be weighed very carefully. The last thing we want to do is to prejudice the case against Sue Ellen.”
Teddy looked even more miserable. “It could hurt Sue Ellen’s case?”
“It could,” Ford confirmed, glancing at the look of pure hatred and contempt on her face as Donny raged at her. While it might be evidence of Donny’s behavior, it was also overwhelming evidence of a motive for murder.
“Uncle Ryan’s going to kill me,” Teddy said despondently.
Ford thought of his own perception that Ryan had a soft spot for Sue Ellen. He nodded. “He might at that.”
Chapter 7
E mma had barely walked into the house when her sister-in-law emerged from the kitchen, a defeated expression on her face.
“I’ve had it,” Martha announced. “That brother of yours is driving me flat-out crazy.”
“Matt?” Emma asked incredulously. Then the memory of her conversation with her mother came flooding back. “Does this have something to do with his mood lately?”
“It has everything to do with his mood. The man can’t find anything positive to say about anything. I’m tired of it. The kids are tired of it. If it doesn’t change, I swear to you that I am taking them and moving to…” She threw up her hands. “I don’t know, Florida, maybe. Someplace that’s warm all year round. I’m sick of being frozen—both physically and emotionally.”
Emma was too drained by her meetings with Ford and Sue Ellen to go through yet another emotionalmeltdown, but she didn’t seem to have any choice. Leaving might be an idle threat, but Martha’s frustration was very real.
“Is Matt here now?” she asked.
“No, he just stormed out the back door because I had the audacity to ask if he wanted to go to Laramie for dinner and a movie tonight with me and the kids. Apparently I don’t understand that he has to get up at the crack of dawn, that he can’t be gallivanting all over the place to see some fool movie, et cetera, et cetera, much less waste money on a fast-food hamburger, when we have a freezer filled with better beef.”
Emma winced. “That’s quite a tirade. Maybe he’s having a bad day.”
“ Every day is a bad day,” Martha said wearily. “If I point out what beautiful, sunny weather we’re having, he says if we don’t get rain we’re going to be in the middle of a drought. It’s depressing.”
“I can imagine,” Emma soothed. “Come have a cup of tea with me. Let’s talk about this.”
“Tea? I thought you were a dedicated coffee drinker,” Martha said, trailing her into the kitchen.
Emma grimaced. “I was until I went through six cups at breakfast trying to get over a hangover.”
Martha’s eyes widened. “You had a hangover? I’ve never seen you drink.”
“It was one glass of wine.”
“But—”
“Don’t even ask,” Emma said, as she found some herbal tea in her mother’s cabinet and put the kettle on to boil.
Martha took cups from another cupboard and set them on the table, then sat down, her expression subdued. She and Matt had been in love as far back asEmma could remember. First grade, maybe, when they’d been seated next to each other alphabetically. By junior high they were inseparable. By high school they were a couple. They had married two months after graduation, despite pleas from both sets of parents to wait until after college.
Matt had been a promising student who had earned a scholarship to the University of Wyoming, but Martha had been pregnant by the end of summer, and Matt had dropped his college plans to go to work for his father. They had been in Winding River ever since. At twenty-five, they already had three children. Until this visit, Emma had assumed they were happy.
She poured the tea, then sat opposite her normally exuberant sister-in-law. “Okay, what’s going on with you and Matt? What’s behind this mood of his?”
“He’s miserable,” Martha said, echoing what Emma’s mother had said earlier in her visit. “He just won’t admit
Teddy looked even more miserable. “It could hurt Sue Ellen’s case?”
“It could,” Ford confirmed, glancing at the look of pure hatred and contempt on her face as Donny raged at her. While it might be evidence of Donny’s behavior, it was also overwhelming evidence of a motive for murder.
“Uncle Ryan’s going to kill me,” Teddy said despondently.
Ford thought of his own perception that Ryan had a soft spot for Sue Ellen. He nodded. “He might at that.”
Chapter 7
E mma had barely walked into the house when her sister-in-law emerged from the kitchen, a defeated expression on her face.
“I’ve had it,” Martha announced. “That brother of yours is driving me flat-out crazy.”
“Matt?” Emma asked incredulously. Then the memory of her conversation with her mother came flooding back. “Does this have something to do with his mood lately?”
“It has everything to do with his mood. The man can’t find anything positive to say about anything. I’m tired of it. The kids are tired of it. If it doesn’t change, I swear to you that I am taking them and moving to…” She threw up her hands. “I don’t know, Florida, maybe. Someplace that’s warm all year round. I’m sick of being frozen—both physically and emotionally.”
Emma was too drained by her meetings with Ford and Sue Ellen to go through yet another emotionalmeltdown, but she didn’t seem to have any choice. Leaving might be an idle threat, but Martha’s frustration was very real.
“Is Matt here now?” she asked.
“No, he just stormed out the back door because I had the audacity to ask if he wanted to go to Laramie for dinner and a movie tonight with me and the kids. Apparently I don’t understand that he has to get up at the crack of dawn, that he can’t be gallivanting all over the place to see some fool movie, et cetera, et cetera, much less waste money on a fast-food hamburger, when we have a freezer filled with better beef.”
Emma winced. “That’s quite a tirade. Maybe he’s having a bad day.”
“ Every day is a bad day,” Martha said wearily. “If I point out what beautiful, sunny weather we’re having, he says if we don’t get rain we’re going to be in the middle of a drought. It’s depressing.”
“I can imagine,” Emma soothed. “Come have a cup of tea with me. Let’s talk about this.”
“Tea? I thought you were a dedicated coffee drinker,” Martha said, trailing her into the kitchen.
Emma grimaced. “I was until I went through six cups at breakfast trying to get over a hangover.”
Martha’s eyes widened. “You had a hangover? I’ve never seen you drink.”
“It was one glass of wine.”
“But—”
“Don’t even ask,” Emma said, as she found some herbal tea in her mother’s cabinet and put the kettle on to boil.
Martha took cups from another cupboard and set them on the table, then sat down, her expression subdued. She and Matt had been in love as far back asEmma could remember. First grade, maybe, when they’d been seated next to each other alphabetically. By junior high they were inseparable. By high school they were a couple. They had married two months after graduation, despite pleas from both sets of parents to wait until after college.
Matt had been a promising student who had earned a scholarship to the University of Wyoming, but Martha had been pregnant by the end of summer, and Matt had dropped his college plans to go to work for his father. They had been in Winding River ever since. At twenty-five, they already had three children. Until this visit, Emma had assumed they were happy.
She poured the tea, then sat opposite her normally exuberant sister-in-law. “Okay, what’s going on with you and Matt? What’s behind this mood of his?”
“He’s miserable,” Martha said, echoing what Emma’s mother had said earlier in her visit. “He just won’t admit
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