“I never had any doubt at all that you’d be the world’s greatest mom. Now I know it for sure.”

“You’re a pretty good dad too. You ‘help’ with math.”

“He did most of it. I just checked his work.”

“Whatever you say, Senator. I have to tell you what happened today with my good friend Lieutenant Stahl. You won’t believe it.” Sam took great pleasure in relating the story of Stahl’s downfall to her astonished husband.

“How could be he so stupid as to make a call like that from within HQ?”

“Who knows? Who cares? All that matters is he is done with the department.”

“Is he blaming the whole thing on you?”

“What do you think?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

“Sam... Don’t make light of it. He’s a formidable enemy, and he’s had it in for you for years. You need to be careful.”

“He doesn’t scare me.”

“Still...”

“I also got asked to be a bridesmaid in Jeannie and Michael’s wedding,” she said, deliberately changing the subject before he could fret about her safety.

“Is that right? Are you going to do it?”

“I think I will. I talked to the chief about it and he said it’s cool, so why not?”

“It was nice of her to ask you. When’s the wedding?”

“In July out at Rehoboth. So what happened today that you said you’d tell me about later?”

Only because she was sitting so close to him could she feel every muscle in his body tighten with tension as he told her about the Lexicore stock and the company’s connection to the fire in Thailand.

“Oh my God, Nick. What does that mean for the campaign?”

“Not as much as it means to our bottom line. Graham and I both dumped the stock today for a fraction of what we paid for it, so there goes about half the money John left me.”

“Oh, um, this might not be the best time to tell you that I just gave my sister twenty grand.”

His eyes bugged. “For what?”

Sam told him about Brooke and the school Tracy had found that might be the answer to their prayers. “I didn’t know this had happened with your stock when I gave her the money.”

“It’s okay, babe. That’s your money to do with whatever you want. There’s plenty of mine left that wasn’t tied up in Lexicore. Don’t worry.”

“Regardless, I probably should’ve talked to you before I wrote her a check.”

“It’s fine,” he said, kissing her cheek and then her lips. “You did the right thing for her. She does so much for us.”

“That’s what I thought too. How could I not give it to her so she can get Brooke the help she needs?”