Page 25 of Campaign Season
“No need to apologize. Shell and I were just wrapping up. Send Alex in.”
“Mom—”
“I heard you, Shell. You need to trust me.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust.”
Candace nodded, letting the words linger in the air before turning her attention to Alex as she entered.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Alex said.
“We were done,” Michelle replied.
“How are you, Shell?” Alex asked.
“Good. Busy.”
“I’ll bet the kids are excited about Halloween,” Alex offered.
“Not as excited as my wife,” Michelle replied. “Apparently, we have costumes.”
Candace snickered.
“Why are you laughing?” Michelle asked. “Did Mel tell you what she’s planning?”
Candace shook her head. “No idea, but take lots of pictures.”
Michelle groaned. “With my luck, she’ll have me dressed as a roll of toilet paper.”
Candace laughed. “Could be worse—you could be the?—”
“Mom!”
Candace shrugged, her smile widening.
“Don’t forget,” Michelle said as she stepped into the doorway, “you have trick-or-treaters coming through the Oval in an hour.”
“I have candy at the ready.”
“Are you dressing up?” Alex asked.
“Yes. As the president.”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you in a bit,” she said, closing the door.
“Busy day,” Alex remarked.
“It’ll be fun to have the kids trick-or-treating through the White House. A nice change of pace.”
“Planning to bribe the press corps with high-end candy?”
Candace chuckled. Traditionally, members of the press brought their children for an afternoon of trick-or-treating alongside the children of the White House staff. Jameson had taken the lead on planning the festivities with Cooper’s enthusiastic help.
“Cooper and Jameson chose the candy. I haven’t looked. My best guess is peanut butter cups, sour candy, and bubble gum.”
“Excellent choices.”
“Mm-hm. I can already imagine tomorrow’s headlines about presidential dental care.”
