“Despite his pedigree, you’re actually better at it than he was. You care more than he did, for one thing. Not to speak poorly of my brother, but he was what he was, and he made no excuses.”

Nick couldn’t deny the accuracy of what Terry was saying about John. As much as Nick had loved him, as his top aide and best friend, he’d had a front-row seat to John’s failings as well as his successes.

“I know you struggle with this issue,” Terry said. “And as John’s brother, I appreciate that you don’t take for granted how you came to be here. But he’s been gone a year, and you’ve more than stepped up to the plate in his absence. Anything that happens now is because you’ve earned it.”

“That’s nice of you to say, and I appreciate you saying it, but...”

Terry smiled. “I get it. Believe me. You’d give it all up to have him back, wouldn’t you?”

“In a second.”

“That, right there, is what the people love about you. You keep it real. They relate to that. You have every right to be sitting in the West Wing waiting for an audience with the president. He’s no fool, and neither are the DNC leaders. They know what they’ve got in you, and they want to groom you.”

The idea of being “groomed” to run for president made Nick feel slightly nauseated. Never in his wildest dreams, and he’d had some rather wild dreams for his life and his career, had he ever imagined things playing out this way.

Derek came into the room, wearing a navy sweater and khakis, which probably counted as dressing down on a Sunday in the West Wing. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Senator, Mr. O’Connor. The president will see you now.”

Nick and Terry stood and shook hands with Derek.

“Thanks for coming in on a Sunday,” Derek said as he led them through the corridors of the most powerful office space on earth.

“No problem,” Nick said with a grimace for Terry that nearly made his friend laugh.

“Sam and Scotty are well?” Derek asked.

“Scotty’s great, but Sam has been sucked into the case on MacArthur.”

Derek shook his head with dismay. “Nine kids dead. Horrifying.”

“It really is. It’s always tougher on the cops when kids are involved.”

“I don’t know how they do it day in and day out. I give them so much credit.”

As Derek had one of the busiest jobs in Washington, that was saying something.