Read Online Snow Falls by Gerri Hill - Free Book Online Page B

she saw questions forming in Jen’s eyes.
    “What—” But Jen shook her head. “No. Never mind.”
    Ryan laughed. “Was that hard to do? To not ask your question?”
    “Yeah. But I’ve decided that you have a right to your privacy and if you don’t want to talk to me about anything personal, then that’s your business. I’m not going to bombard you with questions anytime you do let something slip. Like college,” she added with a smile.
    “I’m just not used to talking about myself,” she said. “Talking period.”
    “That’s fine,” Jen said, feigning disinterest.
    Ryan watched her as she appeared absorbed in reading. She was surprised by the words that spilled out from her. “I’ve been here two years. Before that, I bought an old mining shack at the edge of Aspen. Spent a couple of years fixing it up. But it wasn’t really isolated. Not like here.”
    Jen didn’t move or lift her eyes, almost as if she was afraid to move, lest Ryan stop talking.
    “I ran into my brother and his entourage on a ski slope one year and decided it was time to move on.”
    At this, Jen did lift her head. “Are you estranged from your family?”
    “I don’t know if I would call it that,” she said. “We had a bit of a falling out about ten years ago.”
    “But you still talk to them? See them?”
    “Talk to them? No, not really,” she said with a shake of her head. “I see them. Occasionally.” Because she had obligations, she reminded herself.
    “But you’re not estranged?”
    Ryan grinned. “That word just seems so melodramatic.”
    Jen nodded but didn’t ask anything else about her family. “Why here? Why Lake City?” she asked instead.
    “Aspen was...busy. But I wasn’t—” Wasn’t writing . “I wasn’t working,” she said.
    “No editing gig there?”
    Ryan shook her head. “I wanted someplace where I didn’t have to worry about tourists everywhere but also someplace where I could venture into civilization if I wanted.”
    “Again, some hermit you are.”
    Ryan was tempted to tell her the whole sordid tale but knew, after this much time, that Jen would probably be pissed to learn she was a writer. Not just a writer, but a Pulitzer Prize winner. Of course, Jen might remember the tabloid stories or have heard them, since she was in the business. She might even be one of those who believed a ghostwriter had actually penned the book. After all, her own family did . Does. Thank goodness, the Pulitzer committee didn’t. They had accepted the proofs she’d presented of her authorship, which had averted the disgrace of having them rescind the award. So no, she certainly did not want to hash all that over again. She stood, taking her laptop to her desk, ending the conversation.
    “I’m going to take the dogs out.”
    ***
     
    Ryan pulled the covers back on the bed, debating whether to turn the lamp off or not. Jen was in the bathroom and had been for an unusually long time. Of course, maybe she was simply avoiding her. Her mood had turned sour, she knew, and she’d stay out with the dogs longer than normal. When she returned, Jen had looked at her warily and Ryan hadn’t explained—or commented on—her abruptness. Thinking about that time in her life always put her in a funk. The betrayal of her family and their total lack of interest in the truth still smarted. She could still hear her mother’s laugh when one of countless reporters had questioned her. “A writer? Catherine? Don’t be ridiculous.” Right , she thought. Catherine Ryan-Barrett couldn’t possibly be talented enough to write a novel. She was an heiress with literary pretensions, nothing more. The tabloids ate it up, and her own mother kept stoking the fire. Any publicity was good publicity, as far as her mother was concerned.
    She shook those thoughts away, knowing she had to quit dwelling on them. That had happened a lifetime ago. She needed to live in the present. And right now, that meant checking on her guest.
    She