She hugged Christian, then cast a glance at Emma’s dress. “Lovely, my dear,” she said. “And how brave of you to come.” She patted Emma’s bare shoulder. “In your place I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.”
Christian squeezed Emma’s hand. “We’re doing fine,” he said, then kept walking until another woman stopped them.
“Emma. Frankie said you’d be here but I wasn’t sure...”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” she murmured, her throat closing on the words.
Grateful for his solid presence, Emma gripped Christian’s hand as he led her away. She spied Grace and Rafael Ramirez standing by the bar. Grace had married the barn’s trainer this past summer, much to Christian’s dismay. He still thought Grace, at twenty, was too young, and she’d quit college, rather than choose a major and then finish her degree, to become Rafe’s wife.
Emma waved at them but they seemed to be in a deep discussion and didn’t respond. She glanced away—and there was Max Barrett. Her pulse skipped a beat. Later she’d have to apologize to him about the carousel horse. I don’t know what else to do except to start charging that poor pony rent.
“Quite a gauntlet, hmm?” Christian said in her ear. “Thanks for rescuing me earlier. I was surrounded back there.”
“I could tell. Lanier’s friends giving you a hard time?”
Christian nodded. “It was a setup, I’m sure. All of them gave me the same advice. And Ed Wrigley actually offered me a job. Said if I wasn’t happy with Dad at Mallory Trucking he’d make it worth my while to leave the company.”
Emma knew he’d become dissatisfied with his job in the front office, but why would anyone single him out in public?
“The stockbroker?”
“Yep. ‘Keep him in a suit,’ he said, ‘and we’ll make a real success of him yet.’ Or words to that effect.” He shrugged. “To make matters worse, his friends have some notion I should join them for a hunting trip. It’d be good for Bob, too, Dad said. More than once.”
“Bob?” Emma couldn’t help but smile. “That dog has no idea of the life she was bred for. Chase after a bird? Stick feathers in her mouth?” She laughed. “The first time she saw a rifle she’d probably have a panic attack. She’d hate hunting.”
“We’re two of a kind, then,” Christian said. “I put Dad off about a date, but every time I get near him lately I seem to end up frustrated or angry.”
Perhaps, after last night, that applied to her, too. Emma laid a brief hand on his arm. “He only wants the best for you.”
“Then why doesn’t he get off my back? I’m not some nineteen-year-old kid. He can’t tell me what to do with my wife—”
He closed his eyes for a moment and Emma stared at him in shock. She’d always thought she and Lanier had a good relationship. He was trusting her to plan the anniversary party—not the sort of thing at which Emma normally excelled. Still, she hadn’t wanted to refuse.
“I meant life,” Christian muttered.
Emma looked away. “I know what you meant,” she said. “I’d better go help your mother with whatever she needs while you write our donation check. That’s why we came, isn’t it?”
Separately, as Frankie had pointed out. Emma couldn’t remember the last time she and Christian had been together in a car. For a long moment he didn’t speak. Then he said, “Sorry. Guess I’m feeling raw tonight.” And still edgy after he and Emma had argued? He steered her toward the center of the room but she barely acknowledged the rest of the people they met.
As they reached the other side of the pavilion, they walked right into a conversation between Frankie and Melanie Simmons, Christian’s ex-wife. The two were obviously sharing a moment, which reminded Emma of an oil painting in Frankie’s stairway of Melanie, Grace and Christian. It was still on the wall—the happy first family.
Christian bent to kiss his ex-wife’s cheek. Melanie was slim, almost willowy, with light brown hair and amber-brown eyes. Her long black dress, worn with diamonds, couldn’t be called anything but tasteful. And it was obviously expensive. “You look lovely tonight,” he said.
“Thank you, that’s sweet.”
Having delivered Emma to them, Christian excused himself to continue working the crowd—or to escape what he’d claimed was a slip of the tongue?
“Emma.” Frankie turned to her, a hand on Melanie’s arm. “Join us.”
Emma hesitated. She was already trying not to mind the brief kiss her husband had exchanged with Melanie. She’d seen that before. There was no reason to feel jealous but...
“Melanie and I were just talking about you,” Frankie said.
Oh, I’m sure.
She and her mother-in-law had gotten along well enough before the accident, but Emma had never cared for the regular updates Frankie gave her about Melanie’s charmed life. She’d always wondered if Melanie got the same reports about her. Not long after she and Christian divorced, Melanie had remarried. She and her husband, a respected judge in Chattanooga Criminal Court, had four children.
“I have a problem,” Melanie said, “and I need help. My twins are leaving the toddler stage, becoming little girls, and their room needs a total reorganization.”
Emma had nothing against her—she didn’t know her well, though it was hard to avoid her in such a small social group. Melanie’s smile was a bit wry, as if she recognized their awkward situation. She seemed hopeful, and maybe a bit desperate.
But then, so was Emma. She needed all the new business she could get.
“I’m sure we can give you exactly what you want, Melanie. I’d be happy to take a look at your space,” she said. “That first consultation is free.”
“Could we meet tomorrow? I’m eager to get started.”
They made arrangements for the next morning, then Emma asked Frankie if she needed help tonight. But Frankie shook her head.
“Melanie has already offered,” she said.
They went off together, arm in arm. Emma stared after them for a moment.
She glanced around the pavilion, which was packed with guests in gowns and tuxedoes and an army of waiters with trays of extravagant hors d’oeuvres.
Emma couldn’t eat a thing. She turned and headed for the nearest exit.
* * *
EMMA HURRIED ALONG the path that wound through the park. The cool evening air soothed her heated cheeks, and she forced herself to slow her pace. A few moments alone might restore her inner balance.
He can’t tell me what to do with my wife. Had he and Lanier been discussing another divorce?
She didn’t notice where the path had taken her until she was near the park’s merry-go-round, its painted horses and wild animals still gleaming in the darkness.
“I’ve been trying to catch your eye all evening, Emma.”
Her pulse beat faster, but she forced herself to stay still.
“Finally had to follow your glow. You’re like a firefly tonight.” She turned and Max Barrett gestured at her bronze gown.
“Max, I meant to return your call—”
“That would be calls,” he said with a rueful smile.
She gazed at the horses frozen in midgallop. And remembered Owen on his favorite pony—because he looks like Daddy’s horse—the other children’s laughter, the music playing. She stared at the now-silent Wurlitzer calliope in the center.
“Christian