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Chris looked at Nat over his shoulder, gobsmacked. Natalie had risked an awful lot telling Foster about that, and all for Chris’s benefit. She kept looking right ahead, her back ramrod straight.
“So…what does that mean, sir?”
“It means that you’re back on general security,” Foster replied, “but on probation—three months, and don’t even think about putting a toe out of line!”
* * * *
While Chris was in with Foster, his future with the White House being determined, the president herself had summoned Jamie. He moved through the hallways, Boomer at his heels and Phil Coulter tailing him as he avoided the throng of people that hurried back and forth. Jamie liked Coulter—the man had been on the president’s security detail since she had been governor of New York and therefore Jamie had known him several years.
Coulter was loyal and dependable, but quiet and private. There was apparently a musician that he had been dating long distance for a few years, but Jamie had never heard anything more about the man’s personal life. If he was going to be honest, Coulter would always have been the best choice for Jamie’s personal Secret Service, but then he would never have met Chris if he’d had Coulter straight off. It was funny how life worked out.
Coulter waited outside for him, and Jamie knocked on the door of the Oval Office and went in, finding his mother leafing through some paperwork on the couch. They hadn’t really spoken since the morning that she had come back to the house in the Hamptons and caught Jamie and Chris going at it like rabbits. It had been awful, and Jamie had been sure that she would never let him see Chris again—she was the president, and she had the power to make that happen. It had already happened with Reiss, who was currently locked away in some high security government prison somewhere in Alaska that wasn’t supposed to exist. It was a better fate than the man had deserved, but still, he would never darken Jamie’s doorstep again.
She looked up as he entered and smiled warmly. Jamie sighed with relief and smiled back.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetie,” she replied, setting aside the paperwork and standing, walking forward to hug him.
Jamie wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. No matter what happened, no matter what was said between them, she was his mother and he loved her.
Pulling back, she held him at arm’s length and looked him over. “How are you feeling?”
Jamie shrugged. “Like I have three cracked ribs and a fractured arm,” he replied ruefully.
“Crashing an Aston Martin will do that to you, honey.”
He gave a small laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, moving away to sit on the couch. The Oval Office couches were not the most comfortable damn things in the world. “Yeah,” he sighed. “I guess I might have over-reacted.”
“Not as much as I did,” his mother admitted, sinking down next to him. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept well in a few days. Jamie knew that feeling all too well. “Everything could have been handled so much better, and I’m sorry.”
“Me, too,” Jamie replied. “It was supposed to be done here, like this—just the two of us talking about it like adults.”
His mother smiled at him. “Well, we can talk now. You said on your birthday that you had future stuff to discuss with me, so…go ahead.”
Jamie gave a small laugh, trying not to put too much pressure on his ribs as he did so. “Well, I guess we’ve covered the first part pretty thoroughly,” he murmured. “But the second bit…I wanted to tell you that I’m leaving the army.”
President Barratt nodded slowly. “I did expect that,” she acknowledged. “I take it that you have an idea of what you want to do next.”
“I was hoping that I could work for you,” Jamie replied. “Maybe not you specifically, but you know I have a little political experience. I helped work with you on your campaign, I did political science, I’m great with languages and foreign policy. I was thinking, maybe…State Department?” He bit his lip, looking at her hopefully.
She took a deep breath. “I’m not going to give you a free ride…”
“You never did,” he said. One thing about his mother is that she had always made him work for what he had. It made him appreciate it a lot more.
“…but I can get you an interview with the Secretary of State. It’s up to him whether or not he can use you, or if you’re right for the department, okay?”
“I understand,” Jamie replied with a grin. “Thanks, Mom.”
She laughed. “Don’t thank me yet. I need to talk to you about the press release.”
“Press release?”
“About your new relationship with your former Secret Service agent.”
“Oh,” Jamie murmured. He’d forgotten that the White House would have to issue a statement to the press.
His mother looked apologetic. “We’ve got to get ahead of the rumor mill, sweetie. We’ve already had a few reporters looking into Chris being with you when you were admitted to the hospital and we’ve managed to put them off for now, but we need to get this out as soon as possible so it’s all handled in the right way.”
