Chapter 39
By the time they reached the far end of the midway, Helen had sampled enough amusement-park food to feed a small family.
Nathan and his assistant had somehow become the group's designated carriers, holding shopping bags, leftover snacks, and anything Helen had decided she wanted five minutes ago but no longer felt like carrying.
Eventually, the four of them stopped in front of a bubble tea stand.
Emma stopped immediately.
There were certain things you simply didn't walk past.
Helen studied the menu with interest while finishing the last bite of a soft pretzel.
"What should I get?"
Emma scanned the board.
"They have mango milk tea. Want to try that?"
Helen nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!"
"Sounds good," Nathan's assistant said.
"Sure," Nathan added.
Emma turned around.
All three of them were looking at her.
Somewhere over the course of the afternoon, she'd apparently become responsible for feeding everyone.
"Four mango milk teas, then."
The drinks Helen usually had at the medical center were nothing like this. Everything there was freshly prepared with expensive tea leaves, premium milk, fresh fruit, and ingredients Emma suspected had resumes more impressive than hers.
Emma had tried them plenty of times.
They were good.
But were they really that much better than the drinks she made at home?
Not enough to justify the difference in price.
Maybe her taste buds simply weren't wealthy enough.
The four drinks were ready a few minutes later.
Emma handed them out, pushing the wide straw through Helen's lid for her first.
Nathan accepted his cup and stared at it for a moment.
Bright yellow mango milk tea.
Black tapioca pearls at the bottom.
A ridiculously wide straw.
It looked strangely out of place in his hand.
He watched Emma stab her straw through the plastic seal, then copied her.
One sip.
His brows lifted slightly.
Sweet.
But surprisingly good.
Emma took a sip of hers.
Her reaction was considerably less impressed.
"Mine's better."
Nathan looked at her.
"You make this?"
Emma lifted her chin.
"Of course I do. And mine's way better."
"Then make some for me next time."
Emma went quiet.
Why had she said anything?
This was exactly how employment worked.
Show your boss one useful skill and suddenly it became part of your job description.
Same pay.
More work.
She lowered her head and took another sip, pretending she hadn't heard him.
Nathan waited.
Emma continued drinking.
Apparently, that was her answer.
They walked a little farther before Emma looked at Helen, who had bubble tea in one hand and the remains of a funnel cake in the other.
She laughed.
"Okay, this is kind of a vibe."
Nathan's assistant nodded.
"Definitely a vibe."
Nathan looked between them.
"A what?"
Emma turned to him.
His assistant tried not to laugh.
"She means she's enjoying it."
Nathan gave a small nod.
"I see."
Emma stared at him.
"You made that sound incredibly old."
Nathan looked at her.
"I thought you said I wasn't old."
"You're thirty-three. You're not old."
Emma glanced pointedly at Helen.
"If you're old, what exactly is Helen supposed to be?"
Nathan followed her gaze.
Helen was happily searching the bottom of her cup for tapioca pearls and hadn't heard a word.
Emma lowered her voice.
"See? Don't start problems."
Nathan's mouth curved.
"Understood."
They found a quiet place to sit near the water at the edge of the park.
Lights shimmered across the surface, and small sightseeing boats moved slowly in the distance.
Helen sat beside Emma.
Nathan took the seat on Helen's other side, while his assistant settled next to him.
Nathan glanced at the drink in Emma's hand.
"You really think yours is better?"
Emma looked over.
"My bubble tea?"
"Yes."
"Way better."
No hesitation whatsoever.
Nathan smiled.
"I'll have to try it sometime."
Emma immediately looked down at her cup.
There it was again.
She should really learn when to keep her mouth shut.
Maybe if she ignored him long enough, the request would disappear.
Beside her, Helen leaned over and whispered something into Emma's ear.
Emma whispered something back.
Helen burst out laughing.
Nathan glanced toward them.
He had spent most of his adult life surrounded by things other people considered extraordinary. Private clubs, expensive restaurants, luxury hotels, business trips across continents.
At some point, novelty stopped meaning much.
Tonight, he was sitting beside the water with a cup of mango bubble tea in his hand while his mother laughed over something Emma had said.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this peaceful.
Or this quietly happy.
Nathan lowered his gaze and took another sip.
Maybe keeping Emma around wouldn't be such a bad idea.
They returned to the private medical center shortly before nine.
Aunt May had been worried.
It was the first time Helen had spent an entire day outside since her condition had stabilized. No matter how reassuring the doctors had been, Aunt May hadn't been able to stop imagining everything that could go wrong.
Instead, Helen came back glowing.
"Aunt May! We went on a roller coaster!"
"I heard."
"And I went twice!"
"You did?"
"And we ate corn dogs, and fries, and funnel cake, and bubble tea—"
Helen kept going, using both hands to demonstrate the roller coaster drops while Aunt May listened patiently.
"And Nathan was scared."
Nathan, who had just walked into the room, stopped.
"I wasn't scared."
Helen looked at him.
"You were pale."
His assistant looked away.
Emma suddenly found something very interesting on the other side of the room.
Aunt May bit back a smile.
"All right, Mrs. Grant. You can tell me the rest tomorrow. It's almost time to shower and get ready for bed."
Helen's excitement faded.
She turned toward Emma.
"Are you leaving?"
Emma smiled.
"Yeah. I'll come see you again."
Helen caught the edge of Emma's sleeve.
"Can you stay?"
Aunt May looked between Emma and Nathan.
"Why don't you two stay tonight? There are plenty of guest rooms. I can have one ready."
There certainly wasn't a shortage of space.
Nathan had bought the facility after Helen became ill, and the entire top floor had been converted into a private residential wing for her, complete with guest rooms, staff quarters, and a large rooftop garden.
Her doctors had advised against isolating her in a private estate. Regular contact with other people, along with structured activities, was considered better for her recovery.
So Nathan had made sure she could have both privacy and company here.
Emma knew all of that.
She also knew Aunt May thought she and Nathan had been dating for almost a year.
Which created a much more immediate problem.
There was a very real chance Aunt May meant one room.
Emma's contract did not include sleepovers.
"No, Aunt May," she said quickly. "Nathan has work tomorrow. Staying here would be inconvenient."
She turned toward him.
"Right?"
There was, in fact, nothing particularly inconvenient about staying.
Nathan also understood exactly why she wanted him to agree.
He nodded.
"Right."
Emma relaxed.
Aunt May didn't push.
"All right. Drive carefully."
Emma turned back to Helen.
"I'll be back soon."
Helen still looked unhappy.
"How soon?"
"Soon."
Helen thought for a moment, then became very serious.
"I only have to count six days. On the seventh day, you'll come see me again. Right?"
Emma's lashes lowered.
Next week would be her final scheduled visit.
After that, she wouldn't be coming anymore.
She looked at Helen's expectant face.
She didn't want to lie to her.
She also had no idea how to explain an expiring contract to someone who believed she was Nathan's girlfriend.
Emma smiled.
"Do you still have those lollipops we bought?"
Helen's attention shifted immediately.
"Yes!"
"I want one."
"What flavor?"
"Strawberry."
"I'll get it!"
Helen hurried away.
Nathan watched her go.
Then his gaze moved to Emma.
Emma pretended not to notice.
A few minutes later, they were back in the underground garage.
Emma climbed into the silver-gray Rolls-Royce with a strawberry lollipop in her mouth.
"I'll take you home," Nathan said.
Emma pulled the lollipop out.
"You don't have to. Just drop me somewhere I can get a ride."
The faint strawberry scent lingered in the car.
"It's fine," Nathan said. "I'm heading that way anyway."
Emma considered it.
A free ride home was a free ride home.
"Okay."
She settled back into the seat.
Nathan took out his tablet.
An entire day's worth of work was waiting for him, and he started going through it almost immediately.
Emma put the lollipop back in her mouth and pulled out her phone.
She opened Instagram.
Her feed had changed completely since yesterday. Clips from her Princess Vivienne performance were still being reposted, mixed in with edits, comments, and strangers trying to figure out who she was.
Emma scrolled past them.
Then she saw Julian.
His concert had ended.
Her feed was flooded with videos from the show—stage clips, fan recordings, photos of the crowd, and posts praising his first major headlining performance.
One video in particular was spreading fast.
The caption read: