I Knew You Were Trouble: A Jessie Jefferson Novel (26 page)

‘We practically grew up together,’ Agnes chips in, before elbowing him. ‘Why did you stay away for so long?’ she asks reproachfully.

He shrugs and grins down at her, before looking at me. ‘We moved back to Australia eighteen months ago. I’m here on holiday.’

‘An extended holiday,’ Agnes says with a smile. Her eyes widen suddenly. ‘Hey, can Jessie come, too?’

‘Sure,’ Brett replies with a shrug.

‘Come where?’ I ask with confusion.

‘ To the beach tomorrow, a couple of hours south of here. Brett has a kiteboard. We thought we’d go hang out for the day.’

My heart jumps at the idea, but swiftly falls. ‘I doubt Johnny will let me go without Lewis in tow.’

‘Ask him,’ Jack suggests casually.

‘Are you going, too?’

‘Of course,’ he replies, and there’s something about the look in his eyes that makes my pulse start racing.

‘You guys ready?’ Miles calls to us. Jack nods and a fresh bout of nerves sweeps through me.

‘That should take her mind off Miles,’ Jack comments, as we make our way over to our bandmates.

‘Did you ask him to come?’

‘No.’ He hooks his arm round my neck. ‘He was coming, anyway, but I invited him to the gig.’

‘Nice job.’ I try to keep my voice steady at his casual contact. ‘What’s the deal with them?’

‘First love, torn apart,’ he replies with a hint of sarcasm. ‘All a bit too sappy for me. Ask her.’

I give him a wry look and he stares down at me with amusement, then says in my ear: ‘You look hot, by the way.’

‘Hey,’ Brandon warns before I can respond, and I jerk my attention away from Jack to see him glaring at the two of us. He points at Jack. ‘Remember your promise.’

Is he joking? He doesn’t look like he is. Out of the blue, Jack pulls me towards him, wrapping his arms round me so my chest is flush with his. He rests his chin on the top of my head and
says to Brandon: ‘Back off, we’re friends.’

His throat vibrates against my lips with his words and it makes me shiver. Then he lets me go.

‘Are we ready?’ he asks no one in particular. I glance at Brandon in time to see him stare at the ceiling in a resigned sort of manner.

My head feels cloudy with confusion as I watch Jack and Brandon sling their guitar straps over their heads while a roadie hooks them up to the amps. Miles salutes us and walks out onstage. The
crowd noise quietens momentarily as he takes his place at the drum kit, then he begins to play and Brandon joins him. My nerves had disappeared for a while when Jack was distracting me, but now
they’re back with a vengeance. Jack flashes me one last grin and runs out onstage, pounding his guitar as he goes while the crowd cheers. There must be a lot of All Hype fans here for them to
make that sort of noise, I realise in a daze. But, when you love a band, you’ll travel just about anywhere for them. Mum did for Johnny when he was in Fence.

I hope All Hype fans like
me
.

I peer up at the rafters and say a quick prayer to my rock-chick mother, then I glance to my left to see Johnny calmly watching me. He nods and gives a small smile. I look back at my new
bandmates, watching as they work the crowd. It’s almost time for me to go on. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

My dad has faith in me. I can do this. And so, one foot in front of the other, I walk out onstage.

‘That was amazing!’ Agnes’s high-pitched voice is the first I hear after we play our fifth and final song, but then I’m engulfed by my friends and
Johnny is pushing past everyone to get to me. He swoops me up in a hug.

‘Awesome!’ he shouts.

‘Was it OK?’ I ask him, pulling away slightly, my heart racing from the unbelievable high that came with being onstage.

‘You totally rocked it,’ he says, looking at Miles and Brandon. ‘You all did.’

Where’s Jack?
Johnny frowns, clearly wondering the same thing as me, and we look round to see Jack standing off to the side with a guy in his mid-twenties, nodding at something
he’s saying. He rakes his hand through his hair. He’s so sweaty, but he still looks…

Stop it
.

‘Journo,’ Johnny says.

At that moment, the journalist looks over at us and his eyes widen at the sight of Johnny. Jack glances towards us and then looks back at the man. He says something and the man’s brow
furrows, but he nods. I wonder what he’s saying. A moment later he and Jack come our way. Johnny touches his hand to my arm and, without another word, makes himself scarce.

‘Jessie, this is Owen from
Muso
magazine,’ Jack says.

‘Hi.’ As I shake his hand, I don’t fail to notice his look of disappointment at the disappearance of my dad.

‘You were great up there. Was that really your first gig?’ he asks me with an American accent. He’s dressed casually and has messy brown hair.

‘Couldn’t you tell?’ I ask with a smile.

‘Actually, no,’ he replies.

Jack whistles at Brandon and Miles and they both come over to be introduced.

‘I’d love to do a piece on you guys,’ Owen says, pulling a card out of his wallet and handing it to Jack. ‘Call me next week?’

‘Sure,’ Jack replies, stuffing the card into his back pocket. They shake hands.

Miles and Brandon can barely contain their excitement once he’s gone, but Jack just grins. ‘First of many.’

Within minutes, Agnes is putting pressure on me to speak to Johnny.

‘Ask him now, while he’s in a good mood!’ she urges.

‘Are you sure there’s room for me?’ I check with a frown. ‘You did say campervan, not bus, didn’t you?’

‘It’s only the four of us,’ she replies with a shrug.

‘Wait, you, me, Jack and Brett?’ I’d assumed Brandon and Miles and the others would be coming, too.

‘Yeah.’ She nods like this should’ve been obvious. ‘Oh, come on, it’ll be fun! Let’s ask together,’ she says with a giggle, leading me over to Johnny
and Lewis.

Johnny raises one eyebrow at us. ‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear?’

Lewis chuckles.

‘Mr Jefferson, we were wondering…’ Agnes starts, and I can’t help but snort at her referring to Johnny so formally. She shoots me a look of annoyance. ‘Can Jessie
please come to the beach with us tomorrow?’

He frowns. ‘Which beach?’

‘It’s south of Pescadero. My friend has a kiteboard.’

Johnny starts shaking his head.

‘I won’t go kiteboarding,’ I say quickly. ‘I just want to hang out.’

‘Who’s driving?’ he asks.

I point at Brett, who’s talking to Drew and Billy Mitchell. Johnny follows the line of my extended digit and then looks back at me. My heart sinks at the expression on his face. Lewis
folds his arms, but Agnes, who refuses to give up on anything easily, explains who Brett is and how he’s a friend of the family and can be: ‘totally trusted. Totally. Speak to my dad if
you don’t believe me.’

To my growing astonishment, Johnny doesn’t give an outright ‘no’.

‘Please?’ I find myself begging.

He meets my gaze steadily, then his attention switches to Lewis. ‘You’ll have to scope it out.’

My happiness is instantly stifled. I can’t help but feel suffocated at the thought of Lewis watching my every move.

‘Yes, sir,’ Lewis says.

‘If you’re happy, you can leave her in peace,’ Johnny continues.

‘Thank you!’ I gasp, jumping up on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.

He rolls his eyes at Lewis, who replies: ‘Anyone would think she doesn’t like me.’

Agnes runs over to tell Brett and Jack, but as I go to follow her Johnny pulls me back.

‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ he asks.

‘Of course,’ I reply nonchalantly.

‘That boy is a bit too much of a mini-me for my liking,’ he mutters, and I realise his comment is directed at Jack.

‘Well,
I’m
not like you. At least not in that way. I’d never be unfaithful,’ I add with a pointed look. I know a little about Johnny’s history with Meg
– and my mum, of course. He’s a reformed man these days, but there was a time when he couldn’t stay in a stable relationship without cheating on his partner.

‘I hope To m knows how lucky he is,’ he says eventually.

But I hadn’t planned to tell Tom I’m going to the beach tomorrow.

Or with whom.

Especially not with whom.

Maybe he’s not so lucky after all, I think with a stab of guilt.

No. Jack and I are just friends. Isn’t that what he said to Brandon? Even if Tom weren’t my boyfriend, Jack wouldn’t break his promise about keeping things professional.

I can’t believe I actually feel flat at that realisation. What is wrong with me?

Despite the late night, the next morning we’re all up before sunrise, keen to get on the road.

Johnny asked me to come to his room before I leave and I’m happy to see that Meg and the boys are already awake in bed, watching the songs Johnny recorded on his iPhone last night.

‘You sound amazing!’ Meg cries, genuinely impressed.

Johnny smiles at me proudly from his position on the end of the bed and I feel warm inside. He’s already dressed.

‘Lewis is downstairs with Brett,’ he tells me.

I groan. Embarrassing!

‘Don’t look so worried,’ he says. ‘They’re just going through a few security measures, so they’re both on the same page. Are you ready to go?’

I nod. ‘Agnes has already gone down.’

‘I’ll walk you to the lobby,’ he says.

‘Are you sure? Won’t that draw attention to us?’

‘I’ll stay inside,’ he promises.

Today I intend to go distinctly incognito. The sooner Lewis realises I’m in no danger, the sooner he’ll leave me be.

‘Be careful,’ Johnny says, as we walk out of the lift.

‘I will, I promise. And thanks again for coming to watch the gig last night,’ I say. ‘You don’t really mind that I’m spending the day with my friends, do
you?’ We’d initially planned to do some sightseeing in San Francisco. Meg was talking about taking Barney to see a real-life submarine.

‘No. I know you need a break, and Lewis won’t leave you unless it’s safe. If you’re being tailed, he’ll know about it.’

I lean up to kiss him on his cheek. ‘Thank you.’

I wave goodbye and walk out of the lobby.

Agnes jumps up and down on the spot and claps her hands at the sight of me. I smirk at her, then Jack appears from the other side of the van. He looks knackered.

‘Hey,’ he says, smiling sleepily. My stomach flips.

‘
Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
’ Johnny’s words ring round my head.

I ignore them and climb into the back of the campervan after Agnes. Jack gets into the front beside Brett.

‘Sorry about Lewis pestering you,’ I lean forward to say.

‘No worries, it’s cool,’ Brett replies.

I’m still uncomfortable about all the fuss, so I add: ‘It’s a bit ridiculous that he has to follow us to the beach.’

‘Your dad’s just keeping you safe,’ Jack says calmly. ‘You should be pleased he cares.’

‘I am really,’ I reply quietly.

‘Saying that, let’s see if we can outrun the bodyguard.’ Jack reaches over and slaps his pal on the leg. My mouth falls open and Jack looks over his shoulder at me as Brett
laughs. ‘Kidding.’

We drive through the undulating hills of San Francisco towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I saw it when we passed over it from the airport, but now it’s bathed in wintry morning light, the
sun turning the rust-red shade to a brilliant orange.

Jack has turned the music up and is tapping a beat out on his thighs with his hands. Agnes is on my right behind him, and I’m on the left, looking out of the window.

There’s a little fridge to Agnes’s right, and behind us is all of Brett’s stuff. Our seats fold down to make a double bed for him, although sometimes he says he ends up in a
sleeping bag on the beach.

The thought of falling asleep under the stars makes me smile.

Occasionally, I turn round to check that Lewis is still following us, but, despite his presence, I feel free. Freer than I have in weeks.

Soon we’re on Highway 1, driving along the coast. The road cuts through creamy orange hills, rolling down to the Pacific Ocean, which is sparkling and glittering like a billion Tinkerbells
have thrown handfuls of fairy dust at it. Big birds fly over white stretches of sandy beach in a V formation, parallel to the car, and, when I ask what they are, Brett tells me they’re
pelicans. We pass a lighthouse and, soon afterwards, the water is peppered with fishing boats: black silhouettes against the sunlit ocean.

After a while, the rocky hills on our left become small valleys of farmed fields. We pass a lumberyard full of redwood pine tree trunks stacked precariously high and another farm with brown
horses, goats and a lone alpaca wandering around.

Agnes opens a bag of candy corn and hands it around. It’s so sweet it makes my gums ache, and my mouth is sore from yawning as it is.

I may be tired, but I’m deliriously happy.

We round a corner and the ocean is suddenly full of kitesurfers. Rainbow-shaped, brightly-coloured kites soar above people on surfboards, whizzing through the water.

‘Is this where we’re stopping?’ I ask, sitting forward in my seat and peering out through the front window as Brett pulls off the road into a car park.

‘Yep,’ he replies, switching off the engine.

‘That looks like so much fun! Damn, I want a turn!’

‘Not likely with your bodyguard watching,’ he replies drily.

I groan with deliberately exaggerated disappointment and slump back in my seat as Jack and Brett laugh and climb out of the car.

‘Don’t feel too bad,’ Agnes says as they walk around to the back of the van. ‘It’s even more fun watching.’

‘Is it?’ I ask.

‘Yeah, we get to see Brett in a wetsuit,’ she whispers, as Brett opens the boot behind us. She fans her face and I giggle and get out of the car.

There are enormous flocks of birds – gulls, storks and pelicans – tipping and turning in a flurry of movement across the sky.

I stand and face the water, my hands in the pockets of my hoodie as I brace myself against the cold wind coming off the ocean.