Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2) (10 page)

Caroline dragged herself through to the bedroom and fell on her back on the bed. Her hands covered her face as she let out a long, mournful groan. Forget jail.

Her lying backside was going straight to hell.

“You don’t need to sleep on the couch.” Helen eyed the king-sized bed. “We can make this work for the next few weeks.”

“I’m taking the couch.” Andrew nodded to the tiny two-seater sofa by the window.

Helen felt her throat tighten. Did he hate her so much that he’d rather sleep upright than share a bed with her again?

“I’m sure we can manage in the bed.”

“I’ll find another room if you don’t want me on the couch.”

“Mitch said the other rooms were full of junk.”

He grunted. She wasn’t sure what that meant. She felt tension wind its way up her spine to her neck. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop from talking. Years of asking questions and getting no reply had taught her that it was pointless. But she felt angry. Angrier than she had in years. She turned to her husband, the stranger she’d married. He was standing inside the doorway, looking at the bed as though it would bite him. His hands were wedged deep into those awful tartan pants of his, and he was hunched over as though he was trying not to be there at all.

Something inside Helen snapped, and she opened her mouth. “What does that mean?” His eyebrows shot up. “What did that grunt mean? I don’t speak grunting. I speak American. You need to translate. Does it mean you’re sleeping in the bed or not?”

He took a slight step back towards the door. She was pretty sure he wasn’t even aware that he’d done it. Subconsciously, the man was retreating. Running. As he usually did. She put her hands on the hips of her yellow flowered sundress, the one that clashed with her hair, and waited.

“Well?”

He shuffled on the spot. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to share the bed.”

The look he gave her was unfathomable. Helen felt bile bite at the back of her throat. After thirty-five years, he couldn’t even share a bed with her for one more month.

“Fine. Take the couch.” She stomped towards him and picked up his bag, which was beside the bed. “But you’re not taking this one.” She swung her arm and launched the bag out of the room and down the stairs. “Sleep downstairs. That way you won’t have to look at me at all.” Then she shoved him hard, making him stumble into the hallway, before slamming the door behind him.

For a minute or more, she stared at the door while tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d shouted. Ever since boarding the plane to Scotland, things had been bubbling out of her. Things she’d tried to contain for too many long years. At last she heard him make his way down the stairs after his bag. Helen sniffed and blinked away the tears. She wasn’t going to cry. Not again.

She slipped into the en suite bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. In the mirror she saw a face changed with age that she didn’t recognise. She felt her chest tighten. Something had to give. Something had to change. She rooted around in her makeup bag and came out with a pair of scissors. Without giving it a second thought, she started to snip off her shoulder-length hair.

There was no break-in at the castle. The person who’d made the call had either been mistaken, or it was a prank. The cop who’d walked around the exterior with Josh and Mitch was not pleased that it had turned out to be nothing. He’d been in the middle of watching a football game and wanted to get back to it. He left muttering about locking up the moron who’d interrupted his viewing.

“Your parents are here.” Mitch ran his fingers through his hair.

“That explains the look.” Josh pointed at Mitch’s face.

They walked to the back of the castle and through the door into the kitchen. Without asking, Mitch opened the fridge and got beers for both of them. Josh was hungry again, so he went poking around in the cupboards for snacks.

“Your parents are pissed.” Mitch sat sprawled in an armchair by the windows. He looked frazzled. Josh could identify with that.

“Figures.” Josh threw his friend a bag of chips. Mitch snatched them out of the air. “They weren’t too impressed with the marriage plan when I called them.”

“They’re fighting as well. Your dad is asleep on the couch.”

Josh cocked an eyebrow. That was new. “They fighting about the wedding?”

Mitch shook his head. He took a swallow of beer. “I heard something about them sleeping in separate beds and your dad not talking. Then I ran. I do
not
want to get in the middle of a McInnes meltdown.”

“It’s probably nothing. You know what Dad is like. Mom’s probably fed up listening to her own voice. It’ll pass.”

Mitch didn’t look so sure. “What about you and the delectable Caroline? How are things going there? No regrets?”

Josh grinned. “None. She’s perfect. We made the right choice. In fact, I was just getting to know her a little better when I got the call to come home.” He felt a tingling in his spine. His eyes widened. “Now that I think about it. Caroline freaked out a bit at us getting physical. She ran to the bathroom, and the next thing I knew I was being called away.” He looked at Mitch, whose eyebrows had shot up his head. “You don’t think she was the one who called?”

“She wouldn’t. Would she?”

“Caroline is capable of anything.” He didn’t know whether to be proud or angry.

They stared at each other until Mitch burst out laughing. “I love that woman. You are so not getting any until you’re married. I bet she’s keeping you at arm’s length until she makes sure the wedding goes through. You are so screwed. Or not, as the case may be.” Mitch snorted beer.

“Funny. You’re funny.” Josh thought about it. There was something off. Surely Caroline didn’t want him to stop touching her so badly that she called the cops. “Caroline wouldn’t lie. She’s got that whole moral code thing going on.” He didn’t sound convinced.

“Or maybe she just doesn’t find you attractive? Maybe this whole wedding thing is more of a chore to her than you thought? You’ve been so busy thinking about whether or not you’re attracted to her, you never figured that your woman might not want you.”

“Naw.” The thought horrified him. “No. It can’t be. I’ve never had any problems. Hell, I’m fighting women off.”

“Not this time, buddy.” Mitch was laughing so hard he started to choke.

No. Mitch had to be wrong. Caroline had responded to his touch. She was definitely as attracted to him as he was to her. He relaxed slightly. He was being an idiot, letting Mitch wind him up. He should know better. Nope. Everything was fine. Caroline wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

Didn’t she?

CHAPTER NINE

“Want to tell me why you’re sleeping on the couch?” Josh asked his dad the following morning, over a late breakfast.

Bacon and eggs. It made him think of Caroline. He bet she wasn’t indulging in her favourite food. She was probably eating some healthy granola crap that tasted like cardboard.

“Hello to you too, son. Good to see you.”

“Yeah, it’s great. So what’s with the couch?”

“It’s between your mother and me,” his dad grumbled into his coffee.

“You must have done something really dumb. It takes a lot to piss Mom off.”

His dad grunted.

“Are you going to be this cheery right up to the wedding?”

“This wedding is a farce.”

That answered that question. Josh turned his focus back to his food. But looked up when his dad made a strangled noise.

“What the hell happened to you?” His dad’s attention was on the doorway.

Josh followed his father’s gaze to where his mother stood stiffly. Her hair was short, and stuck out from her head. It looked like she’d been assaulted by Edward Scissorhands.

She touched her choppy hair self-consciously. “What do you care, Andrew McInnes?”

She smiled at Josh, who had to work at closing his mouth. His mother had worn the same hairstyle his entire life, and now she looked like an abused version of herself.

“Hello, sweetheart.” His mom pulled him into a hug.

Josh swallowed his shock. “Good to see you, Mom.”

“Even when she looks like that?” His father’s words made him cringe. No wonder the fool was sleeping on the couch.

“We’ll catch up later.” She patted his cheek like he was five years old. “I’m going out right now.”

“Wear a hat,” his father said.

Josh willed him to shut his mouth. The man barely spoke. Surely he had enough sense to know that now wasn’t the time to start talking.

“Why on earth did you do that to yourself, woman?”

Josh groaned quietly. Apparently the family skill for dealing with women had skipped a generation.

“What I do and don’t do is none of your business anymore. Now why don’t you concentrate on what you do best and keep quiet.”

Josh let out a low whistle. He took a step back towards the door. If things got ugly, he’d make a break for it.

“I know you’re upset.” His father just didn’t know when to quit. Josh kept inching his way towards freedom. “But that’s no reason to mutilate yourself.”

“You know I’m upset?” His mother’s voice rose higher with every word. “You know I’m upset?” She marched towards his father. Josh stopped his retreat, wondering if he should stay and referee. “How would you know I’m upset? We don’t talk. We never talk.”

“And what do you want me to do about that?”

His mother let out a strangled groan before grabbing Josh’s half-empty cup of coffee off the table. She held her hand high and tipped it over his dad’s head. “Why don’t you do something about this instead?” She stormed out of the kitchen.

Josh stared after her for a moment before turning to his dad. The man was wiping coffee out of his eyes with his sleeve.

“Want to tell me what’s going on?” Josh handed him a dishtowel.

“If I knew, I’d tell you. Everything has gone to hell, and I’ll be damned if I understand any of it.”

With that, his father stalked from the room, leaving Josh with cold bacon and eggs and a deep regret that his house had guest rooms.

Caroline was up to her ears organising a wedding. Add to that liaising with the castle restoration team, her duties at the community centre and the many committees she was on, and there was no time to think about Josh. Which was perfect, because she figured the only way she’d make it to the wedding without freaking out completely was to avoid him.

She knew it was stupid to be scared of your fiancé touching you. She resisted the urge to bang her head on her desk. It wouldn’t knock any sense into her anyway. Intellectually, she knew she had to touch him. Physically, she wanted to touch him. But emotionally, she wasn’t ready. It was all going too fast. And she was scared. Scared she wouldn’t be good enough. Scared he’d expect more than she was willing to give. Scared that he would be repulsed by how little experience she had and wouldn’t want her anymore.

She needed to become more knowledgeable about sex. And fast. There was only one thing for it—research. She checked that no one was looking and sneaked into the library. There was exactly half a shelf dedicated to helping couples with their sex lives. With her cheeks burning, she scooped up all the books and practically ran back to her office. She dumped them into a shopping bag beside her desk, quickly turning over The Joy of Sex so that no one could see the title. And then she did something she’d never done before—she didn’t check any of the books out in her name.

She was on a slippery slope. First she was lying to the police. Now she was borrowing books without telling anyone. Who knew what depths she’d sink to next? Guilt gnawed at Caroline long into the afternoon, and overflowed into her meeting with the wedding planner.

“So we’re agreed, then?” Millicent Price’s question jarred her back to the present.

“Yes.” Caroline looked at the proof for the wedding invitation on her computer screen. “They look perfect.”

“Good.” The wedding planner made a note on her iPad. “I’ll make sure they get posted today. I’ve also made appointments for you with Pronovias and Browns in London.”

Caroline tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Millicent’s smile was kind. “They are prestigious bridal wear boutiques. Pronovias is at Harrods and Browns is a legend. We don’t have the time frame to get you into something bespoke, but we can at least get you a dress that you’ll love and make sure it’s fitted perfectly.”

“I guess I should look into flights, then.” The thought of going wedding-dress shopping in Harrods made her weak at the knees. She was a girl who bought her work clothes in her local charity shop. Harrods was so far out of her league it was on another planet.

Millicent seemed to read her mind. “Perhaps you should take someone with you. For a second opinion.”

The compassion in her eyes made it clear that she thought Caroline needed way more than a second opinion. She needed someone to hold her up.

“That’s a good idea.” Caroline swallowed hard.

The question was who to take. Her sister was in Dubai. And she still hadn’t managed to marshal her courage enough to tell her best friend Kirsty that she was getting married.