too. Gina and I will be on the go un ll late into the night, there isn’t an hour of our day that isn’t already scripted out. I’ll have my mee ngs and appearances and Gina will have her appearances and du es and it’s always a hec c, highly charged me. The G-8 is always an extreme event. Always. No-one will be allowed to so much as glance at our child, unless it’s me or Gina or one of you. Is that perfectly clear?”
“Perfectly,” Crader said unwaveringly.
“Absolutely,” LaLa likewise replied.
Dutch
con nued.
“No
ma er
what
the
circumstances, the four of us will be it. I love Chris an like a son, but even he won’t be in this loop. The White House, or here at Ruth Island, is a constant. I know the Secret Service gives us their full protec on and I know how for fied that protec on is. Europe is not a constant, but a variable. We have to rely, in many respects, not only on the Secret Service, but on our host na on’s layers of security. For Gina and I, that’s fine because our every move will be laden with publicity.
But as for our son, the last thing I want is to have him anywhere near any bright lights. Gina and I will take over at night, but during the day I’ll be relying on the two of you. Which brings me to my second point.” Dutch folded his arms. He knew he was about to tread in unchartered waters.
“I need the two of you to come to some kind of understanding,” he said.
Neither LaLa nor Crader had seen that coming.
They glanced at each other, and then back at Dutch.
“My child will be with the two of you most of the day. You cannot and will not be around my child with animosity toward each other or any kind of repressed anger or regret or any other disparate emotions.” Then he looked at Crader. “Crader, you did the wrong thing. You’ve asked for LaLa’s forgiveness, I believe you’re genuinely regretful, but you need to keep it together.”
Then he looked at LaLa. “Lore a, I know you’re hurt and disappointed in Crader, I’m disappointed in him too, and it would be easy for me to tell you to suck it up and get over it. But you’ve got to get over it. You have got to decide if you’re going to give Cray another chance, remain friends only, or drop him altogether and move on with your life. The decision is yours, but you’ve got to make one. You and Crader must resolve you’ve got to make one. You and Crader must resolve this before we leave American soil. Understand?” LaLa nodded, with Crader staring intensely at her.
“Yes, sir,” she said.
It wasn’t un ll later that night, a er dinner, did they even make an a empt at any resolu on. Dutch was back in the study reading over that voluminous stack of papers that had been faxed to him, Gina and Chris an were in the Nursery with Li le Walt, so Crader asked and LaLa agreed to take a walk with him across his well-lit estate.
When they ended up at the waterfall, they took a seat on the bench and sat there quietly for a me, enjoying the view.
It was Crader who broke the peace. He leaned forward, his hand clasped together. “Dutch is right, you know,” he said and then looked at her. “We need to resolve this. Either we are going to make a new start, or we’re going our separate ways.” LaLa inwardly smiled. “He also men oned friendship as an option.”
Crader shook his head. “I don’t do the friendship thing, not with a woman I’ve slept with. Won’t work.
Nope.”
“Roman slept with Gina, but she counts him as her friend.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Roman. I couldn’t handle that. I want all of you, or I don’t want any parts of you.” LaLa found his statement a little off-putting. “That’s mighty grand of you,” she said. “Considering we were fine until you messed up.”
“Okay, I messed up, La. I messed up! How many ways can I tell you that I’m sorry for what I’ve done?”
“You can’t tell me,” she said. “ That’s the problem, Crader. You were telling me a lot of good
“Perfectly,” Crader said unwaveringly.
“Absolutely,” LaLa likewise replied.
Dutch
con nued.
“No
ma er
what
the
circumstances, the four of us will be it. I love Chris an like a son, but even he won’t be in this loop. The White House, or here at Ruth Island, is a constant. I know the Secret Service gives us their full protec on and I know how for fied that protec on is. Europe is not a constant, but a variable. We have to rely, in many respects, not only on the Secret Service, but on our host na on’s layers of security. For Gina and I, that’s fine because our every move will be laden with publicity.
But as for our son, the last thing I want is to have him anywhere near any bright lights. Gina and I will take over at night, but during the day I’ll be relying on the two of you. Which brings me to my second point.” Dutch folded his arms. He knew he was about to tread in unchartered waters.
“I need the two of you to come to some kind of understanding,” he said.
Neither LaLa nor Crader had seen that coming.
They glanced at each other, and then back at Dutch.
“My child will be with the two of you most of the day. You cannot and will not be around my child with animosity toward each other or any kind of repressed anger or regret or any other disparate emotions.” Then he looked at Crader. “Crader, you did the wrong thing. You’ve asked for LaLa’s forgiveness, I believe you’re genuinely regretful, but you need to keep it together.”
Then he looked at LaLa. “Lore a, I know you’re hurt and disappointed in Crader, I’m disappointed in him too, and it would be easy for me to tell you to suck it up and get over it. But you’ve got to get over it. You have got to decide if you’re going to give Cray another chance, remain friends only, or drop him altogether and move on with your life. The decision is yours, but you’ve got to make one. You and Crader must resolve you’ve got to make one. You and Crader must resolve this before we leave American soil. Understand?” LaLa nodded, with Crader staring intensely at her.
“Yes, sir,” she said.
It wasn’t un ll later that night, a er dinner, did they even make an a empt at any resolu on. Dutch was back in the study reading over that voluminous stack of papers that had been faxed to him, Gina and Chris an were in the Nursery with Li le Walt, so Crader asked and LaLa agreed to take a walk with him across his well-lit estate.
When they ended up at the waterfall, they took a seat on the bench and sat there quietly for a me, enjoying the view.
It was Crader who broke the peace. He leaned forward, his hand clasped together. “Dutch is right, you know,” he said and then looked at her. “We need to resolve this. Either we are going to make a new start, or we’re going our separate ways.” LaLa inwardly smiled. “He also men oned friendship as an option.”
Crader shook his head. “I don’t do the friendship thing, not with a woman I’ve slept with. Won’t work.
Nope.”
“Roman slept with Gina, but she counts him as her friend.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not Roman. I couldn’t handle that. I want all of you, or I don’t want any parts of you.” LaLa found his statement a little off-putting. “That’s mighty grand of you,” she said. “Considering we were fine until you messed up.”
“Okay, I messed up, La. I messed up! How many ways can I tell you that I’m sorry for what I’ve done?”
“You can’t tell me,” she said. “ That’s the problem, Crader. You were telling me a lot of good
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