Her mother turned and smiled, but it never seemed like a genuine smile. "Well, we had some money to spend after we sold Dorothy's house so we decided to come here on a vacation." Then her voice got a little lower and she leaned closer to Emma. "I told your father to give you a little more time before he sold it, but he insisted you needed to go out on your own." She sighed and flippantly waved her hand in the air as if getting rid of her grandmother's house was just a little nuisance. "So how's your new place?"
That was it? Just a hand wave with her mother as if their plan to make her fend for herself had worked out perfectly?
She turned to see Chase giving her a reassuring smile, urging her on to tell her mother that things were great and super now that she was living in hisguest house.
"It's good," she replied curtly.
Her mother didn't seem deterred by the frosty response and quickly moved along as if she hadn't even heard Emma's answer. "Where is it? I hope you don't have to drive too far to see Chase." She turned to give Chase that fake smile of hers. "I bet you live in Hollywood with all those other celebrities."
Ugh. Yep, Janice recognized him — and Chase noticed it too. Her mother didn't see Chase's smile falter because of it, but Emma noticed. That comment about him being a celebrity definitely deflated him. It was like he wanted her mother to see him as her boyfriend and instead just saw him as a celebrity with money.
"Around that area, yeah."
Chase and Janice just stood there without looking at Emma, and the fake smiles the two of them were trading was weird. It was bordering on uncanny valley, and Emma would probably find it amusing or creepy if it weren't for her own feelings dominating this conversation. She did not want to be around her mother, but having Chase there to witness her relationship with her mother in person was also feeling uncomfortable.
"Well, that sounds lovely." Again with the fake response as if everyone there couldn't tell how artificial her mom was acting. "You know, we should catch up!"
Oh, no. That would not be a good idea at all.This was already bad enough. Seriously, how did Emma end up at the same spa at the same time in Vegas as her mother? And now she would have to endure more of this?
"Um, I don't know if we're available tonight, and we're leaving tomorrow."
"Oh, nonsense," her mother said with her dismissive hand wave again before turning and giving that gross smile to Chase. "Maybe you could pull some strings and get us dinner reservations for one of those exclusive restaurants that only let celebrities in."
"Yeah, maybe."
Well, at least Emma could tell from Chase's tone that he really hated that idea too even if he didn't explicitly state it.
"Then it's settled." It was definitely not settled. "Emma, dear. Do you still have the same phone number? I can have your father call you while I'm getting my facial and work out the details."
She could feel herself physically tense up in response. She didn't want her parents calling her or making plans for dinner tonight or anything else. She didn't want them anywhere near her and she didn't want them talking to Chase — not about her relationship with him or this challenge from Nana or anything else. Whatever Emma and Chase were doing with each other belonged to them, and she didn't want her mother anywhere near that.
"Well, mom, I just—"
"You know what?" Chase put a steady hand onEmma's back. "We'll talk to the concierge at the Bellagio since they can get us into a great place and then you can stop by the desk and get the details."
Janice's eyes went wide and her smile grew even bigger as if that was somehow possible. "Oh, Chase!" She touched his arm and Emma noticed he flinched a bit. "That sounds wonderful. I'll be done here in a few hours and will swing by their desk to get details for tonight."
"That sounds amazing, Chase!" she practically cooed before she seemed to remember why she was really there. "Oh, I can't keep them waiting for my facial! But it was so good to see you two and we'll catch up tonight."
She hugged Emma, then pulled away and gave her daughter a once-over. "You look glowing with Chase on your arm. Keep him around!"
And with that, Janice was swept into the hallway of the spa, leaving Emma and Chase to simply stare at the space she had left behind. It was like the whole thing was a whirlwind of emotion and fakeness and both of them needed a few breaths to recover.
"Well, that waslovely," Chase said with a heavy note of sarcasm.
Emma hadn't realized his hand was still on her back, but he gave her a comforting scratch and directed her to the door. It was probably for the best as she was still a little too stunned to figure out what she was doing or where she was going. But Chase seemed to not be affected by any of it,as if he either missed the tension among them or noticed it and was brushing it off.
Their walk through the hallway of the Bellagio was quiet, giving Emma some time to catch her breath and shake off whatever weirdness she was carrying from that encounter with her mother. But there was no way to shake any of it. It was too much, too heavy. It was too much of a burden after everything else that had transpired once her grandmother died.
She wondered what Nana would've thought about her run-in with her mother who was gloating about spending money from Nana's home in Vegas for fancy things like facials. Nana's thoughts probably would not be good.
They finally reached the elevator bank at the end of the hallway and Chase pushed the button before he said anything.
"So I'm your boyfriend?"
Chase tried to ask it teasingly to add some levity to all this heaviness, but it fell flat. Even his big-star charm couldn't draw her out of the despair she could feel herself sinking into. Dinner with her parents and Chase? There was no way she wanted to do that.
"Emma?"
