Dr. Sandy shook her head. “No complaining until you hit menopause.”
Which Emma assumed Dr. Sandy had personal knowledge of. Not that the woman showed it. Petite and well put together, Dr. Sandy felt more like a friend than a physician.
“I would like you to make an appointment on your way out for a complete physical. You haven’t had one in a while.”
“I can do that.”
“Is there anything else while you’re here you want me to look at?”
Emma started to shake her head, then stopped herself. “I’ve noticed myself bruising a lot.” She lifted her arm. “I had one back here that took over two weeks to go away.” Emma lifted her pant leg to show where she’d bumped into a lone box filled with books during the moving process. “That was from three days ago. Barely bumped into something.”
Dr. Sandy gently squeezed around the bruise, ran a finger over it. “I’ll do some bloodwork since we need to poke you today anyway. You’ve never been diagnosed with anemia, right?”
“No.”
Dr. Sandy smiled. “We’ll figure it out.” She handed Emma an exam gown. “I’ll be right back to do that pelvic exam.”
Emma was on the way to San Diego a day before she and Gio were flying out to Napa, to meet the family.
While driving, she had Nicole on speakerphone.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little, I guess. I feel like I know them already. Dante was here when I moved in and I somewhat met his mother and sister over the phone when we were in Italy.”
“Yeah, but this is in person. It’s not the same as a phone call.”
Emma kept her eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. “Are you trying to make me nervous?”
Nicole laughed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you move.” She’d been sick and neither of them wanted to risk spreading the joy.
“Moving is a pain in the ass. You didn’t miss anything.”
Nicole laughed. “How are things going with Gio?”
Emma found herself smiling. “The sex is out of this world.”
“You’re into him for more than sex.”
“I am. He helped me move, lifted all the heavy stuff. His mother sends meals with him if she knows were going to be too busy to cook.”
“All shallow stuff, Em.”
He was much more than any of that. “He keeps me grounded, Nicole. I find myself wanting his opinion on all kinds of things. Together we’ve strategized how I can run Casa de Emma without a profit for two to five years without relying on my father.”
“That sounds great.”
Emma found her smile slipping. “It does . . .”
“I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
She took a deep breath. “But . . . I’m moving that dependence from my father to Giovanni. And how smart is that? The last time I depended on a man was Kyle and look how that turned out.”
“That’s horseshit. You never depended on Kyle.”
“He turned my head and made me think I needed him.”
“Yeah, but you figured it out and got out. And does Gio do that? Is he taking control and leaving you behind?” Nicole asked.
“No. He’s helping me figure things out. He asks me a lot of questions and only offers an opinion when I ask. At least when it comes to the winery and dealing with my dad.”
“Sounds to me like Kyle and Gio couldn’t be more different.”
Emma could see what Nicole was saying, but her heart and body were reminding her of this familiar, heartbreaking ground. “Still scares me a little.” Or a lot.
“Why, because he left a toothbrush at your place?” The two of them had talked about that right after it happened.
She shook her head. “Oh, he has left something at my place every time he comes.” Which was every week, for a couple of days. He even made it midweek for a meeting with Noland to go over equipment options. But he’d gone home instead of staying the night. Emma had found a jacket he left behind that he felt he needed when leaving San Diego but most certainly didn’t need in the heat of Temecula.
“He has a drawer already, eh?” Nicole was laughing.
“It’s not funny. It’s scary.”
“Ah-huh . . . so you’re bringing all of his stuff with you right now to give back to him.”
“No.”
“Then it’s not scary. It’s just stuff. And in light of the fact that the man doesn’t live down the street, it’s practical. In time you’ll probably have stuff at his home. It’s natural. The part that’s eating at you is the desire to keep the men in your life from keeping you from your goals. And since Gio owns a penis, he gets lumped into the gender roles. But, Emma, not all men want to quietly control you. If he was, I’d be the first to say it. I honestly thought he might have been a holiday fling. What happens it Italy stays in Italy, you know?”
Emma dismissed the thought. “I never felt that way.”
“Good. I’m happy for you. I think you might have found one of the rare, good ones. Find out if he has any single friends he can hook me up with.”
That made Emma chuckle. “I will.”
“Let me know how he is with his family. They say men can be judged by how they treat their mothers, children, and animals.”
“I don’t think they have any pets.” And Emma already knew he had mad respect for his mom.
“Kyle was allergic to anything with fur.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “He didn’t even like pubic hair.”
Nicole busted out in laughter. “Call me as soon as you’re home from Napa. I want to hear all about that kickass move.”
The system in her car told her another call was coming through, this one from Dr. Sandy.
“I gotta go. My doctor is calling me.”
“Doctor?”
“It’s nothing,” Emma’s finger hovered over the disconnect button. “Just lab work.”
“Go, go. We’ll talk later.”
“M’kay.”
Emma switched over the call. “Hello?”
“Hi, Emma, it’s Dr. Sandy.”
“Hey, Doc.”
“So good news. Condoms are optional on your end. All your STD tests are negative.”
One less thing to think about. Not that Emma was truly worried.
“There was a concerning result on your iron panel, but I don’t want you to be alarmed.”
“What kind of concern? Am I anemic?”
“No. Your iron is high, but your blood counts are normal.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t want to speculate right now. I want to repeat the bloodwork and add a couple of things to it.”
That felt odd to hear. “Okay.”
“You said you were in Italy on a wine tour recently?”
“Yeah, for three weeks.”
“And did you drink a lot?”
Emma laughed. “It was a wine tour through Tuscany. We did a fair amount of drinking. I wasn’t hammered every night if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good, good.”
“Could that be why my iron is high?”
“Your liver enzymes are a tiny bit elevated as well. My check-engine light would be blinking, too, after a month in Italy,” she said with a slight laugh. “I don’t want you to be worried about this. Everything else looks perfect. We’ll repeat the bloodwork and go from there. Can you come by later today?”