Skinny Dipping (The Au Pairs 2)

227

Eliza stuffed the dress into a brown paper bag, pushing past the cameramen. Eliza knew Mitzi would be furious, and that she, rather than Sugar, would bear the brunt of her fury. Celebrity trumped all else. That much Eliza had learned this summer.

228

the best things in life are . . . covered by insurance? (let's hope!)

WHEN MARA ARRIVED BACK FROM HER DAY OF BABYSITTING, she was still seething that Jacqui hadn't told her about Eliza and Ryan. She'd hardly seen Eliza all summer, but she'd slept in the same room as Jacqui almost every night.

"Ivan Jewelers called for you," Laurie said, as Mara shooed the kids into their playroom.

"Oh?"

"They sent a messenger this afternoon to pick up some . . . earrings? But you hadn't left a package or anything, so I sent them away."

The earrings. The two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar earrings. Right. Mitzi had told her they would send someone to pick them up the day after the party. She'd completely forgotten.

Mara ran out to the au pairs' cottage. The message light next to the answering machine was blinking.

"Mara, hiii! It's Mitzi. You were gorgeous last night, dollink! Anyway, hon, I gotta get those earrings back to Ivan. Put them in

229

the case and just leave them with your assistant so the messenger can pick them up. Thanks! Bye-yeee."

"Mara, hiiii! It's Mitzi again. Listen, hon, the messenger says there wasn't a package for him at the house. You must have forgotten. Call me and let me know--Ivan really needs them because J.Lo is going to wear them to the MTV Music Video Awards. Thanks, sweetie. Bye-yeee."

Mara ransacked her dresser. She swore she'd taken them off when she got back to the cottage that morning and put them in the little velvet case next to Jacqui's watch, but when she opened the case, they weren't there. They weren't in her other jewelry box, either, or on the sink, where she sometimes put the Mikimoto pearls. Could she have left them at Garrett's the night before?

She called Garrett and explained the situation. "Nope, nothing here. The only thing missing from this room is you, doll face," Garrett drawled.

She hung up on him, frantic.

Could Megan have taken them? No way, Megan had left before Mara arrived home--and please, her sister? She was so honest she'd actually called Target to tell them they hadn't charged her for something she'd ordered. Could she have lost them at the fashion show? Earrings didn't just fall out, did they?

She was certain she had taken them off right when she arrived that morning--right after seeing Ryan--but why weren't they there?

230

The phone rang. Mara picked it up. "Hello?"

"Mara! Dollink! So glad I caught you. Listen, can you leave those earrings in a package for pickup tomorrow? Thanks, doll!"

"Sure," Mara said weakly, her stomach churning. She'd signed for them so blithely, agreeing to legal and financial responsibility for the value of the earrings in case of loss or theft. But this must happen all the time, right? Mara remembered reading something about Paris Hilton losing a diamond bracelet at some club.

But then, Paris was famous, and as Mara had come to see at the fashion show, she ... wasn't.

231

with friends like these, who needs the perry twins?

JACQUI RETURNED FROM MONTAUK MUCH LATER IN THE

afternoon, since Philippe had taken the car last night without any thought as to how Jacqui was going to get home herself. She'd had to take the bus, which took a winding route and stopped roughly every five seconds. The many hours she spent in transit gave Jacqui ample time to feel incredibly stupid about risking everything just to be with Philippe, especially when he had been Anna's boy toy all along. She was angry at herself for not sticking to her resolution and disappointed that she'd believed Philippe when he'd said there was nothing going on between him and Anna. But they hadn't been caught--not really, anyway--and even if Anna had Philippe, at least everything else was still going to work out, especially the job in New York.

When she got back, she found the au pairs' room in chaos and Mara in the middle of the mess, looking frantic, her hair awry; the sheets, pillows, and blankets piled haphazardly on the perimeter; and all of Jacqui's clothes, shoes, scarves, bikinis, underwear, tissues, and magazines laid out on the bed.

232