With the turn in weather and impending ski trips ahead of me this season, I find myself reflecting on a lovely little chapter in Call Me Emily. My weekends will most likely entail snowball fights with my seven year old with an added bonus of harder, stinging snowballs to my back and shoulders from my husband. Then there is the cheering I know I won’t be able to contain as I watch my son ski down the hill toward me.

Emily’s trip to the snow is a little different. In chapter 16, titled- A Weekend Away, Graham takes Emily to his parent’s cottage for a ski weekend. She’s never snow-skied before, but braves the trip anyway with high hopes of romance with Graham. But after they finish eating dinner in the cozy cottage kitchen, the conversation takes a hard left turn.

Chapter 16

A Weekend Away

It was fun cooking together. Since it wasn’t his or my apartment it felt like an “our” situation. We stood side by side, stirring pots and preparing the bread. We sipped wine, ate and talked casually about nothing in particular. It was simple but one of those times you know you’ll remember.

We ate, and as I popped the last bite of bread into my mouth, I had to admit I was full. “Should we go enjoy that fire of yours now?”

“Yes.” He looked down at the dishes.

“There’s not much … here.” I took our plates and washed them quickly, along with the empty pasta pots. Graham brought our glasses to the living room. I joined him in front of the fireplace. It was cozy and well, let’s face it, romantic. I walked to the fireplace to take a look at the family photographs.

“So these are your parents?” I picked up one of the frames. “This must be your sister.” I pointed to a beautiful blond girl in the photograph. The color drained out of Graham’s face. He looked down at his feet, almost shrinking. A posture I had never seen from him before.

“That’s …” He took the frame from my hands, looked at it briefly and turned it face down on the mantel. “That’s Nicole.” He said her name quietly.  I didn’t know what to think.
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“Nicole?” To say I was confused would have been an understatement.

“Remember I told you about the girl I dated last year?”

Who Nicole might be became clearer. “Yes, so that’s her? With your parents?” Suddenly I wore the same look on my face. I was sad and, well, more than slighted. His parents didn’t even know I existed, and here I was in another one of their houses with a photo of his previous girlfriend staring at me.

“But you said.” I was crushed. I couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Look, I don’t tell them about my personal life anymore for a reason.”

“ ’Anymore?’ ”

“Nicole was in my life for a long time and… she’s friends with my family. Believe me.” He reached for my shoulders. I still couldn’t look at him. “She’s not in my life anymore. I learned the hard way.” I couldn’t look up and didn’t know what to think.

“Emily?” He touched my chin with his index finger, tipping my face to his. “I’m with you now, only you.” He paused for a few seconds, not waiting for me to speak but trying to find his next words. The skin between his eyebrows crinkled. The look on his face was pain. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He brushed my jaw with his thumb gently. I barely felt it.  Time hung in the air between us.

When all of you lovely people read Call Me Emily, you will learn about the connection Emily has with her family and her home of Two Rivers.  Her home town calls to her in a spiritual way. Not quite like you would read in a C.S. Lewis novel, but it does call. And, for Emily, when she hears that call she seeks out the balance to her life that she so desperately wants to find.

I, personally, am lucky enough to have many members of my family nearby my town of Auburn California, where I have lived for the past nineteen years. While some of my family live too far away, others I am able to see and visit with more often. These family members graciously joined me, my son and my husband for Thanksgiving. And it was truly a day to give thanks. All of us are healthy, happy and moderately sober. (I joke.)

So while I don’t retreat to my home town and the arms of my mother for comfort like Emily, I do relish in the small things my family does that light up my day. Especially on a day when we can all be together, share a meal, many stories and give thanks.

Enough about me! I know you really want to know about Emily. In the scene that follows from Call Me Emily, Emily returns to her home town for Thanksgiving seeking a little clarity. But, does she find it?

***

We crossed the river and made the last hairpin turn before our house.  Mom’s car was in the driveway.  I was happy to be home. No I was elated to be home. I pulled the car behind hers and jumped out. She came to the front porch and like the Tasmanian Devil, my little brother ran under her arm and down the steps toward us. I stopped and put my arms out to give him a big hug. He ran right past me and tackled Ethan. Well how do you like that?

Mom made up for Hunter overlooking me. She wrapped her arm around me while Ethan followed us into the house carrying our bags.

“Having both of you gone has been…just…” She started to cry.

“Mom, don’t. We’re here now.” I pulled her closer and opened the door. It was much colder than I remembered. I wanted to stand by the fire immediately.
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“I know, I know. He’s looking out for you, isn’t he?”

“Yes, of course he is.”

Hunter held Ethan captive in his room, showing him all his new video games I presumed. I got the impression Mom and I had plenty to talk about. She had that look. You know, the one that said I wasn’t aloud to run off any time soon.  As we unpacked, we covered the first few weeks of school. Had I met any friends? What were my classes like? How was my job? And so on. I gave her overall kind of explanations.

“Have you met him yet?” she handed me the last of my things out of my bag.

“Who?” I asked knowing exactly what she meant but not wanting to encourage her.

“The guy,” she responded with a very curious smile. “The new guy.”

“Mom, there’s no guy.” I lied just a little. Although I was interested in Graham I couldn’t deny it was Christian I thought of as soon as we passed the welcome sign. I knew I’d probably think of him when I got home and those thoughts seemed to boil over the second I arrived. It didn’t help that everything here reminded me of him. Simply driving the roads brought back all kinds of memories I’d been trying to bury.  Add the quiet that hung in the air with only the occasional whip of a breeze through the trees and brief animal noises and the rich meadow that accompanied every breath I took, and I was officially thinking about everything that happened between us the summer before.

I’ve introduced all the characters in Call Me Emily. Stay with me because there are more, really fun characters to read about in Emily Calls It. But that’s a later blog post.

For now, I thought I’d leave you with an excerpt. In the first book, Call Me Emily, Ethan, Emily’s brother feels a little guilty he hasn’t helped his sister get acquainted with southern California. Out of obligation, he invites her to the movies. The following passage gives you insight into Emily and Ethan’s relationship. It also gives you a glimpse of what’s to come between Emily and Joel.

***

I only knocked once before he opened the door.

“Hey,” he said backing away so I could pass.

“Wow, you’ve really done wonders with this place,” I said sarcastically, easing the door shut. His apartment was a mess. Clothes everywhere, empty macaroni and cheese boxes on the counter, and don’t even get me started on the piles of papers on every surface. I always found his furniture taste, or lack thereof, interesting. I guess.  If you could assemble it with an Allen wrench, it was in his apartment. Down to his kitchen table, a glass-topped patio table with a hole in the middle for an umbrella.

I stayed in the entry, afraid to make my way into this obvious black hole of disarray.

Ethan returned from the other room, tennis shoes in hand. He slipped one on and looked at me. “What’s with the look?” he asked.

“Look?”

“Yeah, your nose is all scrunched up. Does it smell in here or something?” He looked around.

“No, but the fact that you have to ask that speaks volumes,” I said further wrinkling.

He grabbed his keys and nodded toward the front door. “Let’s jam. We’re meeting Joel.”

Huh. I was surprised. I don’t know why, but I thought it was just a brother and sister night.

“Wait a second. You have something in your hair,” he pulled out an almost-dry, pencil-eraser-sized drip of yellow paint. “Oh, great,” I said.

“Yeah, you missed a spot,” he laughed and messed up my hair with his hand.

Sure enough, when we parked Joel waiting out in front of the movie theater.
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“Hey Joel,” Ethan said as we approached. “I have these passes.” He tapped his front pocket. “Grab a spot in line with Emily and I’ll be right back.”

The line was forming fast as we joined it. I knew the movie was supposed to be good, but this seemed ridiculous. The line just kept going.

“What do you know about this movie,” I asked Joel.

“Nothin’ much. But it’s got that short guy from Top Gun in it.”

“Hey! Don’t be mean to Tom,” I said jabbing my elbow into his arm.

“Ouch! Fine,” he laughed.

I noticed an older couple in line behind us. Probably the age of my parents, but maybe older. Their smiles indicated they were listening to our conversation. She met my gaze.

“You two are so cute. You remind me of us when we were younger. How long have you been dating?” She swept her arm across her husband’s back.

Joel’s posture went rigid. “Oh, we’re, um friends.” I spit out.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” she said with the same mischievous smile. Before I had a chance to continue our conversation, Ethan came back and picked up mid sentence.

“Wow that’s a long line.” He looked at the trail of people behind us. “I’m glad we got here when we did.”

Joel moved beside me to give Ethan room, and we stepped forward in line.

“So what did I miss?” Ethan asked.

Joel and I looked around, both not looking at each other. “Nothing,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

Emily’s mother is quite a woman. She juggles a full time job, three children and the singles scene. Granted, in the small town she lives the singles scene isn’t so much a scene as it is the occasional set-up by one of her married friends.  “You know Susan, my brother is recently divorced,” is something Susan would hear from time to time and cringe at the thought. “Great! The newly divorced are always so much fun,” she would say.

Emily’s mom is fun loving but strict; sweet but stern all at the same time. She trusts Emily to make the right decisions but eases her in the direction she thinks is best.

Now to address how I created Susan Parker. Let me first say that arriving at a name for this very influential character was difficult. I’ve gone through about four iterations finally settling on Susan. Like all of my character names, this one just felt right. Did I base her on anyone I know? What do you think? Not only does she embody some of the characteristics of my mother but I also drew from my friends mothers. When I was in middle and high school the sleep-overs were many. Almost every weekend one of my friends was at my house or I was at hers. I grew close to all of my friends mothers and learned to appreciate them individually. I watched as they influenced their daughters and I learned so much from them. It’s this combination that makes up Susan.

Below is an excerpt from the beginning of Call Me Emily. Emily arrives home after her first day at school to find a message from her mom. She’s determined to unwind in a bath but calls her mom back first.

The bathroom was tiny but had a nice tub, which was one of the features that made me decide on this particular apartment. I started the water and added some lavender bubble bath – a gift from my mom. Oh, Mom! I needed to call her back, too. I could call Jessica from the tub, but I had better call my mom first or I’d never hear the end of it. I let the water run, sat on the closed toilet seat and dialed Mom’s work number.

“This is Susan,” She answered on the second ring.

“Hey Mom, it’s me.”

“Hi honey.” She sounded happy.  “How was your first day?”

“Good, I picked up all my textbooks and got my student ID. Oh and I met a girl, a freshman like me, from out of state.”

“Really, that’s great. You made a friend sweetie.”

“Mom, knock it off! I’m not four years old.”

“I was just kidding,” she said. “So tell me about your day.”

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“Yeah? That’s great! Did you see Ethan?”

“We ran into him at the bookstore. He was picking up a few books himself.” I paused remembering running into him. “I called him to see if he wanted to get together this afternoon, but he wasn’t home.”

“Well, I’ll tell him …”

“No! Mom, don’t call him. We’re fine; he doesn’t have to spend every waking hour with me.”

“But you don’t know anyone there, Emily.”

“Yeah I do.  Remember my new friend Allison.” I laughed. And it really was OK. I knew my brother wouldn’t want to spend all his time with his little sister. It was true; I knew this, but still, I was a little lonely.

“Hey Mom, I’m going to get in the tub now. Thanks for checking on me; I’ll call you soon.”

“OK dear, be good.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too. And don’t forget…phone home.”

She always said that to my brother. It must apply to me now, too. I hung up and turned off the tub water. It was just like I liked it: super deep and full of bubbles. The scent of lavender filled the room and seemed to float down the hall in clouds. I walked into the bedroom and kicked off my flip fops, pulled my tee-shirt over my head, and wiggled out of my jeans. Tossing my clothes on the bed, I turned on the little clock radio next to it and walked back to the bathroom. Yes I could hear it fine from here. Like I said, it was a pretty small place.