Page 72 of Only One Tour Bus

“Starting a business is never easy, especially in this field. Most of these companies are downsizing or closing outright.”

“Yes, but they don’t have you. I was looking at some posts on your social media, and you’re getting so many followers and likes!”

“I don’t know, Mom. I just need to get through this tour and then I’ll see what happens before I make any plans. I need to focus on this first.”

“All right, you’ll figure it out; you’re so smart. We love you.”

“I know. Love you more!”

I turn back to Callum to find he’s got his phone out. “What are you doing? Are you finally seeing the benefits of vacation photography?”

“Not even a bit. But I thought you might like this.” He turns to show me what’s on his screen. It’s a picture of me, with a fairy tale background of medieval buildings covered in plant life adding more gorgeous colors, talking into my phone. The sun is streaming in behind me and bouncing off the water to my right.

I look like I’m in a fairy tale. It’s a great photo. Still, I’m able to tear my eyes away to look at the photographer, all my happiness with the picture shining through my eyes.

“I’ll send it to you,” he murmurs, and looks down to do that, maybe as a way to avoid facing my gratitude.

“Thank you.”

“I couldn’t help but hear a wee bit of your call. What’s this about starting a business?”

“Nothing.” I say it emphatically.

“It must be something. You seem perturbed.”

“I told my mom about the potential imminent firing, and she thinks this would be a good time to start a business, with the smaller, niche, customized tours.”

“She’s right. You’re smart and charismatic enough to make it a success.”

It takes me a second to process the rain cloud saying something so…optimistic. And nice. “Is that a compliment?”

“It’s the truth. If you feel praised, that’s your business.”

Typical Callum. No hearts and flowers with this one, but occasionally he’ll say something that makes me want to blush and bury my head into a pillow. Like I’m Bashful from Snow White, but with less facial hair. I’m literally “aw, shucks-ing” right now.

And the best part is he’s so belligerent when he’s giving the compliment. It’s so contradictory. So contrary. So adorable.

“As kind as your words are…” I make sure to pause and look him directly in the eyes at the compliment since I know how much he hates sincerity and emotions. When he starts squirming, I continue. “It’s never easy to start a business, and it’s going to be harder in an industry that’s already going through some things.”

“You have all the minions, so that’s a good place to start.”

“Minions? Like the adorable yellow cartoons who follow Steve Carrell around?”

“On social media.”

“You mean followers? Wait, have you been stalking me?” I nudge him. “Some light social media investigating? Are you part of that minion/follower count now?” I get my own phone out to check, and Callum snatches it out of my hand before I can open the app.

“You’ll get this back once I’m certain you’ve forgotten this conversation.” Callum holds the phone over his head, a place I would never be able to reach without a ladder or a very generous hand up. That doesn’t stop me from hopping against him repeatedly, more for the feeling of me sliding down his body every time I fail than any real desire for the phone.

Failure has never felt so good. Especially when I hang on his bicep in an attempt to use my body weight to lower his hand. It doesn’t work, and I feel like a kid in a playground, but I’m impressed that his arm doesn’t budge.

“I’ll never forget this conversation,” I vow.

“How about I buy you a drink and we can talk more about the business?”

I stop my ineffective hopping. “I’ll take that drink, but I’ll pass on talking about this idea anymore. I plan to remain optimistic about keeping this job until Rob tells me to my face that I’m fired. Then I can worry about a plan B.”

“See, this optimism of yours isn’t helping you. You should be preparing for the worst so you can be ready when it happens.”