Escape for the Summer (45 page)

Andi, still out of breath from running most of the way from Trendaway Farm to Rock, glanced down at her watch. It was three minutes past the hour. Oh dear. She feared this set the tone for the evening.

“I’m really sorry,” she apologised, following Jax through into a stunning glass and chrome atrium, filled with white fairy lights, lush potted palms and tables covered in neat rows of sparkling champagne glasses. The caterers were already hard at work unloading food onto trestle tables. Glancing over, Andi saw helpings of pink prawns swimming in garlic mayonnaise, glistening black caviar piled onto blinis and, to top it all, several large lobsters standing guard over steaming vats of bisque. Goodness, Jax was really pushing the boat out to impress.

“It’s been a really busy day,” Andi attempted to explain when Jax didn’t reply. She actually thought she’d done incredibly well to make it at all. Her hangover had really kicked in. No amount of coffee had been able to revive her and it had felt as though Cornwall Council’s road gang were using pneumatic drills inside her skull. Mel had taken one look at Andi’s green face and packed her off home straight away. She’d spent most of the day tucked up in her bunk sleeping it off. Now, after lots of water and Nurofen, she was feeling slightly more human – but her temples were still pounding and the sight of all the food made her feel queasy.

Jax gave Andi scathing a look, which suggested she could see through the neatly tied back hair, white smock top and agnès b. trousers to the hung-over wreck beneath. Dressed in a stunning black dress slashed so low that it showed both kinds of cleavage, and with her hair straightened to within an inch of its life and her face beautifully made up, Jax looked the antithesis of how Andi felt.

“There’s a lot to do,” she said curtly. “The guests arrive at half seven. I need you to take their bags and coats when they arrive and then pass around the canapés. I’m expecting most people to walk through and be on the terrace, so make sure you’re there and on hand to refill their glasses too. Afterwards you can wash the dishes and glasses so they’re clean to return.”

Andi waited for a
please
but it didn’t come. With a sinking heart she followed the older woman through the atrium and out onto the terrace where once again it seemed no expense was to be spared. Citronella torches were already lit to keep the midges at bay and a string quartet was warming up by a forest of potted bay trees. Jax was going all out to impress her neighbours; that was for certain. As well as Andi there were several other local women she recognised, dressed in waitressing attire. Surely she was surplus to requirements?

Or was Jax putting her very firmly in her place? As she busied herself pouring champagne, the thought of alcohol making her stomach lurch alarmingly, Andi had to admire Jax’s logic. She wanted Jonty back, that much was obvious, and she hated and was threatened by his friendship with Andi. However misplaced this insecurity was, to be the beautiful queen bee at an elegant party while Andi looked dowdy and served the drinks was a stroke of genius that would have impressed Machiavelli. While Jax barked orders, Andi gritted her teeth and thought that if it hadn’t been for all her debts she’d have told Jax exactly where she could shove her lobsters. Not for the first time, she cursed Tom.

At about half seven the first of the guests started to arrive and Andi was busy collecting pashminas and more designer bags than the ground floor of Selfridges could boast, as the great and good of Rock arrived for the free Taittinger and food. Before long the terrace had filled with guests and she was rushed off her feet offering drinks and canapés while Jax drifted from guest to guest, feigning interest but with her eyes always sifting through the crowds. In between asking people if they wanted a drink or a canapé, Andi amused herself with some people spotting. It was like a who’s who of Rock’s high society. So far she’d spied two celebrity chefs, somebody who looked very much like Martin Clunes and, believe it or not, Angel’s old nemesis Mr Yuri. With a gulp and hoping desperately that he’d visited Cornwall for a holiday rather than to fit her sister out with a pair of concrete boots, Andi concentrated on pouring champagne and being generally invisible.

Finally, and much champagne-pouring later, Simon and Mel arrived. Relieved to see friendly faces, Andi left her work for a moment and joined them in the garden.

“Champagne? Canapé?” she asked.

Mel looked taken aback to see her. “Andi? What on earth are you doing serving drinks for Evil Edna?”

“Earning some extra pennies,” said Andi with a grin. “Beggars can’t be choosers. I didn’t expect to see you here though. I thought you weren’t a fan of Jax?”

“Believe me, I’m not.” Mel took two glasses of Taittinger. Draining one and then the other in swift succession, she added, “That’s better. Now I can face the next hour.”

“My wife only came because she wants a nosy at Jax’s house,” grinned Si. “It’s one up from watching
Come Dine With Me,
for her!”

Mel walloped him. “Don’t be a bugger. You know full well I’ve come to make sure Jonty isn’t eaten alive. I don’t trust that woman an inch.” She waved her hand in the direction of the atrium, lit up now by the candles and fairy lights as dusk had fallen. “I mean, just look at her!”

Andi followed Mel’s gesture and her stomach slowly looped the loop when she glanced into the atrium and saw that Jonty had arrived. He stood framed in the glass of the atrium, a slim but powerful figure dressed in a white Quiksilver shirt and faded jeans. In his simple yet stylish surf dude’s outfit, Jonty stood out from everyone else in their Armani and Ralph Lauren. Jax had cornered him already and even from a distance it was clear that they were deep in conversation. Jax had her hand on his chest and her head was tilted up at him, giving Jonty the full benefit of her tanned cleavage. Jonty, though, was too busy saying something back, in between much head shaking and waving of hands, to be distracted by the barely-there frock. His attention was one-hundred percent focused on whatever it was he was saying.

“I can’t believe he came,” Mel said. She looked upset and two spots of colour bloomed above her achingly familiar cheekbones. “Has he flipped?

“Course he hasn’t.” Si put his arm around his wife and drew her close. Dropping a kiss onto her dark hair, he added, “You know why he came. Jonty wants to make sure Jax doesn’t—”

“Darling, look: there’s Alice and Hugo!” interrupted Mel. “We’d better go and say hello! We’ll catch you later, Andi!”

“See you tomorrow,” said Si as his wife towed him away. Over his shoulder he added with a wink, “Unless you go on the lash again, that is!”

Andi poked her tongue out at him and went back to the serious business of refilling glasses. Although she was busy – even if they were some of the UK’s wealthiest citizens Jax’s neighbours seemed determined to make the most of all the free booze – Andi’s gaze kept returning to the couple framed in the window, lost in conversation and oblivious to everyone around them. Maybe they were sorting things out? Jax had stepped even closer to him now and was doing this weird thing where she kept tossing her hair about and struggling to keep her dress on both shoulders. It was as though her skin was made of Teflon. Jonty’s arms were crossed and he kept shaking his head, although he made no move to leave. Quite the opposite. He looked as though he had an awful lot to say. Then he glanced away from Jax and out of the atrium towards the garden. For a split second his eyes locked with hers and they stared at each other. Although it was a warm evening, goosebumps rose on her arms. He raised an eyebrow and mouthed, “Where’s Travis?”

Andi looked away, hot with embarrassment. Although it was none of Jonty’s business what she did, the idea that he believed she’d spent the night with Travis irked her.

Ignoring him, she concentrated on filling glasses, deciding that it was actually a relief to be invisible amongst the guests. They weren’t at all interested in her and as she served the drinks Andi let their conversations drift like dandelion seeds on the breeze. When she did attempt to sneak another glimpse at Jonty and Jax they were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they’d gone somewhere more private? They probably had plenty of things to discuss. Whatever was going on it was their business anyway. Maybe she should just concentrate on topping up glasses, seeing as that was what she was being paid to do?

The night was falling in earnest now; the air was thick with the scent of evening stock and the river below the terrace was just an inky void. Strains of Vivaldi drifted on the breeze, while the chatter of the guests grew louder as they consumed more alcohol. Andi’s headache fluttered again near her temples and she was almost felled by a wave of exhaustion.

After several hours she was losing track of how many trips she’d made carrying trays laden with dirty glasses. Her head was thudding intensely and she felt giddy. Moving as cautiously as she could through the crowd of drunken and excited partygoers, she was attempting to make a return journey to the kitchen when the room pitched and rolled like a boat driven by Travis. Andi wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew she was sprawled on the floor surrounded by broken glass and gawping onlookers. She tried to get up but the room was spinning. Putting her hand out to steady herself, she yelped in pain.

“Oh my God!” Andi heard Mel cry. “Andi! Are you OK?”

“She’s bleeding!” somebody else gasped.

“I’m so sorry everyone!” Jax’s voice, bright with false good humour, was as welcome to Andi as nails scraping a chalkboard. “I hadn’t realised we were having Greek night!”

Andi attempted to sit up. Whoa! That wasn’t very nice. Why couldn’t everyone stand still?

“Andi? Hey, take it easy. Don’t try to move.”

From the whirling mass of faces Jonty’s voice was like a lifeline. She tried to reach out for it but instead all she saw was Jax, rising like a cobra about to strike. “What the hell are you playing at?” she hissed. “Have you any idea how much the deposit on these glasses was? That can come out of your wages.”

“Jax!” Jonty admonished. “She’s passed out. Have some sympathy. Mel, fetch some water.”

“Passed out?” Jax snorted. To Jonty she said, “She’s hung-over to shit, you mean. Didn’t you tell me that she was out until all hours with the local playboy?”

Even though she felt horribly dizzy and her hand was in agony, these scathing words, which had clearly come from Jonty, really hurt. God, but he was quick to jump to conclusions. A sense of injustice tightened like a vice around her ribs.

“I’m fine,” Andi said. Somehow she managed to sit up. Mel crouched down next to her with a glass of water.

“Have a drink,” Mel urged. “And could you manage something to eat? I bet you haven’t eaten all day, have you?”

Andi hadn’t. With her stomach insisting on doing a trampoline impression, eating had seemed a high-risk activity. While Mel went to fetch some leftovers and Jax stomped off in disgust, Jonty helped Andi to her feet and supported her to the sink, where he gently rinsed her cut hand. Neither of them spoke. Andi leaned into him, feeling his solid strength as he held her, and her heart twisted. He was her dear friend but as far away from her right now as the stars shining above Rock. How had it come to this?

Finally, once the wound was clean, Mel returned with some dressings.

“Maybe I should do that?” said Jonty. His arms still held Andi against his chest at the sink, where crimson droplets feathered the white ceramic.

Mel wrinkled her forehead. “I think this needs more than you or I can do, Jonty. It looks deep. I think it’s going to need a couple of stitches.”

Andi was horrified. Apart from the fact that this would mean even less wages – if indeed there would be anything left over after she’d repaid Jax for all the breakages – it was miles to the nearest hospital. For a moment she thought about telling them it was fine and just giving up the evening as a bad job, but the blood dripping into the sink didn’t show any sign of abating.

“Can you call me a taxi?” she asked.

“I’d take you myself but I’ve had far too much to drink.” Mel grimaced. “And Si’s had a skinful too. Jonty?”

Jonty shook his head. “I’ve had several drinks, otherwise I’d drive. What a nuisance.” Then he said, with deliberate care and as though the thought had just occurred to him, “Can I call anyone for you? Travis?”

Mel, who was wrapping Andi’s hand in a tea towel, shot her brother a warning look – but Andi was too exhausted to worry about Jonty’s issues with Travis. If he wanted to jump to conclusions and judge her, then fine. That was up to him.

“Do you need somebody to come with you?” Mel asked. Jonty said nothing. In the gloom of the kitchen his face was shadowed and his eyes were great pools of blackness. Once, not so long ago, Andi knew he would have offered to come with her, but not now. Something had changed.

“I’ll be fine on my own,” she said firmly. Blood roses bloomed through the tea towel and Andi moved her hand so that nobody could see. She didn’t want a fuss and she certainly didn’t want Jonty feeling obligated to come with her, not when he’d once given his friendship and time so freely and joyously.

No way. Let him drink bubbly and eat blinis with Jax. For a guy who professed to love the simple life, he was certainly taking to his ex’s privileged world with ease.

“You bloody well won’t go alone,” Jonty said. He was already scrolling through his mobile for a taxi number. “I’m coming with you.”

“No thanks,” Andi snapped. “You go back and enjoy the party and spend some time with Jax. I’m fine on my own, but if I need anyone I can give Travis a call.”

Jonty stared at her for a moment. The expression on his face was hard to read. Then he shrugged.

“You know what? I think I’ll leave you to it in that case. Good luck at the hospital, Andi.”

As he walked away Andi stared after him. Without Jonty’s arms holding her up she felt strangely untethered, as though she might float away. For a couple of seconds she listened for his footfalls on the wooden floor to return, part of her hoping that he’d come back and accompany her after all; but no, he’d gone, just like that. Back to the party and back to Jax. She felt ridiculously let down.