Watching Willow Watts (19 page)

‘
Oh yeah?’ the woman on the other end asked, snapping her chewing gum loudly.

Cissy sniffed
. Didn’t they teach these youngsters manners anymore? ‘It’s on Morgan’s Field, in Belcherton. I don’t believe they have proper permissions and licences to hold a musical event, as such, in that locale.’

‘
Is that the
Marilyn Mania Festival?’ The woman sounded bored. ‘Yeah, we know all about it – in fact, the council’s providing funding to Belcherton for the event. Thank you for calling the council line, goodbye.’ She hung up.

Cissy stared at the dead receiver. She shouldn’t be surprised – money talked, and if that lowlife had promised the local area a windfall, it was in everyone’s interest to get involved.

She
hobbled back over to the window. The enormous stage was in place and the workers were unrolling a large canopy over it.

What was she going to do now?

*

Squinting in the falling darkness,
Willow ran through the sheets of lyrics yet again. Sure, it was only memorising words and it wasn’t like she was actually singing, but she was terrified she’d forget a line. After all Jay’s hard work setting things up, she didn’t want to let him down.

For the millionth time, t
heir night together popped into her mind. Sleeping with someone besides Alex had been nice but . . . different. After all the wonderful kisses, Willow had expected to feel the same explosion of emotion. But Jay wasn’t Alex, she reminded herself. She was older now, too, and more realistic about relationships. That closeness would come with time.

A knock on the door made her jump. Maybe that was Jay now! It was almost nine, and Jay was supposed to come by to run through the programme one more time and make sure she was ready. God knows she could do with a pep talk.

‘
Oh, h
i!’ Willow smiled over at Paula, pushing aside the small jab of disappointment it wasn’t Jay. Today, Paula was wearing leopard-skin trousers with an oversized neon vest, and her hair was pulled to one side in a banana clip circa 1985.

‘
Why haven’t you answered your phone?’ Paula asked grumpily, tossing herself onto the sofa. ‘I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day. We’ve
got
to talk.’

‘
Oh, sorry.’ Willow sat down beside her friend. ‘Jay suggested I give him my mobile so he could screen my calls, just in case the media try to get through – or something like that.’ Whatever he’d said, it had sounded reasonable at the time. ‘I guess he’s busy with the festival and hasn’t had time to answer.’

‘
I’ll bet,’ Paula mumbled. She turned toward Willow, her normally animated face serious. ‘Look, Wills, I know Jay’s your agent and everything. Just . . . be careful not to get too involved with him.’

‘
What do you mean?’ Willow’s heart dropped as Jay’s earlier warning flashed through her head.

‘
Well, he could be a good agent,’ Paula said. ‘But he’s a complete horndog.’

‘
Horndog?’

‘
Yeah, horndog. He tried to pick me up – twice!’

Willow shook her head. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘
I know you guys have snogged and stuff, but Wills, I’m telling you the truth. He came into the salon and asked me out about a week ago. I thought he was kind of cute and I had no idea who he was, so I flirted back.’

Willow forced a laugh. Jay had probably been his usual charming self, and Paula had thought he was after her like most men. ‘I’m sure Jay was just being friendly.’

‘
Friendly?’ Paula snorted. ‘
Friendly
is saying hello, not practically propositioning me on the street like he did yesterday morning.’

Willow stared at her friend in disbelief. Now she
knew Paula wasn’t telling the truth – Jay wouldn’t have left her bed the moment after they’d slept together and hit up another woman! Even horndogs – whatever those were, exactly – wouldn’t do something so low. And Willow was certain Jay cared. He was the one who said he’d been searching for someone like her for a very long time; who took every opportunity to kiss and touch her.

Sadness
washed over Willow as she tried to absorb the fact that her best friend was trying to sabotage her future, exactly as Jay had predicted.

‘
I’m sorry if you’re jealous. All of this should be happening to you, not me. But I’m committed to doing it, and even if I did drop Jay now, I’m not going to stop. Making things up isn’t going to help.’

Paula’s lips lightened
and Willow could see from the flash in her eyes that she’d hit a nerve. ‘I’m not making things up!’ Paula sputtered. ‘And I’m not
jealous
. Well, maybe I was a bit at the beginning, but watching you deal with all these people, having to dress up 24-7, and not even being able to move without signing something – that’s
so
not my idea of a good time. I’d much rather be me.’

Willow wanted to believe Paula’s words, but Jay’s warning kept ringing in her head.

‘
But that Jay . . . Do whatever you want career-wise, but don’t get involved with him. He’s a total sleaze.’

That was the last straw. ‘He’s not sleazy!’ Willow cried. ‘Not at all.’ She stood and faced her friend, anger churning inside. ‘Not every man wants to be with
you
, you know.’ Willow’s heart was pounding so fast beneath her tight dress it felt like the seams would burst.

Paula’s
mouth flopped open and an incredulous laugh bubbled out. ‘You know what? If you don’t want to believe me,
don’t
. I hope you and Horndog are very happy together.’ She jumped up and slammed the door so hard the whole cottage shook.

Willow
sat down on the sofa and tried to breathe. She couldn’t remember the last time she and Paula had fought – in fact, she didn’t think they ever had. But they’d never really had a reason to. Willow had always been happy to take the backseat and let Paula be the leader. Now that Willow was the one standing out – and dating the hottest man Belcherton had seen in fifty years, if ever – it was clear her friend was having difficulty handling it.

A rogue tear
spilled down her hot cheek and Willow wiped it away, grimacing at the muddy foundation coating her finger. God, she really needed some fresh air; to get away from everything and everyone. She hurried into the loo, then splashed cold water on her face, watching the liquid turn brown as the make-up dissolved. Pinching off fake eyelashes, Willow rinsed the heavy mascara from her eyes and twisted blonde curls up into a ponytail.

In her room, she shed the silk sheath and kicked off
her high heels, then pulled on baggy jeans and a soft old T-shirt. Without her additional padding, she felt surprisingly light and free – despite the extra five pounds or so she’d put on from Jay’s eating scheme. After jamming on her trainers, she went out the back door and into the darkness, careful not to disturb Krusty or alert the crowd that gathered out front hoping for a glimpse of her.

As she crept
down the narrow track leading from the garden to the outskirts of the village, she breathed in the fresh night air, relishing the pure pleasure of being on her own, in comfortable clothes. Until now, she hadn’t realised just how draining the past couple weeks had been. Paula might have been wrong about Jay, but she was right about one thing: being Marilyn definitely wasn’t fun.

A few minutes later, Willow found herself at the deserted festival site. Her heart beat even faster as she took in the enormous field, the line after line of Portaloos, and the gigantic stage set up at the front. Jay had told her it would be huge, of course, but she hadn’t envisioned just
how
huge until now. God, she hoped she could do this.

Staring
at the stage, Willow tried to picture herself up there in front of thousands of screaming people. It was almost impossible to imagine. But she
had
to do it – she wasn’t about to disappoint the whole village, not to mention Jay and her father. This time tomorrow night, it would all be over and if everything went to plan, she should have enough money to relax about the shop. Squeezing her eyes closed, she fervently wished she could magically transport herself forward in time.

*

The clock had just chimed midnight, but Cissy was far
from tired. It was the night before the big concert and she’d come up with nothing to disrupt things. Bitterness seeped in as she thought of all the money the festival would generate. Everyone would benefit: Willow, the village, that dishonourable man . . . everyone but her.

Surely there must be
something
she could do. She’d already tried planning permissions, and that had failed. But what if it was something more serious; something the government couldn’t ignore?

Cissy racked her brains, frantically trying to think of any illegal activity the festival might be engaged in. She sat up straight as an idea hit. Wasn’t that American woman working for the festival? And hadn’t she said she was here for a holiday? Cissy was sure a tourist couldn’t be employed in any form. All it would take was one phone call, and they would
have
to investigate.

Grabbing the White P
ages again, Cissy found the correct number and dialled it with shaking fingers. ‘Hello, Crimestoppers?’ she said when someone answered. ‘I’d like to report an illegal worker.’

Half an hour later
, Cissy hung up, a triumphant grin on her face. ‘Take that,’ she said aloud, her voice echoing in the empty room. It might not put a stop to the festival, but at the very least it would cause a few problems until she could think of something better.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘
A SPLASH OF
SYRUP in your porridge, Dickie?’ Betts asked as she stirred the mixture on the hob. Sun streamed in through the windows and Betts rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was thoroughly exhausted, but happier than she could ever remember. Once again, Dickie had kept her up until the early hours. But this time, they weren’t just talking. She smiled, recalling his strong hands on her skin. The night had been magical. It was a giant cliché, but Betts hadn’t realised it could be so good. Gord always acted like she was doing him a favour by letting him paw at her. Now, her insides were like one of those giant spongy marshmallows after it had been microwaved – all gooey and warm – and she suspected Dickie felt the same.

Dickie looked up from the
Belcherton Bugle
and grinned, and Betts felt her heart soften all over again. ‘Give me some sugar, sugar.’ He tried to imitate her accent but just ended up sounding Indian, and the two of them giggled together.

Betts put a scoop of porridge in a chipped china bowl, slopped some syrup over the top and sat down beside Dickie at the table. ‘Big day today. I can’t believe the concert is tonight. It’s all happened so fast.’

‘
You’ve been working hard to get everything ready.
I’m sure it will go off without a hitch,’ Dickie said, patting her hand.

‘
It should. I’ve checked and double-checked everything.’ It had been a much bigger job than Jay had led
her to believe, but she’d done pretty well in the time they’d had. In fact, the whole thing had made her wonder if she should try event planning once she got back home. Going out to work would give her something to do and show the kids she could have a life, too.

Although she felt buoyed up at the thought of
a new career, her heart sank again when she pictured leaving Dickie. But it was too soon to discuss anything beyond the day to day, and she didn’t want to push him. Once the festival was over, they’d have plenty of time to spend together and see where things went from there.

‘
Do you think Willow’s ready for it?’ Dickie asked, concern creasing his brow. ‘I’ve barely seen her lately. You know, as busy as the shop is right now, I kind of miss the good old days when we could just relax and have a chat.’

‘
I sure hope she’s ready
,’ Betts answered, spooning porridge into her mouth. She’d been wondering the same thing. It was a lot for a seasoned performer to deal with, let alone a nice, quiet girl like Willow. Even Marilyn herself – a woman who craved attention like candy – had found fame hard to handle and tried her best to escape it. Betts jerked in surprise as she realised she hadn’t thought of Marilyn for at least a day. Once upon a time, Marilyn used to occupy her every waking minute.

‘
Oh, here she is
,’ Betts cried as Willow came down the stairs, looking resplendent in an emerald gown. Her hair was done to perfection and her face shone with newly applied make-up. ‘Don’t you look nice! All set for tonight?’

‘
Of course she is.
’ Jay followed after her, resting a hand on Willow’s shoulder. He threw Betts a warm grin, and she couldn’t help returning the smile. It was nice to see such a supportive man. ‘Any breakfast left?’

Betts plo
nked an extra scoop of porridge into a bowl for him. ‘Of course, honey. Take a seat.’