Cruel Summer Page 3

  As she came closer, I could tell she seemed older than the last one; she looked mid-thirties, at the most, with her dark brown hair in a stylish layered cut.

  “My personal assistant. Trish.”

  I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding my breath. I could have jumped up and hugged the woman in relief. I smiled and held my hand out. So this was Trish, the woman I’d been talking to on the phone for weeks, getting the details hammered out of my flight and making sure Dad’s schedule stayed as clear as possible for the trip. (Mom’s rule: if he started working all the time, I was on the next flight home.)

  “It’s so great to finally meet you.”

  She gave me a warm, welcoming hug. “Same here. Glad you made it here safe and that he pulled himself away yesterday to pick you up.”

  I laughed, glancing at him as we separated. “Have to admit, I was surprised to see him there.”

  Dad feigned shock. “Hey…”

  “Your rep’s a little less than stellar where Chey’s concerned,” Trish said.

  I liked her already. She turned to me.

  “I would have stopped by last night, but I figured you two needed a chance to settle in.” She looked at Dad and then at her watch. “You aren’t anywhere near ready.”

  He held his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know…I’m going. You two catch up. Fill Chey in on what I neglected to tell her.”

  “Which, let me guess, would be everything?” she teased as he left the room. She grabbed his almost empty coffee mug and headed for the sink, dumping out the little bit of coffee he hadn’t drunk and rinsed it out, before setting it aside. She opened a nearby cupboard, took a glass out, and poured herself some juice from the fridge. “How do you like Cali so far?”

  “I like what I’ve seen of it.”

  “Is there anything you need today while he’s busy?”

  “I’m good.” What could I need? I pretty well already had my day planned out—poolside ’til lunch, then inside and watching Netflix and check out those blu-rays Dad mentioned. No need to get sunstroke this early into my vacation. “What’s he doing, anyway?”

  “He’s scheduled to do the start of a press junket this morning. His new movie’s getting some early buzz.”

  My turn to nod, pretending I had any clue what she was talking about. I didn’t know all the Hollywood lingo, not exactly like I’d ever really had the chance to learn, aside from the few things I’d picked up online. But we had talked a little over burgers last night, and I knew he was scheduled to do a pile of interviews down at one of the hotels with a couple of his co-stars for most of the day.

  The timing wasn’t the best, he agreed, but at least, it had been the day after I’d arrived since he’d wanted to be the one to pick me up from the airport.

  “You sure you don’t need or want anything? I can have lunch delivered here, if you want. He doesn’t exactly have a full fridge and pantry at the best of times.”

  “I’m sure I can scrounge something up.” If Dad and I shared any of the same DNA, there had to be the makings of a peanut butter sandwich somewhere around here. And if I felt creative enough and the ingredients were there, I could mix up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip peanut butter cookies as a surprise for later.

  “Well, there’s a list of numbers by the kitchen phone and in the office. If something comes up, text me first since—”

  “Dad’s in the junket all morning.” Oh, I liked how that sounded.

  Trish smiled warmly, obviously pleased I’d caught on. “I’ll have him call you when he breaks for lunch. Probably somewhere around two.” She checked her watch again.

  Dad came in then, right on cue, dressed up in a grey silk shirt and black jeans. His hair had been tamed into the slightly spiky style that had become his trademark over the last few years.

  “Looking good,” I said with a grin. Now he appeared a lot more like the guy on all those magazine covers.

  He smiled, and I caught a glimpse of the famous dimples.

  “Got something for you,” he said, casting a glance at Trish that said she knew exactly what he was up to, and she moved to take a seat at the counter.

  I shrugged, not knowing what he had up his sleeve. I doubted he was about to invite me along to the junket. Didn’t seem like a take-your-daughter-to-work sort of activity.

  Without a word, he handed me a small, silver-wrapped box from his shirt pocket.

  I looked at it for a moment. Maybe he did feel a little guilty he’d missed my seventeenth birthday last year. Not to mention my graduation a couple of weeks ago. Not that I held a grudge; I was excited I was getting to spend more than a few days, or a few hours, with him, which seemed to have been the hallmark of our visits the last couple of years.

  If he’d tried to make my grad, it would have been just another couple hours squeezed into his schedule, and his appearance probably would have caused some sort of commotion. So, probably better in a way he hadn’t been able to come. There wasn’t much to see, anyways—I walked across a stage and got a piece of paper, along with a couple hundred other people.

  You see one person do it, you’ve seen them all.

  Besides, I had the footage Mom took of it all stored on my phone for him to look at if he wanted.

  I ripped open the shiny wrapping paper, shooting him a questioning look. He just shrugged, but the smirk stayed on his face, like he couldn’t wait for my reaction to whatever lay inside.

  So totally not suspicious, in the least.

  I swore I saw Trish lift her cell phone up, no doubt recording this moment for him, making me wonder just what he was up to.

  I lifted the lid to find a key ring nestled there. I recognized the obvious house key, but there was also a distinct car key on there, along with the remote control entry fob. And to my knowledge, the car I drove still sat in the garage back home, unless Mom was borrowing it again when hers conked out.

  “What’s this?”

  “Well, I can’t very well leave you alone in L.A. without wheels. This way, you won’t have to rely on rides from me or Trish or whoever. I didn’t exactly love the idea of you taking Uber everywhere. I doubt your mom would, either.”

  He must have noticed my eyes start to gloss over as the sharp sting of the tears I was fighting back prickled my eyes.

  “Now, it’s nothing fancy.”

  As long as it had four wheels and an engine, I was going to be more than happy. Seriously. I sniffled a little as I glanced back down at the key ring in my hand. I never even thought of having a way to get around here on my own; guess I’d never really thought that far ahead. “Dad…”

  “You should be able to blend in easily with this,” he said, tapping the keys.

  I took them and followed him out the patio doors, through the side of the yard, and out to the driveway. There, parked in front of the garage where the Escalade had sat, gleamed a shiny black BMW convertible.

  I must’ve stumbled. “You’re kidding me.”

  My heartbeat started doing an impressive tap dance in my chest, making me think a heart attack was imminent.

  A car.

  A brand new car.

  “In a good way?”

  I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. “It’s more than good. It’s amazing. Thank you!”

  The relief on his face that I liked my present seemed obvious—as if there could have been any doubt. A brand-new, shiny car; what girl in her right mind wouldn’t be ecstatic over a present like that? “Can I take it out?”

  “Of course you can. What do you say you drive us to dinner tonight?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “Great. I’ll let you check it out.” He gave me a final squeeze before letting me go.

  I barely noticed him walk back to the house as I squealed and headed around to the driver’s side, staring at the keychain in my hand and hitting the button for the door. The trunk popped up, instead, and I laughed to myself. I hit the other button and heard the click for the door.

 
; I stretched my arm out and slammed the trunk down before opening the driver’s door and getting hit with the most amazing new car smell. New. The closest my beat-up car came to that happened through one of those ‘supposed’ new car smell air fresheners from the car wash.

  “Hold up.”

  Trish’s voice. I turned back to see her jogging towards me, camera in hand.

  “We’ve got to properly document the moment,” she said with a smile.

  I grinned proudly as I slid into the seat. Oh my God, this was what Heaven felt like. My hands looped casually around the steering wheel, and that’s when I noticed the bright pink bow on the stick shift. I laughed to myself; he really was thinking of everything.

  “Can you swing this way?” she asked, breaking me out of my new car owner daze.

  I moved like I was about to step out of the car and smiled even bigger. “Like this?”

  Oh, I totally wanted to send this one to Mom, but she’d so get the wrong idea, especially on my first full day in Cali. I knew exactly what she’d say, too—buying my affection. Blah blah blah. Material things can’t make up for the time we’d never spent together.

  Blah.

  Blah.

  Blah.

  “Perfect. We’ll print off a copy and set it on your dad’s desk in a frame. He’ll love it.”

  “I can’t believe he did something like this.” Reluctantly, I climbed out of my car, running my fingers over the smooth leather of the steering wheel. Okay, so had this been at home, I would have been driving around showing it off. Here, I basically had no one to show it off to—at least, anyone who’d care, anyway. To people here, I would just be another Hollywood teenager driving a pretty car, blending in with all the other Hollywood kids.

  “He wanted to. Combination graduation, birthday, and welcome to Los Angeles present. All his idea, really. Took him two weeks to find just the right one.”

  I turned and walked backwards, watching the sun glint off the finish. I had images of him looking up cars online trying to find one he just knew I’d like, then taking it for a test drive before making the final decision. “It’s amazing. I love it.”

  “He thought black was the most stylish.”

  I nodded, turning and following Trish back inside the kitchen as I scanned through the pictures she’d snapped on the camera, finding the perfect one to print off.

  “It’s great. I just can’t believe he’d do something like that.” The goofy grin wouldn’t come off my face no matter how hard I tried to stop.

  “Like he said, it’s the easiest way for you to get around. Explore the city a little on your own. It’s got GPS, so you won’t get lost. He made sure it’s got the latest everything.”

  We headed down a side hallway off the kitchen I hadn’t gotten around to exploring yet.

  “Use your dad’s office.” She opened the door to our left and waved me in. “Computer’s set up, if you want to download the pictures and email them to your Mom?” she suggested. “And to print, just use the photo printer on the glass table in the corner. It’s all set to go.”

  “Okay, great.” I sank into Dad’s oversized black leather chair behind his glass desk.

  “We’re off,” Dad announced as he appeared in the doorway, jingling his own car keys. “If you go out, just leave me a note. I won’t have my phone on, Trish’s number’s listed everywhere around here, so if you need anything, call her. She can get a hold of me in case of emergency.”

  “Will do. See ya.” I waved as he disappeared down the hall and I heard their voices muffle the further they went. Within moments, I heard the front door close, followed shortly by a vehicle’s engine.

  I moved the computer mouse, and the jumbo-sized computer screen lit up. I saw Dad—or maybe Trish, but I wanted to think it was Dad’s doing—had already set me up with an account on his computer. I clicked on my name beside the twinkling shooting star he’d picked as my logo and waited for the computer to load.

  It didn’t take long to transfer the pictures to the computer and print them off. I debated on whether or not to send a quick one to Mom, conveniently cropped, of course, to hide the pretty pink bow that would totally give away the whole present thing. Instead, I left the printed photos on Dad’s desk for when he came home.

  Knowing I had the place to myself, I headed back to the kitchen and made myself another cup of coffee. I went through the cupboards and found Trish was right. Not a lot there, but the standard PB&J fixings, a couple boxes of my favorite cereals, and enough protein bars to get Dad through any emergency. I threw together half of a sandwich and munched on it as I sat at the counter, scanning through my phone. All was silent. The sun wasn’t too high in the sky yet, so I could spend some quality time bonding with the pool and the sunshine.

  But first…I kind of wanted to explore.

  I set my empty mug and plate in the sink to put in the dishwasher later and set about exploring the house. Now that I was by myself, I was able to take my time and wander around, acclimating to my new surroundings.

  I wandered around the first floor, taking a closer look at the framed photos hanging on the walls. I recognized some old family shots of Dad when he was younger with his parents. Him fishing with some friends that looked semi recent given the haircut.

  I played with the remote in the living room, found the handwritten instructions from Trish on using the voice-activated system.

  “Close front living room curtains.” I tried out, hanging on to the remote as I looked around the room. With the smallest whirring sound, the curtains slid easily shut.

  Well, that would be handy.

  I went back through the kitchen, back to the hallway that had led to Dad’s office. I followed it further down, finding Dad’s home gym just off from his office.

  I turned the light on and peeked in. One mirrored wall faced me with a treadmill, elliptical, exercise bike, and a couple other machines I didn’t quite recognize right away making a nice row to my right while enough weights to fill a fitness store were to my left. A huge TV mounted in the far corner faced the machines.

  Definitely seemed like his man cave to me.

  I flipped the light back off and headed to the last room down the hall, moving the heavy barn-style door to the side, revealing a large, dark room.

  I stepped forward, fumbling for the light switch on the wall. Finally, my hand connected with it, and the overhead pot lights flickered to life. I turned around and smiled.

  Done in shades of gray and black, black and white movie posters hung on one side of the room, with a few of Dad’s movie posters framed hung on the right. In front of me were two rows of giant leather couches that I was pretty sure reclined.

  And in front of that, the biggest projection screen I had ever seen outside of a movie theater.

  I had definitely found my second favorite room of the house.

  I took a couple steps forward, finding a mini candy counter on the far corner of the room and another mini fridge with a glass front, filled to the brim with assorted drinks. More controls and a couple throws were on the first couch. I picked up one of the remotes on the couch and studied it for a few minutes, hitting a couple buttons and waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.

  No lights.

  No sounds.

  Nothing.

  I figured I’d better stop playing around before I broke something. I could work the TV in the living room or my bedroom if I wanted to watch something. Plus there was always my laptop.

  I set the remote back where I’d found it and turned to check out the candy counter. I skipped over the chocolate-covered peanuts, plain chocolate bars, and grabbed a mint chocolate bar from the back before I turned the lights out and walked out of the room.

  Talk about surreal, I still had a feeling someone was going to pop up and tell me to stay behind the velvet ropes of this little Hollywood tour.

  It still didn’t feel real, like I was staying with my dad.

  I guess our father-daughter relationship had evol
ved or something. That was probably typical since I wasn’t a little girl anymore.

  But still, I mean it’s not like I expected him to have tea parties with my stuffed animals—I’d passed that stage a long time ago—and it was cool he was giving me so much independence and all.

  I mean, honestly, my mom would never have let me go explore a strange new city all on my own. Like ever.

  But Dad had left me all alone, with total permission to take off and go wherever I wanted. I didn’t need a twenty-four hour babysitter.

  I just didn’t really have anywhere I wanted to go.