Happy Endings at Mermaids Point, page 21
When she clicked play on the original video, she was greeted with the sight of Chad Logan and his wife, Melissa, sitting on a minimalist set. Behind their plain pair of armchairs was a white backdrop with the words ‘The Big Conversation’ emblazoned upon it. They were dressed in sombre clothing, hands clasped tightly. A large silver crucifix shone bright against her black top as Melissa stared up adoringly at Chad. ‘I’ve made mistakes,’ he said, straight into the camera. ‘Unforgivable mistakes.’ He choked just the right amount as he glanced down at Melissa, who was shaking her head.
‘So you admit there was something behind that photo of you and Aurora Storm embracing?’ the disembodied voice of whoever was interviewing them asked.
‘No there bloody wasn’t!’ Aurora shouted at the screen. ‘Oh my God, what is this crap?’ Realising she’d missed what they said next, she jabbed the pause button on the video and turned to Nick in a panic. ‘What the hell are they playing at?’
‘Hang on a minute, let me park up.’ He flicked his indicator and steered into an unloading zone. He switched on his hazard lights and turned in his seat to face her. ‘Show me the rest of it.’
Feeling sick, Aurora restarted the clip.
‘She… I…’ Chad looked to Melissa, who patted his hand the way she might a small child.
‘All we have to say on the matter is that it’s a sad indictment of this industry that young women still feel the need to do whatever they think it’ll take to get ahead.’
As though prompted by her words, Chad began to nod. ‘I am a man with the same weaknesses as any other and though nothing untoward happened, it was enough to realise I’d been tempted. We’ve always been honest with each other, even if it means hurting the other person.’ He raised Melissa’s hand to his mouth and kissed it. ‘I’m blessed to be married to this incredible woman and to have the strength of my faith to help me.’
Melissa turned her big blue eyes to the camera, sooty lashes blinking rapidly against non-existent tears. ‘Forgiveness is a part of any marriage, especially when you’ve been together as long as Chad and I have. Temptation comes in many forms and none of us are immune to it.’
‘Even Adam and Eve found themselves tested by the serpent in the garden of Eden,’ the interviewer intoned, sounding like one of those televangelist preachers.
The clip came to an end and all Aurora could do was stare at Nick in horror and disbelief. ‘Is Chad seriously implying I made a pass at him to try and get the part?’
‘That’s what it sounds like, although I didn’t catch the first part of the interview. Is there any more, or is that it?’ He took the phone from her unresisting hands.
While he scrolled back and forth, Aurora leaned her head back against her seat and closed her eyes. Leaking a photo he’d obviously staged had never made any sense to her because it would damage his reputation as much as it would hers. In fact, given his A-list status and how long Chad had been at the top of his game, he had way more of a reputation to lose than her.
‘That’s the only clip I can find. Well, versions of it,’ Nick said after a few minutes. ‘I’m still trying to find the original post as I don’t recognise the channel logo on the bottom left of the screen.’
Aurora had been too stunned to notice anything other than Chad’s insincere tone and Melissa’s wildly fluttering eyelashes. Had they always been such hammy actors and she’d been too overawed by their celebrity to notice? ‘Doesn’t matter who it is,’ she said. ‘Once something like that goes viral, the networks all pick it up and play it, even when they are pretending to condemn whatever it is.’ It was the reality of today’s media; the constant drive for clickbait and content meant even the most serious news networks felt required to report on whatever had social media in a tizz on any given day.
She felt a gentle touch on her cheek and opened her eyes to meet Nick’s look of concern. ‘What can I do?’ he asked.
‘Nothing. Just take me home.’
16
They didn’t speak for the rest of the drive. Nick didn’t know what to say, if he was being honest; it was all so far out of his realm of expertise. The few words that came to mind sounded so trite and clichéd in his head, he decided it was probably for the best to keep them to himself. The traffic was awful, so he pushed his worry for Aurora to the back of his mind and concentrated on doing what she’d asked him to do – get her home.
When they reached the first floor of the warehouse, Nick set down the pile of shopping bags to find his keys but Aurora had already taken out her key for Ivy’s apartment and was unlocking. ‘I need to lie down for a bit.’
He wanted to point out there was a perfectly good bed in his place, but then he remembered Emily was dog-sitting. He gathered up the pile of bags and followed Aurora inside, where he set them down on the sofa. ‘Okay. I’ll see what Em’s been up to while we were out and take Gabriel for a walk. Why don’t you send me a text later once you’ve had a rest and we’ll take it from there?’
Aurora stared at the pile of shopping bags for a long moment before pulling out the bottle of champagne. ‘Will you give that to Nerissa and Tom and give them all my best wishes for the wedding?’
Nick made no move to take the bottle. ‘What are you talking about? You can give it to them yourself on Wednesday.’
Shaking her head, she thrust the bottle towards him again. ‘I don’t think I should go, not with everything that’s going on; it wouldn’t be fair.’
He took the champagne from her then immediately set it down on the coffee table. ‘Look, I understand you’re upset about the clip, but don’t make any hasty decisions. No one cares what a few muppets on social media have to say.’
He’d meant it to be reassuring, but he knew he’d made things worse by the way her eyes flared wide. ‘Those muppets are the people who make or break careers, Nico. You might not care what they have to say, but I do! I have to because it’s part of my job whether I like it or not! And you seem to have forgotten about Carly King. What if she’s still hanging around and decides to try and gatecrash the wedding? I’d never forgive myself!’
‘I’m sorry.’ About so many things. He wanted to help her but he had no idea where to start. His instinct was to pull out his phone and start replying to all the trolls who’d upset her but he knew from witnessing other online dramas that reacting like that was a one-way ticket to disaster. Lashing out might make him feel a bit better, but it would do nothing to help Aurora and everything to harm her. He’d promised to support her in whatever way she needed him to and if that meant giving her some space while she decided what to do next, then so be it. It did not extend to her shutting herself away like she was the one in the wrong, however. The wedding wasn’t for another forty-eight hours so there was time for her to deal with this latest setback and to understand she had nothing to hide from or be embarrassed about.
The little smile she gave him was full of defeat. ‘I’m sorry too. I’ll text you later, okay?’
Wishing he didn’t feel quite so useless, Nick nodded and headed back to his own apartment.
Though he was worried about Aurora, he couldn’t help but grin when he opened his front door to a riot of noise and colour. Music was blaring from the television, a Harry Styles concert by the looks of it. Emily was sitting on the sofa with one foot propped on his coffee table, painting her nails and video-chatting to a couple of friends on her iPad, which was propped on a stand beside her foot. She appeared oblivious to his arrival, even when Gabriel climbed out of his basket and trotted towards Nick, stubby tail wagging. He had a red ribbon tied around his neck and a tiny ponytail sticking up from the top of his head.
‘Making yourself at home, I see?’ he called to Emily over the racket.
‘Oh my God!’ she shrieked and he almost felt guilty when she smeared the varnish she was applying all over her big toe.
‘Who’s that?’ one of the voices said from her iPad.
‘He’s well leng,’ said another, which sent them all into a fit of giggles. Nick had no idea what it meant and wasn’t sure he wanted to either.
‘Ew, Ruby, he’s ancient!’ Emily said, sounding appalled. ‘Look, I’ve got to go, talk later.’ She ended the chat then beamed up at Nick like she hadn’t eviscerated his ego in the way only a teenage girl could. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back yet! Where’s Aurora?’ She glanced around as though expecting Aurora to pop up from behind the sofa.
‘She’s having a lie-down next door.’
Emily’s face fell. ‘Oh. I was hoping she’d do my TikTok video with me.’
He was a bit surprised at that; maybe he’d been right after all and this thing with Chad Logan wasn’t such a big deal. Or perhaps Emily hadn’t heard about the latest drama. Knowing he’d need to tread carefully, Nick reached for the remote and muted the TV before sitting down on the sofa next to her. ‘Someone recognised her when we were out shopping, and they weren’t very nice.’
Looking up from where she was trying to wipe the mess off her toe, Emily’s face was the very picture of confusion. ‘But she’s so cool. Why would anyone be mean to her?’
Nick sighed. ‘It’s all to do with this misunderstanding over her meeting with Chad Logan.’
Emily stuck her tongue out like she’d just tasted something disgusting. ‘He’s so gross! No one’s going to believe him over Aurora.’
Her loyalty was touchingly sweet. ‘Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who believe whatever they read, or just like to spread gossip because they think it’s funny. We know better, but it’s going to take a little bit of time for Aurora to sort things out. All we can do is be here for her and make sure she knows she has people who care about her.’
Her face fell and Nick couldn’t bear to see it. ‘Hey, don’t worry about it. Aurora’s stronger than all those haters.’
Emily nodded. ‘People can be really mean sometimes.’ She sounded so young, a throwback to the shy girl he’d met the previous summer and not the gregarious young woman he’d become used to talking to. Damn. Emily had got caught up in a dare at her old school that had involved girls sharing inappropriate photos. It was one of the main reasons her father had decided to try to adjust his workload and ended up bringing the children to Mermaids Point where they could have a fresh start.
He could pretend he didn’t know what she was thinking about, or he could treat her like the sensible, mature person he knew her to be. ‘I didn’t mean to stir up any bad memories, Em. You know better than most people how upsetting it can be when people talk behind your back. You also know the kind of people who do it aren’t worth a single second of your time.’
As he’d hoped, she straightened up at his words and a frown of determination chased the sadness from her eyes. ‘Tell Aurora it’ll be okay.’
He nodded. ‘I will. Come on, get your stuff together and I’ll walk you back to the surgery.’ When she rolled her eyes as though to say she wasn’t a child that needed walking anywhere, Nick held his hands up. ‘I’m going that way anyway.’
As he hefted Emily’s bag onto one shoulder, Nick wondered what on earth she had in the bottom of it. Bricks from the weight of it, maybe a bowling ball. Gabriel was still wearing his red ribbon, which looked rather fetching with his tartan walking coat. Nick wasn’t sure about the little topknot but he hadn’t wanted to hurt Emily’s feelings by taking it out. He was just locking up when the door opposite opened and Aurora appeared. She’d changed into her fleece leggings, Ugg boots and cosy hoody. ‘Oh, I just caught you in time,’ she said, giving Emily a quick hug of greeting.
‘I thought you were going to have a lie-down.’
Aurora lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. ‘A sulk, you mean? Dennis gave me a pep talk and here I am.’ She made ‘pep talk’ sound more like an arse-kicking but she was smiling as she said it.
‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down,’ Emily said, hooking her arm through Aurora’s. It was on the tip of Nick’s tongue to tell her off for her language, but then he remembered she was nearly seventeen and he wasn’t her father so really it wasn’t any of his business. Besides, he wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment and had used much coarser language in his head about the trolls who hounded Aurora.
He let the two of them walk ahead of him a bit, content to keep at Gabriel’s pace, which involved stopping every few steps so he could sniff at whatever had captured his attention. When he realised Aurora and Emily had crested the hill leading down into town and were out of sight, Nick encouraged the terrier to move a bit quicker. By the time he spotted them again, the two women had stopped by the surgery gate and Nick watched as Emily pulled the tie off the end of her messy braid and started shaking out her hair. Aurora combed her fingers through it, then picked up a section and started twisting it into a complicated design. She did the same with a matching piece from the other side and then wrapped both sections around Emily’s head like a plaited crown. He caught up in time to hear Emily say, ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Of course I don’t.’ She raised a hand to her short crop and ruffled it with a laugh. ‘It’s not like it takes me a long time to do my hair, after all. I can help you with your make-up as well, if you want?’
Emily squealed and hugged her. ‘Ruby is going to die when I tell her!’ She grabbed her bag from Nick with a quick word of thanks and dashed up the path. ‘See you on Wednesday!’ she called over her shoulder.
‘Well, you’ve made someone’s day, possibly her year,’ Nick said with a grin as he slung an arm around Aurora’s shoulder. ‘Shame poor Ruby’s not going to survive long enough to see Christmas, though.’
Aurora laughed. ‘She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she? She told me not to worry about stupid trolls and that Instagram is over anyway so no one cares what happens on there.’
‘I think Instagram is for ancient people like us, even if we are leng.’
She glanced up at him with a puzzled smile. ‘We’re leng?’
Nick grinned. ‘Well, I am according to Ruby. I think it must mean “devastatingly handsome”.’
Laughing, Aurora gave him a shove before tucking herself back under his arm. ‘In your dreams, Nico.’ Her voice turned serious. ‘Anyway, it sounds like Emily had a rough time of it before she came here, and I wanted to do something nice for her. She’s so excited about the wedding and being a bridesmaid for the first time.’
‘You’ve changed your mind about the wedding, then?’ Nick couldn’t keep the relief out of his voice.
‘A wise man once told me that no one owns a single bit of me.’ He couldn’t help but smile as he recognised the words. He’d said them to her about Julian, but she was right, they applied equally to the rest of the world. ‘I forgot that for a moment,’ she continued. ‘But it won’t happen again. Dennis has put me on a social media ban and made me delete all my apps while we were talking.’ She laughed, but he could still sense the lingering upset behind it.
Nick stopped her on the path and pulled her against his chest. ‘What happened today must’ve have been horrible,’ he murmured against her hair. ‘It’s bad enough when it’s online, but to have someone have a go at you in public?’ He shook his head.
‘I dropped my guard.’ The fact she was making it sound like she was even remotely to blame infuriated him and he pulled back to look at her. Before he could say anything, she held up a hand. ‘No lectures. I’ve already had enough of that from Dennis. I know I haven’t done anything wrong. He’s sure there’s something fishy going on so he’s going to do some digging and I’ve promised him I’ll try and forget all about it.’
‘No lectures,’ Nick promised. The sweet smile she gave him followed by an even sweeter kiss made it that much easier to swallow his anger down. It wasn’t helpful so he wouldn’t let it spoil any more of the day. ‘Do you want to head back?’
She shook her head. ‘I didn’t get a chance to get wrapping paper and a few other things so I wouldn’t mind a wander around if you can face more shopping?’
Nick flung his hand to his forehead and staggered a few paces. ‘Must I?’
‘Well, who else is going to carry my bags? I am a famous pop star, you know!’ With a toss of her head, she turned and marched off up the street. It must’ve been hard to put that much sass into her walk when she was wearing scruffy boots and an oversized fuzzy hoodie, but he had to admire her effort.
When she paused on the doorstep of his parents’ gift shop and shot him a superior look over her shoulder, Nick reached up and tugged at his forelock. ‘Yes, Ms Storm. Sorry, Ms Storm. I’ll make sure I stay three paces behind you at all times, Ms Storm.’ She laughed so hard she all but fell over the threshold into the shop.
‘Glad to see someone’s having fun!’ his dad called from behind the counter. ‘To what do we owe this pleasure?’
‘I’m looking for some nice wrapping paper and a few decorations,’ Aurora said. ‘And I’m told you’ve got the best taste in Mermaids Point.’
If Andrew Morgan was a light bulb, he couldn’t have glowed much more under that compliment. ‘Ah, I think you’ve mistaken me for my lovely wife. She’s the one with all the taste.’
‘That’s why she married you, right?’ Aurora said, making Andrew roar with laughter.
‘Tell me you’re keeping her, son, because only a fool would let a treasure like this go.’
‘I’m doing my best, Dad, believe me,’ Nick assured him as he came to lean against the counter. ‘Now if I can interrupt this mutual appreciation society, the lady has some urgent shopping to do.’
‘Don’t be jealous of how fabulous we are, son.’ His dad shook his head in mock disappointment.
‘Oh God.’ Turning his back on his father, Nick pointed towards the middle of the shop. ‘Gift wrapping is over there.’ He watched Aurora head towards the section he’d indicated then turned back to face his dad, who was grinning at him like the Cheshire Cat. ‘What?’
Andrew held up his hands. ‘Nothing.’
‘Well, that’s all right then. Where’s Mum?’
