New York Debut (22 page)

Taylor actually looked slightly interested, then just shook her head and refocused her attention on her magazine.

“Come on,” urged Eliza. “It’ll be fun. Gorgeous models out on the town. Remember Vegas?”

Taylor just flipped a page, and DJ turned the movie back on. “No one is interested in going out tonight,” she informed Eliza. “Besides, Grandmother made it clear that we can’t be out at night without her or Inez to — ”

“Oh, that’s right.” Eliza suddenly turned snooty again. “I’ll be sure to invite Inez to go out with us.”

“Then don’t make any plans to go out,” DJ said firmly.

“Who died and made you Mrs. Carter?”

DJ didn’t honor that with an answer. But after the movie ended and she saw that Eliza and Daisy were actually getting dressed for what appeared to be a night out, she decided to leave the door between the two rooms open. And finally, when it looked like Eliza and Daisy were actually going to venture out, DJ stepped in.

“Seriously, you guys,” she looked directly at Eliza, “if you go out without an escort, I
will
tell my grandmother.”

“So, you’ve turned into a tattletale?” Eliza frowned. “How lame is that?”

DJ just rolled her eyes. “Just be warned.”

“Maybe we better not,” said Daisy.

“Don’t be a baby,” Eliza told Daisy, then turned back to DJ. “For your information, Rat Girl, we’re just going downstairs
to
the lobby
. Any rules against that? Or are we under house — or should I say — room arrest?”

DJ frowned. Now she actually wasn’t too sure. Grandmother hadn’t said anything about what they did within the confines of the hotel. Still, she didn’t trust Eliza not to venture farther. So DJ directed her next warning to Daisy. “You need to understand this, Daisy,” she said in a serious tone, “my grandmother will pull you from the show if you do not abide by her rules.” DJ put her face close to Daisy’s now. “Do you fully get that?”

Daisy looked slightly nervous then nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“And you have really looked forward to this,” DJ reminded her. “It would be sad if you blew it and missed out.”

“And Mrs. Carter will probably make you pay her back,”

Casey called out as she got her shoes on, getting ready to head back to her own room. “You’ll have to cover your expenses if you don’t model.”

“Don’t worry about that nonsense,” Eliza told Daisy. “Come on, the night is young.”

DJ thought she might’ve put the fear of God — or maybe Grandmother — into Daisy. But whether that was enough to make Eliza behave remained to be seen. Casey and Rhiannon returned to their room, and Taylor continued reading her magazine, and it was close to ten when Kriti stuck her head in the doorway.

“Where did Eliza and Daisy go?” she asked.

“Who cares.” Taylor flipped a page of her magazine and yawned.

DJ quickly explained.

Kriti frowned. “And Mrs. Carter is okay with that?”

Now DJ felt worried. Fair or not, she knew that Grandmother had specifically asked her to take responsibility for the girls in the two adjoining rooms. Would Grandmother blame her for Eliza’s bad choices? DJ began pacing, trying to decide what to do.

“Are you going to tell Mrs. Carter?” asked Taylor without looking up from her magazine.

“You think I should?”

“Probably.”

DJ nodded and went directly to her grandmother’s room, knocked on the door, and tried not to look surprised when Grandmother answered in a hotel bathrobe with her face encased in a green facial masque. “What is it now?” she demanded.

“Sorry to disturb you.” Then DJ quickly relayed that Eliza and Daisy were AWOL. “They might just be in the hotel lobby . . . but I can’t guarantee it.”

The green masque over Grandmother’s forehead crackled. “Oh, dear!”

“I just thought you should know . . . since you told me to help keep an eye on things.”

“Yes. I do appreciate that.
Those foolish girls!”
She shook her head and more of her masque cracked. “Would you mind, Desiree, going down to check on them . . . to see if they’re really in the lobby and not getting into any trouble?”

“Okay.”

“And, don’t go alone. Please, take someone with you. Perhaps Rhiannon. She’s a sensible girl.”

“Do you want me to call you?”

“Yes, of course.”

So DJ went back to her room, but instead of Rhiannon, who had already returned to her room, DJ asked Taylor. “Do you mind?”

Taylor grinned. “No. It might be fun being on the other side of trouble for a change. Let me get my shoes on.”

“And I’ll tell Kriti what’s up.”

Soon, Taylor and DJ were down in the lobby. They searched everywhere and finally spied the two girls in the bar. And, already, they’d managed to connect with a couple of older-looking guys.

“What do we — ”

“Come with me,” said Taylor as she marched straight into the bar and up to the pub table where she tapped Eliza on the shoulder. Eliza turned in surprise, then smiled. “You decided to join us after — ”

“Hey, gorgeous,” the blond guy said to Taylor. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“No, thanks.” Taylor looked evenly at him. “And you can’t buy these girls drinks either. They are underage, and their chaperone will be down here any minute to get them.”

Daisy jumped down from her chair and looked toward the door. “Let’s go,” she said quickly.

“Good thinking,” said DJ as she linked arms with her.

“Come on,” Taylor told Eliza. “Party’s over.”

Eliza and Daisy didn’t say anything as they rode the elevator up, but DJ could tell they were nervous. It took all of her self-control not to chuckle at how coolly Taylor had handled the situation.

“You guys better get into your pajamas and look like you’ve been in your room for a while,” DJ told them as they went to their separate rooms. “I’ll tell Grandmother you’re back. But she’ll probably do a bed check tonight.” Then she closed the adjoining room and burst into giggles.

Taylor grinned. “What’s so hilarious?”

“You,” admitted DJ. “You were awesome down there.”

“Hey, I learned from the best.”

“Huh?”

“You, silly! Remember all those times you rescued me in Vegas?”

DJ laughed. “I tried to forget.”

“You better go tell your grandmother our lost girls are back.”

So DJ returned to Grandmother’s room to find that her face was no longer green and, instead of the bathrobe, she had on her pale pink silk pajamas and matching robe. DJ informed her that they’d found them. And, when she asked where, DJ was honest. Grandmother sadly shook her head. “I will be so relieved when Fashion Week is over.”

“I’m sorry that Eliza is acting like this,” DJ told her.

Now Grandmother actually put a hand on DJ’s shoulder and smiled. “I so appreciate your help, Desiree. I know I haven’t been the best grandmother to you, and we don’t always see eye to eye on things. But I am very proud of you, and I am extremely grateful for the level of maturity you display.”

“Thanks.”

“Might I ask you one more favor, Desiree?”

“What is it?”

“Would you please do what you can to keep tabs on Eliza and Daisy during your day off tomorrow? I’m perfectly willing to send those two home if needed, but I know how Dylan has planned for all nine girls in his show. This is his big debut, Desiree. I hate to spoil it for him.”

The last thing DJ wanted was to be stuck with Eliza all day, but she understood Grandmother’s dilemma too. “Want to make a deal?” she asked.

“What’s that?”

“If you’ll start calling me DJ instead of Desiree, I will stick to Eliza like glue until the fashion show.”

“Desiree is such a beautiful name. Why don’t you like it?”

“I like it okay, Grandmother, I just don’t feel like it fits me. Or maybe I have to grow into it. All my
real friends
call me DJ.”

“DJ.”
Grandmother’s mouth twisted as if she’d just bitten into a lemon. “Well, I suppose I can get used to it,
DJ.”

“Thanks!” DJ grinned. “Then it’s a deal. Oh, yeah, I told Eliza and Daisy that you’d be doing a bed check tonight.”

Grandmother’s eyes lit up. “That’s a splendid idea. In fact, I will do that every night until we go home, Desiree — excuse me, I meant, DJ.”

Everyone slept in late on Sunday. Everyone except DJ. She knew she needed to get up early to do two things. The first thing was to spend some quiet time with God and to read her Bible. She knew she was going to need God’s help more than ever now that she was supposed to run herd on Eliza. But the second reason she’d gotten up early was to think of a plan to lure Eliza into doing something besides shopping. All of the girls, except Eliza and Daisy, planned to go sight-seeing today — to act like corny tourists. But how could she talk Eliza into something like that? And so she prayed about it.

Then, to DJ’s amazement, it all fell into place at breakfast. All the girls were so excited about having a whole day to see all the sites that suddenly, Daisy was interested too. That’s where DJ stepped in. “Come with us, Daisy,” she urged her. “It’s going to be a blast.”

“Yeah,” agreed Casey. “We’re going to do the double-decker bus and the Empire State building and everything.”

“Okay,” said Daisy eagerly.

“But what about — ”

DJ cut Eliza off. “That means you’ll have to come with us too, Eliza,” she said quickly, glancing at Grandmother who appeared to be perusing a Fashion Week magazine, but DJ suspected she was listening. “Because the rules say, ‘no girls alone in the city,’ remember?”

Eliza scowled.

“That’s right,” said Grandmother, looking up. “No girls alone in the city, Eliza. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mrs. Carter.”

Grandmother smiled. “Good.”

And it was good. To everyone’s surprise, Eliza was fairly congenial, and she actually seemed to have a good time as they toured the highlights of the city. Oh, she let out an occasional grumble, like when Casey pretended to be King Kong on top of the Empire State Building. But for the most part, the day went smoothly. But DJ made sure to keep a safe distance between Eliza and Taylor.

On Sunday night, Grandmother had preordered breakfast for all the girls for the next morning — her way to ensure they were out of the hotel on time for their appointment with Dylan at ten. On Monday morning, the room-ser vice carts were lined up in the hallway, and soon everyone was finished with breakfast. They all crowded into Grandmother’s suite so she could give them their morning pep talk. “I expect nothing short of professionalism from each and every one of you today,” she told them. “I have promised Dylan that you will all do your very best and no one will be disappointed.” Then she quickly reiterated their schedule. “Dylan’s studio at ten for the final fitting. Then, we’ll head back to Bryant Park for the last dress rehearsal and the photo shoot and, if we’re lucky, we’ll have some media people there too. Everyone is interested in seeing a show with nine teen girls from the same town.” Grandmother smiled. “I do hope you’ll all do your very best, girls.”

“I was mistaken as Paris Hilton in the lobby yesterday,” Eliza informed them as they rode over to Dylan’s studio.

“Seriously?” Casey frowned at her. “Did the person need glasses?”

“No, it happens all the time,” said Eliza lightly. “Right, Daisy?”

Daisy nodded. “Oh, yeah.”

“I hope Paris isn’t too worried,” said Grandmother dryly. DJ couldn’t help but laugh.

The fitting went fairly smoothly, and the rehearsal and photo shoot at Bryant Park was relatively painless. But when the media people, who had actually showed up, focused most of their attention on Taylor (somehow the word slipped out that she was Eva Perez’s daughter), Eliza got into a little snit.

“Go tell the press that I am Eliza Wilton,” she whispered to Daisy, “heiress to the Wilton fortune.”

Daisy reluctantly obeyed, but apparently that didn’t impress them much. Although Daisy must’ve impressed them, because they kept her for a while, shooting photos and doing an impromptu interview. And next they went for DJ.

“You’re Katherine Carter’s granddaughter?” the woman began as cameras rolled, photos were snapped, and others listened. DJ acknowledged this, as well as about a dozen other questions about life in Crescent Cove, trying to convince the woman that she was just an ordinary girl. But it was obvious by her questions that the interviewer was skeptical.

“DJ’s telling the truth,” Taylor assured the woman and the other press who had gathered around. “DJ is about the most ordinary girl I know. She wears smelly tennis shoes sometimes, goes out for sports, won a write-in election as homecoming queen, and even got hit by a car when she saved the life of a little boy.” Of course, that interested them. And Taylor was happy to fill them in on all the details. “Just look it up online; it was in all the local news,” she finally told them.

“This is a good story,” the interviewer told DJ as she handed her and Taylor business cards. “But I might need to call for some follow-up questions.” She nodded over to Grandmother.