Stirring Up Trouble (8 page)

Despite the signs that the set was closed and visitors were not allowed, the place was a madhouse.

I spotted my dad’s Prius and hoped he hadn’t been there very long. Mom didn’t like distractions when she taped her show. And Dad fawning over Sheree certainly qualified as a distraction.

“Your dad’s here,” Jake said.

“I saw.” I couldn’t tell if Jake was unhappy about it on my behalf, Mom’s, or his own.

“Won’t that bug your mom?” he asked, moving closer so no one would hear us.

Jake really was a sweet guy. “Yeah,” I answered. “He shouldn’t be here.” Then, I realized how close he was and moved away, because suddenly all I could think about was our kisses.

 We entered the house, and I saw Mom’s producer. He really was a hottie. For an old guy. He was too young for Mom, but I’d always thought he had a thing for her.

“Hey, Dave. Is Mom still upstairs?”

“Hi, Zoe. Yeah. We just wrapped.” He gave me a look. “I know she’ll be glad you’re here.”

So Dad was bugging her. “Thanks, Dave.”

“Will you take her a Sprite, Zoe? I need to talk to the guys for a minute.” He gestured to his ever-present clipboard.

“Sure.” I turned to Jake. “I could use something to drink, too. Where’d they put the cooler yesterday?” They always traveled with a cooler and makeshift snack bar.

“In the kitchen,” Jake said, leading the way.

Over his shoulder, I saw Dad and Sheree standing by the fridge. They were totally locked in a gross embrace, kissing.

“Mom,” Jake yelped.

Chapter Seven

“Oh. Hi, honey,” Sheree said, pulling away from Dad.

I maybe, sort of, lost my temper because I said, “Aren’t you guys old enough to keep your hands off each other?”

I didn’t wait for an answer and ignored Dad’s pleas of “Zoe, wait.” Instead, I stomped over to the cooler on the table and grabbed two Sprites.

Then, as Jake said, “Mom, that really isn’t appropriate,” I ran for the stairs.

My poor mother. Here she was working and Dad was making out in the kitchen. Making out in the kitchen was fine for teenagers. I mean, we’re supposed to. But for parents, it’s just wrong!

Think of Mom, I told myself as I reached the top of the stairs. I managed to paste a somewhat normal smile on my face before heading into Jake’s room.

“Hey, Mom.”

She came over to hug me and take her drink. “I didn’t know you were coming by again today.” She looked toward the door. “Where’s Jake? He can’t see it yet.”

“He’s downstairs with Sheree and Dad.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “I should have known your father couldn’t stay away.”

“Has he been bothering you?”

“No.” She popped open her drink. “Not really. He’s distracting Sheree a little, but we’re getting the work done.”

I looked around the room at the giant entertainment center they’d built on the black wall. “It’s looking great. You finish up tomorrow?”

“We should,” Mom said. “I’m making a few changes to my original plans, but—”

I had to laugh. She always changed her plans. She was a perfectionist. Sometimes, she stayed up all night working to get things the way she wanted them. And she was never happier than when her design came together.

“The entertainment center is awesome,” I said. She’d had her carpenter build it. Since Jake had three gaming systems, she’d made room for those as well as the games, and his giganto television.

“Turned out well, didn’t it?” She practically glowed with pride.

“What color are you going to paint it?” My eyes roved over the unfinished wood.

“That’s top secret information,” she said with a wink. “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see it.”

A knock at the door drew our attention to Anya. “Hi, Zoe. Mrs. Miller.”

“Oh. Hi, Anya.” Anya probably wouldn’t notice, but Mom’s greeting wasn’t as warm as usual.

“I had to come by and see what you were doing in here.” Anya came into the room and looked around. She’d obviously run home to redo her makeup and hair.

Anya wanted to be a designer, and she pretty much worshipped my mother.

“So much for the closed set,” I mumbled.

Mom glared at me. She didn’t like it when I was rude. Even if she was on my side, which I knew she was.

“I’d love to help,” Anya said. “If there’s anything you need. I know Jake really well, of course.”

She always liked to look at Mom’s sketches before the project when she could. Mom didn’t mind because Anya was genuinely interested.

We’ve done two rooms in Anya’s house for the show. Her living room and her mother’s room. She’d decorated her room herself, and Mom said it was good.

“No one’s seeing the sketches,” Mom said. “I want Jake to be surprised.”

“I wouldn’t tell him,” Anya protested.

Mom didn’t have to say anything.

“Okay,” Anya said. “I get it. But can I be here tomorrow for the reveal?”

“Sure,” Mom said. “As long as we finish on schedule.”

When I finally went back downstairs leaving Anya to bug my Mom, Jake was waiting on the porch. I laughed. “You’re not allowed in your room, but I think you can go in the house.”

He shook his head. “No way. I can’t even breathe in there.”

“Where’d the lovebirds go?” I asked, my nose wrinkling in disgust.

He gestured toward the street. “Out for dinner.”

I checked my watch. “It’s not even five.”

“I guess they wanted to be alone.” He made a disgusted face. “What about your mom?”

“She’s got at least another hour meeting with her production team.” I didn’t want to stick around.

“Can I walk you home?” he asked, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Sure.” Like I’m going to say no.

“Let’s get Indiana. He’s been tied to a tree in the backyard all day.”

As the three of us walked along together, I asked the burning question, “So, did you name your dog after Indiana Jones?”

He grinned. “I was eight.”

I wasn’t sure why he was walking me home other than to get away from the chaos at his house, but I didn’t mind.

“We need a plan,” he said after a few minutes. “Would it totally freak out your dad to catch us kissing?”

Was he actually suggesting what I thought he was suggesting. “Yeah.”

“I know my mother would freak. I think we should do it. Let’s make them miserable.”“By pretending to date?” I skirted a tree root in the sidewalk.

“Yeah.”

We crossed a busy street to cut through another neighborhood. Indiana watered a few bushes.

Jake said, “I think they deserve a little payback.”

“That scene in the kitchen was beyond gross.”

As we cut through a yard, he said, “Maybe if they walk in on us making out, they’ll understand how disgusting it is.” He stopped. “Not that it would be disgusting for us. Or me at least. Because you know I like kissing you.”

“I’m with you,” I said. “Disturbing them is definitely something I can play along with. Even if it means kissing you.” I felt so totally brave to have teased him like that.

“You like it, too,” he accused. “So it’s pretty much win-win.”

“Except for Anya who’s still mad at me.”

“She can get over it,” he said. “She and Brad are a couple now. She doesn’t own me.”

“She thinks so,” I muttered.

“I thought you guys weren’t speaking. Why’d she come by the house?”

“Because she’s my mom’s biggest fan. She’d rather speak to me than miss out on a decorating project.”

“So if you’re in, let’s do it tomorrow.”

“What exactly?”

“We’ll get caught making out by my mom and your dad. We can make it look all hot and heavy. Really give ’em something to think about.”

“I can do hot and heavy.”

We’d reached my sidewalk. Mrs. MacGregor and Snowball were getting the mail.

“Hi,” I greeted.

“Hello, Zoe,” Mrs. MacGregor said. She continued down the path to her house. Snowball chased leaves and bugs in her wake.

“We had a kitten that used to do that,” Jake said.

“Oh. Yeah. Snowball’s a really young cat.”

We reached my porch. I wanted to ask him if we should practice a little, but I didn’t want him to know I wanted to. Especially since he thought I was in love with him.

“I guess,” he said, fidgeting, “that we should try it once just to be sure, you know... ”

“Okay,” I said. Watching him feel awkward rocked. “But what about your dog?”

“Sit, Indiana,” he said.

I backed against the railing as he approached. Indiana wasn’t sitting, but I wasn’t going to mention it. For not having a boyfriend, I sure was doing a lot of kissing lately.

That was the last coherent thought I had because his lips brushed mine and my brain completely shut down.

“Okay,” Anya said on the phone later. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been obnoxious, but it’s just weird thinking of you with Jake.”

Why did I answer? I flopped back on my bed. “We aren’t dating, Anya.”

“Whatever. The three of us used to do everything together. Now, you guys are pals, and it’s like it doesn’t even matter that I’m not there.”

“That’s your choice, Anya. You broke up with Jake. And you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I know. And Brad is so great. I liked having Jake as a backup, I guess.”

Jake would be so flattered. “He’s a person too, Anya.”

“He’s not a person. He’s my ex. I have like dibs on him.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works. Mom sure doesn’t have dibs on my dad. Not that she’d want them.”

“That is so weird that your dad is dating his mom. I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“I don’t have a choice.” But I was working on it.

“Well, I’ve decided that I’m going to try to have an open mind about your friendship with Jake. I mean I do have Brad, after all.”

Did she want me to thank her? “Good. I’d better go.” If you can’t say something nice…

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

I snapped the phone shut. Had she always been such a pain in the butt?

Dad and Anya were both coming for the reveal at 5:30. Jake and I planned to be caught making out right before that. We hadn’t decided where. We wanted maximum exposure for Dad and his mom. Why not throw it right in their faces?

We went to my house first to kill time. At 4:00 we headed over to his house. The work was done and most of the people had cleared out. The producer and three others would stay for the reveal, but it looked like everyone had been given a break.

“Cool,” Jake said. “No one’s here. Let’s grab a snack.”

I’d forgotten how much he eats. I led the way to the kitchen, comfortable in the knowledge that there was no way that my father could possibly be in there kissing his mother.

What I saw was even worse.

My mom and Dave stood together in a liplock.

“Man, you have got to be kidding me!” Jake exclaimed.

Mom pulled away and Dave started apologizing. To me. To Jake. To Mom.

“Mother!” I wasn’t sure if I could take much more.

“Zoe,” Mom said. “Dave, I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you go,” she motioned helplessly, “somewhere else.”

“I’d better walk my dog,” Jake mumbled and left.

“What is it with this kitchen?” I demanded.

Mom ushered me into the dining room.

“What? Honey? I’m sorry. There really isn’t anything going on. I just had a weak moment there. Dave has been trying to convince me to go out with him, but he’s too young.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, stopping just inside the doorway. “He’s thirty. You’re forty-five. He’s as close to my age as he is to yours.”

“Oh. God.” Mom looked sick. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

I felt bad for making her feel like some kind of pervert. She was showing all the remorse I’d wanted from Dad the day before. “Just tell me the truth. If you’re dating him, I want to know.” I didn’t really mind her dating, just not in my face.

“I’m not.” She pulled me close and gave me a quick hug. “We aren’t. It was a momentary lapse.”

“Well if you decide to make it more than momentary, tell me.”

“I will. I mean I won’t decide that, but I will let you know if anything changes.” She sighed. “He’s so handsome.”

“I’m the teenager with raging hormones, Mom,” I said with a lighter tone. “Not you.”

“Don’t say that.” She flinched and shook her head as if to clear the image from her mind. “I can’t handle the idea of raging hormones in either one of us.”

“And you think I can?”

“I’m sorry, Zoe. I didn’t mean to make your life harder.”

“I know, Mom.” I shrugged. “Besides, I might be making yours harder soon.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Care to expound on that?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Okay.” She kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“I know.”

Mom glanced behind her into the kitchen. “I guess I should talk to Dave.”

Anya brought Brad and Camille to watch the reveal. That kind of irked me, especially after the PDA plans were ruined. I mean we didn’t have room for three people plus my dad plus me plus the crew and Jake and both our moms.

It was good to see Camille though. Except that she had some bad news.

“Brad’s giving me the creeps,” Camille said when we had a second alone. Well, not alone but surrounded only by adults.

“Brad? Why?” I asked.

“He’s always looking at me when he should be looking at Anya.” She shuddered, sending her dangling earrings swaying.

“You think he likes you?” I whispered.

“Yes.” She grimaced. “Or he just likes to look at me. What do I do?”

“Run and hide,” I said. “Anya will be furious.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said, her voice coming close to a whine.

“I was kinda kidding.” I backed out of the way for a lighting guy to pass. “Maybe you should just stay away from them for a while.”

She could be right. Brad did tend to move through girlfriends pretty quickly.

Jake loved his room. He wasn’t all gushy and excited like a girl would be, but I could tell he loved it. Mom had placed his bed on the far wall and put in a blue and brown striped sofa. A series of sliding panels covered the entertainment center. The room looked more like an apartment than a bedroom. Mom was proud. Sheree and Dad acted all happy but I think they wanted everyone gone so they could make out.