Johnny's Girl by Paige Toon Page A

way I left it. Too many bad memories. They still haunt me.
    ‘Why don’t we have breakfast here?’ Johnny asks suddenly.
    ‘Oh, I didn’t think of that.’ I just assumed we’d walk to the restaurant. ‘Do you think it’s too late?’
    ‘I’ll call them,’ he replies casually, wandering over to the desk phone.
    Silly me. This is Johnny Jefferson we’re talking about. He always gets what he wants.
    In the end.
    Yep, he got me too, eventually. But I made him work for it. I slide the glass door open and step out onto the private deck, which is suspended over the grass-carpeted cliffs below. The ocean
stretches out before me, deep blue underneath a pale blue, cloudless sky. I sit down on a sun-lounger and pull up the hem of my dress, letting the warm morning sun soak into my legs. It’s
been a bitterly cold winter back in England. It feels like it’s gone on and on and on. It was pouring with rain when we left – absolutely bloody miserable.
    I take a deep breath of the cool spring air and slowly exhale. We’re in Big Sur at my favourite resort of all time, the Post Ranch Inn. I came here for the first time with Johnny when I
had only recently started as his PA. I stayed in a Tree House then, with views of trees and the Santa Lucia mountains beyond, while Johnny stayed in an Ocean House. Now we’re in a Cliff
House, with a secluded terrace and our own private spa tub. I glance at it now and smirk as I remember how, er,
hot
we got in there last night.
    We flew here by helicopter yesterday morning. Johnny usually prefers to drive the mountain roads, but he doesn’t have any of his supercars in America anymore, and anyway, we didn’t
want to use up our time travelling when we’re only away from the kids for such a short stay.
    My parents have been wanting to come to America for years, so they jumped at the chance when Johnny offered to fly them over from the South of France for a three week holiday in return for
babysitting the kids for a couple of days. We had to put it to them like that, otherwise they would have felt like they were taking advantage of his generosity. They still offered to pay for their
own flights, but Johnny wouldn’t hear of it.
    ‘Drop in the ocean, Nutmeg, drop in the ocean.’
    He teases me with this catchphrase anytime I think twice about buying anything.
    ‘All sorted,’ he says as he steps out onto the deck behind me.
    ‘Cool, well done,’ I reply.
    He touches my cheek and then comes to sit on the sun-lounger next to me. Raking his hand through his dirty blond hair, he looks out through the glass surrounding the deck at the water beyond. I
smile at him.
    ‘Nice, eh?’
    He keeps his eyes on the view. ‘Beautiful,’ he says under his breath.
    ‘You alright?’ I ask, sensing his thoughtful mood.
    He glances across at me and narrows his eyes. ‘Don’t you miss it?’
    ‘What? Big Sur?’
    He shrugs. ‘Yeah. LA. America. The weather.’
    ‘No…’ I reply hesitantly. ‘I mean, I love
this
…’ I indicate our surroundings and the sunshine. ‘But, I don’t know…’ My lips
turn down. ‘It
has
been nice coming back,’ I say carefully. ‘It’s been better.’ I flash him a small smile and he looks momentarily pained, but then he leans
across and presses a kiss to my temple.
    ‘I love you,’ he says meaningfully, staring into my brown eyes.
    ‘I know,’ I reply with a wry grin.
    ‘Come here.’ He tugs on my arm and pulls me on top of him. He pushes my light-blonde hair off my face with his rough fingers, which are calloused from years of playing his guitar.
‘Happy anniversary,’ he murmurs.
    ‘Happy anniversary,’ I reply with a smile.
    We couldn’t get away for our actual anniversary. This is our belated celebration, and it was worth waiting for.
    ‘You make me so happy,’ he says. My insides swell with happiness and contentment and I slide down a little so I can lay my face against his chest. His strong arms encircle me and I
bask in his