| |
Caroline got back from London to find her old-style answer machine was at capacity. It was the type where the light blinked to show a message had been recorded. The more messages, the faster the blink. It was going so fast Caroline couldn’t keep track. Usually she dealt with her calls as soon as she came through the door. This time she didn’t. She headed for the kitchen, flicked on the kettle and sank into a chair at the table.
The ride home from London had been tense. They’d been in the limo on their way to the airport when Josh’s cell phone rang. He looked at the screen and frowned before answering.
“Who are you and how did you get this number?”
There was silence before Josh cocked an eyebrow in Caroline’s direction. He handed the phone over to her. She hesitantly took it. He folded his arms and shook his head at her, as though she’d done something wrong.
“Why am I hearing about your wedding on the TV?” her sister screamed in her ear.
“Elaine,” Caroline said on a sigh.
“Yes, Elaine. Your sister. Your only family. The one person you should have called with the news. Instead I find out the whole town knows before me. Not only that but BBC entertainment news, E! News and CNN.” She let out an angry growl. “I’m feeling the love here. If I wasn’t the size of a beached whale I’d get on a plane and sort you out in person.”
Caroline took a deep breath. “I was waiting for the right time to tell you...”
“That would have been straight after you said yes to Josh freaking McInnes!”
“Calm down,” Caroline told her. “Think of the baby. I didn’t want to stress you and throw you into early labour.”
“So you thought hearing about my only sister marrying a famous singer from the news was going to be less stressful than telling me yourself?”
Caroline pinched the bridge of her nose. She so didn’t need this right now.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Things have been insane since we agreed to get married. I should have made time. It’s no excuse.”
She listened as her sister let out a deep breath. “So, what’s the deal? How long have you been dating this guy? Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
Caroline felt her stomach plummet. The answers to those questions weren’t going to help at all. “Elaine, this isn’t the best time to talk about all of that. I’m in a car on the way to London City Airport. We’ve been shopping for wedding dresses. I’ll call you when I’m back home.”
She heard a sniff. “I’m going to miss your wedding.” Elaine sobbed. Caroline scrunched her eyes shut as her chest ached. “Can’t you wait? I want to be there when my sister gets married.”
Caroline shot a glance at Josh. “It’s part of our deal to get married fast. Something to do with being a celebrity.”
“I don’t want to miss your wedding. You’ve always been there for me. I want to be there for you.”
“You will be, honey. We’ll come visit as soon as it’s over. You need to concentrate on taking care of my new wee niece. That’s more important than a wedding any day.”
She listened as Elaine struggled to gain control of herself. “I love you.”
“I love you too, honey.” Caroline’s eyes misted.
She heard her sister’s sobs grow fainter.
“Hi, Aunty Caroline.” It was her ten-year-old niece, Emma. “I can’t believe you’re marrying Josh McInnes. I’ve told all my friends. Can I come stay with you next school holidays? I want to meet him. Does he know One Direction? What about Katy Perry? Does he know any movie stars? Can I come to Hollywood with you?”
Caroline laughed. “I’ll talk to Josh, sweetie, see what we can do.”
“Cool.” And then she was gone.
Caroline stared at the phone for a minute before handing it back to Josh. He took it silently before signalling to the driver to pull over. He climbed out of the limo and strode into a British Telecom shop. A few minutes later, he handed her the latest iPhone.
“We’ll set it up on the plane.”
Caroline eyed the box with suspicion. “I don’t want a phone. I don’t need a phone.”
“Your sister had to call Lake to get my number so that she could talk to you. You need a phone. How are people supposed to talk to you if you don’t have one?”
“They call my house and leave a message. Or call work to talk to me. Or they walk to my door. Everyone I know is in Invertary. I don’t need a phone.”
He turned towards her. “Elaine isn’t in Invertary. Your sister needed to talk to you. And I might like to talk to you without leaving a message for you to get back to me.”
Caroline plonked the phone on the seat beside her and folded her arms. “So this is about you.”
“No, this is about people being able to get hold of you. It’s about you being safe. What if you’re out alone and get hounded by the press? What if some crazed fan decides they want to get too close to you? You need to be able to call for help.”
Caroline glared at him. “You’re blowing this out of proportion. Lots of people don’t have cell phones.”
Even as the words came out of her mouth, she realised they were arguing about something ridiculous.
“You’re keeping the phone.” He clenched his jaw.
“I don’t need it.”
“Caroline, I just decked a photographer,” he said, like that explained everything.
“You didn’t have to.”
“Yes. I did.” He turned to her, and his demeanour was intense. “I’ve been living with this crap for years. It comes with the territory. I’m not an idiot. I court the press. I have to, otherwise I won’t sell records and I want to sell records. But the paparazzi are something else. They don’t play by the rules. They don’t care what damage they cause. They don’t care that something is off limits. They’ll do whatever it takes to make their money. And that includes hounding the people I care about.”
Caroline bit her bottom lip. Her stomach had squeezed into a tight ball.
Josh gave her a look, which she assumed meant he was the boss. “You’re taking the cell phone and you’re going to keep it on you at all times. On top of that, I’m going to talk to Lake about a bodyguard for you.”
Caroline blustered, “You will not! I don’t want some random guy following me around. I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, right.” He tapped the screen on his phone before putting it to his ear. “Lake? Yeah, got a problem here. I punched a paparazzo in Harrods. I’m worried about Caroline. Can you sort out someone to watch over her?” There was silence for a moment as Caroline fumed. “Great. We’re on the same page, then. See you when we get there.” He hung up and gave her a smug smile.
“I can’t believe you did that.” Caroline wanted to punch the man. “You are so going to regret it.”
The mood changed in the car. Suddenly the tension and anger was gone. Josh’s eyes sparkled at her. He was amused. Again. Well, too bloody bad. Caroline was furious.
“What you going to do, honey? Call off the wedding?” He grinned widely. “You never back down on your word. Remember? Plus, if you run off now I’ll get my studio and the castle restoration will stop dead. Is that what you want?”
“I might be marrying you, Josh McInnes. But I don’t have to make it pleasant and I don’t have to be nice to you.”
The infuriating man leaned forward and touched his nose to hers. “Bring it on, honey. Give me everything you’ve got.”
Caroline made a growling sound in the back of her throat, wrenched herself out of his grip and slid as far away from him on the seat as she could get. While she glared out at the passing streets, Josh’s deep chuckle filled the car.
That was the last time she’d spoken to him. Even when he’d walked her home. She’d just opened the door, walked inside and slammed it in his face. She’d heard him laughing on the other side before she’d stalked to the kitchen. And now her answer machine was blinking with messages. Messages she planned to ignore for the first time in her life.
Caroline took her tea into the living room and threw herself into the threadbare sofa. She covered her face with her hands. Her life was unravelling. Her sister was upset. Josh was interfering with everything and bossing her around—when no one bossed her around. Ever. Celebrities were coming to town and she had no idea how to behave around them, let alone what to wear when she met them. Beth had quit her job, leaving Caroline in the lurch. The paparazzi were circling like buzzards. The town was on lockdown. The domino boys were playing soldier. And there were stolen sex books on her desk.
She grabbed a cushion from beside her and screamed loudly into it.