Public Secrets Part 211

drew her inside.

They had come late-as Runyun had ordered. He'd wanted the crowd there,

and already intrigued, when his star arrived. He had his

eagle eye on the door, and pounced the moment Emma walked through.

He was a small, bulky man who invariably wore a black turtleneck and

black jeans. Emma had once thought he was affecting an artistic image,

but the simple fact was he was vain and thought black made him look

slimmer. He had a big, bald head, made more prominent by the high

necklines, and thick black brows flecked with gray over his surprisingly

pale green eyes.

His nose was hooked, his mouth thin. He compensated by sporting a Clark

Gable mustache. It did nothing to improve his looks, which had always

been poor at best. Yet his three wives hadn't left him because he was

ugly, but because he paid more attention to his art than his marriages.

He greeted Emma not with a smile or a kiss but with a scowl. "Good G.o.d,

you look like a starlet out to lay a director. Never mind," he added

before Emma could speak. "Just mingle for a bit." Emma looked at the

crowd, the glitter of jewels and silk, the gleam of leather, with a kind

of dull horror.

"You're not going to disgrace me by fainting," Runyun said. No one

could have called it a question.

"No." She drew a deep breath. "No, I won't."

"Good." He had yet to speak to or acknowledge Drew, whom he had detested

on sight. "The press is here. They've already eaten half the canapds.

I believe your father's been cornered by someone."

"Dad? He's here."

"Over there." Runyun gestured vaguely. "Now mingle, and look

confident."

"I didn't think he'd come," Emma murmured to Drew.

"Of course he came." Drew had counted on it. He put an affectionate arm

around her shoulders. "He loves you, Emma. He'd never miss an

important night like this. Let's find him."

"I clon't-"

The affectionate arm squeezed, startling a gasp out of her. "Emma, he's

your father. Don't be snotty."

She moved through the crowd beside him, smiling automatically, stopping

now and then to chat. It helped a great deal to hear Drew brag about

her. His approval, which had been so long in coming, brought a glow

inside her. She'd been stupid, she thought now, to think he resented

her work. Accepting his kiss of congratulations, she vowed to spend

more time with him, give more time to his needs.

She'd always wanted to be needed. Smiling at Drew as he

enthusiastically discussed her prints with other guests, she was content

that she

was.

At his insistence, she accepted a gla.s.s of champagne, but barely

touched it as they worked the room.

She saw Brian, surrounded by people, in front of a portrait of himself

and Johnno. Her face hurt from keeping the smile in place as she

crossed to him. "Dad."