No Matter What (36 page)

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

She closed her eyes as he kissed her, slowly and so gently it made her skin tingle.
 
She’d never tire of this; she’d never, ever tire of this.

He jumped up and pulled her into his arms.
 
“Let’s go shopping.”

She looked at him.
 
“
You
want to go shopping?
 
Are you feeling alright?”

“Baby stuff.
 
Let’s go shopping for baby stuff.
 
We’ve got to make a start sometime and they’ve got some great stores in this city.”

“You want to go shopping for baby stuff?
 
Michael, if people see us even browsing round anything baby related they’re going to put two and two together and come up with the right answer.”

He tilted her face up to look at him, quickly kissing her.
 
“And would that be such a bad thing?”

Yes
, she wanted to say.
 
Yes, it was a bad thing because she didn’t want the rest of the world knowing when she still had to get used to the idea herself.
 
She couldn’t cope with all the questions; she didn’t want to have to just yet.
 

“Can’t we just wait, Michael?
 
Please?
 
A couple more weeks.
 
Just a couple more weeks.”

He smiled, sensing her reluctance to put this out in the open so soon.
 
“Ok, you’re right, we should wait a bit.
 
I just want to tell the world that’s all.
 
I want everyone to know.”

She reached up and gently stroked his cheek, smiling too.
 
“I know you do. And you can do that, I promise you can do that but, not now, not here.
 
Let’s just make the most of this time on our own because once this gets out they’re going to be watching us every time we step outside the front door, and I’m quite liking that not happening here.
 
I’m quite liking it being just you and me.”

She already knew that when this baby arrived it would cease to be just her and Michael.
 
It would no longer be just the two of them and she also knew that in the world they lived in, once the press and media got hold of the news, then it would also stop being just
India
and Michael.
 
It would become
India
, Michael and their baby, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet.
 
She wasn’t ready to share him.

He pulled her against him, his hands resting on her hips, his mouth moving closer to hers as he spoke.
 
“Yeah ... I’m quite liking that too.”
 
He kissed her quickly.
 
“Maybe shopping’s a bad idea.”

She pulled away from him and smiled.
 
“Hey, I never actually said
shopping
was a bad idea, mister.
 
I just said
baby
shopping was a bad idea.
 
But, I could really do with some new boots ... and I haven’t bought a new handbag since the summer ... yeah, I could really do with a new handbag.”

He laughed as she ran off into the hall, grabbing her coat and throwing his jacket and hat at him.

“There you go, Mikey.
 
Let’s get out of here.”

He put his jacket on and she ran back over to him, pushing his hat down onto his head.

“Handbags.
 
We’re going shopping for handbags.”
 
But he had that smile on his face that said he didn’t really care where they went.
 
He just wanted her to be happy.

“Well,
you
were the one who suggested shopping,” she said innocently, grabbing his hand and leading him out into the hall, turning round to face him.
 
“And if you’re a
really
good boy we can even buy something for
you
.”

“What
I
want doesn’t cost money,” he grinned, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her against him.

“Well, you’re going to have to wait for that, Michael, because I’ve now got my heart set on that handbag.”
 
She kissed him quickly, slipping her hand into his and dragging him down the hall.
 
“Come on, let’s go.”

“And if I let you have anything you want?”

She turned round and smiled.
 
“Then I’ll repay the favour as soon as we get home.”

He smiled too.
 
“Promise?”
 

She squeezed his hand.
 
“Oh yes.
 
I definitely promise.”

***

1997 was just a few days old and Reece had more than a hangover – he had Terry on his back, constantly.
 
Christmas had come and gone and still he hadn’t found the right time to tell
India
the truth.
 
There’d been too many people about, too much going on, and she looked too happy for him just to wade on in there with what he had to tell her.
 
They were all nothing but excuses according to Terry and he was probably right.
 
It was almost as if he was looking for as many excuses as he could in order to avoid telling her.
 
She was pregnant for Gods’ sake, how could he drop this bombshell on her now?
 
But, on the other hand, she was having his grandchild.
 
Shouldn’t she know that?
 
Shouldn’t she be able to have her dad with her through all this?

He sat at the table in his trailer, his head in his hands.
 
Starting work on a new movie was turning out to be a welcome distraction but he knew that if he let it distract him too much from what he still had a duty to do, then Terry was going to take that responsibility out of his hands and tell her himself.
 
He’d threatened as much and what could Reece do?
 
Terry only wanted what was best for his sister, and she needed to know.
 
But Reece just couldn’t work out how to break the news.
 
How did you tell someone – someone that you didn’t even know had existed until a few years ago, someone whose complete childhood you missed out on – how did you tell them, completely out of the blue, that you’re their father?

He pushed his hands through his hair and sighed, sitting back in his chair.
 
He had to be in make-up in five minutes and he wondered if he should call
India
.
 
He was missing her.
 
He hoped Michael was taking care of his little girl because she was growing more precious to Reece by the day.
 
To all intents and purposes he was the only real parent she had, Angie obviously didn’t care about her.
 
She’d got what
she’d
wanted.
 
India
had been nothing but a tool to her, a way to make money and then discard when she was no longer useful.
 
So why couldn’t he just tell her?
 
Why couldn’t he just say what he should have said months ago?

He picked up the ‘phone and dialled the number of Michael’s
Manhattan
apartment, feeling his heart sink when there was no answer.
 
They were probably out seeing the city.
 
He knew
India
had been to
New York
a few times before but that had always been work related.
 
She’d never really had a chance to see it properly and Michael knew the place well, they were bound to be out and about.
 
Or still in bed.
 
He tried not to think about that side of
India
’s relationship with Michael.
 
He was only a few years older than Michael Walsh, and although he was a good man and Reece liked him, it was still hard for Reece to imagine them together in that way.
 
Seeing it up on the big screen had been uncomfortable enough for him when they’d made that movie together a few years back but knowing it was all real now - well, what father
does
want to know about that side of their daughter’s life?
 
She was happy, that was all he cared about.
 
She was happy and she was safe and she was loved.

He put the receiver down and stood up, going over to where he’d flung his jacket over the arm of the sofa.
 
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a photograph of
India
.
 
It was a publicity photograph and she was looking straight at the camera; smiling.
 
She looked so beautiful.
 
No wonder Michael had fallen in love with her. Who could
 
blame him?

He looked closely at the photograph.
 
She had his mouth, it was so obvious to him now, and when she smiled there were hints of him there in her face.
 
Couldn’t anyone else see it?

He put the photograph back in his pocket and looked in the mirror.
 
He was extremely handsome, fifty years old but still very much the
Hollywood
leading man. His hair was greying slightly and there were a few more lines round the eyes than he would have liked but it was something nobody could avoid – he was getting older.
 
He didn’t have any more time to waste.
 
If he wanted to make things up to
India
then he was going to have to stop telling himself that he couldn’t do this when he knew he could.
 
It was all very well having her in his life but what he really wanted was his daughter.
 
It was up to him to go out there and get her and that’s exactly what he intended to do.
 
When she was back from
New York
he’d make it his priority to tell her what she needed to hear.
 
Before something or somebody else got in the way.

***

“So, how far forward are we then?” Terry asked Kenny as they sat in a dimly lit bar on Sunset Boulevard.

“Well, I’ve done a bit of asking around and as far as I can gather, neither Jimmy nor Charley were at his
L.A.
home over Christmas or New Year.
 
The last time they were seen there was Thanksgiving.”

“So, we know where Jimmy Cash lives then?”

“Yeah, but that’s not much use if she isn’t there, is it?
 
Besides, he’s got houses all over the place –
Miami
,
New York
, Dallas, even one in
Switzerland
.”

“And we don’t know if they’re at any of them?”

Kenny shook his head.
 
“No.
 
They could be anywhere.
 
I’m just drawing blanks.”

Terry sighed, sitting back in his seat and draining the last of his beer.
 
Kenny noticed this and stood up.

“Refill?”

Terry nodded and watched as Kenny made his way over to the bar, wondering if this whole Charley thing had been such a good idea.
 
It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
 
Kenny was doing his best with the contacts he had but nobody seemed to know anything.
 
Or they weren’t saying.
 
It was like she’d just disappeared off the face of the earth.
 
How the hell had she got herself into this almighty mess?
 
What was the matter with her?

Part of him wished he’d walked away when he’d had the chance but he knew he could never have done that, not really.
 
Not once he’d heard what was going on.
 
He couldn’t just walk away knowing she was out there.
 
He had no real choice but to find her and bring her home, and he was determined to get the old Charley back.
 
He’d thought of nothing else over Christmas, and what with this and trying to get Reece to just tell
India
the truth before he had to do it himself, he had a constant headache.
 
He couldn’t wait to get back to work to get some form of distraction away from the mixed-up real-life he was currently stuck in the middle of.

Kenny sat back down, sticking two more bottles of beer down on the table.

“I called home,” Terry said.
 
“Called a few of her friends back in the
U.K.
but no-one’s seen or heard from her in ages.
 
Years in some cases.
 
It was a shot in the dark but worth a try.”

“Anything’s worth a try.”
 
Kenny could see this was getting to Terry now. “But you’re not just doing this for
India
, are you?”

Terry looked at him and shook his head.
 
“No.
 
I suppose I’m not.
 
I loved her once, Kenny.
 
Oh, not the Charley that’s out there now, I don’t even
know
her, but ... maybe if we can just get her away from whatever it is she’s involved with then ... then maybe I can get the old Charley back.”