First Lady (53 page)

Janet’s blue eyes sparked with good humor. “I don’t recall him using the word ‘vile.’”

Dev whimpered as she wrapped her arm around the smaller woman’s narrow but sturdy shoulders. “I just want her to be happy, Mom.”

Janet eased her own arm around Dev’s waist and began guiding her back into the family room, where Lauren, the McMillians and the kids were all draped across various pieces of furniture, either asleep or watching football. “Who have you been living with, dear? That girl curled up on the sofa in there is happy.”

Dev groaned inwardly. “I know. But—”

“But you want the best for her and you want it all yesterday?” Janet quipped, laughing slightly as Devlyn’s mouth clicked shut.

Dev scowled as they moved through the hallway and descended a set of stairs. “You make me sound so unreasonable. I’m a very reasonable person, I’ll have you know. I’ve been known to be patient and reasonable for entire minutes at a time!”

Janet rolled her eyes at her daughter, before a knowing smile overtook her face. She stopped their progress and looked up into her daughter’s eyes. “I make you sound like a woman in love,” she said softly, her heart near bursting. “And love has nothing to do with reason.” She had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss Dev’s cheek. “I couldn’t be happier for you, Devil.”

Dev wrapped long arms around her mother and closed her eyes, careful not to spill the coffee. “Thanks, Mom,” she said, surprised by the sudden rush of emotion. There was nothing like the holidays to bring out the mushball in the Marlowe clan.
 
“Me, too.” She sighed happily. Me, too.

*
 
*
 
*

The food was long gone and everyone sat around in the family room with bloated bellies, too full to even think about moving. Everyone except the children, that is, who were still buzzing around the room on what appeared to be an electric high.

David groaned, too stuffed to do more than point weakly at the boys, who were rolling around in the corner, tickling each other. “Ever wonder what’s wrong with them?” The adults in the room, except for Howard, all laughed.

“It is amazing,” Beth agreed. “I know for a fact that Aaron consumed an entire turkey leg.” She paused to yawn, wishing she’d worn pants with an elastic waist. “And Christopher had a slice from each of the three pies. Shouldn’t they be passed out somewhere?” She sighed, sure that if she opened her mouth, her last bite of mashed potatoes would still be visible in the back of her throat. She’d regretted that final forkful the instant it hit her tongue, when she realized it had no place to go.

Dev chuckled. “The little fiends are immune to being too full. Food jazzes them up and it takes them an hour to come down off the energy high.”

“It’s just not fair,” Frank said, thinking fondly of his own youth and those 33-inch waist jeans he used to be able to buy and actually button.

“Well,” Howard slapped his hands down on both of his knees and stood up. “I need to walk this off.” He gaze swung to Lauren, who was sitting in a turkey-induced catatonic state in front of the fireplace. “Would you like to join me, Lauren?”

Lauren’s head jerked up at the mention of her name. She had to think for a second to recall what he’d said. “You want me to walk with you?”

Howard shrugged one shoulder, not liking that all eyes in the room were now on him. “I don’t know my way around and don’t relish taking a bullet between the eyes from one of those agents.”

“They won’t shoot us,” Aaron piped up, moving alongside his stepmother. “We’re the good guys.”

Howard’s face colored. “Of course not, boy. I… didn’t.” He lifted one hand and then helplessly let it fall.

“He was only teasing,” Lauren explained to Aaron, ruffling his corn-yellow hair.

Howard looked relieved. “That’s right.”

David lifted his cell phone. “I’ll let them know you’ll be on the path to the cabin, yes?”

Lauren nodded, a little nervous at the prospect of being alone with her father. She and Dev exchanged curious looks. “That’s a pretty walk,” she agreed slowly, then turned back to her father. “Daddy?”

He shrugged again. “Fine by me.”

“Can I come?” Ashley asked, and the boys quickly followed suit.

Lauren gave Devlyn a questioning look and the President tossed the ball back in her court with a gentle tilt of her head. “Sure, kids. But get your coats.”

A wry smile twitched at Howard’s lips as he thought about his independent, often-quiet daughter living with these tiny whirlwinds.

Christopher and Ashley were in a dead heat for the stairs, only breaking their stride when they heard a firm
 
“Walk, please,” from their mother.

Aaron had lingered behind. “I wanna walk with Grandpa,” he stated as he pinned Howard with hopeful pale eyes. “Can… I mean, may I?”

 
Confused, Howard looked over his shoulder at Frank. “I don’t mind if—”

“Daddy,” Lauren interrupted gently. “I think he means you.” When she saw the panicky, stunned look on her father’s face, her heart leapt into her throat and she decided then and there that if he said something to hurt that little boy’s feelings she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.

Dev’s grip on her coffee cup tightened to almost a painful degree.

Everyone held their breath as Howard blinked stupidly. “I… um…”

Aaron looked around at all the expectant adult faces. “What’s wrong? I’ll hold his hand and won’t get lost,” he added, sure that was the problem. “Please?”

Howard found his head bobbing, and before he had time to even think about what he was doing he heard himself say, “Sure, son. You can walk with me if you like. I’ll…” Self-consciously, he cleared his throat. “I’ll hold your hand.”

Devlyn looked up from her son to find two sets of glassy gray eyes locked on each other, something indefinable and profound passing between them.
 
This, she thought happily, is turning into such a damn wonderful day.

“Great!” Aaron enthused. On the way out of the room he threw his arms around Howard’s thighs and gave him an impressively strong hug. “Be right back!”
 
Then he bolted.

When the kids were out of the room, Lauren wordlessly approached her father. On tiptoes she bussed his cheek, feeling the short stubble that was always present by early evening. “Thank you, Daddy.”

A smile flickered on Howard’s face for just a few seconds, then his normal gruff expression slid firmly back into place. Unseen by Lauren, he lifted his arm a few inches, as though he might slip it around her shoulders.

Dev sucked in a hopeful breath, but then watched in disappointment as Howard lowered his arm. Something had stopped him. Perhaps he had felt the weight of her stare or maybe the realization that he had a place in this family if he wanted one was suddenly too much. Instead, and a little awkwardly, he patted Lauren’s arm.

Dev’s forehead puckered in response. You’ve got to crawl before you can run, she reminded herself. Baby steps.

*
 
*
 
*

Lauren had just seen her father off and made her way back to the comfortable guest bedroom she and Devlyn shared while visiting the Marlowes. It had been a long day. Howard Strayer had booked his return flight on that night’s red-eye, and he insisted on getting there the full three hours before that was required for domestic flights.

Thanksgiving with her father had gone both better and worse than she’d expected.
 
Her father seemed to be nearly comfortable around Frank and Janet, something she made a mental note to ask Devlyn about later. And she could tell the children had made sizeable headway into wiggling their way into his heart.

Lauren sighed. Then there was Devlyn. As the evening wore on, it became clear that though her father would remain polite, he would also do his level best to steer clear of her spouse. She could tell that bothered Dev, and she made another mental note to add a few extra kisses of reassurance to make it clear that the problem lay not in Dev but in her and her father’s relationship as a whole. Still, when all was said and done, it hadn’t been unpleasant, and nobody had ended up being shot by the Secret Service or in a fistfight. Norman Rockwell, it wasn’t, but it could have gone worse.

Their walk had been uneventful but nice. They shared remembrances of the few close moments they’d had as a family, and for the first time Lauren had been able to look beyond the gruff exterior of her mostly-absentee father and see a still-grieving husband. And it made her think.

She pulled over the box her father had left for her and undid the top, wondering what was inside. Lauren didn’t have to wonder for long, and a wistful smile touched her lips when she saw the first item inside.

*
 
*
 
*

“You sure you don’t want the cabin for the night?”

“Nah,” Dev said, passing over Beth’s coat. “The kids are watching a movie with Dad in the family room. They’ll fall asleep in no time and I promised that we’d spend the holiday together. So it’s easier to keep them here than carry their little carcasses to the cabin.”

Beth laughed and shrugged into her coat, looking forward to a short walk in the cold night air. Now all she needed was David, and she spotted him approaching over Dev’s shoulder. “Shit.” Beth closed her eyes. He was carrying his cell phone and was scowling.

Dev looked behind her and then caught sight of the phone and groaned.

“I’m sorry, Dev,” David said. “There’s been a development in the Middle East negotiations.” He gave his wife a contrite look.

“Let me guess. Hmm…” Dev tapped her temple like an oracle ready to announce her prediction. “Secretary of State Ortiz’s presence this weekend at Camp David is not enough. Monday isn’t near soon enough for my presence there either. You want me there now,” Dev accused bluntly.

David fought the urge to sink into the floor. “It’s not just me, Dev.” He steeled himself as he turned to face Beth. “Can you excuse us for a minute?”

For a few seconds, Beth didn’t say a word. She was on the verge of taking David to task when she reminded herself about the realities of a life she went into with her eyes wide open. Her gaze fell to the floor and she drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and ending with a sigh. “Sure. I’ll take out the dogs.”

Beth and David’s pugly was currently wreaking havoc in a DC kennel. But the Marlowe children couldn’t bear to be separated from their pets when they traveled, and so the First Dogs were lying along one of the foyer walls, taking in the human activity with uninterested, coal-black eyes. “Outside?” Beth asked in a deceptively perky voice, considering her sullen mood.

Princess jumped to her feet and scurried to the door, bouncing at least three feet high with every excited leap like a deranged yo-yo. Her mate rose slowly, leaning forward, first on his front legs to stretch his back, then yawning and showing his crooked teeth and leaning backwards in another long stretch.

Beth lifted an eyebrow. “If you’re through?” she teased and smiled a little when the pug lifted his flat nose into the air as he passed Devlyn, refusing to give her the time of day.

Dev’s lips curled into a sneer and she bared her teeth and glared at her 20-pound nemesis.

Beth rolled her eyes at the President as she opened the door and headed out into the night. Over her shoulder she chuckled, “If the press ever catch you making that face, Devil, it’ll be the picture of you that makes the cover of Time Magazine.”

“Very funny,” Dev shot back, unable to keep from smiling. When the door shut again, she was all business.
 
She squared her shoulders and took a step closer to David so that they could lower their voices to just above a whisper. “You’ve got about 30 seconds until that portly demon dog decides it’s too cold to be outside and they come back. So you’d better talk fast and make it good.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

David swallowed hard, then launched into a retelling of the briefing he’d been given only moments earlier.

*
 
*
 
*

Lauren was sitting cross-legged on the floor, with several items spread out on the floor around her, when Devlyn poked her head inside the bedroom door. She smiled. “Where have you been? I thought you were coming up as soon as you got the kids settled with your dad and said goodnight to Beth and David?” She glanced at the clock. “That was over an hour and a half ago.”

“What’s all this?” Dev gestured to the items surrounding her wife.

“Just a few things my dad brought me. I can show you in a minute.
 
But first,” she paused and gave Dev a direct look, easily sensing that something had happened. “You didn’t answer my question. Where were you?”

Without looking at Lauren, Dev shut the door and padded slowly to the bed. “Something’s come up.”

Two fair eyebrows rose. “Okay,” she drew the word out slowly. “Something serious?”

Dev sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Yes.”

Lauren bit her tongue for a moment, her heart sinking. She sighed resignedly, already wondering what they would tell the children. “When are we leaving?”