Yeah, it was a nasty habit of hers.
“Tomorrow we’ll write a list, and when I’m not here, you’ll keep adding to the list. And we’ll prioritize that list. The only thing urgent about a sprinkler system is knowing where the shutoff valve is if it springs a leak. Same thing for the gas line—”
Her eyes lit up. “I didn’t consider the gas line.”
Gio tucked a strand of her hair off her face and behind an ear. “Not everything is an emergency. I’ll show you what I know, and we’ll find others to fix what is beyond my abilities. It’s an adventure, not a chore.”
“Good, damn it . . . why am I so uptight about this?” Emma had been twisting herself up into mini tornadoes almost daily since moving in.
“It’s not your area of expertise.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. I’m much more versed in the production and selling of wine. Talking to others in the business, sales predictions.” She thought about the event her parents were attending that her mother needed a dress for. “I’m always able to make people listen when I talk wine.”
“I’ve seen that woman in action,” Gio said.
Her mind drifted to her father and how he would spin her having this house, this land. What would he tell his friends in the business about it? “When I do confront my father, I want to be able to talk intelligently about every aspect of this property. Even the house.”
“You will.”
Emma looked at him with a soft smile.
“When I tell him I’m capable of doing this on my own, I need to know I’m telling the truth.”
“You will,” he repeated.
“I need him to take me seriously.”
“I know.”
“That I’m a partner in this, not an employee or just his daughter. That I belong at the table. And when I’m there he can’t ignore me.”
Gio tilted his head. “You spoke with Silas last week. He offered ideas on how to navigate a new contract with your dad, right?”
Silas was the lawyer Gio had connected her with. He confirmed that the paperwork in regard to the property did say she could occupy the house and manage the grapes. But that there was nowhere that stated she owned the grapes or had the right to produce her own label. Since the trust was part of their family trust and the property was part of R&R Wineries . . . yeah, it left a lot to interpretation on who was in charge of what.
There was plenty of room to negotiate a contract with her father. The cleanest thing would be for the property to come out of the trust and be put in her name solely.
Emma didn’t see her father going for that. Not when he could use the land as the tax write-off it would be until it was operational. And who knows, maybe her father expected that she would never make a go of the place.
Emma saw that perfectly.
She could hear his argument the moment she suggested he take this path. He would flip the script and make her sound ungrateful for asking.
However, if Emma came to him with a plan to buy the equipment, care for the harvest, and start production . . . without a dime more from him, then maybe he would realize that his charity to her was nothing more than a father helping his daughter start her own business. She could use her trust fund to pay for the property itself . . . or acquire a small business loan . . . or maybe a large business loan from a bank, to pay her father back, and if that wasn’t good enough, she’d find silent investors if her father balked at the idea.
And what better place to find silent investors than a gala event in Napa?
Emma examined her options while staring blankly across the room. “There’s a wine event in Napa in two weeks. Black tie . . . a who’s who in the industry. My mother was talking about it.”
“Is it something you want to attend?” Gio asked.
She caught his eyes and slowly started to smile. “What better place to meet potential investors if my dad doesn’t agree to my terms? And won’t he be surprised to see me there.”
“You wouldn’t tell him you’re going?”
“Hell no. Why tell him I can play this game, find my own investors, when I can show him?”
“As chess pieces on the board go, I think that’s a great move. Any chance of that backfiring and your father telling you to move out?”
“He wouldn’t risk his reputation. Besides, my dad doesn’t hate me. He doesn’t believe in me.”
Gio squeezed her hand. “Now the real question is, do you want me to come with you? I mean, who else is capable of keeping you from spinning out of control?”
Emma considered his words. Honestly speaking, she had a hard time standing up to her father and she needed someone in her corner.
“I do want you there,” she finally said.
“Then I’ll be.”
“Black tie,” she reminded him.
“I know where to get a tux. And plane tickets.”
“I bet you look great in a tux.” She snuggled close.
“I look fantastic.”
She laughed, lifted her lips toward his. “Such a humble guy.”
Gio smiled as his mouth settled on hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“What brings you in today, Emma?”
Dr. Sandy, who preferred when you called her by her first name, had been Emma’s concierge doctor since she turned eighteen. A perk of having parents who didn’t want to deal with waiting rooms was spending extra money on a doctor that would see you within twenty-four hours for urgent needs and a few days for things that could wait.
With health care the way it was in the States, concierge medicine made sense.
Emma hoped she would always be able to afford the luxury.
“I am in a new relationship. We’re both seeing our doctors for a clean bill of health.”
“That’s easy enough.” Dr. Sandy typed a few things into her computer that sat on a rolling cart. “Are you sexually active with him now?”
“Yes. But we’ve been good about condoms.”
“And you want to have intercourse without them?”
Emma smiled. “It would be a nice option.”
“The perks of monogamy.” She looked at her notes. “How is the IUD working out?”
“Fine. I think I spotted maybe twice this year. No hormonal headaches. I love it.” Birth control and zero periods. It was a winning combination as far as she was concerned.
“You’re due to have it switched out.”
“I thought as much.”
“And you know I don’t do that here. You’ll have to see the gynecologist.”
Emma remembered. “I’ll make an appointment.” Her OB-GYN was not a concierge doctor, and that appointment would likely take a few months to get in.
“What about your last Pap smear?”
Emma wasn’t exactly sure. “A year and a half ago, I think.”
“Annual means annual, Emma,” Dr. Sandy scolded with a smile. “We can do that today. Check for HPV, bloodwork for all the other offenders.”
A nice way to say sexually transmitted diseases. Not that Emma was worried. Her sex life had been pretty bankrupt before Giovanni.
“You just turned thirty.”
“Don’t remind me.”