Chapter 38
Emma didn't know this was Helen's first time on a roller coaster.
She did know Helen was in her fifties, though, so despite the clean bill of health from her doctors, Emma kept a close eye on her throughout the ride.
As it turned out, she'd worried for nothing.
Helen loved every second of it.
She screamed louder than almost anyone else on the train, but she laughed just as hard. By the time they pulled back into the station, her hair was a mess and she looked happier than Emma had seen her all day.
The restraints had barely lifted before Helen grabbed Emma's arm.
"Again!"
Emma laughed. "Again?"
"Yes! I want to do it again!"
Truthfully, Emma hadn't gotten the full experience either. She'd spent half the ride checking on Helen instead of enjoying the drops.
"Okay. One more time."
Then she remembered there was a third person in their group.
Emma turned around.
"You coming again?"
That was when she noticed Nathan's face.
He looked a little pale.
Without his gray jacket, he was down to a white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. The fitted fabric made it obvious that the polished businessman actually spent time in a gym.
Emma studied him.
"You okay?"
She stepped closer.
Nathan's brows tightened slightly.
"I'm fine."
He had simply underestimated the roller coaster.
By quite a lot.
Emma noticed the faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. She reached into her purse, pulled out a wipe, and dabbed it away before he could stop her.
Nathan went still for a moment.
There was no reason for her to perform now. Helen wasn't even paying attention.
The concern in Emma's eyes was genuine.
"Go sit down for a while," she said. "I'll take Helen."
Before Nathan could answer, Emma had already turned away.
"Come on, Helen."
The two women headed back toward the ride.
Nathan watched them go.
His assistant came over.
"Mr. Grant, are you going again?"
"No."
His assistant tried not to look too pleased.
"Can I?"
Nathan waved him off.
"Go."
"Thank you."
His assistant disappeared toward the entrance before Nathan could change his mind.
Nathan remained where he was.
Apparently everyone was having a wonderful day.
For the rest of the afternoon, Emma and Helen worked their way through almost everything that caught their attention.
Nathan wasn't asked to join another ride.
He didn't particularly want to.
Still, Emma had apparently decided after one roller coaster that he was finished for the day, and that was that.
When he'd first hired her, this was exactly what he'd wanted.
His assistant had explained the boundaries clearly, and the contract had reinforced them. Emma was there because Helen needed stability. Nathan had wanted no confusion about the nature of their arrangement and no complications afterward.
Emma had followed those rules perfectly.
Perhaps a little too perfectly.
Nathan watched her race Helen toward another attraction, laughing when Helen accused her of cheating.
He said nothing.
The afternoon passed quickly.
Emma seemed to be everywhere at once, moving from one ride to another with Helen beside her. More striking than Emma's energy, though, was the change in his mother.
Nathan couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Helen laugh this much.
By the time the sky began to darken, she was exhausted and still insisting she wasn't tired.
They were heading toward the exit when Nathan asked, "What do you want for dinner?"
Emma looked around.
Her cheeks were still flushed from the rides, and she clearly wasn't ready to leave yet.
They almost always ate at the medical center when she visited Helen. Since they were already out, there didn't seem much point in going somewhere formal.
Then Emma caught the smell of fried food.
She turned toward the brightly lit midway.
"Can we eat here first?"
Nathan followed her gaze.
Food stands lined the walkway, selling everything from corn dogs and burgers to funnel cake, soft pretzels, fries, and ice cream.
Emma had already decided.
"Let's eat here."
Nathan looked at her for a moment.
Most people asked what he thought before making plans that involved him.
Emma apparently considered informing him sufficient.
"All right."
The food area was packed.
Music drifted through the midway while families crowded around brightly lit stands. The air smelled like grilled meat, hot oil, butter, and cinnamon sugar.
Helen was fascinated.
"Emma! What's that?"
"Funnel cake."
"And that?"
"Corn dog."
Helen pointed again.
"What about those?"
"Loaded fries."
"I want all of them."
Emma nodded solemnly.
"I respect that."
Nathan's assistant followed behind them, apparently having acquired responsibility for payment at some point.
Emma pointed toward one of the stands.
"Four corn dogs, please. And one large loaded fries."
Helen immediately spotted something else.
"Emma! Pretzels!"
"We'll get one."
"Funnel cake too?"
"Yes."
Nathan's assistant looked at the amount of food accumulating in his hands.
No one had asked whether he was hungry.
Apparently that was no longer relevant.
Nathan's role was even less clear.
So far, his main contribution had been paying for premium access and looking expensive.
That alone was enough to attract attention.
He'd put his gray jacket back on. There were no obvious logos on him, no flashy jewelry, not even a watch.
He didn't need any of it.
Something about Nathan made people assume his clothes cost more than theirs.
A few women waiting near another stand had already noticed him.
Emma caught pieces of their conversation.
"Okay, who is that?"
"No idea, but that suit probably costs more than my car."
"Is that his wife?"
"She's gorgeous."
Emma glanced around before realizing they meant her.
Wife?
That was new.
She looked at Nathan, then down at herself.
Well.
She could see how they'd arrived at the conclusion.
Nathan existed in a financial universe Emma couldn't reach by simply working harder. To start on equal footing with him, she probably would've needed to be born into a family with its own private jet.
Bit late for that.
Fortunately, Emma wasn't trying to marry him.
She was trying to eat.
The corn dogs were ready.
Emma took the tray and handed one to Helen.
One went to Nathan's assistant.
Then she held one out to Nathan.
The image made her hesitate.
Nathan Grant, standing beneath amusement-park lights in a tailored gray suit, looked deeply incompatible with food served on a stick.
She started to pull it back.
"Actually, you probably don't—"
"I'll eat it."
Nathan took the corn dog from her.
Emma blinked.
"You will?"
"You already bought it."
He took a bite.
"No point wasting it."
Emma stared at him for a second, then handed it over properly.
Well.
That was unexpectedly normal.
A few minutes later, the loaded fries arrived.
Emma took one tray to share with Helen and passed the second one behind her without looking.
Nathan's assistant reached for it.
Nathan got there first.
His assistant stopped.
Nathan noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Nathan picked up a fork.
"I'm trying it."
His assistant laughed. "They're good. I just haven't had food like this in years."
Neither had Nathan.
His assistant couldn't remember the last time he'd spent an afternoon like this either.
No conference rooms. No business dinners. No carefully planned schedule.
He'd ridden roller coasters, wandered around an amusement park, and was now eating fries while his boss stood beside him holding a corn dog.
He was having an embarrassingly good time.
Across town, an entirely different crowd was getting louder by the minute.
Thousands of fans packed the stadium for Julian Sterling's first headlining show.
The lights hadn't gone down yet, but every few seconds another wave of screaming rolled through the venue.
Backstage, Julian could hear them.
He should have been focused on the show.
Instead, he was looking at the front sections.
Then looking again.
His brows drew together.
Where was Emma?
He recognized several familiar faces near the front, including Sophia Reed, who was laughing with a group of other longtime fans.
Emma wasn't with them.
Julian turned to Evan.
"Has Emma come in yet?"
Evan followed his gaze toward the crowd.
He couldn't see her either.
"She might be running late."
Julian frowned.
"She knows what time it starts."
"Maybe traffic. Or something came up."
Possible.
Julian nodded.
"Yeah."
There were five minutes until showtime.
He looked toward the front again.
Still no Emma.
His silver hair had already been styled for the stage, and under the backstage lights he looked every bit like the star thousands of people had come to see.
At the moment, however, he was more concerned with one person who wasn't there.
"Maybe she couldn't get a seat up front."
Evan shook his head.
"She qualified for the longtime-fan presale. She's supported you for three years. She would've had a shot at the front sections before general sale."
Julian knew that.
That had been part of the point.
The past three years hadn't been easy, and he'd wanted his first major headlining show to mean something to the people who had been there from the beginning.
His team had set aside early access for longtime registered fans and put purchase limits in place to make it harder for scalpers to grab the best seats.
Emma should have had every opportunity to be near the front.
Evan studied him.
"I can ask Sophia."
He had her contact information. Finding out whether Emma was coming wouldn't be difficult.
Julian hesitated.
Then he smiled and shook his head.
"No."
The stage manager called the five-minute warning.
Julian looked toward the crowd one last time.
"She'll come."