Paradise (21 page)

‘So did you miss me?’ Ethan demanded when he met Angel and Honey at the airport. ‘Not too busy hanging out in night clubs and flirting with singers. You
dirty
girl!’ His tone was teasing, thank God, Angel couldn’t deal with anyone else being on her case.

‘Don’t you start!’ she exclaimed, wrapping her arms round his neck and not caring that they were being photographed by the waiting paps. ‘Take me home and you’ll find out how much.’

It was so good to see Ethan again, and he genuinely wasn’t wound up about Daryl. He was so easygoing, so uncomplicated. Indeed, he thought the whole thing was hilarious. As soon as Angel had settled Honey in
bed and walked into the living room, ‘Hot Love’, one of Daryl’s biggest hits, began blasting out of the speakers. Angel looked at Ethan, who was laughing at her confused expression.

‘He sings a bit like a girl, I really don’t get his appeal,’ Ethan commented. ‘He is good-looking, though, I’ll give him that. So, you promise you weren’t tempted?’

‘I really wasn’t,’ Angel replied. ‘Now come here.’ She hooked a finger into the waistband of Ethan’s jeans and pulled him towards the sofa. ‘He’s way too girly-looking for me. I need a real man, like you.’ She undid the buttons on his shirt, loving the feeling of his bare skin against her hands. It felt so good to touch him again. In the background Daryl sang his heart out. Angel suddenly stopped. ‘Babe, can’t you turn that off?’

Ethan reached for the stereo remote and silenced the track. ‘That’s better,’ she murmured. ‘Now I can really show you how much I’ve missed you.’

Afterwards they lay in each other’s arms on the sofa. ‘So I’ve told Benny that no way can he ever speak to you again like that,’ Ethan was saying. ‘He swore he wouldn’t. He was being over-protective again and realises he was jumping to all the wrong conclusions. He’s just not used to me being in a relationship. Before you, the women came and went pretty quickly.’ Ethan gave a wry smile. ‘And Benny did have to get me out of some sticky situations, shall we say?’

Angel sighed. While she was glad Ethan had said something to Benny, she couldn’t see his agent and manager changing his attitude towards her any time soon.

‘But I’m also putting out feelers for other agents,’ Ethan said, surprising her. ‘I’ve been with Benny a long time, it might be good to have a change. And if he
doesn’t listen to what I’ve said about you, I really will fire him.’ She had never expected Ethan to come out with
that
.

‘I’ve told him as well, so you should see a big improvement in Benny’s attitude towards you. And I’ve told him he has to apologise to you.’ Angel couldn’t believe for a second that Benny was going to like that.

However, the next time Benny saw Angel he was back to being Mr Nice Guy, polite, quiet, with none of the leering or poisonous glances and certainly no inappropriate comments.

‘I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions about you and Daryl,’ he told her when he dropped by to go through the couple’s filming schedule. ‘It was wrong of me and I apologise. I hope you will accept my apology and that we can move on.’ He spoke with apparent sincerity, as he had after his outburst at the party, but Angel doubted he meant it; he was simply saying it out of fear of loosing his best client. And she would never forget the way he had spoken to her.

But in the weeks that followed Benny continued to be polite to Angel. Gone were the snide comments about how lucky she was, a mere glamour model, to be with Ethan. Even if he was just putting on an act it was a definite improvement. It was good not to worry about that side of her life as she had plenty of other things to worry about. Her dad was continuing to be disapproving of her and Ethan, and that had filtered through to her brother Tony who was also giving her a hard time about divorcing Cal. It made for some tense phone calls. As for Cal, he was doing his distant thing. When he phoned to speak to Honey, he kept conversation with Angel to the minimum, with no hint of what he might be feeling. And when he flew over to LA to spend two weeks with their daughter in a rented house
just along the coast from Angel, there were no invitations to her to spend the day with them. Sometimes she felt as if she had dreamt about the day with him in Santa Monica all those months ago.

The divorce came through and there was a flurry of interest in the press, but neither Angel nor Cal commented. Even though Angel knew that she was doing the right thing, she still felt horribly sad when she received the decree nisi, ending the marriage. She had never imagined her marriage would end like this. There were several days when she felt incredibly blue and wanted to see Cal, to tell him that she was sorry. But she didn’t. Her marriage to him was over and now she had her future with Ethan to think of. Loretta’s health was continuing to decline and Angel knew that she must get on with planning the wedding, knowing how important it was that his grandmother should see Ethan married. Realistically, for Loretta to be present Ethan and Angel would have to be married within three months. Angel was still sticking to the idea of having a small wedding, if it was up to her there would be no other guests apart from Loretta, but Ethan talked her round.

‘If you don’t ask your parents and your brother, things are going to get really tough between you,’ he said one evening as they sat outside in the garden. Candles were flickering around them and Jose had thoughtfully lit a fire.

Angel sighed, ‘I know. It’s just I couldn’t bear it if my dad didn’t look totally happy for me, and it is
my
day.’

‘
Our
day,’ Ethan corrected her, smiling.

‘Nah,’ Angel teased him. ‘People only ever care about the bride on her wedding day. What she looks like . . . what’s she’s wearing. You’re just my support act.’

‘Tell you what,’ Ethan said, reaching out for her foot and massaging it – he gave a very good foot massage – ‘why don’t we ask your parents over? I’d like to get to know them better.’

It was a really thoughtful gesture, and maybe Frank’s attitude would soften once he had spent some more time with Ethan and had seen what a genuinely nice guy he was.

Or not. Angel found out two weeks later when she met her parents off their flight at LAX airport along with Ethan and Honey. From the moment Frank arrived he began complaining – the flight had been so long, he hadn’t slept (this in spite of Angel paying for first class tickets for them), he had a headache, it must be because of the heat (it was a lovely 23). Why was there so much traffic on the freeway? (There wasn’t by LA standards.) He barely spoke to Ethan, addressing all his comments to Angel.

She made him a cup of tea and packed him off to bed, hoping that his mood would have improved after a good night’s sleep. Michelle stayed up a little longer, talking to them both. She tried to make up for Frank’s offhand manner by complimenting Ethan on the house, commenting on practically everything, from his pictures to his furniture to the light fittings, in the end driving Angel almost as mad as her dad had. Even easygoing Ethan looked strained.

‘I’m sorry about Frank,’ she said apologetically, on her way up to bed. ‘He’s not a great traveller, I’m sure he’ll be in a better mood in the morning.’

Angel waited until her mum was well out of earshot before saying to Ethan, ‘D’you want a drink? I’m going to have a very large glass of wine.’

Ethan had training the following day and rarely drank, but he nodded fervently and said, ‘Can you
get me a beer? In fact, get me two, I think I need them.’

Everyone’s hopes that Frank’s mood would have improved by the morning were dashed when he appeared at breakfast in an even fouler temper. He hadn’t slept well, he’d woken at 4 a.m. and been unable to get back to sleep. No, he didn’t want to have breakfast by the pool, he wanted it in the kitchen, and did Angel have an English paper?’

‘You can go online, Dad, if you need a fix of news. That’s what I do.’ Angel told him, trying to stay calm but feeling increasingly infuriated by her dad’s attitude.

Frank tutted, ‘All this money and I can’t get to read the paper!’

‘Come on, Frank, don’t be so ungrateful,’ Michelle put in. ‘You tell Maria what you want for breakfast. I’m going to sit outside with Angel and Honey. I’ve got to make the most of this lovely sunshine before I go back to the rain.’

‘Nothing wrong with a bit of rain,’ Frank replied moodily. ‘It’s good for the garden. And too much sun gives you skin cancer anyway.’

Even the usually placid Michelle was gritting her teeth as she walked away from her husband, ‘Honestly, that man would argue black was white!’ she exclaimed to Angel. ‘I don’t know what’s got into him!’

Angel sat down by the pool and served Michelle up a bowl of fruit salad. ‘I can see why you love it so much out here, love, it’s beautiful,’ her mum told her, looking out across the ocean. ‘Just ignore your dad, I’m sure he’ll snap out of it once he sees how happy you and Ethan are together. He is lovely, by the way. Not just lovely-looking but he seems so kind – and I can see that he really loves you.’ It was the nicest thing she had ever said about Ethan, and Angel smiled. ‘I am really happy,
I just wish Dad could see that. And I’m sorry about the divorce, but it wasn’t my fault.’

‘No, it wasn’t. I know that, love.’

‘Anyway, let’s not talk about it. There’s nothing more to be said on the subject of me and Cal. It’s over and Dad just needs to realise that.’

But in spite of Angel, Ethan and Michelle’s best efforts, Frank remained cantankerous for most of the visit. Ethan had arranged for them all to go and watch a Dodgers game and for them to have the best seats in the stadium, but Frank yawned and tutted his way through the game. Angel just hoped Ethan didn’t catch sight of his grim expression.

‘Is this really a sport?’ Frank asked in a loud voice at a particularly crucial moment in the game, earning him several disapproving looks from the spectators around him. Annoying as her dad was, Angel didn’t want to see him lynched and so shushed him and whispered, ‘We’re outnumbered here, Dad, so maybe you could keep your opinions to yourself.’

Frank duly heeded her warning but was morose during the meal out afterwards to celebrate the Dodgers’ win. Ethan took them to Koi, a Japanese restaurant where the food was divine. Frank’s only comment was that it was ‘too rich and fancy’ for him, and he would have rather had a steak. Back home he went to bed complaining of indigestion, followed by a long-suffering Michelle, while Angel and Ethan retreated to the games room.

‘I think your dad might have broken my spirit,’ Ethan exclaimed, sprawling on the sofa. ‘I’m usually so optimistic but he’s draining me, babe. It’s a miracle you turned out so well adjusted.’

Angel flopped down next to him. ‘I know, but he’s not always like this. Maybe it will help when we see Loretta tomorrow. If she can’t charm him, no one can.’

Frank was still complaining about indigestion in the morning and for a time it seemed as if he would miss out on seeing Loretta, but then Angel cornered him in the kitchen where Maria had just served him up a plate of eggs, waffles and bacon. ‘So you’re not feeling so bad then, Dad?’ she exclaimed while Frank looked suitably guilty. Angel whisked the plate away from him. ‘I really think you’d be better off with a bowl of yoghurt, or even a glass of hot water and lemon. Unless you do feel better, in which case you can have the breakfast and then we’ll go and see Loretta.’

Frank looked longingly after the plate. Angel ramped up the guilt. ‘You know, Loretta has really been like a mother to Ethan, and it would mean a great deal to him, and to me, if you met her. I’ve told you how unwell she is. She’s hasn’t got much time.’ Just talking about it brought a lump to Angel’s throat. ‘So, you will come won’t you?’

Even Frank couldn’t maintain his grumpy-old-man act in the face of such a comment. ‘Of course I’ll come,’ he conceded.

‘And be nice?’

‘Aren’t I always?’

Angel rolled her eyes but rewarded him with the cooked breakfast.

Loretta was her wonderful charming self later that afternoon as she greeted them in her living room. She was too weak to get up and was lying on one of the sofas. Although she was dressed in a beautiful lilac silk dress and had obviously taken extra care with her appearance, she looked worse than ever, so frail. Angel bit her lip in concern and looked at Ethan, who seemed to hide how upset he was by fussing over Loretta, asking her if she had everything she needed.

He received short shrift from her. ‘Ethan, stop fussing over me! I admit that today is one of my off days, but it’s still lovely to see you all. Now you can do something useful – pour Frank and Michelle a cup of tea.’ She managed to smile at Angel’s parents. ‘I even got in PG Tips, on Ethan’s orders. And perhaps we can have a glass of champagne to celebrate Ethan and Angel’s engagement?’

Angel looked warily at her dad to see how he’d take the comment, but he was smiling. Usually in social situations Frank left Michelle to do all the talking, while he contented himself with monosyllabic replies and most likely thought about football, so Angel was surprised to hear her dad really making an effort. He pointed out the photograph of Loretta on the white baby grand piano, which had been taken when she was in her thirties and starring in a romantic comedy which had been very popular at the time.

‘I remember you in that film. You were so beautiful. I never imagined I would get to meet you one day.’

‘Alas, no longer looking as I did,’ Loretta replied, looking wistfully at the picture of her younger self. ‘More ancient withered crone than love interest.’

‘Not at all,’ Frank replied. ‘You’re still a beautiful woman, and I see that Ethan has you to thank for those eyes of his.’

Wow! It was very unlike her dad to be charming. Angel could hardly believe what she was hearing. ‘Now shall I open that champagne?’ Frank went on, standing up and reaching for the bottle from the silver ice bucket. ‘We should have a toast.’

Finally Ethan was getting to see her dad in a good light. Angel was hugely relieved. Maybe she would be able to plan for a bigger wedding and involve all her family? They stayed for a couple of hours, Frank insisting on looking through some of Loretta’s photo
albums, prompting her to reminisce about her film roles. He gently flirted with her, treating her as if she was still the great beauty that she once had been.