. I almost flunked out of school my senior year after all this happened. My dad helped me every night with my schoolwork so I wouldn’t screw up my acceptance to Princeton. He was there for me every step of the way through the nightmare.” His eyes filled, and he moved quickly to wipe away tears. “I never would’ve survived it without him. He was my best friend, and I miss him so much.”

Sam went to sit next to Eli, putting her arms around him and holding him as he wept for his father. “I know what you mean. My dad was my best friend, too. There’s no replacing them.”

“Sorry,” he said, attempting to rally. “I don’t mean to dump my shit all over you guys. You’ve already done so much for us.”

“Elijah, we love you and the twins,” Nick said. “There’s nothing you could want or need that’d be too much for us. I know it may seem crazy that we feel that way about you all after such a short amount of time, but it was instantaneous for me.”

“Me, too,” Sam said. “I took one look at those precious babies, and I was sunk. And then I found out they had a wonderful older brother, and that was the best kind of bonus.”