A muted keening colored Ryder’s typically uninflected voice. His distress seeped into Emma’s pores, filling her with unwanted anxiety.
“Let’s move away from the window and keep busy. Worrying won’t help anyone now.” She tugged at his sleeve. “More cooking? Or maybe something more active? Do you like to clean? Because I’m pretty sure Andy would love a little help vacuuming the guest rooms.”
Ryder shrugged. “Okay.”
“Also, I’m going to try to reschedule your therapy for earlier now that you’ve decided to hang back. Avery—Andy’s sister and my friend—is an awesome physical therapist. I know you’ll get a lot out of working with her.”
Avery was widely known as the town’s taskmaster therapist, which meant Emma could count on her friend to keep Ryder’s mind occupied for part of the day.
Ryder silently followed Emma to the supply closet. Meanwhile, she did her best to shake off Ryder’s concerns about Wyatt’s lack of big-mountain experience. Her phone rang then, so she answered without looking at the screen. “Emma Duffy.”
Crap, her agent.
She risked a quick glance at Ryder, but he appeared preoccupied with his own thoughts. Thank God!
“Jill, can I call you back in five minutes? I’ve got my hands full at the moment.”
She stalled that call long enough to get Ryder set up with Andy, who’d taken to calling him “Stevie Wonder” because he always wore sunglasses. Ryder seemed amused, so Emma didn’t interfere. Maybe Ryder enjoyed being handled without kid gloves. Andy might be the perfect antidote for Ryder’s mood and Wyatt’s hovering.
Emma ducked into her mother’s back office and locked the door before returning Jill’s call.
“Hi, Jill. Sorry about that. Are you calling to discuss the marketing call later today?” Emma asked.
“No, although I can loop in to that later if you’d like. I’m calling because I read through the first half of your new manuscript. It looks good. You may need to sharpen her internal conflict a bit, but I like the playful tone and banter.”
“Great. I’ll go back over that while I’m finishing up the last chunk.” Emma heard Andy moving around the hallway just outside the door. She suppressed the urge to whisper. “Anything else?”
“No. You’ll get a good rundown of whatever marketing plans they’ve put in place. I heard from Kim in publicity that you got a couple of starred reviews from the trade journals, which is awesome, especially for a debut author.”
Emma’s face broke into a wide smile. She wished she could call her friends and share her news, but she’d never take that gamble. They loved and admired the sensible, steady Emma Duffy they knew, and she wouldn’t change that for anything. While she knew they’d accept her novel, and her, after their initial shock wore off, still the “secret” would no longer be under her control. If either Avery or Kelsey told another person—like their fiancés—it would eventually make its way back to her very Catholic, very conservative mother. Not only would that result in endless prayers for Emma’s soul and a stern visit from Father O’Malley, no doubt it also would reopen old wounds, and her mom would blame Emma’s dad for the rotten DNA.
She hadn’t exactly forgiven her dad for running off—for letting his ego and libido destroy their family and leaving her with a mother who’d fallen into a pit of despair.
Emma stood outside her mother’s room listening to her sobs echoing off the tile in her shower stall. Every day since her father had left, her mother retreated to that shower to cry. Sometimes twice. And she’d been taking pills that turned her into a zombie.
“Emma, what are you doing?” Grammy stood near the top of the stairwell.
“Mom’s crying again.”
Grammy’s brows pinched together as she waved Emma in for a hug. “Come away, dear. Let’s go bake cookies.”
Cookies might make Emma feel better, but they wouldn’t help her mom. “Grammy, how can I help make Mom stop crying and sleeping all the time? I can’t stand all the sadness. I’m scared.”
Grammy patted her head and offered a wrinkly smile. “You keep being a good girl, Emma. She’ll remember that you’re the most important thing in her life soon enough. In the meantime, do everything you can to make her proud.”
Emma hugged Grammy again. “I will. I promise.”
“That’s my girl. Now, here’s the bigger question. Snickerdoodles or chocolate chocolate chips?”
Emma rolled her eyes. Was there even a question? “Chocolate!”