Janine stood at the check-in table, scanning the list of readings and seminars for something that might be of interest to her daughter. It was the first day of their second session, and all kinds of new seminars were now offered during the afternoon hours they used to spend writing, swimming, or playing croquet. There would be a class tomorrow on “Optimizing the Internet Marketing Experience for Artists” and one on “Expanding Your Circle of Influence.” In the days that followed, there would be “Publicity Strategies for the Christian Marketplace,” “Capitalizing on Current Events,” “Cross-Promotional Tie-Ins,” “Giving Your Work Away,” and even “Film and Television for Christian Writers.” Janine went down the list, starring the ones she thought Beth would like. She starred almost all of them.

The day was cloudless and hot, no sign of a storm, but Beth was back in their darkened shared room, sulkily refreshing her internet weather maps and jotting numbers in a notebook. Janine hadn’t expected the Ranch’s administrators to agree to Beth’s visit. She kept asking, Are you sure it won’t be any trouble?, hoping to suggest that it would be. But Marianne had sounded distracted, and she probably was, by the all the attention the school had received. Janine had been distracted herself by the publication of her poem—whenever she got near a computer, she found herself checking to see that her work was still there. Someone had posted it to the Ranch’s Facebook page as well, and that was an even more compelling place to visit—every time Janine looked, someone else had “liked” or “shared” it. Janine felt sheepish about all of this, and had even emailed Marianne to ask if someone else’s work might be highlighted instead, but she had not received a response. Probably Marianne was too busy, getting ready for all of these seminars. Handing over Janine’s familiar key—room 7B—she looked as if she had not slept in days.