34. Good Handle On It
GOOD HANDLE ON IT
“ I n world news today, New York Times bestselling author and one of the most popular writers in the thriller genre has finally revealed her identity.”
There was a round of laughter in the living room of Melissa and Noah French’s home in Boston. Everyone wanted to be together when the news broke, and since Emma was the only one that lived on the island, she came here.
Actually, last minute, she had stayed at Warren’s house after the game on Sunday and they both drove here. She’d go home from her parents in the morning, and he’d return home in a few hours since he had to report for practice tomorrow.
“Shhhhh,” Emma said. “We need to hear this all.”
Melissa’s picture popped up on the screen. “The world has always wondered who Steve Spencer was. As verified by her agent, publishers, and attorney, we now find out he has been a woman behind the scenes. It almost feels like a novel in itself,” the news anchor said. “Everyone, meet Melissa French.”
Emma turned to her mother and smiled. “You wrote about that in a book.”
“I know,” Melissa said, laughing. “Let’s see how long it takes for them to put it together. There wasn’t much time for them to research for this.”
Warren knew Melissa had the news breaking less than an hour ago on purpose. He found it hilarious she had that much pull to hit the news nationwide and on her schedule.
They broke for a commercial after saying there would be more to come at the end of the show.
“Are they going to mention your interview coming out?” Emma asked.
“I think so,” Melissa said. “That is the hope. We also wanted it known that I donated the money for the interview to Aunt Melanie’s agency. Might as well bring the whole family into this.”
“Are you ready for it?” Warren said, turning to Emma. She was sitting next to him on the couch.
“I am,” she said. “But are you ?”
“I’ve already been in the news a lot,” he said, laughing.
But his phone vibrated in his pocket. Not just a few times. As if it was ringing, but he knew it was texts. Roark’s was going off too.
Emma probably didn’t even have hers with her, but no one texted her but family and the entire Bond family knew this was coming out today. They’d all been warned ahead of time.
Warren liked how close her whole family was to be considerate of that.
He’d never experienced anything like that in his life.
It was his mother and sisters. His grandparents were gone now and even when he was younger, they weren’t too present in his life.
His maternal grandparents helped when they could, but had a strained relationship with his mother before they passed.
His paternal grandparents weren’t much better. His father’s father was a drunk and his father’s mother had been too tired and sick to help or even be there for them when his mother could have used it.
He pulled his phone out and saw it blowing up with players and his agent. The team publicist.
Jesus, the news hadn’t even mentioned Emma’s relationship to Melissa, so it just went to show how fast people were checking information online.
He wouldn’t open any of them, but saw Mike was giving him shit for not letting him know.
“Problem?” Emma asked, smirking at him.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“It’s fine,” Melissa said. “We expected this. Noah turned his phone off. He’ll deal with it all tomorrow.”
“I don’t have that luxury,” Warren said. “What is it I’m supposed to say or not say? I figured I’d keep it simple, that Emma’s family business doesn’t concern me. Something like that.”
“You don’t have to be so formal,” Melissa said. She turned to Roark. “What are your thoughts on everyone’s response?”
“Have fun with it,” Roark said. “We trust you.”
That humbled him. “I’ll just say it was as much of a surprise to me to find out the truth as the world.”
Which was the truth.
“You’ll be asked when you found out,” Emma said. “Are you going to tell them?”
He shrugged. “I’ll probably leave it as a mystery,” he said. “You guys all love that.”
There was more laughter in the room. Emma leaned over to kiss him. “I’m sure you’ll get a lot of questions tomorrow. Sorry if it’s going to be the hot topic at practice.”
“I’m good at shutting that stuff down,” he said.
It’d been harder for him to maintain his privacy since he started to date Emma, but he felt he had a good handle on it.
The fact she was at the game on Sunday helped quiet those who thought they weren’t still going strong.
He wasn’t sure why that bothered him so much. As long as Emma didn’t believe it, it shouldn’t matter.
An hour later, he was giving Emma a kiss at the door. He enjoyed their few days together and was thrilled she’d said she’d gotten a lot of writing done at his house while he was gone.
He was even more excited that he had her in his bed each night.
It’s what he was hoping for.
Getting a taste of it though was going to make it harder for him to return to not seeing her much other than through video calls.
He was going to have to work through it on his own. It’s not like he’d ask her to move in with him.
Well, he could, but he knew she wouldn’t. Why would she give up living on an island where very few people bugged her?
And now, with the news of Steve Spencer’s identity, Emma would stay in even more.
When he got home forty minutes after kissing his girlfriend goodbye, he parked in the garage and went into his empty house.
He pulled his phone out to see over a hundred messages. He’d silenced it at one point.
The ones from his mother and sisters he answered right away and said he’d get on a call with them if they wanted. Since he sent that in a group chat, they all replied yes within minutes, so his mother set that up, and when his phone rang, he answered it there rather than on his computer.
“That is just crazy,” Stephanie said. “Did you know?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling. “Melissa told me the first time I met her.”
“You’re kidding me,” his mother said. “That was months ago. And you’d only been dating Emma a few months then.”
“I know,” he said. “I was stunned, but I understood too.”
“What did you understand?” Stephanie asked.
“That Warren was in love with Emma,” Stacy said. “Everyone can see it. And her family is so accepting of him. I saw that again on Sunday.”
Hailey had been talking to his sister about work and the possibility of interviewing at Bond Law.
His sister was all but bouncing off the wall over that and was going to consider it.
He understood Stacy’s reluctance since she’d just started her first job after passing the bar. Then there would be talk that she might have gotten the job because of the family connection with Emma’s.
His sister was going to have to figure that out on her own.
He just couldn’t micromanage everyone’s lives anymore.
He finally had what he wanted. There were only so many hours in the day and it was time to put some of them on him.
“They are,” he agreed.
“Is there anything you can share about this news with Emma’s mother?”
He laughed. “Not much to say. She’s kept her identity secret for years. I’m not sure how she managed it with enough people knowing, but it never got out. Good for her. I’m jealous of that.”
“It’s going to put more attention on you and Emma,” his mother said.
“It will. I’ve got a ton of messages and my phone is still going off. My agent and Mike are pissed I didn’t tell them. They can fuck off,” he said. “It’s not my news to share.”
“That’s the attitude to have,” Stacy said. “They can get over it. It will not affect how you play the game.”
“No,” he said. “I’ll talk to them later. There is an article releasing tomorrow with an interview Melissa did. I don’t know what it says. I’ll read it the same as everyone else.”
“We won’t keep you on the phone,” Stephanie said. “I know you’ve got other things to take care of.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Not what I want to do. I might just shut my phone off and call it a night with a book.”
“A Steve Spencer book,” his mother said. “Or have you read them all?”
“Not all,” he said. “Right now I’m going through most of Emma’s.”
“Which is a very supportive boyfriend,” Stephanie said. “Maybe I’ll find one of them someday.”
“Only if I approve of him,” he said.
His sister snorted and he knew it was time to get off the phone.
The minute he hung up, his phone was ringing again. It was Mike this time. It was the only person he was going to talk to at this point.
“Yes, Mike,” he said.
“Why didn’t you tell me that press release was going out?” Mike asked.
“First off,” he said, “it’s not about me or the team. You don’t need to know those things. Second of all, it’s not my news to share.”
“But it’s going to put you out there,” Mike said.
“Which has nothing to do with the team,” he repeated. “Drop it. I’m not going to address any of it and that is my stance. If you want an official statement because you feel you need to release it, then it’s the same as everyone else. I was just as stunned as them to find out.”
“Did you find out tonight?” Mike asked.
“No comment,” he said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some reading to do. I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mike was laughing when he hung up. He wasn’t sure why and didn’t care.
He was ready to toss his phone on the counter when it went off with another text.
He would have ignored it, but it was from his father again.
This time asking for help.