Page 99 of Engulfing Emma

“No more lies. Although I think of it as more of an omission.”

“I’m not sure I can do it anymore, Brett. I mean us, upstairs, when I know Evelyn is waiting for you to come down.”

“So you’ll come to my place.”

She thinks about it. “You have a child, too. And a nanny.”

“Leo’s two. And Bonnie’s discreet. And hard of hearing.”

“She is?” She almost looks excited about it.

“No. That was a lie. I just didn’t want you to feel self-conscious about coming over.”

She laughs. “So, what now?”

“I don’t know. I guess we have a trip to plan. That is if you still want me to go. Everything else can wait until we get back.”

“We’re getting separate hotel rooms,” she says.

“That’s a given.”

“And I’m not leaving Evelyn alone in mine in a strange country to sneak into yours.”

“I never thought you would.”

“Fine,” she says, relaxing into her chair. “Then it looks like we’ve got a lot of planning to do.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

Emma

Evelyn is teeming with excitement as we board the airplane.

“I get the window seat,” she says.

I laugh. “You’ve only told us that a thousand times.”

“Not if I get it first,” Brett says, pretending to try and pass us.

“Brett!” she squeals.

I find it fascinating that she calls him Brett and not Mr. Cash. Miss Manners would certainly not approve. But their relationship—it does seem to be more of a friendship than anything else.

Brett has come for dinner a few times over the past two weeks so we could plan our trip.

Dinner. Nothing else.

Neither one of us has talked about how uncomfortable I am at the thought of him in my bedroom again. And he hasn’t asked me to join him in his. It’s been a frustrating two weeks to say the least.

“Wow,” Evelyn says as we go through first class. “I wish we could havethoseseats.”

“We could have,” I say. “But it was either that or your college education.”

“We have great seats,” Brett says. “We got the ones with extra legroom so we can stretch out and try to get some sleep.”

“You think I’m going to be able to sleep?” Evelyn asks as we get to our row and she looks out the window to see luggage being loaded into the cargo hold.

“Believe me,” Brett says. “After an hour of seeing nothing but water, you’ll be so bored, you won’t be able to keep your eyes open.”

---