Chapter 14
The entire clan gathered on the end of the jetty to bid farewell to Wilson with promises that they would see one another again soon.
Lily and Nicola would be in LA in just six months, and six months would fly by.
At the first glimpse of the ferry chugging around the headland, Wilson began a solemn round of hugging each and every family member a little too warmly and too long, so that he hadn’t even finished by the time the ferry was banging up against the steps.
Lily, who just happened to be hauling luggage when it was her turn for a hug, fended him off with one of his own suitcases.
“I’ll just take this down for you!” she chirped as she pushed past him. But he followed her, and as soon as she dropped the suitcase on the ferry deck, he clasped one of her hands in both of his and pulled her close with a meaningful stare.
“Bye!” she squeaked and kissed the air beside him.
He was so surprised that she was able to slip away and make good her escape.
“Bye, family!” he shouted from the open doorway as the ferry lurched off. “See you soon!” And he winked and pointed and touched a fist to his heart in a horrifying display that was very clearly aimed at Lily.
“Un-be-freaking-lievable,” muttered Lydia. “You totally could have had that,” she accused Lily. “Now what have you got? Nothing.”
Lily and Juliet did their best not to laugh.
“Look at the two of you. Couldn’t catch a guy in a brothel.”
“Mum!”
“You’re gorgeous, you’re young, the pair of you should be getting it on every night of the week, but no. You had to scare them off, didn’t you, with your stupid friend-zone attitude. And you”—she turned on Juliet—“there is such a thing as too nice.”
“She didn’t scare him off, Mum.”
“And now you’re miserable and alone, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak year of work and getting older.”
The girls looked at each other and repressed bubbling laughter.
“Oh, Aunty Lydia,” said Juliet. “We’ve only just finished school!”
“We’re young, we’re still excited by life’s rich tapestry!” laughed Lily.
“She’s not.” Lydia tilted her head at Juliet.
“Of course I am!” Juliet protested smilingly. “I’m here at Pippi—my favorite place in the world!”
Lydia just grunted gloomily and stomped back to the house. She always had an attack of grumpiness after New Year’s, but the stars’ abrupt departure had hit her particularly hard.
For all Juliet’s protestations, Lily could see that her mother was right.
Juliet was really down about Casey. Her gap year, which she had been happy to keep flexible and free, now seemed empty and long.
Juliet texted Cecilia several times, but the replies were vague and late.
She was too polite to ask for Casey’s number directly and Cecilia hadn’t offered it.
She followed him on social media but so did twenty-three million others and she doubted he even looked at it.
“Cecilia’s in charge of it, remember,” said Lily as she tried to comfort Juliet. “And I bet it’s Dorian who tells her what to do. They’re probably freezing you out deliberately and Casey has no idea.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” protested Juliet. “He’s just busy, that’s all. And you know what he’s like—so spontaneous and haphazard—he’ll call when he can.”
Casey was easily distractible, it was true—and just as easily influenced, Lily thought.
“He would have called you already if Dorian and Cecilia weren’t in the way.”
“You are so funny. Like it’s a fiendish plot.”
“Nothing short of a fiendish plot could possibly keep you apart!”
Juliet laughed, but it was a small laugh that quickly subsided. “I don’t like to think they could be that mean,” she said.
But Lily had no doubts about how mean people could be or how easily they could walk over other people for their own advancement.
She was sure that Cecilia and Dorian were behind Casey’s silence.
Juliet and the whole Pippi community were nothing to them.
She trawled through their social media—always the brand names, the curated beauty, the calculated appearance of spontaneity.
Of course, Dorian didn’t post that much.
He didn’t have to; he was already at the peak of popularity.
But it was clear that Cecilia was striving for more and more followers and attention.
With Casey’s best friend leading from above and his sister pushing from below, it was impossible for him to escape the constant pursuit of fame, money, and status.
Because, Lily thought grimly, if you’re not climbing, you’re on your way down.
Pippi was a diversion and a good photo op. Not much more.
Despite the shadow cast by Casey’s departure, the summer was still summering on. And when Wilson departed and the French backpackers returned to work, there was plenty of fun to be had with lunchtime swimming off the jetty and knock-off drinks on the green or the deck.
Alex, Theo, and friends were now regular guests at the beachfront house and Lily was more than happy to join them, especially when Alex was around.
Clever, fun, easy on the eye, he never failed to make her laugh.
They became such particular friends that everyone assumed they would get together.
But he didn’t make any moves, and Lily, for her part, was grateful for it.
She probably wouldn’t have said no, but she didn’t feel strongly enough about him to start anything herself.
She was happy to enjoy his company with no expectation or pressure for more.
With Wilson and the cliff house people gone, they saw each other practically every day, and Alex was now free to let the gossip fly.
He confirmed what everyone was already thinking about the movie business: Wilson was insignificant, his big movie-producer boss Stacy Black was an absolute nightmare, and Dorian Khan was a prime, stuck-up roast-on-a-spit.
Alex told stories about Stacy’s demands and Dorian’s ego that had them all roaring with laughter.
The stories even made Lily feel better by proving to her that she’d been right about Dorian Khan all along and people with money were, when it came down to it, more likely to be terrible than anyone else.