Page 58 of Tour Wars
On any other day, he would have teased her back, but he merely gave a sad little smile. “Not today.”
“You okay?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’m good. Just tired. Do you want anything?”
“I’ll be there in a sec. You can go on ahead.”
This morning at breakfast, she’d told him she was eager to be done with their tour. Maybe he thought she was eager to be done withhim. Far from it. Even if they got the chance to fulfill their fantasies tomorrow, one night wouldn’t be nearly enough.
As she picked up the binder on TJ’s seat, she noticed his phone resting underneath. She retrieved it, intending to bring it to him. When it buzzed twice, she startled and dropped it. On the screen, she could make out a bunch of texts. If she looked closer, she’d be able to read them.
Though she had no right to invade his privacy, her curiosity got the best of her. With a sense of trepidation, she picked up the phone and saw a series of messages between TJ and his younger sister, Romily.
Romily: Sorry today’s so hard.
TJ: I’ll get through it. It shouldn’t hurt this much. It’s been 17 years.
Romily: I wish I could be there for you. How about this weekend? Will you be back in Pompeii then?
Romily: TJ? You there?
Emilia stared at the screen, waiting to see if Romily would follow up with another message. When none appeared, she placed the phone back on TJ’s seat. Clearly, she hadn’t been imagining things. Hewasdepressed, so much so that he’d reached out to his sister, who was seven time zones away. But what had set him off? Up until now, he’d always faced each day with unflagging optimism.
Rather than wait until later to seek him out alone, she wanted to take action now. To figure out what was wrong. But how?
The inspiration came to her in a flash. She needed to call Romily.
She flipped through the binder until she found the itinerary. At the top, she and TJ had listed their contact information, along with two emergency numbers, in case they were seriously injured or hospitalized during the trip. Under TJ’s name, he’d listed two people—his mom and his sister, Romily Mayer.
Emilia added Romily to her contacts and stepped off the bus. Around her, the lot was filled with cars, motorcycles, and other tour buses. A few people stood in the shade next to the entrance of the rest stop, taking a smoke break. In the distance, the steady roar of the highway functioned like white noise.
She walked over to a stretch of grass past the fuel pumps. As she punched in Romily’s number on her phone, she was fully aware her actions bordered on intrusive. But she was too worried about TJ to care. If the tables had been turned, he’d do the same for her.
Romily picked up on the first ring. “Hello? Who’s calling?”
“Hi. Is this Romily? This is Emilia Flores. I’m co-leading the Buon Viaggio tour with your brother, TJ.”
“Is he okay?” Romily’s voice sounded breathy and anxious. “He wasn’t answering his phone just now.”
“He’s fine. We’re at a rest stop in Teano, and he went to get a soda. I actually wanted to talk to you alone. Um…this is kind of awkward, but…” Emilia hesitated. While she didn’t want Romily to hate her, she didn’t want to lie, either. “He left his phone on the seat next to me. I saw a few texts from you, and I…might have read them. I’m sorry, but I was worried about him because he hasn’t been acting like himself today.”
The pause that followed was so long Emilia cursed herself for being honest. What had she been thinking? She braced herself for Romily’s anger, but instead, TJ’s sister burst out laughing.
“You like him, don’t you?” Romily said.
“What?”
“You like TJ. Right? He didn’t believe me, but I totally called it. Ilovebeing right.”
Emilia released a drawn-out sigh. “Yeah. I like him. More than I should.”
“This is thebest. When he called me the night before the tour started, I told him to give you time. I said you’d come around eventually.”
Wait.That would have been the night she and TJ had watchedGladiatorin her room. Did that mean he’d wanted her then?
Of course he did, you idiot.He’d sought her out alone just to spend time with her.
While Emilia was dying to know exactly what TJ had told his sister, she needed to stay on track. “I don’t want to pry, but is everything okay with TJ? He’s been in a weird funk since breakfast.”
