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had the role of delivering unwelcome news to the president, and she knew that Warren was the rare person who wasn’t afraid to give Charlotte the unvarnished truth.
    Of course, Melanie was suspicious of Dale’s motives in seeking out Warren as her first serious relationship after her explosive and disastrous public affair with the president’s husband during Charlotte’s first term, but Brian insisted that Warren and Dale were good for each other.
    “Honey, I don’t think Dale is exactly the president’s closest confidante.”
    “She’s the goddamned White House press secretary.”
    “And she knows just enough to keep us idiots in the press corps coming back for more each day, but no one thinks that she’s on Charlotte’s short list for weekends at Camp David or cocktails on the Truman balcony.”
    “Whatever. I don’t care anymore. Charlotte can get advice from whomever she wants.”
    “Mel, Dale has not replaced you. Neither has Craig. In fact, Warren said that she always asks him how you’re doing.”
    “I doubt that. Warren is just trying to make me feel good.”
    “He wouldn’t do that.”
    They both knew that he would.
    “You should go to bed, honey,” Melanie said.
    “Take care of that baby of mine. Drink lots of water, and don’t forget to eat,” Brian urged.
    “I am guzzling water by the gallon and peeing every ten minutes.”
    “I’ll talk to you in the morning, my time. Stay safe.”
    “You stay safe, too,” Melanie said.
    “You’re the one in a war zone.”
    “You never know.”
    Melanie hung up and studied the seating chart for the town hall later in the day. She was almost twenty weeks pregnant. She and Brian hadn’t shared the news with anyone. Melanie was excellent at keeping secrets, and this one felt as though it was worth keeping as long as her body would permit. She looked down at her stomach and was pretty sure that it had grown since the day before. The loosest tops in her wardrobe now failed to cover up her rapidly expanding midsection and chest. No one in town would suspect that Melanie had gone for a boob job. For at least a few more weeks, they’d simply conclude that she’d gained weight with all of the travel required for her job. Melanie smiled and turned back to her work.
    She liked to do all of her meetings without using notes, but with the delay from the D.C. satellite hookup, the town hall would go smoother if everyone spoke from a couple of notecards. She thought about calling the White House chief of staff to go over the logistics, but since she suspected him of playing a key role in trying to sabotage her with the president the year before, she decided not to. She jotted a few notes for herself and read her briefing materials about the soldiers who would be in her morning meeting. Melanie was always struck by how young they were. She had pictures to accompany the short biographies, and after reading the briefing materials a couple of times, she covered the text and quizzed herself until she had the soldiers’ names and the basic facts of their military résumés and personal lives memorized. She felt that knowing their stories was the least she could do.
    She glanced at her BlackBerry and saw an e-mail from Dale confirming her participation in the town hall and asking if she wanted to talk about any aspect of the line-by-line before the event. A line-by-line was basically a script that was crafted by the government official responsible for briefing the president and other participants for an event. It didn’t preclude spontaneous conversation, but it was designed to ensure that everyone was able to make a different point so that the conversation covered all of the desired topics. Dale had also arranged for a crew to be inside the town hall meeting in Iraq to provide footage from both sides of the conversation for the “Day in the Life” special. Dale was thorough. While Melanie was surprised that Charlotte had tapped her because of their complicated