Another long moment stretched between them.
Emma waited for him to reply.
“You don’t expect to be able to do both.”
“My expectations and yours might be different. But since I wasn’t given a pink slip—”
“You came short of quitting.”
Emma glanced at the sky. True. “I should have handled that better.” Actually, it was one of her finest moments. Somehow she didn’t think her dad would agree.
“Yes. You should have. You weren’t fired,” he said.
“No. I certainly wasn’t. I do want to meet your expectations. To do that, I need to know what they are about my position.”
Her father sighed. “My understanding is Kyle is interviewing for your replacement. When you’re back in the States, I expect you to help whoever fills the job if you’re needed.”
Kyle . . . of course.
Emma wanted to throw something. “That sounds reasonable.”
By now everyone was on the bus and waiting on her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. If there’s nothing else, I have to get back to work.”
“I think that’s all before I return.”
“Enjoy your trip.”
That almost sounded pleasant.
Emma disconnected the call and stared at her phone for several seconds. It sounded like this was going to happen. Details aside, she couldn’t help but have a spring in her step as she climbed the steps onto the bus.
“Sorry, everyone. It was a . . . ah, important call.”
“All good,” someone said.
“I’m just happy it wasn’t me this time,” Jean announced.
Emma walked toward the back, saw Nicole sitting next to Chris. The seat next to Gio was empty.
Nicole offered a big grin.
Emma took a seat.
“Is everything okay?” Gio asked. “Nicole said that was your dad.”
“It was. I had some questions about . . . things.” Emma looked around, leaned closer, and lowered her voice. “I don’t want everyone to know who my dad is.”
“I get it.”
She leaned back as the bus took off. “He’s a hard man to get ahold of.”
“You said as much before. I would think at this point his operation runs itself.”
“He has narcissistic qualities. He doesn’t think anyone can do it as good as him.”
“Not even your brother?” Gio asked.
“Richard? Maybe a little, but not all.” She paused. “Don’t even get me started on Kyle.”
“I won’t,” Gio said with a smile.
“It does look like things are moving forward.”
Gio nudged her shoulder. “That’s good news.”
“It is.”
“Then why the frown?”
“My mother suggested that everything was going like I wanted it to, but I doubt she knows what my father has set in place.”
“You think there’s something he’s hiding?” Gio asked.
“I think my father does everything for a reason. And since my mother doesn’t spend all that much time with the man, she’s clueless about his motives.” Emma tucked her purse under the seat in front of her and extended her legs.
“Your parents don’t sound like they’re a married couple. More like roommates.”
“Roommates that live in separate houses.” Emma paused. “I’ve always wondered if my parents are happy. If their mutual misery is why he works late, leaves early. Why my father uses every excuse to not be in the same home as my mother.”
“What does she say about that?”
Emma looked at him. “I don’t ask her. She keeps busy with clubs and her friends. Charity work. Typical socialite. Shows up when my dad needs her to.”
“Married but separate?”
“Yeah.”
“Yuck,” he said. “Not for me.”
She shrugged. “Works for them.”
“I don’t see the point. Why get married?”
“Kids? Although they were married for quite a while before Richard. Whatever. There’s no reason for me to spend time thinking about it.”
“I don’t know about that. A parental relationship shapes us. You look at the relationships around you and figure out what you want and what you don’t.”
Emma knew he was right. Wasn’t that in part why she married Kyle? It was expected. It was time. Only she wasn’t cut out to live her mother’s life. Not then . . . not now.
Gio’s soft smile and genuine interest in the people that shaped her were unfamiliar territory coming from a man. She and her girlfriends, mainly Nicole, would dissect just about all the couples they saw.
“They are the real deal.”
“They won’t make it to five years.”
“How the hell did she pick him?”
Emma’s parents were not off the gossip meter.
Emma relaxed beside Gio. “How is it we’re talking about relationships . . . again?”
Instead of answering, Gio slowly lowered his gaze from her eyes to her lips and then back up. He lifted an eyebrow and then turned to look out the window.
Emma squirmed in her seat, suddenly warm.
“What are you two whispering about up there?” Nicole asked from behind Emma’s seat.
Emma glanced over her shoulder, narrowed her eyes, and turned back around without saying a word.
Gio silently chuckled.
Gio did what he could to not be completely alone with Emma for the next several days.
The tour skirted them around some of the bigger cities, likely by design from the organizers to bring tourism to the smaller towns. If they had a long drive day, they’d stay in one place for two nights. If it was a short drive, they left the next day.
The back of the bus was filling up with wine.
Not that there was any lack of drinking it.
The Golden Girls often initiated a party once they stopped, and the guys from San Francisco were always up for that.
“How are their liver lights not blinking yet?” Nicole asked Gio one evening as they gathered outside, waiting for Emma to join them.
Jean and Diane were already loud as ever, and whatever Chris was saying had all of them laughing.
“My body is craving exercise and water,” Gio confided in her.
“Emma and I were just saying that. We’re going to take a hike tomorrow. Wanna come?”
They were staying in what was best described as a castle. One now used for tourists, but it sat on a hill, surrounded by vineyards . . . of course. With a river nearby. Their host said there were trails to hike by the river when they’d arrived earlier that day.
“That would be great.” Gio looked behind Nicole. “Emma still hasn’t heard from her dad’s lawyers, has she?”
“No. Her dad’s an ass. I wouldn’t be surprised if he waited two days before even requesting his lawyer send the information on. And we all know lawyers don’t hustle for anyone.”
“It’s weighing on her. She’s constantly checking her phone.”
“I keep telling her to let it go but Emma doesn’t roll like that.”
He noticed. “If there is anything I can do, let me know.”