Page 45 of Ten Christmases Without You
“I don’t know... We talked pretty regularly right after Christmas, but then I started seriously job hunting and I got busy.”
“The job hunting was so demanding that you didn’t have time for a phone call? You calledme.”
“Yeah, but you’re my sister.”
Madison shrugged as if she didn’t get it.
“I’ve been busy working all day and night and trying to get back on my feet.”
“So how is the job hunt going?”
She knew the answer. She’d been with Emmy along the journey.
For almost a year, Emmy had been living on her meager wages and what money her dad sent her, even though she’d tried not to take his handouts. She hadn’t been able to break into the marketing sector. The competition was incredible.
“You know how it’s going. Why are you asking?”
“Because maybe you should broaden your horizons. Look for a job in, say, Chicago.”
Emmy pouted at her sister, then went into the bathroom to unpack her toiletries.
Madison followed. “I’m just saying. You need to shake up your life. If you lived near Charlie, who knows what might happen? Maybe you two could go out on a date or two.”
“I can’t focus on that if I’m trying to build a career.”
“I think you could if you let yourself.”
“And it’s not as easy as it sounds to just up and move.”
“Mom did.”
Emmy rolled her eyes.
“Speaking of Mom, have you emailed Mitchell Augustine?”
Emmy shook her head. “No. I’m waiting until I’m home and can collect my thoughts.”
“I have some thoughts right now that you can pass along.”
Emmy grinned. “I need to figure out how to approach him. Even if we’re somehow wrong about the design—which I don’t think we are—he went dark when I told him Mom had died and then asked him to coffee. Meeting up for coffee after that news would definitely be awkward.”
“Fair enough. But he could’ve at least come back to you to shoot you down. He was too busy figuring out which design he wanted to use.”
“I did send him a follow-up, but when he didn’t respond to that, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“He clearly doesn’t care what you think. Unless... What if your messages went to his spam folder?”
“Would my messages go to spam? He responded to my first one just fine. Whatever he knows, he doesn’t want to tell us.”
“I’ll call him myself if I have to.”
“You haven’t considered the other side of things. He could know something awful! Do we want to learn shocking details about Mom?” Emmy set her hairspray onto the counter. “I want to remember her exactly as she was.”
“You should keep pressing him. At the very least, make him explain the dress.”
“Other than emailing him, I’m not sure what I can do.”
“Wear him down until he meets with you just to shut you up. At least, then we’ll know what happened.” Madison chewed her lip. “We could ask Dad if he knows anything more.”
