How to Catch a (Rock) Star (The Dead Hour #1) (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Thankfully, Sandra was nowhere to be seen when Lillie and Jed got into the kitchen and they headed out the back door, pausing to pull on wellies and jackets. It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, the sun taking the chill off the early morning autumn air.

They walked in silence down to the lake and Lillie watched as Jed pulled an orange tennis ball out of his pocket and launched it into the lake. The dogs immediately bounded after it, jumping into the lake with a massive splash. She laughed and edged away, smiling as they doggy paddled through the water, racing to retrieve the ball. Axl reached it first and made his way back to shore, ball clenched firmly in his teeth. He dropped it at Jed’s feet and looked up at him expectantly. Slash joined him, both of them dancing excitedly, loud barks joined by Lillie’s laughter. Suddenly, Jed swooped down and picked the ball up, throwing it out into the cool water. Off the dogs went again.

‘How long will they want to play this game?’ she asked.

‘Oh Christ, they’d play it all day if I had the energy,’ he said, turning to look at her. ‘This is their morning game, later on, Mom will throw the ball for them in the garden. No wet dogs in the house in the evening.’

The dogs were back and Lillie retreated to a safe distance in case they decided to shake themselves dry. Jed threw the ball again.

‘So, what do you want to do today? Johnny was talking about showing you around town, you know, our old school, the skate park, stuff like that.’

‘Yeah, that sounds like fun.’ A sudden thought occurred to her. ‘Is there a diner in town, you know with red stools and ice cream floats?’ Visions of
Grease
floated through her head, Lillie with a Pink Ladies jacket, Jed with a quiff and turned up jeans.

‘Yeah, there are a couple. I don’t know that they’ll live up to your
Grease
fantasies but one of them does a pretty good burger.’

Lillie’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open at his mention of
Grease
.

He laughed.

‘You Brits are so predictable. Betty Sue in her waitress uniform with a delicious Southern accent?’

Lillie pulled a face.

‘Well, there won’t be any Betty Sues, but there are pancakes, fries and those tomato-shaped bottles of red sauce. Will that do?’

She nodded in delight as the dogs came back and Jed threw the ball for them a few more times, telling her about the town and the comic book store where he used to work.

‘So, are you guys local celebrities here then?’ she asked, worried about getting mobbed.

‘Uhhh, sort of, I guess. Obviously a ton of people know us, home town and all that but I guess things might have picked up a little with the European leg having gone so well. Don’t worry though, we won’t be bumping into any of my old girlfriends,’ he said, too casually, putting his arm around her.

‘I hadn’t even thought about that happening,’ Lillie said, paranoia racing through her head. ‘I didn’t even know you had any round here. You never talk about that kind of stuff.’

‘Well, I just think that what’s in the past doesn’t matter now. I mean, yes, I’ve had relationships but nobody that matters to me anymore. Anyway, we’re going round Johnny’s in a minute so you can see the garage we used to practice in!’ He deftly changed the subject but Lillie was so amused by the idea of them actually practising in a garage that she let it go.

Jed grabbed some keys and she followed him into the garage where a sleek, black muscle car sat.

‘This is your car?’

‘Yep,’ the pride in Jed’s voice was evident. He opened the door for her and she slid into the seat.

‘Very cool, I love it,’ she said, running her hand over the leather upholstery.

‘Yeah, she’s my pride and joy,’ Jed said, climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the ignition. He slung his arm round the back of her seat and reversed out of the drive. The Who blared out of the stereo and Lillie laughed.

‘You have a cassette player in here!’

‘Sure do,’ Jed replied. ‘I couldn’t ruin the vibe with a modern stereo.’ He patted the dash lovingly.

Johnny’s house was only a couple of roads away and they were out of the car before Lillie had the chance to really enjoy the ride.

Denise opened the door, a wide grin on her face as she told them Johnny was still in bed. Lillie followed her into the kitchen while Jed went upstairs to get him up.

Denise made coffee and pulled a tray of banana and pecan muffins out of the oven, chattering away the whole time. She complimented Lillie on her singing, mentioning that she and Hal were hoping to make one of the three New York gigs the band were doing.

Lillie jumped when Johnny shouted her name down the stairs. Excusing herself and reluctantly putting her half-eaten muffin on her plate, she went up to Johnny’s room, following the sound of loud guitar driven music.

Johnny was just pulling up his jeans as Lillie walked into the room. She sighed,

‘Why are you always half naked whenever I’m in your room?’ she said, looking around for Jed.

Johnny grinned at her.

‘Maybe because I’m always trying to get you to notice this,’ he looked down at his muscular torso and flexed his arms, grinning at her and winking.

‘Where’s Jed?’ Lillie said, a little more sharply than she meant to, uncomfortable in Johnny’s half naked presence and he gave her an amused look.

‘He went for a slash and then to talk to my mom. I thought you might want the inside scoop on Sandra. Jed told me about the shower thing.’ His smile grew wider as he watched the pink flush bloom in Lillie’s cheeks.

‘I don’t need to talk to you about Sandra,’ she said, furious at Jed’s tattling. She turned sharply on her heel, storming back down the long hall. Johnny came after her, putting his hand on her arm to turn her around. Lillie pulled away angrily and noted the shocked look on Johnny’s face with some satisfaction whilst feeling sorry for him at the same time.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I’m not angry with you but I really wish Jed hadn’t told you that… shower story. Look, you get dressed, I’ll see you downstairs.’ She smiled at him to try and make amends for snatching her arm away and storming off.

He started to say something but she turned and skipped down the stairs, eager to be away from him and his bare, tattooed chest.

As she neared the kitchen, she could hear Denise and Jed talking in hushed voices. She pushed open the door and saw Denise shoot a look at Jed before asking if Lillie wanted more coffee or another muffin.

‘No thanks,’ Lillie said, as she settled herself back into her seat and picked up her muffin. The look Denise had given Jed replayed itself in her head and she struggled to interpret it. A warning look? A reproachful look?

‘Hey you,’ Jed said softly. ‘What’s up?’ Lillie blinked and looked up at him.

‘Nothing,’ she lied, finally taking a bite of the muffin. Jed raised an eyebrow and seemed about to pursue it further but Johnny burst into the room, kissing his mum good morning and pouring himself some coffee. He turned to Jed and Lillie.

‘So,’ he said. ‘What’s the big plan for the day? Town? Beach? Errrrr…. Town?’ He laughed and Denise tutted.

‘There’s more to do round here than just shops and the beach,’ she said.

‘Really, Mom?’ Johnny replied. ‘Like what?’

‘Well,’ Denise said, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head while she thought. ‘There’s lots of state parks not too far and there’s the…’ she trailed off at the look on Johnny’s face. ‘You know, Staten Island isn’t a million miles away,’ she said, crossing her arms. Johnny slung his arm around her and kissed her cheek, laughing.

‘Okay!’ Jed said, crossing over to the counter and putting their mugs in the dishwasher. ‘Let’s go into town. Show you the sights.’

He looked at Denise with a big grin on his face,

‘Back in about half an hour then, hey?’

She laughed and hit his arm playfully before raising herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him goodbye.

‘Take your time, kids. I’ll be here goggling stuff for you to do tomorrow.’

‘Googling, Mom. Googling,’ Johnny said, rolling his eyes and kissing her cheek again. Lillie thanked her for the coffee and muffin and kissed her goodbye too before they all trooped out to the car.

Jed did all the talking on the drive into town, seeming determined to show her everything from his childhood right down to the exact spot where he had fallen over and broken his arm when he was ten.

The town itself was very picturesque with a white, wood-built church sitting next to the town lake and a row of shops which ranged from a hardware store to a hippy-type shop selling joss sticks and tarot cards. It seemed like it was right out of a Hollywood movie about small town America. The diner was, as Jed had said, not quite
Grease
but it was close enough and the Oreo cookie milkshake was amazing.

Johnny looked on in mild disgust as Lillie scoffed down a rare beefburger with all the toppings. She licked the blood off her fingers with relish, looking right at him as she declared that there was little better than a nice bloody burger. He narrowed his eyes at her and excused himself, sliding out from the booth and throwing her a mock-disgusted look.

‘Hey, you know what I would really like to do tomorrow?’ she turned to Jed who had his eyes closed now and was leaning against the back seat of the booth, rubbing his stomach.

He opened one eye and looked at her.

‘Your parents have a boat, right?’ Jed nodded slowly. ‘Can we pack up a picnic and go out on the lake tomorrow? Just us?’

He heaved himself up to look at her properly.

‘Sure. That sounds good.’ He looked up the diner towards the rest rooms. ‘Is everything okay with you and Johnny? You seem kinda off with him.’

‘Do I?’ She had thought she was hiding her embarrassment at Johnny knowing about the shower incident better. ‘No, everything’s fine. I’m just tired I guess. And I really wish you hadn’t told him about this morning, you know, with your mum and everything.’

‘Oh, Lil. I’m sorry. I thought maybe he’d have some tips on how to deal with her.’ Lillie made a face and Jed elaborated. ‘My mom caught him full on having sex in their bedroom once.’

‘Oh my God! What? Why was he in their bedroom?’ she blurted out, her hands flying to her mouth at the thought of Sandra walking in on Johnny.

‘Well, I was having a party and my parents came home early. They went upstairs to keep out the way and there was Johnny, ass in the air…’ he didn’t need to continue, the image was quite clear.

‘Oh my God! He is so outrageous! Why he didn’t he use one of the spare rooms?’

‘I guess they were all taken.’

‘What were all taken?’ Johnny said, sliding back into the booth.

‘Bedrooms. You know, when my parents caught you with that girl that time.’

‘Oh fuck, that was so embarrassing. Your dad’s face! Your mom was pretty cool about it though. Let me finish and everything,’ Johnny casually drained his coke float, not looking embarrassed at all.

After lunch, Lillie said she wanted to see the High School they had all gone to and the comic book store Jed had worked in.

They parked up and walked down one of the side streets, coming to a stop in front of a Starbucks. Jed looked at the tables and chairs outside and the queue of people waiting for their skinny, non-foam, soy lattes inside before giving a big sigh and shaking his head.

‘Mom didn’t tell me Cosmic Comics had gone,’ he said, the sadness evident in his voice. He tipped his head back and looked at the windows above the shop front. A look of rage and hatred flashed across his face and he turned abruptly.

‘Let’s go,’ he said, already striding down the street, not bothering to wait for Lillie or Johnny. Lillie looked at Johnny in confusion and he grabbed her hand, leading her down the street with an apologetic look and a shrug. Lillie kept her eyes on Jed’s back, stiff with anger and she guessed she wasn’t going to get to see the High School. Johnny’s grip on her hand would have stopped her from catching up with him if she hadn’t already realised something about the building had raised some bad memories.

When she and Johnny reached the car, Jed was already inside with the stereo turned up high and a ‘don’t ask me’ look on his face. Lillie wanted to stroke the tension from his jaw and kiss his rigid lips until they softened but instead she twisted in her seat to talk to Johnny who was doing his best to lighten the suddenly dark atmosphere that had descended upon them.

Jed dropped Johnny off at his house and drove down the road before suddenly pulling the car over and putting the brake on. He took a big breath and turned to face her.

“I’m sorry for getting so… mad back there. That place, the floor above Cosmic Comics, Starbucks,’ he corrected himself. ‘It brought back a lot of bad memories for me. Things I would rather forget. People I would rather forget.’

Lillie took his hand in hers and smiled encouragingly. She didn’t want to say anything to stop him from telling her whatever it was he wanted to forget. She felt herself holding her breath and forced herself to breathe, squeezing his fingers gently in her own.

I should have told you this before, but I guess I’m embarrassed about it,’ he smiled at her, his eyes sad. ‘Haven’t you ever wondered why none of us, except Eddie, ever do any drugs?’ he asked her.

Lillie nodded. She had expected some speed, maybe some cocaine, but then thought she was stereotyping rock bands and besides, Eddie smoked enough dope for all of them put together.

‘Well, the reason is that I got pretty hooked on coke and messed myself up pretty bad. I lived above the comic store for a while and that was when it was at its worst.’ He ran his other hand over his eyes and through his har. ‘There was an intervention and rehab and all kinds of shit. Johnny and Chris, they saw me when I was at my worst and I think it scared them off drugs for life,’ he laughed mirthlessly. ‘I am the ultimate cliché of a fucked up lead singer. Trying to be so rock ‘n’ roll and failing spectacularly.’ He took Lillie’s hands in his and stared at her intently.