passes for good news,” Melanie said.
“Uh, do you want me to talk to her?” Ralph asked.
“No, I don’t want to bring it up until after her trip,” Melanie told him. “Let’s just tell her we are working on a strategy, and we’ll go over it when she gets back.”
Ralph shuffled out of her office to return to his windowless cave down the hall. Melanie had offered him a vast suite of offices on the second floor of the West Wing, but he’d insisted on being on the first floor where Melanie and the vice president and national security advisor had offices. Melanie rubbed her head and prayed for a little miracle of her own. If she could avoid talking to Charlotte about the campaign until after she returned from Afghanistan, she could figure out what to do. She could think about what Michael had told her for a few more days and come up with a better strategy for telling the president what she probably already knew: that she couldn’t win reelection unless something drastic happened.
Annie appeared at her door with a worried look. “She wants you to meet her on the South Lawn,” she said.
“Seriously? Right now?” Melanie asked, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them to try to get rid of the spots she was seeing in front of Annie’s face.
“Yeah. Sam said she’s playing fetch with the dogs and would love some company,” Annie said.
“Wonderful. Can I borrow your coat?” Melanie asked.
She walked out to the South Lawn, where Charlotte was flinging a bright orange ball with a device called the Super Chuck-It. The two younger dogs ran like wild horses after the ball. Cammie sat next to Charlotte as if she was supervising.
“Go run, Cammie, go play with Emma and Mika. You need some exercise, peanut, go run,” Charlotte urged. The dog just stared at her.
“How was the weekend?” Melanie asked.
“It was really nice. You were missed, but Brooke and Mark were in rare form.”
“Did their kids come?” Melanie asked.
“No, it was just Brooke and Mark. I think they’re going to miss Camp David more than I am if I lose.” Charlotte laughed.
Melanie didn’t have the energy to offer Charlotte the usual assurances about how she would not lose. She looked down at her BlackBerry.
“How’s Claire?” Charlotte asked.
“Huh?”
“Your sister? Didn’t you spend the weekend with Claire?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes, yes, she’s fine. We had a nice dinner, and we did some shopping. It was good to see her. Are you all set for the trip?”
“Yes, and I can’t wait to get out of here. We go to the stupid press dinner, and then the motorcade comes back to the White House, and we’ll pretend that I’m going upstairs, and then I’ll change, and we’ll drive out to Andrews, right?”
“Exactly. We’ll give the press a full lid. They’ll find out the next day that you flew to Afghanistan overnight. The press that’s going with you will be waiting on Air Force One for you.”
“So they’ll miss the dinner?”
“I guess so,” Melanie said.
“That won’t work.” Charlotte frowned.
“Why not?” Melanie asked.
“Won’t the press notice that some of their colleagues aren’t at the dinner? Won’t that set off alarms? They live for the idiotic dinners.”
“It’s a very small press pool. We’re only taking the wire guys, one newsmag, and Dale Smith and her crew,” Melanie said.
“We’re taking Dale Smith to the front lines?” Charlotte asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I tried to get Billy to send their new Pentagon reporter, but he refused, and I couldn’t pull them out of rotation again. We’ve skipped them twice.”
Charlotte sighed loudly.
“What?” Melanie asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that she’s never seen combat, and I don’t like to use these trips to break in new war correspondents for the networks.”
“Do you want me to call Billy about it? He’d probably make a swap if I said it was a personal request from you,” Melanie offered.
“No, no. Don’t do
“Uh, do you want me to talk to her?” Ralph asked.
“No, I don’t want to bring it up until after her trip,” Melanie told him. “Let’s just tell her we are working on a strategy, and we’ll go over it when she gets back.”
Ralph shuffled out of her office to return to his windowless cave down the hall. Melanie had offered him a vast suite of offices on the second floor of the West Wing, but he’d insisted on being on the first floor where Melanie and the vice president and national security advisor had offices. Melanie rubbed her head and prayed for a little miracle of her own. If she could avoid talking to Charlotte about the campaign until after she returned from Afghanistan, she could figure out what to do. She could think about what Michael had told her for a few more days and come up with a better strategy for telling the president what she probably already knew: that she couldn’t win reelection unless something drastic happened.
Annie appeared at her door with a worried look. “She wants you to meet her on the South Lawn,” she said.
“Seriously? Right now?” Melanie asked, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them to try to get rid of the spots she was seeing in front of Annie’s face.
“Yeah. Sam said she’s playing fetch with the dogs and would love some company,” Annie said.
“Wonderful. Can I borrow your coat?” Melanie asked.
She walked out to the South Lawn, where Charlotte was flinging a bright orange ball with a device called the Super Chuck-It. The two younger dogs ran like wild horses after the ball. Cammie sat next to Charlotte as if she was supervising.
“Go run, Cammie, go play with Emma and Mika. You need some exercise, peanut, go run,” Charlotte urged. The dog just stared at her.
“How was the weekend?” Melanie asked.
“It was really nice. You were missed, but Brooke and Mark were in rare form.”
“Did their kids come?” Melanie asked.
“No, it was just Brooke and Mark. I think they’re going to miss Camp David more than I am if I lose.” Charlotte laughed.
Melanie didn’t have the energy to offer Charlotte the usual assurances about how she would not lose. She looked down at her BlackBerry.
“How’s Claire?” Charlotte asked.
“Huh?”
“Your sister? Didn’t you spend the weekend with Claire?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes, yes, she’s fine. We had a nice dinner, and we did some shopping. It was good to see her. Are you all set for the trip?”
“Yes, and I can’t wait to get out of here. We go to the stupid press dinner, and then the motorcade comes back to the White House, and we’ll pretend that I’m going upstairs, and then I’ll change, and we’ll drive out to Andrews, right?”
“Exactly. We’ll give the press a full lid. They’ll find out the next day that you flew to Afghanistan overnight. The press that’s going with you will be waiting on Air Force One for you.”
“So they’ll miss the dinner?”
“I guess so,” Melanie said.
“That won’t work.” Charlotte frowned.
“Why not?” Melanie asked.
“Won’t the press notice that some of their colleagues aren’t at the dinner? Won’t that set off alarms? They live for the idiotic dinners.”
“It’s a very small press pool. We’re only taking the wire guys, one newsmag, and Dale Smith and her crew,” Melanie said.
“We’re taking Dale Smith to the front lines?” Charlotte asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I tried to get Billy to send their new Pentagon reporter, but he refused, and I couldn’t pull them out of rotation again. We’ve skipped them twice.”
Charlotte sighed loudly.
“What?” Melanie asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that she’s never seen combat, and I don’t like to use these trips to break in new war correspondents for the networks.”
“Do you want me to call Billy about it? He’d probably make a swap if I said it was a personal request from you,” Melanie offered.
“No, no. Don’t do
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