Part 186 (2/2)

For most of her life Emma had been cheated out of a mother. In the

weeks as summer drifted into fall, she made up for a longing of a

lifetime by moving into one of Bev's guest rooms.

If Drew was impatient with her, she had to put him off. She needed this

time with Bev, not to feel like a child again, but to reforge a bond.

How could her new relations.h.i.+p work if she left older ones unresolved?

She had her work. The city where her father had spent his childhood

caught her imagination. Emma could spend hours scouring the streets and

parks, finding subjects. An old woman who came day after day to feed

pigeons in Green Park. The ultratrendy set who walked

Labradors or pushed prams along King's Road. The tough-faced punks who

haunted the clubs.

So she stayed on, a month, then two months longer. She celebrated with

Drew when Birdcage Walk's alb.u.m settled into Billboard's number twelve

slot. She watched in amus.e.m.e.nt as Lady Annabelle ruthlessly pursued a

baffled P.M. She cut asters and mums from Bev's garden. And at last,

she took a step forward and submitted prints and a book proposal to a

publisher.

”I'm meeting Drew at seven,” Emma called out as she tugged on a short

suede jacket. ”We're going to dinner and a film.”

”Have fun.” Bev gathered up an armful of samples. ”Where are you off to

now?”

”Stevie's.”

”I thought he was under the weather.”

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