Also by Mandy Baggot
One Last Greek Summer
My Greek Island Summer
One Christmas Star
That First French Summer
Summer by the Lake
Safe for Summer
One Summer in Nashville
One Night on Ice
SAFE FOR SUMMER
Mandy Baggot
AN IMPRINT OF HEAD OF ZEUS
www.ariafiction.com
First published in the United Kingdom in 2013 by HarperImpulse
This edition first published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Mandy Baggot, 2020
The moral right of Mandy Baggot to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781789546347
Cover design © Cherie Chapman
Aria
c/o Head of Zeus
First Floor East
5–8 Hardwick Street
London EC1R 4RG
www.ariafiction.com
Contents
Welcome Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Become an Aria Addict
Life is what you make it; you can be anything or anyone you want to be. Who do you want to be? Who do you want people to think you are? Public perception is everything. Have you got a game face? Do you want one? What if you have one and you’ve forgotten how to switch it off? Working in the music industry gets you like that. You work hard, you play hard, you smile when you don’t feel like smiling, you wear shoes that are too tight and make you walk like you’ve got a venereal disease. You shop when you don’t need new clothes, you party when you want to be asleep, you date people you hate because it might get you column inches, and you tell people you love them when, really, you would kill them if you thought you could get away with it. Fabrication, sensationalism, and as many publicity stunts as you can manage all help to build the perfect career. But when you go home and shut the door, what do you do? Who are you then? And when the superficial relationships bite the dust, who’s really got your back?
One
‘So, you’ve got a spot at London Gold FM tomorrow morning at ten, followed by lunch with Juan at twelve. I’ve asked him to take you to that new Spanish restaurant. Apparently, the press are still around it like crazy, and it will do you good to get as many photo-ops in as possible. Then you’ve got the studio from two-thirty until five. Then it’s another art gallery opening, I’m afraid.’
‘Another art gallery? Really?’
‘Yes, but this one is sponsored by Lafarge—big pop star in the early Nineties. It will do your image good to be there. And you know how important it is to appear well-rounded.’
Well-rounded everywhere apart from your stomach, butt, and thighs. There, there, and there it was required to be pencil-thin, unless you were Beyoncé. Autumn Raine picked another chocolate chip from her muffin and put it on the side of her plate with the four she had set out earlier.
‘I admit, the spot on the cooking show and possibly the gardening program might have been overkill,’ Janey said, flicking her mane of blonde hair over one shoulder. The personal assistant smiled before sinking her teeth into a caramel slice without concern.
Autumn watched her friend chomp down on the cake, enjoying every crumb, and licking sauce from her lips in abandon. Autumn looked at her muffin—torn apart, played with, none of it eaten. She pushed the plate away.
‘Is everything okay?’ Janey asked, wiping her fingers on a napkin.
‘Yes, of course,’ Autumn lied.
She put her hands in her lap and started to count up her fingers, saying the numbers in her head as she passed by each digit in turn. One… two… three… four… five.
‘Is it Juan?’ Janey continued, speaking of Autumn’s boyfriend.
‘No, of course not.’
‘I think he’s worried about his new album. He said something the other day about perfecting everything, and I think it’s stressing him out. He needs this album to really make it,’ Janey told her.
‘Oh,’ Autumn replied, looking back at the muffin.
‘Has he played you the demo? It’s going to be a hit, you know, if he gets big financial backing,’ Janey said.
‘He’s in talks, isn’t he? With Life Musique?’
‘Yes but—’
‘What time is it?’ Autumn asked, her eyes still trained on the cake.
‘Almost eleven,’ Janey responded. She took a look at her watch.
‘I’ve got to go, I’m meeting my mother,’ Autumn said, getting to her feet.
‘What? But that isn’t in your schedule today. You’re supposed to be meeting with someone from the record company about promo events for the IMAs,’ Janey exclaimed, calling up a document on her iPad.
The International Music Awards. Wow, it was at least five minutes since Janey had last mentioned them.
‘She called me earlier, said it was important. You know what she’s like,’ Autumn said. She straightened her cloche hat, tucking her red hair behind her ears.
‘Yes, I know what she’s like, but you’ve got appointments to keep to, a tight schedule that I’m in charge of. What am I going to say to this Ben from the record company?’ Janey asked.
Janey was doing her annoyed look again. She pouted when she was cross, and she tapped whatever was at hand. Today it was the spoon from her coffee.
‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,
