Goody Two Shoes (Invertary Book 2) by janet elizabeth henderson Page A

speak. She was starting afresh and she didn’t need his permission to do it. She turned at the top of the stairs, ready to climb the next flight.
    “I never meant to hurt you.” Andrew’s voice floated up to her.
    Helen stopped dead. Her heart thumped in her chest. “You should have thought of that when you started to shut me out.”
    Although she couldn’t see him, she could imagine how uncomfortable he felt. Good. It was time he felt it too.
    “I don’t know what to do.” He sounded lost.
    Helen let out a deep breath. She walked back down enough of the stairs to see him. “About what?”
    He looked her in the eye, the way he used to do. She felt his gaze zing straight through her body to her toes. She staggered back a step from the shock of it.
    “Us. I don’t know what to do about us.”
    She drew a sharp breath. “There is no us. That died a long time ago.”
    There was silence. She turned back to the stairs.
    “What if it isn’t dead for me?”
    She closed her eyes briefly. Not now. Not when she’d let go of the man. She looked down at him and felt pity. But she didn’t feel any urge to throw herself back into a life of silence and dread.
    “It’s dead for me. I’m tired of living in silence and tired of being invisible.”
    “I can fix this.” She heard some of the same stubborn streak she’d once loved in him.
    “Can you?” Helen turned away from him and dragged herself up the stairs to bed.
    She was starting a new life. She was becoming a new person. And it didn’t matter how much Andrew protested, there was one thing she was certain of—he didn’t want to take the journey with her.

CHAPTER TEN
     
    By Sunday afternoon, Josh was convinced Caroline was avoiding him. He’d tried calling but couldn’t pin her down. He was fed up with being ignored. It was time to track his reluctant fiancée down. After trying her house, where there was no answer, Josh worked his way down through town asking people if they’d seen Caroline. It was no surprise that everybody knew exactly who he was talking about. But no one had seen her. When he reached the pub at the bottom of the high street, he found Dougal behind the bar.
    “I’m looking for Caroline.” Josh ordered a Coke and a burger. Might as well kill two birds.
    “Didn’t you see her at church this morning?” Dougal placed a tall glass of ice-cold Coke in front of him.
    “I don’t go to church.”
    Dougal nodded as though that made perfect sense. “Of course, you’re a heathen.”
    Josh spluttered out a mouth full of Coke. “I’m not a heathen, I was brought up Catholic. I just don’t do church.”
    Dougal leaned across the bar. “So you’re one of those agnostic people, then?” He scratched his beard. “I’m not sure we have any of those in town. You might be the first.”
    Josh resisted the urge to thump his forehead on the bar. Apart from the fact he would have to look up the word agnostic when he got home, he really didn’t want to talk about church. “Have you seen Caroline or not?”
    Dougal looked around to make sure no one was listening. The action made the hairs on Josh’s arms stand to attention. Dougal leaned towards him and lowered his voice. “You’ve only just missed her. She came in not ten minutes ago to pick up her order. If you hurry you can catch her at Patrick’s house.”
    Josh stilled. Order? Patrick? “Caroline is with a guy?”
    Dougal nodded. “Every Sunday afternoon, regular as clockwork. But keep it to yourself; she doesn’t want anyone to know.”
    Josh felt the muscle at the corner of his jaw tick. She accepted his proposal when she had a standing date with some other guy? He couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice. “How do I find this Patrick?”
    Dougal considered him for a moment before nodding to himself. With a twinkle in his eye, the bar owner gave the directions he needed, and Josh shot out of the pub. Forgetting all about paying the man or eating the food he’d ordered.
    Ten