Chapter 13

Promptly at six P.M., Hawk walked through the door into the third floor Residence. He looked energized about something, and I hoped he was in a good enough mood to want to talk about it. Polly saw the same things I noticed, and shot me a smile. If necessary, we were prepared to gang up on him to find out what pleased him so much.

"I am glad to see you both dressed to go out. We are invited to dinner at the Swedish Embassy. It seems some Nobel Prize winners and nominees are in town for an awards dinner, and I've put off confirming because we weren't sure Angela would be up for it. Susannah called and they are ecstatic about the possibility of us attending.

"The music will be from André Rieu and the Vienna Symphony." He looked at me, and said, "Angela, Polly and I just adore his music. Are you two interested?"

Polly got all excited, so I assured them I felt up to a night out. Because it was last minute, the security arrangements were much simpler, and we were escorted to our motorcade about an hour later, as soon as Polly felt that Hawk and I passed muster. The dress she picked out was beautiful, and Constance stuck around to help me dress. Polly's hairstylist did our hair and makeup, and we were on our way.

The Swedish Embassy is very close to the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Brownbock lived. Hawk finally got Bradford out after one of the last assassination attempts, and Sam Brownbock looked built to last, so there was much less worry about another attempt. Because of my wheelchair, we were moved in a much larger limousine. Polly liked the bigger car because it allowed her to avoid worrying about having her hair rearranged by the interior roof. I liked it because we all could sit facing forward and enjoy the ride together like a family.

When we arrived, Renata and Rodney had my chair ready to go. They came over a bit earlier to have things in hand for us. I stepped out of the car, found myself just a bit unbalanced, and was pleased when Hawk gently took my arm and steadied me into my chair. That's when I realized that the long day might have been a little too much.

André Rieu was magnificent, and we watched the concert from the King's private box, with Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife, Sylvia. The King apparently loved Hawk for some reason, and the two men chatted amicably all evening. Polly and Sylvia weren't quite as comfortable together, but it hardly mattered once André Rieu started to play.

Dinner was typical Swedish fare that did nothing what-so-ever for my pallet. Out of respect, I tried everything, which pleased our hosts greatly.

Before the concert, Rieu was introduced to us and pointedly asked Polly if she would save a dance for him. The promise of a dance with André Rieu was enough to put a bright light in her eyes, and when he left the stage to take her hand for a dance, she glowed like a debutante.

Hawk watched his wife dance with her favorite entertainer, and his smile shined like a beacon. He was very proud of his wife. When André led Polly back to her seat, he then danced with the Queen, who was not nearly as graceful nor attractive, and I thought I noticed tightness around her eyes that might have been brought about by jealousy.

It didn't matter to Polly. A nuclear war couldn't have taken the shine off of her night, and I loved being included so that I got to watch her having so much fun.

The trip back to the White House was mercifully short, and Constance called ahead to have hot fudge sundaes waiting for us when we walked into the Residence. Polly couldn't stop talking about the concert and her dance. Hawk was happy to have spent time with the King, who turned out to be a close associate of his, and I was just plain pleased.

Constance elected to sleep in my suite once more, but I refused to allow her to spend another night on that sofa. After washing up and getting ready for bed, I convinced her to hop in and sleep with me. Renata came looking for Constance when she was ready to go off duty, and the two of us convinced her to sit with us for a while.

When Polly poked her head to say goodnight, the three of us were sitting in bed, laughing about some silly thing, and she climbed up and joined the conversation. For at least another hour the four of us made girl talk. It ended when Hawk came looking for his wife and found a hen party, instead. Renata took off. Constance went out to the living room, and Hawk joined Polly and me on the bed for a chat.

"Well ... Angela," Polly asked pointedly. "Are you going to tell us about your first day as a working girl?"

I started laughing. "You know just about all of it. That terrible man tried to bury me under all those reports, and Dad almost had him shot. Other than those two little things, it was pretty average..." I giggled, and it got Hawk talking.

"When the head of my detail rushed in, saying your panic alarm was going off, I jumped to come help you. Jason and Fred stopped me until they knew it was contained, but barely kept up when I came running. I couldn't believe that jackass tried to punch me. What in the world was that idiot thinking?"

Polly wasn't about to be outdone. "Angela, you are the best thing for my work out routine. When Margo called and said you had set off your alarm, we ran all the way to the office building, thinking ... thinking ... well ... bad things. When we discovered that you only used it to contact Constance and Renata to bring you upstairs, I realized how tense I'd been since you went downstairs this morning.