Goody Two Shoes (Invertary 2)

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 stres

s 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.