Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2) (41 page)

Josh looked up to find his father standing in front of him. “I can’t deal with you right now.”

“Do I look like I care?” He sat down on the edge of the platform beside Josh. “Why did you let that girl go?”

“What are you talking about?” Josh felt his anger rise again. He wanted to punch someone, and if his dad didn’t get lost, it might be him. “You don’t like Caroline. You don’t want me to marry her. You’ve been nothing but clear about your opinion since you turned up in Scotland.”

His dad huffed. “I may have been wrong.”

Josh looked at the ceiling. Wishing a science fiction portal would open and suck him into another universe. One without any of the crap he had to deal with. “You
may
have been wrong?”

“Fine.” His dad grunted with disgust. “I
was
wrong. Happy now? I may be wrong, but you’re a bloody fool if you let that girl go. She’s a keeper. And she loves you.”

He really didn’t need to explain his life to his father right now. “That’s the problem. I don’t love her.” The words were harder to get out than he thought they would be. “I proposed to her because I don’t believe in that romantic love stuff. I want a partnership. That’s it.”

“I can’t believe I raised such an idiot. Where did I go wrong?”

Josh stood and glared down at the man. This conversation was icing on the cake from hell that was his day. “I’m just doing what you did. You got married because Mom was pregnant with me. It’s not like you fell in love and desperately wanted to be together. But look at you now. You’ve been married thirty-five years and you’re committed to each other. You’ve grown to love each other. And now that you’ve sorted out your problems with Mom, everything is fine. I want that. It worked for you. It should work for me.”

“You don’t know anything.” His father stood, anger twisting his face. “I didn’t marry your mother because she was knocked up. I married her because she was my world. I was crazy about that woman from the moment I set eyes on her. When I wasn’t in the same room as her, I felt like my arm or leg was missing. I lived for every smile she gave me. I still bloody do. I didn’t marry her because she was pregnant, you fool. I married her because I loved her. I was just grateful that she had to marry me because she was carrying you. I didn’t want to take any chance that she’d get away from me.”

“You were in love?”

“Head over heels.”

“How come I never knew?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know, son. But don’t worry. I’m here to sort you out.” He wrapped an arm around Josh’s shoulders. “And the first thing you need to do is go after the woman you’re in love with. Fix this mess. Marry her. Put babies in her belly as fast as you can. That’s what you need to do.”

“You are nowhere near a modern man, are you?”

“As Popeye would say, I am what I am.”

Josh shook his head. Oh how he loved these little father-son chats.

“I’m not in love with Caroline.” He pulled away from his father. “I just care about her. A lot.” He sighed at the thought of her out there, hurting, alone. He should be with her. He should be holding her. Everything was all mixed up. “I worry about her. You’ve seen what she’s like. Her world is black and white; she expects everyone to be moral and do the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do. People use her. They treat her badly. They say things that hurt her because her personality is so forceful they think they can say anything they like to her. But she’s soft underneath. She cares about everyone. And she gets hurt. She needs someone to look out for her. To translate the world around her. To make people see how great she is and to stop them from hurting her. That’s all this is. I wanted to marry her and be that person.”

“Son”—his father clasped a hand on Josh’s shoulder—“you’re talking about love.”

Josh shook his head. “No. It’s mutual respect. And attraction. Serious attraction. She’s so damn beautiful. The first time I saw her, I thought, ‘I get to marry Grace Kelly.’” He looked at his dad. “She looks like Grace Kelly, doesn’t she?”

“Exactly like her.” His father smiled. “Son. You’re in love.”

“I can’t be. I don’t believe in it.”

His father threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Fine. You’re not in love. It was purely an arrangement. So I guess you’ll chalk this up to experience and go find yourself another bride.” He seemed to think about it. “If you hurry, you can slot someone else into the wedding you’ve already organised.”

Josh felt a wave of nausea rush through him.

“There was a woman at the post office around your age.” His father would not shut up. Years he spent grunting, and now all he did was talk. “She doesn’t look like Grace Kelly, but she has good child-bearing hips. And that’s what this is about, right? Get a woman. Start a family. She’s got a good reputation as a solid and reliable person. I can send Mitch over to check her out for you, if you like?”

“No.” Josh felt anger claw at him. “I don’t want that.”

“Why not? It doesn’t matter who you marry, right? As long as she’s young enough and isn’t chasing your fame. When I spoke to this woman, she wasn’t impressed that you were a singer. She isn’t into music that much. She sounds perfect. Doesn’t she?”

“No. I don’t want her.” Josh bit back the rage he was feeling.

“You could at least check her out. If you go over there now, we can still get the vicar back here before it gets too late. Your mother and I are off on a three-month trip in a couple of days. It would be good to get your wedding out of the way before we go. Come on.” He grabbed Josh’s arm. “Let’s go see her now.”

“No!” Josh roared. He yanked his arm from his father’s grasp. “Stop pushing me to check this woman out. I don’t want another woman. I only want Caroline.”

His father smiled. “And there it is.”

Josh was breathing hard. His fists clenched and unclenched. Caroline. He only wanted Caroline. No one else would do. He wanted her soft body under his. He wanted to laugh at her bossing him around. He wanted to plan a future with her and fight over who got to decide what happened. He wanted to kiss her every morning and hold her every night. He wanted to protect her from the world. And give her the world at the same time. He thought of a life without Caroline in it and saw something ugly. He needed her. She was perfect for him.

He loved her.

Josh closed his eyes and took his first calm breath since the wedding was interrupted. The words settled in his soul as truth. He loved Caroline Patterson. Madly. Deeply. Completely. He was in love with her. Crazy, cheesy romantic love. The kind he’d avoided. The kind he’d mocked. The kind that now didn’t seem that stupid after all. A deep tranquillity overcame him. Everything slotted into place. He couldn’t believe it had taken so long to see the truth. He looked at his dad.

His dad grinned like an idiot. “What are you waiting for? Go get the woman you love.”

This time Josh didn’t correct him. But he couldn’t run after Caroline. He’d screwed this up big time. He’d hurt her when he’d let her walk away. No. He’d destroyed her. She’d told him she loved him and he’d said nothing. She would never believe him if he declared his love now. No. Words weren’t enough. He needed to do something else. Something bigger. With a shake of his head, he turned to his dad.

“About this newfound knowledge of yours—what women want. I might need some input with planning an over-the-top romantic gesture.” He couldn’t believe he’d been reduced to asking his dad for help.

His dad thumped him on the back. “That’s my boy. But don’t forget the caveman act and kinky sex. It worked for me.”

“Now I’m going to vomit.”

Laughing, his dad followed him out of the church. Josh felt the weight of the day lift from him. He would fix this. He would marry the woman he was meant to marry. Caroline loved him, and he was going to show her that he loved her too. Everything was going to be fine.

It was mid-afternoon the following day before Caroline got out of bed. And she only did it then because someone knocked at her door. She dragged herself down the stairs in her pink satin pyjamas, not even stopping to brush her hair. The domino boys had been standing guard outside her house since the wedding fiasco, and Caroline knew they would only let someone get to her door if it was important. Sadly, nothing was important enough to get dressed for. It was Kirsty and Officer Donaldson who were interrupting her pity party. She swung the door wide and led them into the living room.

“Oh, sweetie,” Kirsty cooed at her. Her sympathy was overwhelming as she crushed Caroline in a hug. This was why Caroline had insisted on being alone the night before. She could barely cope with her own emotions, other peoples’ were a step too far.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Caroline.” Officer Donaldson stood in the middle of the room, taking up far too much space. Just like Josh did.

She forced herself not to think about him. She was already suffering from one emotional hangover—she didn’t need to start crying again.

“I wanted to tell you that we’ve charged Beth. She’s the one who sent you the package and painted your house.” Donaldson was grim with his news.

Caroline had already figured out that Beth was behind her problems. Well, not all of them. He who shall not be named was behind the rest.

“Sit down, sweetie.” Kirsty tugged her into the sofa and patted her hand.

Donaldson took a deep breath. “She was also the one who sent the photos of you in your suits to the magazines and newspapers. And she’s been letting the paparazzi guy, Pyro, live with her. She snuck him into your wedding as her date.”

That was what Caroline got for being polite and inviting her in the first place.

“As for Pyro.” Donaldson shifted his feet on the spot, and Caroline knew the news wasn’t good. “We caught him, but not before he’d sent the pictures to his publisher. I’m afraid photos of your wedding, and what Beth did, are all over the media.”

Caroline supposed she should be upset at the news, but she couldn’t work up the energy. The photos didn’t matter. In a few days, no one would be interested in the woman who almost married Josh McInnes. Whoever Josh chose next would get the attention. No doubt he’d learned his lesson and would go back to dating celebrities.

“Don’t worry,” Kirsty told her. “It will all be fine. The photos will be old news in a day or two. Some other celebrity will do something more interesting and the media will turn their attention to them. You only have to hold on until this passes.”

Caroline wanted to tell her friend that she honestly didn’t care about the photos. She wasn’t sure she cared about anything. Instead, she nodded her agreement and left it at that.

“Okay.” The police officer seemed to have given up waiting for a response from her. “I’ll be in touch.”

With that, he strode out of the house. Caroline was relieved to see him go. One less person to deal with. Unfortunately, he let someone in when he left. Mitch entered the living room with an apologetic look on his face.

“How are you doing?” His smile was gentle. With one look at Caroline’s red, swollen eyes, he nodded. “About how I expected.” He sighed. “I’m sorry to add to things for you, but Josh wants you to come to the castle tonight to sign some papers.”

Kirsty jumped to her feet. “Can’t that wait? Doesn’t he have a heart at all? Surely he realises Caroline isn’t up to this right now.”

“I’m sorry. I know the timing isn’t great. But I’m sure Caroline wants to resolve this as much as Josh. It won’t take long.” He turned to Caroline. “Can you be there at eight o’clock?”

“Can we make it another day?” Caroline knew she sounded pathetic.

“Sorry.” Mitch gave her an apologetic shrug. “He’s leaving the country tonight. So it has to be this evening.”

Caroline felt a sharp jab in her side. He was leaving already. She’d never see him again. She ignored the pain that twisted her insides, and told herself that this was a good thing.

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Thanks. That’s great.” He turned to Kirsty. “Can you walk me out? I’d like a word.”

Kirsty frowned, but followed Mitch. Caroline was glad that they were gone. She loved Kirsty, but she hoped her friend would follow Mitch out the door and come back in a year or two. She slid over to lie on the couch, curling her knees tight into her chest. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would stop wallowing in self-pity and get on with her life. The centre needed her. She still had things to do. She would feel better staying busy. It was a good plan. That left her with today to mourn what might have been with Josh.

When Kirsty came back into the room, she had a strange look on her face. As though she was excited about something, but loath to show it.

“This won’t do.” Kirsty grabbed Caroline’s arm and yanked her into a seated position. “Enough of this. If you’re going to deal with Josh tonight, we need to get some work done. You can’t turn up in your PJs. We need to get you cleaned up and do something about those eyes. Do you have cucumber? Never mind. I’ll send one of the boys to fetch some. They’re just sitting out front playing dominoes anyway. Since the press left town there’s really no need for them to be there.” She tugged Caroline to her feet. “Shower,” she ordered. “I brought new lingerie to cheer you up. You can wear that, and that pretty lavender dress of yours. There’s no way I’m letting you go to the castle looking anything but stunning. One look at you and Josh will regret that he ever let you walk away.”