My Once and Future Love (32 page)

“Order in some food. The guys are comin’
over.”

“What do you want? And how many do you mean
by ‘the guys’?” He’d taken to hosting parties or get-togethers on
short notice and making Maria and I scramble to put out enough
food.

“Just some friends. Set it up by the pool.” A
beep sounded, indicating he’d closed the conversation.

Great. I called Maria. “Code P again.”

“Another party?” She sighed. “How much time
do we have?”

“Unknown. Probably an hour tops like usual.
You order the junk food; I’ll get the back yard set up.”

“Pool party?”

“It’s summer, so what else would he do?”

She sighed again. “Means more of those girls
who drink too much and don’t wear enough clothes.”

“Probably. I try not to look. Offer whatever
it takes to do a rush job again.” I hung up, knowing I could trust
her.

Various help came and went around the
mansion, but Maria and I were the ones always here and we’d bonded
since I got back from the tour. Almost like having a mother again.
Speaking of mothers… I sent another update e-mail to Vivian.
Suppose you could call it tattling, but she felt out of the loop
all the way in London, and I thought if she knew what he did she
might be able to whip him back in line.

“Bethie, the doorbell’s ringing.”

“So answer it.”

“I’m busy and Maria isn’t here.”

“
Fine
.”

I walked out of the guest house, in through
the kitchen door to the front of the house, and pasted on a fake
friendly smile. It was the band minus Aaron.

“Hey, Beth,” Bob said. “Jake around?”

“Somewhere. Make yourselves at home, you know
the drill.” I caught Bob’s arm. “Can I speak with you a
moment?”

He shrugged. “Sure.” The other three headed
for the game room.

“Look, you’re his best friend, so maybe you
have some pull. Talk to Jacob about burning the candle at both
ends. He’s partying too much.”

“We all party, honey.”

“Yeah, but I can always rely on you to be on
time and work. He’s getting more and more difficult to deal with,
for me, for Maria—everybody. I don’t know whether he’s let being a
star go to his head or what, but I’m already being leaned on by
your bosses about his habits. Please?”

He sighed. “Sure, alright, we’ll have a word,
but I can’t promise anything.”

“It means something that you’ll try. Thank
you.”

He nodded and walked off. I hurried to make
sure the outside tables were clean and turn on the external sound
system to the music Jacob’s group liked. The lights would kick on
once it got dark.

Was I remembering everything…? Pool heater!
The controls were behind the cabana and I set it to a comfortable
temp. My phone buzzed.

“This is Beth.”

“I have the finger foods he likes, pizza is
ordered, and the bartender is on the way.”

“Maria, you’re amazing. The band is already
here, except for Aaron. No one said if he’s coming.”

“I’m about ten minutes out, Miss Beth. See
you soon.”

Glancing up, I spotted Jacob at the windows
above. He was watching me work. I waved. He walked out of
sight.

He wasn’t a
bad
boss in the scheme of
things, but there was just so much to be done with his schedule, it
didn’t help when he wanted to play more than work. I missed the old
Jacob and I hadn’t even been here a year.

****

Someone knocked on Jacob’s bedroom door.

“Yes?”

“It’s me, bro,” Bob said as he entered.

Jacob turned away from the window. “Hey,
mate. Glad you made it.”

“Never waste a day off. Anyway, I’m up here
because Beth asked me to talk to you.”

“Oh?” He checked the mirror.

“She’s worried about you.”

Jacob laughed. “What for?”

“Stuff that’s making the press. You know I
don’t care about the tabloids, but bad publicity only counts so
far. She said the label’s concerned about what you’ve been up
to.”

“They exaggerate. Anyone wants to know how I
am, they can ask.”

“Look, just take it easy tonight so the spies
don’t have much to report. And let her get you to work on time.
Beth could stand to loosen a button or two, but she’s a nice girl
that’s done a hell of a lot for us.”

Jacob turned to his best friend. “You on her
side now?”

Bob rolled his eyes. “There are no sides,
man. I’m only concerned with keepin’ the peace around here. It’s
good for business.”

“Alright. Fine. I’ll be a good boy.”

Bob nodded and opened the door for them to
leave.

“
If
you hook me up with that cutie
that cuts your hair.”

“Ah, no, Deanna’s off limits for you.”

“What for? I’m a nice bloke.”

“Dude, you piss her off, I leave the chair
looking like I lost a fight with a buzz saw. No.”

They jogged down the stairs. “I’ll tell Lynn
about the Playboy Mansion incident.”

Bob whirled on him. “You wouldn’t dare. Over
a chick?”

“Nah. I just like to see that panicked look
on your face.”

“Fucker.”

“Not recently enough. That’s where your
little hairdresser comes in.”

Bob continued down the staircase. “Answer’s
still no, Jake.”

“Aw, come on!”

“Are you two bickering again?” Beth asked.
She’d come from the kitchen.

Jacob paused, seeing she’d changed into a
skirt. He hadn’t seen her legs since she started working for
him.

“You have guests out back, Jacob. Mikey and
Dylan have been entertaining in your absence.”

“Thanks, pet. Food arrive, yet?”

“Maria set out the starters. Everything else
is on its way. Do you need anything else, sir?”

“Not off the top of my head. Just stay in
earshot.”

“Always.” She pivoted on her heel and left
the way she came.

Jacob glanced at Bob. “She more stoic than
usual?”

He shrugged. “I don’t pay attention. Let’s
eat. I’m starving.”

Jacob made a mental note to give his
assistant a nice bonus when her year came up with them in November,
and joined the party.

****

Autumn arrived and Jacob settled into write
mode. He spent the mornings locked in his studio, then went to the
practice space with the band for the afternoon. When they called it
quits for the day, he came home for dinner. Maria made meals that
kept warm on the stove or in the oven without overcooking. With her
there for supper we were both more at ease.

The third person kept Jacob from prying into
my life.

That enormous house was very quiet unless the
guys were over or Jacob left the studio door open. I usually kept
to my little cottage unless needed, though the backyard was big
enough to stroll when I couldn’t sit any longer.

After nearly a year on the job, I knew a lot
of other PAs, and which ones gossiped and the others that genuinely
cared for their client. Many of them lived on the street and passed
by walking their boss’ dogs. Maria had similar relationships with
other house staff, too. Still, I was close to no one but my
brother, and we couldn’t talk as much as I’d have liked.

I couldn’t get time off for Thanksgiving, but
we had the band over the night before, and I went to Maria’s house
the night of. Her three boys, the youngest graduating high school
this school year, were very welcoming and Maria was definitely in
charge. She handled Jacob the same way and she was the only person
he didn’t talk back to.

The European tour was kicking off in
February, so rehearsals began. We’d already been to Japan and
Australia for promo concerts. “Tour Spy” got hounded by the
European fans for spoilers after that. What would the set list be?
What did the stage look like? Would there be backstage passes for
the fan club? I didn’t know, they would have to find out, and there
would be contests—thankfully not handled by me.

I was excited to see beyond London, but the
foreign tour presented new challenges, too, like language barriers.
We had to travel with everything Jacob could want because there was
no guarantee we’d find it in country X. The overhead for world
tours was huge. Thank God the tour manager was handling the budget
and I only got five young rock stars.

Chapter Five

December 2008

The band had been in the studio all fall
recording test tracks for the next album. Jacob had two weeks off
and was visiting his mother for half of it. I thought I’d finally
get some time off.

“Pack up, Bethie. I need you with me,” he
said after entering my cottage.

I looked up from my planner. “For what?”

“London, of course. It’s a working vacation,
babe.”

“I haven’t heard about any
work
. What
could you possibly be up to?”

He sat on my desk. “One, Mum needs a present,
and two, I can’t go to London without doing radio interviews and a
signing or two.”

“Which your management or publicist can
arrange. You don’t need me.”

“As your boss, I’m not asking. You didn’t
request time off, so I need you to do your job—assist.”

The nerve of him, pulling rank on me. “Fine,
sir, but you may want to check clause 10a of my contract.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “And
what’s that?”

I pasted on a fake smile. “When you’re on
vacation, I’m on vacation, and you can’t change that without at
least a week of advance notice and paying me double-time. Two days
doesn’t cut. Now, if you’d like help finding a gift, I’ll take you
shopping and even wrap it for you, but that’s as far as I go.”

“You really turned into a hard-ass, Bethie.”
He jumped off the desk and left my cottage, slamming the door on
his way out. His temper definitely hadn’t improved with age.
Spoiled brat.

Andrew was expecting me for Christmas Eve and
Day. I took the even years to visit him in Virginia. My brother and
Darcy married the summer before I started working for Jacob and
lived in a nice little house in a nice little town. They were
supposedly expecting snow.

The next day, Jacob handed me a credit card
and ordered me to get something for his mother as he was “too busy
to gallivant all over town to find one”. He wasn’t, of course—it
was just a power play. I felt sorry for Vivian having to see him
like he’d become.

The house had never been so quiet, the day my
boss flew away. I helped Maria shut everything down for the holiday
then retreated to my little house to put my feet up and not move
for a week.

My Blackberry rang. Lynn said, “Why aren’t
you with Jacob?”

“Hi, Lynn. Merry Christmas to you, too.”

“How could you send him off alone, Beth?
That’s not your job.”

“He’s twenty-six and I’m on vacation. Why are
you panicking?” The reason they had problems with so many singers
is because they treated them like babies.

“Jake Lindsey doesn’t go anywhere alone.
That’s the perk of his status, that he doesn’t have to remember
things on his own. Get your butt on a plane right now and catch up
to him.”

“Not in my contract, Lynn. I’m not your
slave. Good bye.” I hung up. Five minutes of peace, then my cell
rang again. “What?”

“Bethie, I can’t find my passport.”

“It’s in the front pocket of your
carry-on.”

“Not it’s not.”

“Then what did you do with it?”

“Nothing! You have to bring my back-up. They
won’t let me board the plane without it.”

“Jacob, I’m on vacation.”

“Fine, put me on with Maria.”

“She’s gone home. Next time, be more
responsible. You’re just gonna have to drive back here and find it
yourself.”

“Find it for me or you’re fired.”
Click
. He hung up on me.

Of all the…

Six more months and your loans are paid
off
. I repeated the mantra in my head until I was calm enough
to find his damn passport and not smash his precious guitars.

He arrived with a screech of tires out front
and ran in the house, banging the door against the wall with the
force of opening it. “Did you find it?”

“Here. It was on your dresser.”

“
Thank you
.”

“Hey, there’s no reason to be snide, Jacob.
Or make threats. I’ve catered to your every whim for over a year,
so give me some credit and start treating me with a little
respect.”

He got in my face, looking down his nose at
me. “Or what?”

“Or I use my escape clause and you’re shit
out o’ luck.”

“You need this job.”

“I can get another.”

He snorted. “Not in this town. One word from
me can make your life very difficult.”

“God, what happened to you?” I backed away,
really looking at him. “Do you hate me that much?”

His brows furrowed in the middle. “What?
No.”

“Then why are you such an ass lately?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m
sorry.”

“You’re going to miss your flight.”

“If you hadn’t missed packing my passport, I
wouldn’t’ve needed to come back.”

“Me?
Me?
It was in the front pocket
when I prepped your bag. Do you wanna see my checklist?”

Never
his
fault no matter what
happened. I was done with this argument and stomped off.

He ran after me and grabbed my arm. “I’m not
done here, Miss Lawson.”

“Let go of me.”

“Learn your place and stop mouthin’ off.”

I slapped him. My hand had moved before I
thought of a response. He stared at me in shock.

“I’m sorry, Jacob. That was out of line, but
so are you.”

He exhaled a long breath and paced away from
me and back again. “Please come with me to London. I do need your
help.”

“I’m flying to my brother’s for
Christmas.”

“When?”

“The twenty-third.”

“You can still go. Mum would love seein’
you.”

I missed her, too. “Might give her the wrong
idea,” I said softly.