‘Oh, Mum, I wish you were here,’ I whisper. But then I close my eyes and feel the warmth of the sun tempered by the breeze on my face, and I realise that it’s a foolish thing to say, because again, I feel that she is here.
When I open my eyes again, I notice a man on his own, he is standing up and staring at me. He looks very familiar. I push my sunglasses onto the top of my head and look at him. He’s stepping towards me. It looks like Larry Lemon, the comedian. The comedian’s comedian no less. I look about me, he is definitely walking towards me.
‘Jenny Taylor?’ he says. It is him. I recognise his voice.
I nod and smile. ‘You’re… you’re Larry Lemon. You are, aren’t you?’
‘Yes. Guilty to that, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, my goodness. Your I Probably Shouldn’t DVD is one of my favourite things ever. My best friend bought it for me years ago. I still watch it regularly.’
‘Oh, ho, thank you.’
He looks genuinely chuffed. Larry Lemon is here. I look about for Philippa, because I’m sure she’d like to meet him too, but I can’t get her attention because she’s talking to Dave.
‘Did you know my mum then? From the hospice?’
‘Oh, no, no, I didn’t.’
‘Oh.’
‘I, er, your mum sent me, well my company, a DVD of you doing something called the The Tiddlesbury Tour.’ He chuckles.
‘My mum sent you —’
‘I manage acts now. I haven’t done the stand-up for years. Now I look after a little select group of comedians and presenters.’
‘And my mum sent you…’ I can’t seem to close my mouth.
‘Yes, she was quite the agent.’
‘My mum sent you…’
‘She was very proud of you.’
‘Wow.’
‘She called me first and told me all about you.’ The way he laughs indicates that my mum went on and on and on about me to Larry Lemon. ‘She said she thought you were very talented and she asked me what I recommended. Then she sent the DVD and I thought that you were great so I called her back.’
‘Wow.’
‘I really did think it was a great tape. I’d like you to take my card and call me, we can have a meeting with your friend Philippa. The camera loves the pair of you. I’m sure I could find you work.’
I really should shut my mouth.
‘Jenny, I am so sorry. Forgive me. I got carried away, now is certainly not the time to be talking business. I came along because your mum and I got on so well on the phone that I was going to ask if she wanted to meet face to face.’
‘Like a date?’
‘Well, I suppose so, yes. But then I received the note about the funeral and well, I’m so sorry. But I just… I just felt I should come today.’
‘Oh,’ I say, feeling sad for him and sad for Mum and a bit sad for me too, my mum dating Larry Lemon would have been pretty incredible. ‘That’s rubbish.’
‘Hmmm. Hmmm,’ he agrees. ‘So, anyway, I’ll leave my card with you; when you’re ready and if you’d like to, call me.’
‘Oh, yes, yes,’ I say, taking it. ‘I will, thank you.’ I look down at the card – LL Artist Management. Who’d have thought? I will definitely call him. No more fear. I look up and it’s funny because my gaze instantly finds Joe King and he’s looking at me too. I smile. Not a big beam, because that isn’t in me at the moment, but a little smile that says I’m so glad you are here.
‘Just one thing,’ Larry Lemon says, rousing me from my Joe King thoughts. ‘I just wondered whether… oh, it’s stupid, really…’ He halts, shakes his head, and places his hand in front of his chest as if to stop himself doing something instinctive.
‘What?’
‘Ridiculous question, but your mum, Pam, didn’t… no, no, I’m sure she didn’t… but… your mum, she didn’t ever mention seeing the Rolling Stones at the Reading Festival, did she? By any chance? Years and years ago. So silly looking back on it, but I met a girl there called Pam… and I lost her… silly fool… and I’ve always regretted it because, well, I thought she was wonderful. It only took me a minute to fall in love with her.’
Acknowledgements
Some humungous THANK YOUs are in order! As ever, a big one goes to my amazing dad, for all the time and advice he gives me, from the first ideas to the last edit. Another to Rowan Lawton, my brilliant and lovely agent. And a big fat thank you also goes to Rebecca Saunders, a very special editor and person. The journey of this book has been unconventional, shall we say, which meant that I was a bit (really quite a big bit) of a nightmare for her. I am very, very grateful for all the kindness she showed me.
I had a glorious stint in Bamburgh writing about Jenny Taylor; the warmest of thanks go to Barbara and Charles Baker-Cresswell for putting me up and putting up with me.
Sincere thanks go to a host of amazing people at Sphere/ Little, Brown: Adele Brimacombe, Sophie Burdess, Louise Davies, Charlie King, Carleen Peters, Thalia Proctor, Jo Wickham and Emma Williams.
And last but by no means least, so much gratitude and love to my amazing friend, Dannielle, who helps me through my own dark days with her brilliant advice, irreverant wit and frigging incredible cake.
Is Gracie in love for the very first time?
You know that bit in The X Factor, when the singer tells everyone about the rocky road they travelled to pursue their dream?
Well, that’s Gracie Flowers’ story.
Gracie is very focused for a woman of almost twenty-six. Her favourite book is The 5-Year Plan: Making the Most of Your Life. And her five-year plan is going very well. That is, until she is usurped from her big promotion by a handsome, posh idiot; she is dumped by her boyfriend; and she discovers her loopy mother is facing bankruptcy.
Hormones awry and ice cream over-ordered, a dream Gracie thought she’d buried ten years ago starts to resurface. A dream that reminds her of the girl she used to be and everything she wanted to become.
*
‘Hilarious, sweet and all too relatable. Had me laughing out loud from the first page. Which was embarrassing’ Lindsey Kelk
Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy Page 30
