The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson (21 page)

‘She asked them without asking you first?’

‘She knew I’d say no.’ He says this fondly.

‘Why?’

‘You’ll understand when you meet my sister.’

What’s he saying? ‘Er, when am I going to meet your sister?’

‘At her party, tonight.’ He says it like it’s a sure thing.

I laugh. ‘I haven’t told you if I’m busy, yet.’

‘Are you?’

‘Well, I . . .’ Shouldn’t I be having a last dinner with Johnny and Meg? ‘I’d better check with Johnny and Meg first. Make sure they don’t need me.’

‘OK,’ he says slowly.

‘But it should be fine,’ I tell him quickly. I really, really want to see him again. And at least I can spend the day with Johnny, Meg and the boys. Barney and Phoenix will be asleep tonight, anyway.

‘Cool.’

‘Do you want to tell me your address?’ I ask.

‘I’ll come and pick you up if you like.’

 ‘That would be great. What time?’

‘Seven-thirty? It will give me an excuse to get out of here.’

‘Is that all I am to you?’ I tease. ‘An excuse to get you out of helping?’

‘Oh, you’re much more to me than that.’

What a flirt!

‘See you later,’ he says.

‘Wait, don’t you need my address?’

‘I know where Johnny Jefferson lives. Everyone does.’

‘OK, see you later.’

‘Bye.’

I have the biggest smile on my face as I hang up. I flop back on to the bed and beam up at the ceiling. Thoughts of Tom flicker through my mind, making my smile waver. I wonder if he’s thought about me much since I left. He’s probably on his way to Ibiza where he won’t be short of attention. I try to close my mind off to him – and my guilt along with it. I should live in the here and now while I can. It’s been a long time since I felt happy and full of anticipation.

I glance out of the windows at the trees and the blue sky beyond. So how am I going to spend my last day with Johnny? Swimming pool. Easy. Better apply lots of suncream though. Sunburn is not an accessory I plan to utilise.

I climb off the bed and go to the tall white wardrobes, opening the one on the left. My bikini is three drawers down – freshly washed and laundered yesterday afternoon by Carly, one of the two lovely maids. The other maid, Sharon, is sweet, too. She tidied up my room and made my bed when I went down for breakfast. It’s going to be a bit strange going back to my tiny house at home. I stand on the fluffy shagpile carpet and do a three-sixty degree turn around the room. Yep, it’s going to be hard.

Johnny is watching TV when I return downstairs, my white sarong tied around my waist. It’s a testament to how much more comfortable I feel around him now.

‘Going for a dip in the pool. You fancy it?’ I ask him.

‘Um . . .’ He looks pretty engrossed in whatever it is he’s watching. Racing cars of some sort.

‘I’ll join you,’ Meg says, coming out of the kitchen. ‘Come on Johnny, it’s Jessie’s last day.’

‘Yeah, alright,’ he says, reaching for the remote and switching off the telly. ‘Be out in a sec.’

I walk outside and stand for a short while on the warm stone, looking up at the sky. The day is not too hot, yet. It’s perfect. I go and stand on the top step of the pool and stare down at the city. The sky is clear, the smog not too bad for a change. I glance over at the polished concrete bench table where Johnny and I sat last night. It seems so unreal: the party and then coming back here. I still feel very much like I’m in the middle of a dream, and right now I wish I had access to some strong sleeping tablets, because I don’t want to wake up.

I step back out of the pool, take my sarong off and throw it on a sunlounger. Then I walk down to the deep end, take a deep breath, and dive.

After a while, Meg brings the boys out and gets them dressed and suncreamed-up beside the pool. Johnny appears and wanders to the pool hut, and I tread water and watch with amusement as he brings out all of the inflatable toys.

‘You going to try and master the shark today, Jess?’ he asks me.

 ‘Only if you do the croc,’ I reply.

Barney is dressed and ready so Meg lets him into the pool area. ‘Can you take him, Jessie?’ she calls.

‘Sure.’ I swim to the shallow end and stand up. ‘You going to jump in?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah!’ he shouts, putting his toes right at the very edge.

‘One, two, three, go!’ I shout and he leaps in, creating quite a splash. I laugh and grab his slippery little body and he giggles as I whizz him through the water.

I look over at Meg to see her smiling. She stands up with Phoenix and carries him into the pool, zooming him towards me as Barney takes off on his own towards her. I bounce up and down with Phoenix, making him giggle.

Johnny carries the crocodile over and stands on the edge, launching himself on to it and instantly upending himself. Barney laughs his little head off. I do too, and as I swim Phoenix through the water to his dad, I can’t help but feel melancholic. It occurred to me at the beginning of this week that I am a part of this family. But only now am I starting to feel it. I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss
them
. I really don’t want to go home.

Chapter 18

‘Be careful,’ Johnny says. We’re sitting in the living room and I’m playing with the spare iPhone he’s leant me for tonight. I look up and see that he’s serious. He nods at the phone. ‘Davey’s number is stored in there. He’s expecting you to call him for a lift.’

‘Jack might give me a lift back,’ I reply with a frown.

‘If it’s Jack’s sister’s birthday, Jack will be drinking,’ Johnny says with a pointed look. ‘I’d rather just know you’re using Davey,’ he adds.

‘OK,’ I reply noncommittally, looking back down at the supercool phone.

‘Jessie.’

I look up again.

‘Promise me you’ll call Davey.’

‘OK, OK, I’ll call Davey!’ I exclaim. Jeez.

He raises one eyebrow at me, but he looks amused.

‘You look good,’ he says. ‘Nice T-shirt.’

I smile at him. ‘Thanks for getting it for me.’

‘Any time.’ He rakes his hand through his hair and rests his arm on the back of the sofa. We’re sitting beside each other as I wait for Jack. I’m nervous, but the iPhone – and Johnny’s worrying – is taking my mind off things.

I read the boys a bedtime story a little while ago – my last one – and now Meg is putting them to bed.

We went for lunch this afternoon at a cute little café on Melrose Avenue, followed by a shopping spree. I felt like a princess, spoilt rotten. I think Johnny was trying to make up for lost time. Either that, or he’s feeling guilty because I’m leaving tomorrow. He actually seemed disappointed that I’m choosing to spend my last night with Jack instead of him and Meg. I almost changed my mind, but Meg encouraged me to go out and enjoy one last night in LA with people my own age. More nerves ricochet through me. Jack’s late . . .

I’m wearing skinny black jeans and a cream, grey and black fitted T-shirt with sparkling red graphics on the front. I’m going for the rock chick look and I hope I’ve made the right choice. If I arrive and they’re all wearing ballgowns, I’m going to look like a right div. I’ve got my hair down and dishevelled, my eye makeup dark and glittery and my army-green strappy wedges on. Meg took me for a mini-pedi on our way home while the boys watched cartoons on the in-car DVD players, and my toenail polish is now dark red.

The buzzer goes, jolting me to life.

‘There’s your ride,’ Johnny drawls, lazily getting to his feet.

‘You’re not seeing me to the door, are you?’ I ask worriedly, as I stuff the iPhone into the new bag I bought earlier.

‘I was going to, yes,’ he replies with a funny look.

 ‘Well, you can’t. I’m supposed to be your nanny. You’re hardly going to check up on me, are you?’

‘Bloody hell,’ he mutters, shaking his head.

‘What? What would you rather I said?’

‘I’d rather we just come the hell out with it and tell everyone you’re my daughter.’

Hope surges through me. ‘Really?’

Perhaps he thinks better of it. ‘We’ll talk about it soon,’ he decides and I feel flat again. ‘Be the nanny tonight.’

My eyes narrow as I regard him.

‘Jessie, it’s for your own good,’ he says when he sees my expression. ‘Once it’s out there, your life will never be the same again.’

Hmm. I’m not at all convinced that’s a bad thing.

‘Trust me,’ he implores. ‘Come on, before he presses the buzzer again and wakes the boys up.’

‘OK.’ I start to walk past him.

‘Oi.’

He grabs my arm and I jolt to a stop and stare up at him. To my surprise he wraps his arm around my neck and pulls me towards him, kissing the top of my head. ‘Have a good time,’ he murmurs, letting me go.

I smile warily and turn to walk into the hall, but my eyes are shining at his unexpected tenderness. I take a deep breath, opening the door before I have a chance to exhale. The sight of Jack standing there, leaning against a shiny black expensive-looking car, makes me want to gulp for more air.

He’s even better looking than I remembered: tall, slim and tanned with ripped grey jeans and scuffed Chelsea boots. He’s wearing a black T-shirt with a yellow drawing of a family of stick figures on the front, and his black hair is messy and falling down across his forehead again.

‘Hey,’ he says, grinning.

‘Hi.’ I reckon the butterflies in my stomach could practically fly me over to him. Maybe I won’t risk it; I’ll use my feet instead. I pull the door shut behind me and walk over to the car. He opens the door and I climb in, then he shuts it behind me. The interior is dark grey and smells of fresh leather. I can tell from the sign on the steering wheel that it’s an Audi, but I don’t know which sort. His family must be wealthy, that’s what I’m thinking. And I guess they are – especially if they were invited to Michael Tremway’s last night. I don’t imagine he mingles with normal people. Like me. Am I out of my depth?

Too late to be thinking about that. Jack opens his door and climbs in, glancing across at me.

‘Nice T-shirt.’

‘Thanks.’ I nod at his. ‘Yours is cool, too.’

‘My sister made it.’ He starts up the car and sets off down the driveway. ‘It’s my one concession to making an effort for her birthday.’

‘Is she a fashion designer?’ I ask as we wind our way along the drive to the gates at the end.

‘No, but she wants to be.’

‘How old is she?’

‘Sixteen last week.’

‘Am I underdressed?’ I ask as he slows down on the approach to the gates.

‘No, you look hot.’ He grins and nods up at Samuel in the security hut beside the gate door. The gates start to open and I wave at Samuel as we pass through.

 ‘That’s Samuel. He told me a good joke earlier,’ I say, trying to keep my cool. Jack just said I look hot!

‘Really?’

‘You wanna hear it?’

‘Sure.’ He turns right on to the main road and we continue to wind up the hill.

‘OK. A woman gets on to a bus with her baby. The driver says, “Urgh, that’s the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.” Fuming, she goes to the back of the bus and sits down, complaining to the man next to her: “That driver just insulted me!” The man replies, “Go back up there and tell him off. Go on, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”’

Jack bursts out laughing. ‘That’s funny.’

‘Told you. Want to hear another one?’

‘Sure.’

‘Went to the zoo. There was only one dog in it. It was a shitzu.’

He sniggers with amusement.

‘OK, I’ve got one. A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says, “sorry, we don’t serve food.”’

I giggle. ‘Two goldfish in a tank. One of them says, “How do you drive this thing?”’

We carry on like this, and after a while I realise my nerves have gone. We’re still winding our way through the hills – the road has levelled out a bit so we’ve stopped climbing. ‘Where’s the party?’ I ask.

‘It’s at my house. Just up here.’

I can hear the music pumping before we see the house, but then we round a corner in the hill and there’s a long, white wall surrounding a boundary with a red-tiled rooftop visible behind.

‘Here we are.’

Quite a few cars are parked on the road, everything from Porsches to shiny new Beetles, and a couple more are pulling up behind us. Someone toots their car horn and Jack looks out of his rear-view mirror. He holds his hand up in a half wave and then reaches into the central compartment and pulls out some sort of remote. He presses a button and the white wall starts to slide open. I stare up at the sandy-coloured Spanish-style villa on the hill. It looks enormous. His family must be
mega
wealthy. What does his dad actually do? Johnny said he knew him – that he used to be wilder than him. Why didn’t I think to ask Johnny what he did? Whatever it is, one thing’s for sure, Jack and I are from two very different worlds.

OK, maybe technically not any more. Now I know that I’m Johnny Jefferson’s daughter I should fit right in, but all this extravagance is not me. I feel daunted.

But wait. Jack thinks I’m a nanny. That’s pretty ordinary, right? And he still invited me. So he must not care about all this material stuff.

My head is buzzing with all of these thoughts and I’m so preoccupied that I don’t immediately notice the girl in a short pink dress, standing on the driveway in front of what looks like a six-car garage.

‘I’m in trouble,’ Jack murmurs.

‘What? Who is she?’ She has an edgy black-haired bob, is wearing thick black eyeliner and hot-pink lipstick and she doesn’t look happy.

Please don’t let her be his ex-girlfriend, or even worse, his current girlfriend.

‘That’s Agnes.’

 ‘Agnes?’ Isn’t that the girl that Charlotte mentioned yesterday?

‘My sister.’

The relief is short-lived. As soon as he pulls up in front of her, she stalks to his door and yanks it open. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

‘Chill out, sis,’ Jack says calmly. ‘I just went to pick up Jessie.’

‘Jessie?’ She’s glaring as she peers into the car, but she jolts with surprise when she sees me.

‘Oh! I couldn’t see you with the sun reflecting off the car,’ she says.

‘Agnes, meet Jessie, Jessie meet Agnes,’ Jack says slowly.