My Sunshine (10 page)

“Well, that’s a good sign,”
Jane said. “At least she’s not after your money.”

“Without a doubt,”
John agreed. “Chloe’s not like that at all.”

“So what was the growling about?” Mike asked.

John shook his head. “Garby beeped in. She’s coming down this weekend to see Cliff.”

“She’s a big girl,
John.” Jane reminded him.

He rubbed his forehead. “I know.”

John arrived at Bright and Jane’s an hour late to the party. He had been talking to Chloe on the phone part of that time, but the majority of the time had been spent trying to come up with a believable excuse to get him out of going altogether.

But he couldn’t miss.
Bright was one of his bandmates, one of his brothers. He couldn’t just blow off this birthday party.

Dozens of cars lined the road, several more were parked in
the driveway and some were even parked in the yard. The guest list included Bright’s family and friends, the guys in the group and their band, and members of their touring crew. Upon entering, John guesstimated that there were about two hundred people there.

“Where you been, man?”
Dennis asked offering his hand.

“We thought you weren’t coming.”

John shook his hand. “I made it. I was on the phone.”

“The girl?”
Josh asked.

“
Chloe,” John corrected. “Where’s Garby and Cliff?”

Dennis
shook his head and looked around. “I don’t know.

They’re around somewhere. Did they come by the house?”

John shook his head. “She called and told me not to meet her at the airport because Cliff was going to meet her. I haven’t seen or heard from her since.”

Dennis
shrugged. “Well, they’ve been at the house. She’s around here somewhere.”

John
frowned and looked around, but he didn’t see her in that part of the house. “So where’s the birthday boy?”

Josh
looked around. “I think he’s out by the pool.”

John
nodded and made his way through the crowd. He found Mike standing by the pool, beer in hand talking to his mother and her boyfriend, Ted. He approached them.

“Birdie,” he said to Mike’s mother, “when are you going to
dump this old guy and marry me?”

Birdie turned around and laughed. “Oh,
John,” she said playfully slapping his arm.

John
shook hands with Ted and then with Mike. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks. Where’s my gift?”

“What? You mean my presence isn’t present enough?”

Everyone laughed. Mike’s mother and Ted left, leaving
Mike and John relatively alone. “I’m glad you made it,” Mike said.

“You knew I would. I’m sorry I was late.” He looked

around, still seeing no sign of Garby or Cliff. “Have you seen my sister?”

Bright
nodded. “She was around earlier. You want a drink or something?”

“I think I’ll go grab me a beer,” he said. “If you see her, will
you tell her to find me please?”

“I will, and if you see my wife, will you tell her to find me?”

John agreed and he walked to the house. He entered the kitchen, and was surprised that there was only one other person in there. Mary was standing by the counter.

“
Mary.”

She turned around and smiled slightly, pushing a lock of
hair out of her face. “John. I was wondering when you would show up.”

She moved from behind the counter, and he noticed her
swollen belly. In that instant he remembered Jane saying something about Mary being pregnant again, but he hadn’t given it much though. Now, though, seeing that she was just a matter of weeks from delivering her ninth child, he became nervous. “Uh, when are you due?”

“November fifth,” she said, putting her hand on her

stomach. “And this is going to be the last one.”

He tried to do the math quickly in his head
.
What was November minus nine months...damn John, think!

She must have sensed what he was doing. “It’s not yours.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

He shook his head, knowing that she wouldn’t have told him the truth had she suspected that it was his baby. She wouldn’t have risked her marriage. “So have you been doing okay?” He asked. He moved around the counter and opened the refrigerator in search of the beer that had brought him into the kitchen.

She nodded. “I’m doing good. No better, no worse than last
time we talked.”

“So, is it a boy or girl?”
John asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. We couldn’t tell on the
ultrasound.”

John
, still feeling uneasy, opened the bottle of beer and took a long gulp. Mary put her hand on his arm. “I just want you to know, that everything has been fine since…you know. He doesn’t know.”

“That’s good.”

They both turned as a man entered the kitchen. John didn’t even need to be introduced to know that it was Matt, Mary’s husband. Mary beamed at him. “Matt! I want you to meet John.”

Matt extended his hand. “Oh, finally. I’ve met everyone else.”

Johnshook his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said
.
I slept with your wife
!
He quickly finished the first bottle of beer an
d
reached in the refrigerator for a second.

“There’s a bar downstairs,” Mary said.

“Yeah, thanks.” He left the room and made his way to the
basement where a hired bartender was serving up drinks. John slid onto a barstool. “Tequila,” John said. The bartender placed a shot glass in front of him and poured the drink. John downed it and chased it with another swig from the beer bottle.

What is wrong with me? I should be enjoying myself. I love
parties. I haven’t even been here an hour yet and I want to go home
.
He pushed the shot glass toward the bartender signalin
g
that he wanted a refill.

“Give me your keys,” a voice over his shoulder said.

He turned to look at the speaker. He smiled at Jane. “Yes ma’am.” He dutifully dug in his pocket and handed her his keys. “Mike’s looking for you.”

“Thanks.” She sat on the stool next to him. “Are you

having a good time?”

He nodded and lied. “Yeah. I ran into
Mary and Matt.”

Jane
raised her eyebrows. “It was okay?”

“Of course, Case. What do you think, we were going to
start making out in the kitchen in front of him? He doesn’t know, you know.”

“I know.” She patted his arm. “Have a good time.” She
hopped up and was gone again.

John
threw back the next drink and got up from the bar, carrying a fresh bottle of beer. He was already feeling the effects of the drinks. He was not a stranger to alcohol by any means, but four drinks in a span of about thirty minutes was a lot, especially since it had been hours since he had eaten. He made his way back outside and found Tyler and Christine sitting at a patio table with Benice Bakersfield, the singer Mike had been working closely with. He sat down with them.

“Is something wrong,
John?” Christine asked. “You don’t look like you’re having a good time.”

John
shook his head. “I’m fine. Have you seen Garby?”

Christine
nodded. “I think they left already.”

John
scowled. “I haven’t seen her since she got here. I think she’s trying to avoid me.”

“Well, if you didn’t hassle her all the time about Cliff, then
maybe she wouldn’t avoid you,” Christine said.

John
mumbled a nasty reply to her under his breath. He knew she was right, though.

“Get yourself something to eat,”
Tyler suggested, probably hoping to keep an argument from starting. “The food i
s
goo
d
.”

John
glanced over to the part of the yard where several buffet tables were set out under screen tents. He nodded. “I’ll be right back.” When he came back with his food, Tyler, Christine, and Benice were talking about the music business. John ate and barely participated in the conversation. Soon, a cake

was brought out and a big deal was made about
Bright blowing out the twenty-five candles.

John
sighed. “I’m ready to go home,” he said aloud

although he didn't think anyone one was paying attention to
him.

“Then go,”
Benice said.

He shook his head. “I can’t.
Jane confiscated my keys.”

“I’ll drive you,”
Benice suggested. “I haven’t been drinking.”

John
considered it. He really wanted to go home. “Okay.

Let me go get my house keys.” He found
Jane in the kitchen.

“I need my house keys.”

“How are you getting home?” she asked.

“I’m getting a ride from
Benice.”

Jane
raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say what she was obviously thinking. She opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out his keys. She handed them to him and he slipped them in his pocket.

He rejoined
Benice at her car. “Let’s go.”

The conversation on the way to his house ranged from her
upcoming CD to his and the possibility of a tour, from Tyler and Christine and her thoughts on their “lameness” for not drinking and waiting to have sex, to how free she felt to be away from her parents.

“Well, thanks for the ride,” he said when they arrived at the
house. He opened the car door.

Benice
shut off the car. “You’re not going to invite me in?”

“Uhhh,”
John stammered, caught off-guard. “Sure, come on in.”

Benice
followed him through the back door. “Nice place,” she said, looking around. “This is the house the record company set you up in, right?”

“Yeah,”
John said. He wanted her to leave.

“Can I take a tour?”

John nodded warily and reminded himself that she was just a kid. He showed her around the main areas of the house.

She stepped closer to him. “Aren’t you going to show me
your bedroom, John?”

He clenched his jaw. “There’s really no point.”

She ran her hand down his chest and stopped it on his belt buckle. “No? Are you sure?”

John
cleared his throat tried to clear his head. The alcohol was making it hard. “I...uhhh…have a girlfriend,” he managed to get out.

Benice
pushed her body close to his and moved her hand down. John gasped. “She’s not here,” she said, pressing her hand against him.

John
shook his head and tried to will away the erection that was growing under her hand. “I can’t.”

“No one will know,
John. I’ve been hearing about how you weren’t going out anymore. I know you must be ready to explode.” She leaned into him and nipped at his earlobe. “Show me your room,” she whispered.

John
looked at the girl
.
Chloewould never kno
w
. He led her down the hall to his room. “This is it,” he said. He turned around to face her. She was already disrobing.

He sucked in his breath at her body, a small waist, big
breasts, flat stomach, and piercings in places he had never seen before.

She smiled at him. “You like?” He nodded, but didn’t

move. “What are you waiting for, John? I’m ready.” She slithered across his bed.