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Wait. Is that myhouse?
“…home of Lexie Steele, who made headlines yesterday after an altercation with actress Violet King,” the reporter is saying. The picture changes to the footage of me charging at Violet. A ripple of discomfort rolls around the room, as everyone tries to figure out what the appropriate facial expression is for this very unusual set of circumstances.
“Look, Lexie, that’s you,” says Ian, who is going with ‘unbridled enthusiasm’. I swear to God Asher actually bares his teeth at him in a kind of snarl, which I’m too distracted by the TV screen to give the attention it deserves.
In the corner of the room, Violet starts sobbing loudly. Jett flinches slightly, then goes to comfort her. I would quite happily fall down and die at this, but then the picture on the screen changes again, and we’re back outside my cottage, where the reporter has been joined by an older man, for some reason.
“And was that the moment you recognized her?” the journalist asks, pushing a large, furry microphone into his face. “Is that when you knew who she was?”
“That’s right,” says the man, who’s not sure whether he should be looking at the camera or the reporter . “I saw it on the news, and I knew right away. ‘That’s Lexie,’ I said to my wife. ‘That’s her. That’s my daughter.’”
Eight
“Lexie, wait!”
I’m somehow outside The Crown, without knowing exactly how I got here. I’m still wearing my apron, and I’ve left my bag inside, but it doesn’t matter. Not even the look of undisguised triumph Violet shot me as I ran past her in a panic has the power to upset me now. All that matters is that I get home as quickly as I possibly can, so I can figure out what the hell is going on here.
“Lexie!”
I turn round to find Jett right behind me, his forehead creased in a frown. For a split second, I think about throwing myself into his arms, and letting him hold me, and tell me everything’s going to be okay… but then I see Violet come running out of the building after him, and I just turn away instead and start walking as fast as I can in the direction of home.
“Lexie, stop! Just wait, will you? Violet, can you give us a second here? Please?”
He’s still following me. I look over my shoulder, wondering whythishas to be the moment he decides he wants to talk.
Ever heard of timing, Jett?
But Violet has stopped walking, and is hovering in the doorway of the pub, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. That changes things.
Well, if Violet isn’t going to be part of this conversation…
I stop and turn around, wishing I was wearing heels, so I could at least look him in the eye rather than having to gaze up at him like a lost puppy.
“Are… are you okay?” Jett asks, when I don’t speak. “That news thing… was that for real? It was kind of wild, if so?”
“Yeah. Kind of wild,” I agree, not knowing what else to say. “I guess that’s one way to put it when your long-lost dad decides to come forward at last.”
My legs are trembling. It feels weird just saying those words out loud. But that’s what he called himself — the man on the news. My “long-last father”, who apparently saw me go viral on TikTok yesterday and recognized me right away, even after all these years.
Even after having never met me in his life before.
I think I smell a rat. And I’m not just saying that because we happen to be standing next to the huge waste bin used by The Crown.
“Is he for real, though?” Jett asks again. “Your dad, deciding to try to find you now? That’s—?”
“Insane?” I finish for him. “Completely and utterly crazy? Most likely completely fictional? All of the above?”
Jett nods, thoughtfully.
“It’s pretty strange,” he says cautiously. “What are you going to do about it?”
I shrug. I ran out of The Crown before the news report had even ended. I did it without even thinking. I just wanted to get out of there. Now that I’ve had a few minutes to calm down, though, I realize I don’t have a clue what to do next.
I wish he would tell me. There was a time not so long ago when he was the only person in the world I could have trusted to tell me what to do here. But now he’s not… which means I’m on my own.
Again.
“Go home, I guess,” I say, trying to sound as if I’m totally fine about this. “I don’t expect he’ll still be there by now. That news item was filmed in daylight, and it’s already dark now. So, I don’t know. I suppose I need to talk to Mum first, to see what she’s got to say about it. But I…”
