Page 120 of Miss Wylde and the Wynd

“We cannot have that.” He smiled at his wife before returning his attention to Damian. “Take the year. I promise that Trade Wynd will not collapse in your absence. Caroline would never allow that to happen.”

Did he dare leave the company in the hands of Sterling and Caroline?

It was supposed to be his responsibility.

Supposed to be as it was dictated by a man no longer with them and who had never once asked their opinion or if they wanted to do something else.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Approximately two months later ~ Carrera, Italy

The moment Georgie stepped foot off the ship, she nearly collapsed. She was so tired and weak, having suffered from what she had been told was seasickness that began when they sailed into the Strait of Gibraltar from the Atlantic Ocean. A sailor had explained that the currents of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean were the cause of the rough seas and she’d been near the railing of the ship or a chamber pot ever since.

She had hoped that once they were through the Strait that her stomach would settle since the sea had calmed down but it had not and she’d been sick for nearly a fortnight.

At least she hadn’t been ill the first weeks of their journey, because that would have been even more miserable and she likely would not have survived.

But finally, they were home, and on land.

Grace escorted Georgie to a bench where she could rest and take deep breaths as she waited for her body to get used to no longer being on a moving ship but upon solid ground.

She also prayed that her stomach would immediately settle. While she did not have the urge to vomit, one could never assume that it would not occur.

“I will retrieve our valises,” Grace said before she hurried off.

Georgie did not know what she would have done had Grace not been with her. Not that her sister could keep her from being ill, but at least she had not been alone.

And thank goodness she had not gotten seasick when she had sailed to England or they may have found her dead body in the hold right alongside the marble.

Georgie closed her eyes and leaned her head back, then blew out a long breath.

Grace had been comforting at the beginning of the journey as well. She listened when Georgie had told her about Damian and their travels, then held her when Georgie cried over her lost love. She had also agreed that twelve days had not been enough time to know if it was true love, the kind that lasted forever. Grace had learned her lesson when she had chased after Fisher, only to realize halfway across the Atlantic that she had been a fool, and she had known Fisher for a full month.

Georgie had wished Grace’s words had been a comfort and she had prayed that the ache in her heart would ease before she returned home, but it hadn’t.

Between her seasickness and broken heart, all Georgie wanted to do was crawl into her own bed, pull the covers over her head, and sleep for the next month and hope that all was as it had been before she left Carrera when she reemerged.

“Georgie, Signore Rossi has offered to take us home. He has his wagon because he made a delivery,” Grace announced when she returned.

“Let us get you home, Georgie,” Signore Rossi said, his voice warm with kindness. “Your sister tells me that you have been ill from sailing and you do not look very well.”

No doubt she looked a fright, but Georgie wasn’t going to look into a mirror to confirm her suspicions.

“Your mother will nurse you back to health.”

“Thank you, Signore Rossi.”

While her mother may know what to do to ease her stomach, there was no medicine for a broken heart.

“Ride on the bench with Signore Rossi, Georgie. I will ride in the back of the wagon with our things.”

Georgie did not even acknowledge her sister but allowed Signore Rossi to assist her onto the bench, where she got as comfortable as one could, then prayed during the entire drive that she didn’t vomit over the side of the wagon.

“Do I take you to your home or Accetta Panetteria?”

She did not even know what time it was to be able to answer.

“Accetta Panetteria,” Grace answered. “It is still open so that is where Mama and Papa will be.”