Snapshot (The Jamieson Collection)

by Angie Stanton

  Her dad cranked up the stereo and relaxed with his arm resting on the car door. Marti couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as she navigated the curvy roads. He bought me a car! An amazing car! After a few minutes, he directed her to the highway, and she sped up. The wind whipped through her hair. Her dad laughed, removed his hat and put it on the floor.

  Marti wanted to squeal with the joy of being out of the house, of spending semi-normal time with her dad.

  After several miles, he directed her toward an exit, and she ended up on a road that hugged the coast. With a lower speed limit, they were able to talk while watching the ocean crash upon the shore.

  Most of the conversation centered around him, his upcoming reunion tour, and all the plans. She could see how much making a successful comeback meant to him. She hoped it worked. He deserved it. He wasn’t a bad person, just kind of irresponsible and self-absorbed. But how could she complain when he just handed her a new car! She couldn’t wait to tell Adam about her dad’s thoughtful, generous gift.

  Eventually, the conversation turned to other things. “Last night I saw Jack, but I haven’t heard about Brandy. What’s she up to?” Marti tried to sound casual about the question, because she expected him to say Brandy was in jail, hooked on drugs or something. His answer caught her totally off guard.

  “She’s a nurse,” he said.

  “Really?” Marti tried to hide her shock.

  “Yup, she got married last year to a fella in film editing and production. They live on the East Coast.”

  “Wow.” Marti had to digest that one. How did her sister turn her life around? She’d been such a train wreck at nineteen.

  “Yeah, she turned out real well, and I can see that you will too. You’ve got your head on straight. Now Jack, he’s another story. That boy has been a problem since the word go.”

  Marti thought back to this morning when she found Jack and Courtney in bed together. Her dad didn’t appear to know, and she wasn’t about to mention it. Finally, they were spending quality time together and she didn’t want to ruin it.

  On the way back, they swung by a drive-thru for drinks. She considered telling him about Adam but wasn’t sure it was a good idea. She had no idea how he’d react and it might complicate her life more. Wind-blown and relaxed, they returned home with her car properly broken in. As Marti climbed out, Courtney pulled up in a dented gray Mazda. Marti’s nerves zoomed to high alert.

  Courtney’s face pinched into a haughty glare. She stalked over to Marti’s dad as he untangled himself from the small vehicle. “What’s this?” she snapped in short piercing tones.

  Unfazed by Courtney’s temper, he replied. “It’s Marti’s new car!”

  Courtney’s eyes widened, she crossed her arms and hitched her hip. “What do you mean, Marti’s car? She doesn’t need a car. She’s a kid! I, on the other hand, need a car.”

  Marti wanted to slink away and avoid the scene, but she was stuck. Plus, she couldn’t deny she wanted to see how this played out.

  “You’re barely twenty-one. You’re practically a child! And lately, you’ve been acting like one too.” He took a drag on his soda, paying no attention to Courtney’s rising rage.

  Twenty-one! Holy crap. Marti assumed Courtney was in her late twenties based on the way she dressed. And honestly, who, at twenty-one, would want to be hanging out with an old man like her dad?

  “Don’t you see she’s ruining everything?” Courtney whined and waved her arms in an overdramatic display of poor acting skills. “She’s always interfering and pulling you away from me. You never spend time with me any more.”

  Marti expected Courtney to stomp her foot like a preschooler.

  “Maybe that has something to do with you being joined at the hip with Nigel.” Her dad raised a skeptical eyebrow Courtney’s direction.

  “He’s my brother! What can I do? He’s bored and has no one else to spend time with.”

  “Is that it? I thought he just hung around to freeload off my good nature. Rethink your position, Courtney, it’s getting old.” Her dad put his hat back on and sauntered into the house as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Marti bit back her smile. She was so proud he didn’t take Courtney’s crap and give in.

  “Wipe that smirk off your face or I’ll wipe it off for you. And listen up, you little bitch. You better watch what you say or you might find gouges on the doors of your pretty little car.”

  Marti sobered, all evidence of happiness gone. She knew it wasn’t an idle threat.

  “That’s more like it. And in the future, don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Courtney spun on her heel and left Marti alone in the driveway to contemplate this new threat.

  Just when things between Marti and her dad were looking up: he bought her a car and they were getting to know each other again, Courtney had to remind her of all the other issues she still faced in this screwed up household.

  * * *

  Jamieson was filming their latest video with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. It was going to look awesome, but unfortunately, it meant another night shoot. The minute the director called a break to adjust the lightening, Adam snuck in a quick call to Marti.

  “Adam?” Marti answered.

  “Hi! I didn’t wake you up, did I?” He grabbed a cookie and stepped away from the production tent.

  “No. I was messing around with photos on my laptop. I’m avoiding Courtney. The pictures of that storm and the fire from the lightening strike are so cool. Hey, I thought you were supposed to be at a night shoot.”

  “I am. I’ve got a couple minutes and wanted to hear your voice.” A brisk wind blew off of the East River, causing him to shiver. He turned his back against the breeze.

  “I needed to hear a friendly voice, so I’m glad you called.” Marti’s voice sounded sweet and lyrical to his ears.

  “What’s going on?” He took a bite of oatmeal raisin cookie.

  Marti sighed. “Oh, Courtney is making life difficult, that’s all. Don’t worry.”

  Adam didn’t like how Marti kept her troubles to herself. He knew she didn’t like being in LA, but she wouldn’t open up about it. “Are you sure?” He felt helpless.

  “It’ll take someone a lot bigger than Courtney to take me down.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow.

  She always blamed her troubles on her dad’s girlfriend, but was it really an unwanted pregnancy on her mind? Now probably wasn’t the best time to bring it up, but he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He needed to know. He paced away from the production area and gazed at the historic suspension bridge. “We haven’t talked about what happened at camp.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know, you and me… aw hell, did you get it yet? Your ah…” Why was this so damn hard to talk about?

  Marti didn’t answer right away, and each second seemed like an eternity. Then finally, in a quiet, defeated voice, she said.

  “No.”

  His heart sank. “Shit.” He wanted this to all go away. He didn’t want to face the reality that she might be pregnant.

  “No kidding.”

  “Do you think you are?” He had hoped so badly this was a false alarm and she’d have good news.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t.” She sighed, and he wished he was with her right now. “But I bought a test,” she added.

  “Oh!” She must be really worried. He chomped off another bite of cookie. It was tasteless.

  Wally stepped out of the production tent. “Adam, we’re ready to go.”

  Adam nodded to Wally but stayed focused on Marti.

  “But you didn’t take it yet?”

  “I’m afraid to. There’s been so much crappy stuff happening, and I don’t want any more bad news. I’m afraid that if I take the test and I am, it’ll erase all the good stuff with us, and I don’t want to lose that. You’re about the only really good thing I have left.”

  “You’re not going to lose me. No matter what.” God, he
wanted to see her now more than ever. When they were together, they could handle anything. “What are you going to do?”

  “I thought I’d give it a few more days. I’ve never been regular, so I’m hoping that’s what’s happening.”

  “And your grandma died, and that was really stressful. Can that make you not get it?” He didn’t know how these things worked, but maybe stress was the problem. She’d sure had enough of that. In fact, that was probably the reason she was late. He sighed over this tiny window of hope.

  “Maybe. I’m not really sure.”

  Wally waved to Adam and pointed at his watch. Adam nodded and held up a finger for one more minute. Wally nodded and ducked back into the tent.

  “I’m getting the evil eye here, so I better go.”

  “Okay, well good luck with the shoot.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  “Bye.” The words, “I love you,” were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t say them. Aw hell. He felt like a jerk. She might be having his kid, and he was too chicken to say, I love you. He tossed the rest of the cookie into the river.

  He pocketed his phone and followed Wally into the tent. If he wanted to see Marti, he needed to make it happen. “Hey Wally, got a sec?”

  “Sure, Adam. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m exhausted, but what’s new? Actually, I wanted to ask you about something that might help me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Do we have any free days coming up? I know the New York commitments are winding down. Is there a day and a half or two that I could take a quick break?”

  Wally eyed him. Adam had never asked for anything before, and he hoped his manager would sense his desperation.

  “Let’s see.” Wally opened his binder and paged through. “We should wrap up the video tonight. SNL is tomorrow night. After that, we have a couple of interviews, approval of new cover art, and some other business stuff.” He turned the page. “The two days after that, you’re all in Boston. I hear your parents are going to get a place there. They’re moving home base from San Antonio to Boston.”

  “What? Where’d you hear that?” That was news to Adam. His parents never mentioned a word about moving, and their secrets were beginning to piss him off.

  His dad walked in. Speak of the devil. He had suffered a heart attack a year ago, but was back to his stubborn, domineering self.

  “You’re moving us to Boston, and no one bothered to tell me?”

  “Didn’t I mention it?” His dad shuffled through some papers without bothering to look at Adam.

  “No, you didn’t mention it. Don’t I ever get a say in anything?”

  His father paused and focused his gray eyes on Adam. “What would you say? Why do you care all of a sudden?”

  Garrett and their mom walked in.

  “I happen to care a lot! And I’m tired of being treated like a third-rate citizen in this family.”

  “You’re only sixteen. What’d you expect?” Garrett interrupted. “Are we gonna finish this scene or not?”

  Adam held up his hand. “I expect to be treated equally. I’m one third of this band. I think I’ve earned the right to be in on major decisions. You force me to sit in on stupid meetings for book pitches and choosing cover photos and then you exclude me from something as important as where I live!”

  “I’m sorry, Adam. You never seemed to care either way about most things,” Mom said.

  “I care now! And so it’s clear, I’m not going to Boston with you. I’m going to see a friend in LA!”

  He stormed out, not caring that he left his family standing there in shock. It was about time they started taking him seriously.

  * * *

  Marti decided to stay out of Courtney’s way for the next couple days. Marti would rather hide out in her room than deal with Courtney, the soul sucking celebutante wannabe. So Marti settled in for marathon TV. Thanks to her dad’s media system, she could get constant streaming of Pretty Little Liars and Toddlers and Tiaras. She texted with Adam whenever he had a quick break, which didn’t seem often. Last time they’d talked, he sounded frustrated. Neither of them were doing what they wanted any more, and the fear of her being pregnant weighed heavier each day.

  Annoyed by the latest episode about a five-year-old screaming for more gummi bears instead of a spray tan, Marti turned off the TV and grabbed her camera. She had told Adam about her car, but she hadn’t sent him a picture.

  In the great room, she found her dad parked in his regular spot. The room reeked of marijuana. He lounged, glazed over at some show about hoarders, while munching on sour cream and onion potato chips.

  Marti didn’t bother to say hi as he seemed too zoned out to notice her anyway. She passed through the mudroom to the garage, opened the door, and, with a happy spring in her step, headed for her new car. She loved her cute, yellow convertible, but when she came around the side of her dad’s silver Hummer, she found her new car and a sight so disturbing she wanted to gag!

  Courtney and Nigel humping like monkeys against her car!

  Chapter 19

  “Oh my god!” She couldn’t keep the disgust from her voice.

  Nigel’s pants hung down, exposing his pale, hairy ass. Courtney sat on the hood of the car with her skirt hiked up and her legs wrapped around him. Marti wanted to scrub her eyes with bleach.

  They stopped copulating and looked up in surprise. Courtney pushed Nigel away, and yanked down her tiny skirt.

  “What the fuck are you doing nosing around?” she snapped.

  It took a moment for Marti to find her words. There was just too much to say. Marti stared, unable to digest that a brother and sister would have sex. It was too sick for words. Not to mention, Courtney was dating her dad!

  “You guys are seriously messed up!” She wanted to throw up.

  “Shut your trap. You are such an idiot. He’s not my brother. Obviously.” Courtney adjusted her boobs back into place.

  “He’s not?” Marti looked from one to the other.

  “Of course not.”

  Nigel zipped and buckled his pants. He didn’t seem to care that Marti discovered him with Courtney.

  “But why would you say he is?” How warped could a person be?

  Courtney shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Are you really that stupid?”

  Marti then realized that Courtney had told everyone Nigel was her brother so she could spend time with him here, at her dad’s place. “You are a horrible person! Wait until my dad hears this!” Courtney had crossed the line big time. It was bad enough she cheated on Marti’s dad with Jack, but now Nigel too!

  Courtney stepped forward. “Don’t even think about running to Daddy. You’re going to turn around, go back in the house and crawl into a hole somewhere. You aren’t going to breathe a word of this to anyone.”

  Hell yes I am!

  “No. You’re not!” Courtney said, as if she read Marti’s thoughts. “Because if you do tell, some unfortunate little incidents will start coming your way. Wouldn’t it be terrible if you woke up some morning with your hair cut off? Or if a little battery acid splashed in your face?”

  Marti recoiled. Courtney was evil in every sense of the world. What was wrong with the woman?

  “That’s right. You’re going to go back in the house and not breathe a word. And you’re going to leave your car keys on the counter for me so I can borrow your car for a few days.”

  Marti shot Courtney a mutinous look. No way in hell was she going to let Courtney take her new car.

  “Now, now. It would be a real tragedy if you found your precious cat floating dead in the pool. Wouldn’t it?” Courtney said with a hideous purr.

  “You bitch!”

  “Think carefully before you say anything you’ll regret. So many nasty things could happen.” She snapped her fingers in the air and then looked at Marti’s camera. “All your treasures could just disappear.”

  Marti gripped her came
ra tighter.

  “Off you go. Go back to your little cave.” Courtney waved her away.

  Dumbstruck as to what to do, Marti obeyed. Courtney was more malicious than Marti could have imagined. And she wouldn’t put it past Courtney to follow through with her threats.

  Marti robotically returned to the house and the great room. She stood, frozen, still unsure what to do. There was a mad woman in the garage, and her dad should know, but she didn’t want to take a chance that Courtney would flip out and hurt her or Kahlua.

  “What’s up?” her dad said, all mellowed out.

  “Hey,” she said, trying to keep her voice even and her hands from shaking.

  As Marti contemplated what to do, Courtney sauntered in. She passed Marti and delivered an evil stare, then bent over Marti’s dad and gave him a big sloppy kiss. Marti turned her head in disgust.

  Nigel slithered in, lit up a cigarette, and watched Marti from the patio door. She could tell by the look in his eye that he loved Courtney’s manipulation.

  “Hi, honey,” Courtney cooed to Marti’s dad. “Listen, we’ve got the movie premiere tonight, and I really need a new pair of earrings. Do you want to come shopping with Nigel and me?”

  “No, you go ahead. Unless Martini wants to go.” He glanced up at Marti.

  “No!” God no! She couldn’t believe he’d even suggest it!

  “Are you sure? It’d be fun! We could get mani’s and pedi’s too.” Courtney batted her eyes, feigning innocence. Marti wanted to out her right then and there but didn’t have the guts.

  “Nope, I’ve got stuff to do,” Marti said as nicely as she could manage, which wasn’t very.

  “Aw, too bad. Well, then do you mind if I borrow your car? Mine’s got a bad clunk, and I’m afraid it’ll break down.”

  Marti held her breath. She did not want that cheating skank in her car, or her dirty boyfriend. She looked to her dad to see if he’d defend her and her car, but instead he nodded off. “Um… yeah, I guess so.” Marti hated that woman more than she had ever hated anyone.