She sighed. “I don’t know how Canadians say it. East Egypt? The boondocks?”
“Oh,” I nodded, suddenly understanding. “We say the boonies.”
I frowned. Why did she need an Uber? Did she not have her own car—or cars, most likely—or even one of several drivers on the estate who could take her where she needed to go? Most likely on some shopping emergency or another.
“Do you need a ride? Your mum said a driver could—”
She held up a hand. “I don’t need my parents to know everywhere I go, thankyouverymuch.” She looked down at her phone as if deep in thought, biting her lip. “It’s, uh, it’s something I really need to do without them getting nosy about it. Especially with that reporter sniffing around.”
My eyes caught on a flash of color clipped to one of the rings of her shoulder bag. A red disc of some kind. Something about it seemed familiar.
“Well, I should be—” I took a step back
At that same moment, Julia stiffened as she punched at her phone. “Shit, at this rate, the meeting will be over by the time the stupid car even gets here.”
Meeting? I tilted my head, glancing at the red disc again, picking up the shape of a triangle on the surface.
A sobriety chip. Julia was in recovery. The red one meant sober for one month. And she had a meeting. I suddenly felt bad that I’d discounted her need to get away as a shopping emergency. I was as guilty of being quick to judge as anyone else, I supposed.
“Cancel the Uber,” I said, holding out my hand to her. “Lucas and I rented a car. I could get it from the valet and drive you.”
She looked up, eyes widening. “Oh could you? Thank you. I’d just need to…”
I drew a figurative X over my heart. “I won’t say a word to anyone.”
Our gazes locked, and she smiled. Then she informed me how to go about getting my car and flagged down a nearby staff person to help. In short order, we were on the road and I was relieved that Lucas had rented the car in both our names.
“Do you have the address? You can put it into the GPS.”
“I’ve got it here on my phone.” She pressed a button on her phone and suddenly we were hearing the robotic directions being dictated to us in an androgynous voice.
The drive back to the city of Napa from our part of the valley would take a little over a half hour and we drove in silence. Julia spent most of it scrolling and typing on her phone.
I dropped her off outside a small community church in town. She gave me a few suggestions of what I could do while she was gone for the next hour.
“Don’t worry, I’m good at finding something to do.” I smiled. “Have a good meeting.”
She furrowed her brows, then thanked me and walked off with quick urgent steps, bouncing on her heels across the pavement. I walked down the main thoroughfare in town, the shops having just opened and the streets starting to gather tourists.
My stomach growled, yet I passed no less than three coffee shops. I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker but could use a good cup of tea. Unfortunately, Americans were tea-impaired. I hadn’t had a good cup of the stuff since I’d left Canada.
To kill time, I went into the tourist info center and grabbed a printed booklet for anything that looked mildly entertaining. I needed to have a plan in place for when Lucas lost his patience—or his mind—because of his family. We could go hiking or tour a vineyard or even go up in a hot-air balloon or to a natural spring in Calistoga.
I left with a thick handful of glossy pamphlets and an apology on my lips to all the trees that had given up their lives in the creation of them. Then I dipped into a cheesy souvenir shop, determined to grab something for Lucas. Near the back, there were living succulent plants with names of local places colorfully painted on the tiny pots. I grabbed two mini ball cacti with a snicker and paid for them quickly.
Heading back to the church shortly thereafter, I idly wondered how crowded the meeting was. It was an AA meeting being held in the heart of California’s wine country, after all… Maybe it was a particularly concerning problem here?