“No,” I say with resolve. “I want to find my dad. I want to make up with Suze. I want to hug Minnie. I want to do anything but go inside.”
“Really?” He meets my eyes—and I can see he’s asking me a bigger question. The same question he was asking me before. It seems so long ago now.
“Really.” I nod. “It’s … it’s over.”
“OK, then.” His eyes soften. “OK.” He takes my hand, and slowly we start to walk back down the empty red carpet.
They talk about rose-tinted spectacles. Well, I think I’ve had red-carpet-tinted spectacles. I mean, this red carpet is actually quite tatty, now it’s empty of celebrities. As Luke and I walk along, hand in hand, there are cameras still banked along the barriers, but we have the carpet to ourselves. It reminds me of strolling along the Walk of Fame, weeks ago, when we were new to L.A. and it was a big adventure ahead of us. I can’t believe how much has happened since then.
“I need to build bridges with my mother,” says Luke.
“Yes, you do.” I nod. “And you will. It’ll be wonderful. Luke, you should see your mum with Minnie. They’re amazing! They’re actually very similar.”
“I can imagine.” He shoots me a wry smile, and I have a sudden vision of sitting with Luke and Elinor and Minnie: a happy family round the tea table. It’ll happen, I tell myself. Soon. Everything will change.
“Buy her a jigsaw,” I suggest. “She loves jigsaws.”
“OK.” Luke smiles. “I’ll do that. Or maybe I should buy her a hundred. I have a lot to put right.”
“Oh God, so do I.” I wince as all my troubles flood back into my brain. Suze … Tarquin … my dad … “I had this big row with Suze.” I wring his hand. “It was awful. She’s really angry with me—”
“Becky.” He cuts me off gently. “Listen. I have to tell you something. Suze is here.”
“What?” I turn my head, puzzled. “What do you mean? Where?”
“I left the car a few streets away. She’s parked there right now. She wants to drive into the desert after your father, and she wants you to come too.”
“What?” I stare at him. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. When I told her where I was going, she begged to come along with me. If I didn’t succeed, she was going to come and drag you out of the premiere herself.”
“But …” I can’t process this. “Into the desert?”
Luke sighs. “Suze is in a real state. We think your father and Tarquin are heading to Las Vegas. Suze is worried about Tarquin, and, to be fair, I think she has good reason to be.”
“Right.” My head is spinning. “So … where are the children?”
“Mitchell is babysitting right now. Obviously we’ll have to decide what the best plan is. We need to get home, work out what we know, put together a route.… And you need to think hard, Becky. I mean, he’s your father. If anyone can figure out where he’s gone …”
“I’ve got that old map of my dad’s.” My mind starts to whir. “We might be able to work out something from that, maybe?”
“Becky!” A voice hails us, and I whip round to see Jeff a few yards away, leaning out of the driver’s window and waving. “I can’t get any closer!”
“Jeff!” I hurry toward his friendly face. Within a minute, both Luke and I are in the backseat of the SUV, and Luke is instructing him on where to go.
“Movie finished early?” says Jeff, as he maneuvers the car out.
“I just decided I’d had enough.”
“Smart.” Jeff nods.
“I did everything I needed to. Except—wait.” I turn to Luke, stricken. “The autographs! I never got any!”
“Becky, it doesn’t matter—”
“It does! I promised Dad I’d get him some autographs, and I haven’t got a single one.” I stare at Luke miserably. “I’m so crap.”
“Sweetheart, it’s not the priority right now—”
“But I promised. And I let him down again.” Remorse is pouring over me. “He wanted Dix Donahue’s autograph, and I never got it, and now I’ve forgotten again, and—”
“You want some signatures? I’ll fill your dad’s book.” Jeff’s voice comes from the front of the car, and I blink in astonishment.
“You will?” I say stupidly.
“You name a celebrity, I’ve worked for them. They all owe me one. I’ll get your autographs.”
“Really?” I say, agog. “Like who?”
“Name a celebrity,” repeats Jeff.
“John Travolta.”
“I couldn’t say.”
“Brad Pitt!”
“I couldn’t say.”
His face is blank, but his eyes are twinkling in the rearview mirror. I think I love Jeff.
“That would be amazing. Thank you so much.” I carefully take out Dad’s precious autograph book and put it on the front passenger seat.
What seems like thirty seconds later, Jeff is pulling up in a side street and Luke is saying, “We’re parked just here. Thank you, Jeff.”
“Bye, Jeff.” I lean over and give him a hug. “You’ve been so wonderful.”
“You’re a nice family,” says Jeff gruffly. “I’ll see you again with those autographs.”
We get out of the SUV and a breeze ruffles my dress. I glance at my reflection in the car window, and my own eyes stare back at me, huge and over-made-up and a bit wired. I suddenly feel really nervous at the idea of seeing Suze. I feel as if I’ve been in some alternate universe. But I can’t run. I can’t dodge this. The car door is opening and she’s getting out.