“I wouldn’t change a word,” Sam said, dabbing at her eyes again. “My only concern is how I’ll get through it without bawling my head off.”

“Practice,” Keira said. “You may cry the first few times, but maybe you’ll get it out of your system before Friday.”

“I’ll try that.”

“Do you want to practice on the teleprompter?” Andrea asked.

“There’s going to be a teleprompter?”

“Unless you’d prefer to memorize it?”

“Yeah, that’s probably not happening by Friday.”

“With the teleprompter,” Andrea said, “you can look out at your audience as you speak. It makes the talk more personal and engaging.”

“I suppose I should practice since I’ve never used one before.”

Andrea got up from her seat. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll set it up in the briefing room.”

Sam rubbed a hand over her belly. “This is very big-time.”

“Well, it is the White House, after all,” Lilia said with a teasing smile.

Sam laughed. “I keep forgetting that.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re going to be a huge hit, and people will love you for sharing your story—more than they already do.”

“Not sure how I feel about that.”

“It’s a good thing,” Lilia assured her.

“We’re still being overrun with interview requests for you,” Mackenzie said. “People are in love with you after the inaugural parade, as well as the interview you did with the vice president on the Good Morning show. I expect your popularity will soar even higher after this speech.”

Sam grimaced at the thought of more attention. She’d managed to fend off most of it in the weeks since the inauguration, but everywhere she went people said something about her crowd surfing stunt. The way she saw it, she’d just been doing her job. That she happened to do it before an international audience was unfortunate for someone who preferred life below the radar.

Andrea returned, and she and Lilia walked Sam to the White House briefing room.

“I recognize this room,” Sam said.

“You probably see it every day on the news,” Andrea said. “It’s where the White House press secretary—and occasionally the president himself—briefs the press.” She took Sam to the podium and pointed out the screens on either side that contained the text of her speech. “You want to run through it once to get a feel for the teleprompters?”

“Um, sure, okay.” Sam managed to get through most of it without getting emotional, but the part about losing Nick’s baby had her throat closing. She cleared the lump from her throat and took a second to get her bearings before continuing.

“That was great,” Lilia said when she had finished. “Really excellent delivery to say you aren’t a seasoned public speaker.”

“I’m hardly seasoned. I’m more like a quivering virgin.”