Free Heartbreaker by Julie Morrigan Page B

the back there,’ she gestured in the direction of the rear lawn. ‘I knew something was up because I wasn’t allowed out there for about a week. I wasn’t even allowed to look out of the windows on that side of the house. It felt like an eternity.
    ‘Finally, my birthday arrived and we had a big party. Everything was arranged, my friends were here, all dressed up. I had a dress with ribbons criss-crossed here,’ she put her fork down and indicated her midriff, ‘and long, floaty sleeves. It was fantastic. We had such a good time. Mum and Johnny had a party, too, for the grown-ups. Johnny loved to entertain. He got a buzz out of having the house full of people, making sure they all enjoyed themselves. He changed so much when Tom and Andy died.’
    ‘What do you remember about that?’
    ‘Not much, to be honest. I do remember Tom and Andy, particularly Tom. He spent quite a lot of time here, much more than the others.’ Christabel pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘I knew something bad had happened. People kept shushing each other when I was around, they didn’t want me to know anything. I remember Johnny and Mum fighting, and that was odd. They never fought. In fact,’ said Christabel, screwing her face up to think, ‘I remember them fighting before then, too. Not long before, but I can remember going into their room and they were angry. Mum had been crying. I don’t know what it was about, but something was wrong already and what happened made it worse.
    ‘Johnny was so distant afterwards. I hardly saw him even though he was home. Mum was tearful and short-tempered. We were trapped here. The village was awash with journalists. Johnny had security on the gates, people patrolling to keep the ravening hordes out. It was unreal. We had a nanny but she upped and left in the middle of it all. Becky and I just kept our heads down and tried not to be a nuisance.’
    Christabel paused, looking thoughtful. ‘I remember seeing Johnny in the garden back then. He was staggering around, he couldn’t speak properly and his eyes looked … wrong. He scared me quite badly. I remember crying because I couldn’t make him understand me. Then Mum came and took hold of my hand. She just turned her back on him and led me away. It was just after that we left.’ She looked up at Alex. ‘I missed Johnny so much. It wasn’t like him touring, I felt that he had really gone. For good, you know? We stayed with Mum’s parents for a while and I thought Johnny had sent us away because he didn’t love me anymore. Mum wouldn’t talk about him. She said just to forget him. But I couldn’t. He was my world, he meant so much to me. I always felt more alive when Johnny was around.’
    ‘What happened next?’
    ‘I didn’t see him for a couple of years. Or hear from him. It felt like an eternity. We’d moved into a house of our own and Mum had workmen in. One of them left a newspaper lying around. It was Christmas time, I remember the tree was up. There was a big photo of Johnny on the front page, that’s what got my attention, and the headline was “Johnny Burns out: guitarist dies from drugs overdose”. I was hysterical. Mum had to explain that he hadn’t died for good, he’d just taken something he shouldn’t have and it had stopped his heart. The doctors had started it again and he was okay. Or he would be, if he got over this and sorted himself out. The press turned up again, of course, and we had a week or so of dodging photographers and not answering the phone.
    ‘Johnny spent some time in hospital and, I think in a clinic. He went back to Gran and Granddad, lived with them in his old room while he got better. When he came back here, he started looking after himself properly and he started swimming again. He still swims most days. And eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime of pestering Mum, I got to see him again.
    ‘It was strange at first, we’d both changed so much, you know? A couple of years is a long time