“I look at you and I see a man in his prime. I see a man of principle. I see a man who leads with his heart. I see a man who’s one of the people, who came up the hard way with nothing handed to him.”

“Except his most recent job,” Nick said, though he was humbled by Graham’s observations.

“I hate that you think that.”

“See?” Terry said. “That’s what I say too.”

“Nothing was handed to you, Nick. The Virginia Democrats chose the very best man for the job, and nothing that’s happened in the last year has changed our opinion of the man we chose. If anything, you’ve proven to us over and over again how spot-on we were choosing you to finish out John’s term.”

“That’s very nice to hear.”

“We’ve had this conversation often in the last year, and it really does my heart good to know you still mourn for John. I speak for my entire family when I say we have no doubt whatsoever you’d give it all up to have John back.”

“I would,” Nick said softly. “Of course I would.”

“That’s not going to happen, as much as we wish it was. All we can do is play the hand we’re dealt in this life, and right now, my friend, you’re holding all the cards—the royal flush most politicians would sell their souls to the devil to be dealt. And you didn’t have to sell anything to get the hand of a lifetime, which makes you different from most right out of the gate.”

“What about Sam and Scotty? What about what this would do to their lives?”

“How does Sam feel about it?”

“She says she’d work around it, but we all know that’s easier said than done sometimes. And what if things go really well, and I have the chance to run in four years? What then? She won’t be ready to retire then, and the First Lady can’t be out chasing down killers.”

“Who says?” Graham asked. “Maybe she becomes a pioneer in a new age of first ladies who keep their lives separate from their husbands’. Just because it’s never been done doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done.”

“Why do you gotta make this look so damned possible?” Nick asked.

Graham grunted out a laugh. “Because it is. Nelson wants you bad enough to let you set your own terms, which means Sam can too. He’s made it so you can stay in your home, Scotty can stay in his school, Sam can keep her job. The only thing that would really change is Secret Service protection for you and Scotty, a different office and probably a bit more travel, additional social obligations...”

“All of which my wife would hate.”