But she just pressed on.
"You've slept with her," she blurted. And even as tears spilled down her cheeks, a wash of warm relief swept over him. "You've actually slept with Adele."
Mrs. Robinson
"Jane--"
"No." I hold up my hand, my palm itching to slap him.
"Dammit, Jane, just listen to me."
"Honestly, Dallas, I'm really not in the mood." There's a cab moving slowly down the street, and I flag it. "You take the car. Enjoy the drive. Hell, maybe Adele needs a lift."
I almost regret saying the last when I see the hurt on his face. Then I remember that he hurt me first. I slam the cab door shut and tell the driver to take me to the Upper West Side.
On the way, my phone rings five times, each call from Dallas.
I send each one to voicemail. And then, for good measure, I delete the voicemails.
Jerk.
I mean, what the hell? He's more than willing to tell me he's slept with a zillion vapid women and yet he never thought to mention that he was fucking my stepmother?
Granted, she wasn't technically my stepmother, but that little fact didn't lessen the hurt.
I'm still pissed when I get home and my phone rings again. I'm about to just turn off the damn phone altogether when I realize the call isn't from Dallas but from the guy in LA who's producing the movie.
"Joel, I'm here."
"Janie, Janie, sweetheart, Tarpin's over the moon. Loves the material. Loves you. Everyone at the studio's excited about him. He's ready to sign on."
"Seriously? I was just talking about him and the movie tonight. That's so incredible."
"Just one little thing. He wants to meet you first."
"Me?"
"Since the screenplay's not done, he wants to chat a bit. Make sure he's confident in the direction of the story."
"And the book's not enough for him?"
Joel chuckles. "Baby, this is Hollywood. Just meet us at The Ivy at ten tomorrow for breakfast and all will be good."
I start to tell him that I'm in New York, but what the hell. It's not like I really want to be here at the moment anyway. And if I set up the flight right now, I c
an nap on the plane and still have time to go to my LA house, shower, then change before the meeting.
"Fine," I say. "I'll see you at ten."
I hang up and immediately call Brody. "Hey," I say when he answers, "I have to go to LA tonight so I can meet an actor for a breakfast meeting."
"Tonight? It's already past ten. You'll never get a flight."
"One of the perks of my family name," I remind him. "Nice, comfy private jet. Anyway, I just wanted you to know because I think I'm going to stay out there awhile and work on the screenplay and the new book."
There is a very loud pause from his side of the phone line.
"You want to talk about it?"