her photography, though he pointed out in dozens of subtle ways that her
hobby, as he called it, took time away from their marriage and her
support of him and his career.
It was a nice print, he might say, if one cared to look at old ladies
feeding pigeons. So why had it taken her so many hours away from him to
come up with a few black-and-white snaps of people loitering in the
park?
He supposed he could eat a cold sandwich, even though he'd been
composing for six hours. Apparently it was up to him to drag the
laundry to the cleaners, despite the fact that he'd been tied up in a
meeting all afternoon.
She wasn't to worry a bit. If her work was so bloody important, he
could entertain himself for another evening.
Whatever criticisms he handed out were tempered with compliments. She
looked so inviting standing in front of the stove making a meal. It
made him feel good to come home and find her waiting for him.
Perhaps he was too forceful about how she should dress, what clothes she
bought, how she styled her hair. After all, her image, as his wife, was
as important as his own.
He was particularly concerned about what she should wear to the showing.
But as he said, he only wanted her to look her best. And, as he told
her, she had a rather drab taste in clothes.
It was true that she preferred the column of black silk and
hammered-gold jacket to the short, snug concoction of feathers and
sequins he'd chosen. But, as he said, she was an artist now and should
look the part. Because it touched her that he'd called her an artist,
she wore it to please him. He gave her a pair of chunky gold earrings
set with multicolored stones. If they were a bit gaudy, it hardly
mattered. He had fastened them on her himself.
When they pulled up in front of the small, uptown gallery, her stomach
began doing calisthenics. Drew patted her hand.
"Come on, Emma, it's not as though you're going on stage in front of ten
thousand screaming fans. It's just a little picture show." With a
laugh, he helped her out of the limo. "Loosen up. People are going to
buy Brian McAvoy's little girl's snapshots whether they like them or
not."
She stopped on the curb, incredibly hurt. "Drew, that's not what I need
to hear right now. I want to do this on my own."
"Never satisfied." He snatched her arm hard enough to make her wince.
"Here I am, trying to be a good sport about all this, trying to support
you in what you're hell-bent on doing no matter what the inconvenience
to me, and you bite my head off."
"I didn't mean to-"
"You never do. Since you want to be on your own so badly, perhaps you'd
like to go on in alone."
"No, of course I don't." Nerves and frustration intensified the pounding
behind her eyes. She could never seem to find the right thing to say,
she thought. And tonight of all nights she didn't want to alienate him.
"I'm sorry, Drew. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just nervous."
"All right then." Satisfied with the apology, he patted her hand and