Spring Breakdown (11 page)

“No, DJ, Miss Center of the Universe, it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“Whew!” Then she turned and glared at him. “And I am not Miss Center of the Universe, thank you very much. I’m sure there are plenty of other girls far more worthy of that particular title.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I have to agree with you there. Take Eliza for instance…please, take her!”

DJ shook her finger at him. “Not nice.”

“Okay, DJ, for your sake I will try to keep Miss Eliza happy for the next few days, but I cannot promise anything.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you know that Eliza thinks shopping is a hobby?”

DJ laughed. “As a matter of fact, I did know that.”

“I mean, she has no real interests.”

“Well, there’s fashion.” DJ thought hard. “And…” She thought even harder. “And there’s…”

“Shopping,” he finished. “Seriously, that’s it.”

“Well, if shopping was an Olympic event, Eliza would be sure to win.”

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” said Eliza as DJ appeared in the great room. “Did you have a good time with my boyfriend?”

DJ made a face at her. “As a matter of fact, I brought him home for you.” She nodded over her shoulder to where Lane was slipping off his flip-flops.

Eliza sat up straighter. “Well, that was thoughtful of you, DJ. Guess I owe you one.”

DJ forced a smile. “And if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to clean up.”

“Not that you need it,” teased Eliza.

“Thanks.”

“That whole seaweed in the hair thing is so becoming.”

DJ was tempted to comment on Eliza’s rusty complexion and thought better of it. No need to start a catfight.

DJ went into her room and found a note from Taylor saying that she and Harry probably wouldn’t be back until after dinner. DJ stripped out of her damp things and then, relieved to have the room to herself, took her time showering and cleaning up. Fortunately, her sunburn already seemed better and
the sunscreen seemed to have protected her from any more. After her shower she lathered on Taylor’s after-sun treatment and, wrapped in a towel, she lay down for a little snooze. But she’d barely closed her eyes when she heard someone pounding on her door and then it opened.

“Lane!” she cried angrily, holding the towel protectively around her. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry.” He turned around and looked the other way. “But I am so mad at Eliza and she was trying to throw me out. And no one else is home. I wondered if you could help a buddy out and—”

“What on earth are you saying?” DJ got to her feet, wrapping the towel more tightly around her just as Eliza burst in behind him.

“It figures I’d find you here,” Eliza snapped at Lane. Then she looked at DJ. “And it figures you’d be practically naked.”

“I took a shower!”

“Well, you two deserve each other!” Eliza shrieked. “And I’m going to tell Conner.”

“Tell Conner what?” demanded DJ.

“Oh, just that I found you and Lane in your bedroom and that you were naked.”

“I am NOT naked.”

“You’re not dressed either.” Eliza laughed in a mean way. “In fact, I think I’ll tell Conner how you got caught skinny dipping too. And how you and that sleazy security guard—”

“Eliza Wilton!” shouted Lane. “That’s enough.”

“Fine, take her side. Why should that surprise me!” Then Eliza stormed out.

“Please, leave,” DJ said in a tight voice. “I would like to get dressed.”

“I’m sorry, DJ. But Eliza was going nuts and she was trying to throw me out and I was waiting for Bradford to pick me up and—”

“Please, leave my room,” DJ said firmly. “We can talk after I get dressed.”

“So, you’re not kicking me out of the house.”

“Of course not!”

Fortunately, he left then. She quickly got dressed, then went out to see that Lane was sitting by himself in the living room. “Sorry about that,” he told her sheepishly.

“What happened between you and Eliza?” DJ stood with her hands on her hips.

“She wanted to go clubbing tonight and I told her no.”

“Oh…” DJ considered this. “And that’s what she was freaking over?”

He nodded. “Mostly.”

“Look, if you can’t be honest with—”

“Fine. I told her that I thought she needed to lay off the booze.”

“And that flipped her out?”

“That and the fact that I mentioned how you and Taylor seem to get along fine without it. And how Harry has gotten on the wagon. And how maybe I’ll get on it too.”

“And that’s what tripped her trigger.”

“Mostly the part about you.”

“About me?” DJ waited.

“I said something like, well, I can’t remember it exactly.”

“Come on,” she urged him, “spit it out.”

“I told Eliza it would be nice if she were more like you.”

DJ closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Thank you so very much.”

“It was a compliment to you,” he said quietly.

“It was like handing Eliza a loaded gun and telling her that it’s now open season on DJ Lane.”

He suddenly laughed.

“What is so funny?”

“I just figured it out.”

“What?”

“We have the
same
name.”

She just shook her head. “Not really. Lane is my last name.”

“So if you married me, you’d be Mrs. Lane Lane?”

“No, it doesn’t go like that. Besides I would
never
marry you.”

He shook a finger at her. “Never say never, DJ.”

“Okay, can we just set that aside for a moment? I need your help.”

“You need my help?” He looked hopeful.

“Yes. I’m sure Eliza has already called Conner. And I’m going to call him and I know he’ll believe me over her. But you need to convince him there’s nothing between us too. Okay?”

“What if I don’t believe that?”

“Just tell him the truth, okay?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Do you want me to call him now?”

“No, that will look contrived.”

“Are you going to call him now?”

“I can’t decide. I hate to act like I’m worried over Eliza’s accusations, because I’m not. Mostly I’m just irritated.”

“Don’t let her get to you.”

DJ laughed. “You’re one to talk. Who came running into my room begging for help?”

“Eliza was acting like a crazy woman,” he said defensively. “I thought maybe she was going to the kitchen for the butcher
knife. I heard about a guy who got knifed by his girl on the news just—”

“Hello to the house,” called out what sounded like Rhiannon’s voice. “Anybody home?”

“In here,” called DJ.

“What’s up?” Bradford seemed to direct this to Lane. So while Lane gave them the lowdown on Eliza’s temper tantrum, DJ went to get a soda in the kitchen.

“That’s too bad about Eliza,” Rhiannon said as she opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea.

“Tell me about it. I’ve just been elevated to Eliza’s number-one enemy.”

“Taylor will be so relieved.”

Eliza spent the rest of Monday pouting. Probably exfoliating too since she wasn’t too happy to see Casey showing up on Sunday evening looking far less orange than she was.

“I think DJ was right after all,” Casey had told Eliza that night. “It seems like the saltwater actually helped tone down the dye.”

“You and DJ can keep your freaking saltwater,” Eliza had spat at her then stormed back to her room.

Finally, on Monday evening, Grandmother asked DJ to gather all the girls together for a last inspection. “If I have to cancel the photo shoot,” she told her, “I’d at least like to give Josie some notice.”

It was nearly ten o’clock when Grandmother had them line up in the kitchen for her examination. “You are still much too orange,” she told Eliza with a scowl. “What do you plan to do about it?”

“I’ve done all the exfoliating my skin can handle,” Eliza told her. “And I got some waterproof bronzer that I’ll put on tomorrow.”

Grandmother nodded. “Well, at least your hair looks pretty.” She glanced at DJ. “Wish I could say the same for my own granddaughter.”

Eliza snickered. “And check out her nails, Mrs. Carter.”

“What have you been doing with these hands?” demanded Grandmother. “Laying cement?”

“Just surfing.” DJ shrugged. “This is a swimsuit shoot, right?”

“Of course.”

“What’s wrong with looking like a surfer girl?”

Grandmother seemed to consider this as she fingered a lock of DJ’s frazzled-looking hair. “Just the same, put some good conditioner on this hair tonight, do you understand?”

DJ just nodded.

Now Grandmother actually smiled at her. “At least you were right about that sunburn going away. You are a lovely shade of golden tan now.”

“Just wait a few years,” Eliza said cattily, “until the wrinkles and skin cancer kick in.”

“I wonder what kind of carcinogen was in that orange dye,” Taylor said evenly.

“Do you think?” asked Casey with concern.

“I’ve heard that it’s a possibility.”

Casey glared at Eliza. “That’s the last time I listen to you!”

“Casey Atwood.” Grandmother gave her a warning look, then softened. “Your coloring almost looks natural now. I think a little of Eliza’s bronzer and you’ll look just fine for tomorrow.”

Next was Rhiannon. Grandmother twirled one of Rhiannon’s red curls between her fingers then studied her pale freckled arm and smiled. “Perhaps Josie will appreciate that at least one of our girls may never be a poster child for skin
cancer. It’s actually refreshing to see how well you protect your skin, dear.”

“Thanks.”

“Now, Taylor.” Grandmother’s face lit up. “Pure perfection.” She sighed. “Let’s make sure that Josie sees you first, dear. That might put her at ease.” Grandmother slapped her forehead now. “Good grief, why didn’t we think to bring Daisy in Kriti’s place? What was I thinking?”

“It’ll be fine, Grandmother,” DJ assured her.

“And I want you all to get a good night’s sleep,” she told them. “And make sure you drink a full glass of water before bed. With lemon in it.” She shot out some more beauty commands, warned them against any shaving nicks, and finally told them there would be one last inspection tomorrow morning at seven o’clock sharp.

“But the shoot won’t start until nine,” complained DJ.

“I don’t want you getting there with puffy eyes or sheet wrinkles on your cheeks.”

“Sheet wrinkles?” DJ frowned.

“Someday you’ll understand.” Grandmother waved them off in a dismissive manner. “Go to bed!”

The location of the photo shoot was supposed to be top secret, but one of the girls (DJ suspected Casey) had spilled the beans and by noon, all the guys were hanging around the sidelines and watching. Taylor, Casey, and even Eliza, who now looked nearly as bronze as Taylor, seemed to enjoy the male attention, but Rhiannon and DJ wished they’d leave.

“Why are they here?” DJ complained for about the third time.

“Get over it already,” Casey said in a blasé tone, like she was so used to this kind of thing.

“Maybe we should’ve sold tickets,” DJ shot back as one of the stylists fluffed out her hair again.

“We want DJ and Taylor for the next one,” Josie called out.

“Make it snappy, ladies, we’re burning daylight,” yelled the photographer.

Taylor and DJ jogged over to the edge of the water and waited for their direction. By now DJ knew better than to question them about anything. “Just pretend you’re an actress,” Taylor had whispered to her earlier. “You’re on a stage and the director is calling the shots.”

“Or maybe I’m a puppet,” DJ had teased back. “I’ll wait for them to pull my strings.” It had taken about an hour for DJ to relax with it and finally she discovered a secret that worked. She just imitated Taylor. That seemed to make everyone happy. Or nearly. DJ was pretty certain there wasn’t a thing, short of her jumping off a bridge, that would make Eliza happy.

“Yes!” yelled the photographer as Taylor and DJ began to splash in the wave that had just washed up. “That light is perfect, keep that going, girls!”

“Okay,” called out Josie. “You girls go change into the next suits and hurry while we’ve still got this great afternoon light.”

While the stylist helped DJ and Taylor change in the cabana, the other three girls went out to be photographed. After years of changing in locker rooms for sports, DJ had no problem stripping down. But she did have a problem with some of the swimsuits in Josie’s lineup. Despite Grandmother’s warning that the girls needed to do a bikini wax, DJ had drawn the line. “It was too painful,” she’d explained to Josie earlier. “I’m sorry.”

Fortunately, Josie had been so pleased with DJ’s looks that she’d forgiven her lack of a bikini wax and allowed her to wear
the less revealing suits as well as the board shorts. This pleased DJ and for that reason she was trying to be very cooperative.

“Ready?” DJ asked Taylor as the stylist made one last adjustment to her string bikini. “I hear the photographer yelling for us.”

“This is beginning to feel like a sporting event,” Taylor said as they jogged back out.

“You other girls can go now,” Josie called as Casey, Rhiannon, and Eliza returned to the cabana.

“Us?” asked DJ hopefully.

“No, you and Taylor will stay. I think we can do the rest of the shots with just two girls.” Josie waved at the others. “Thanks!”

And so, for the next hour or so, it was just the DJ and Taylor bikini madness marathon with the other three girls and Grandmother, plus the guys who continued to hoot and eventually drew an even bigger crowd, looking on. The whole while, Josie kept saying, “We’re almost done, just a couple more shots,” but it seemed to go on and on.

“There!” Josie finally proclaimed. “It’s a wrap!”

“Whew.” DJ paused to catch her breath. “That was harder than a soccer match.”

“It’s a good thing you’re both athletic,” Josie told them. “Some models would’ve bit the dust by now. You guys are real troopers.”

“Thanks,” Taylor told her.

“Thank you!” Now Josie turned to Grandmother, continuing to praise the girls’ performances, particularly Taylor and DJ’s, and promising to send some jpegs for their portfolios.

“Maybe we can finally leave now.” Eliza spoke loudly—DJ figured it was to ensure that she and Taylor could hear as they changed back into their own clothes. “That is if the rock stars
are ready to go. Or maybe they want to sign autographs for their fan club over there.”

“Someone’s jealous,” whispered Taylor.

“No kidding.” DJ pulled on her own board shorts and fastened them at the top, then slid her feet into her flip-flops. “I don’t know about you, but I am due for an Eliza break.”

“Or an Eliza breakdown.” Taylor chuckled. “Seriously, that girl is strung so tight that I expect her to snap at any given moment.”

“Well, let’s not say or do anything to bring it on.” DJ forced a smile as she and Taylor emerged from the cabana. “We’re ready to go when you are,” she told Eliza.

Eliza looked over to where Rhiannon and Casey had gone over to talk with the guys. “Now we’ll need to drag them away.” She let loose with a foul word. “The fun never quits.”

Finally, it was decided that some of the girls would catch a ride with the boys. It was just DJ and Eliza riding home with Grandmother.