by Jules Wake
Jade giggled and the two of them, with the stealth of fully untrained ninja warriors, crept towards the veranda, ducking down behind the sofa.
Now they were in position, Carrie’s confidence wavered but Jade’s hand, tightly clamped in hers, forced her to be bold and fearless. What the hell? How dare this man invade their privacy? She hadn’t asked for this.
The seconds ticked by and sweat trickled down between her boobs. At this time of day, the sun shone directly onto this side of the house.
A sudden screech, that furniture-dragging-on-stone sound, alerted them to the intruder’s presence.
Carrie jumped up, adrenaline charging through her system, as a tall man in dark sunglasses, dark jeans and a dark shirt came into view. Before she had time to stop and think, Jade had reared up alongside her and, with a gleeful war cry, opened fire, sending a cascade of water all over the intruder. The second Carrie followed suit, it registered, a few seconds too late, that he looked awfully familiar.
By the time her brain caught up, Richard was sodden and Jade’s war cry had faded to an embarrassed squawk.
Richard, halted by the sudden torrent of water, stood with menacing stillness, his expression unreadable.
‘Oops.’ Carrie muttered under her breath, nudging Jade.
‘Yikes.’
‘He doesn’t look too happy,’ whispered Carrie, talking out of one side of her mouth.
Jade’s lips twitched. ‘No, Auntie Carrie, he doesn’t. I’m thinking The Sopranos.’ Her thin shoulders lifted.
‘Are you laughing?’
‘Trying not to.’ Jade’s mouth had clamped shut. ‘Trying really hard.’
‘Me too.’ Carrie’s breath hissed out as a stifled giggle escaped.
That was all it took to set Jade off and once she’d started, Carrie couldn’t stop.
‘I should wring your bloody necks,’ growled Richard, marching up to them, not that either of them were capable of taking any notice of him, they were still trying to reign in their mirth.
‘You got … t-to admit … it’s kind of … f-funny.’ Carrie held on to her side as she doubled over.
‘Not when the world’s press is watching.’
Carrie stood bolt upright. ‘Are they? Where?’
Richard pushed up his sunglasses. ‘I meant the situation.’ His eyes, grey-blue today were sombre and shadowed. Carrie sobered.
‘Sorry, we thought you were a journalist.’
‘There are enough of them camped out there. Phil dropped me off down the road and I climbed over the wall.’ He bent and gave his knee a rueful rub. ‘They make it look so easy in the films. It would have been a lot bloody easier if you answered your phone.’
‘I switched it off. It was in danger of spontaneously combusting at any second.’
Throughout the conversation, Carrie was aware of Jade backing away with exaggerated care, as if not to draw any attention to herself.
‘Ah, Richard, you’re already here.’ Angela skidded to a halt, taking in his sodden clothes. ‘Phil’s called me to say you were on your way.’
‘Yes, I’m here, somewhat waylaid.’ He wiped at the front of his wet shirt.
Out of the corner of her eye, Carrie saw Jade bolt into the house.
‘Yes,’ said Angela, failing to contain her amusement. ‘You are. Would you like a towel?’ She’d already turned to go back to the house.
‘No, I’ll dry.’ He strode over to Carrie. ‘Interesting costume.’
‘I like to get into character.’
‘Bugsy Malone. Goodfellas. The Godfather?’
She giggled. ‘I was thinking more Ninja Turtles.’
Shaking his head and sweeping back his damp hair, he pulled off the tea towel and brushed the hair from her face. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded, her knees threatening to give way. When he enfolded her in his arms, she melted into the embrace, uncaring of his soggy clothes, overcome by the weight of the stress and strain of today. Tears pricked her eyes. She’d been focused on holding it together, now the prospect of sharing that burden made her weak with relief.
Clinging to him, she buried her head into his neck, inhaling his familiar musky scent.
‘I’m sorry about this.’
‘It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.’ She shuddered. ‘I hate the thought that someone spied on us. It creeps me out.’
‘Bloody paparazzi. I never saw a thing. Keith’s place is pretty private, that’s why I took you there. To escape all this. Ironic. The rest of the time we could have been papped at any moment.’
‘I guess that wouldn’t have been as much of a coup.’
‘Sneaky sods.’
‘I guess they come with the territory.’
‘Yup, although we’re not above using them to our advantage when we want to. It’s one way to gain acres of publicity when it’s wanted, which is why I have a press agent, Caroline, to manage things. She’s fuming. Normally we get a heads- up and we could have nipped things in the bud if someone hadn’t given them the ammunition to make it such a good story. She’s making enquiries at the moment.’
Grim lines fanned across his forehead. A sense of foreboding rattled her.
‘It’s done now. I need to tell you … Alan was here.’ She pulled him to sit down on one of the chairs. This shady spot had become her personal Waterloo. The scenic backdrop would forever more be engraved on her memory. This once- in-a-lifetime holiday, where everything changed.
‘Fiancé Alan?’
Carrie exhaled heavily. ‘Ex-fiancé, Alan. This morning’s revelations brought things to a head.’
Richard offered her a rueful smile. ‘I can’t say I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘Thanks,’ said Carrie with a touch of tartness.
‘You don’t love him, do you?’
She swallowed and studied the skyline, imprinting the vivid blue in her head. It would always remind of her Richard’s eyes and the first time she’d seen him again – the instant bolt of recognition, sparking a response in every part of her body.
‘No,’ she said, sadness rippling in waves through her, at the thought of him hurting, compounded by the empathy of knowing you loved someone you couldn’t have. ‘I thought I did,’ she paused, aware of birdsong and the grasshoppers in the garden around them. Why did those sounds, redolent of summer days, make this moment so poignant? ‘But not as much as he deserved. I feel bad for him. He was a good man. I’m not the right woman for him.’
‘Lucky you found out now.’ He took her hand and touched her face, tracing her jawline before bringing his lips down on hers with a kiss of searing gentleness, before lifting his eyes and gazing down at her, serious and steady. ‘You are the right woman for me.’
Her heart almost burst at his quietly spoken words.
‘I love you, Mrs Maddox.’
A sob broke through as he pulled her to him, his mouth zeroing in on hers. With heartfelt passion, letting long-banked emotion flood through, she kissed him as if her last breath depended on it. She’d spent too long denying this and even though, it couldn’t last, she had now. Time to seize this moment, grab it by the scruff of the neck and wring every last drop of joy out of it, the way she would have done eight years ago.
Winding her arms around his neck, she let her senses take over, revelling in the short spiky hair on his neck, the sensation of hot breath as his lips roved over her face, touching her eyelids, her brows, her cheeks and the sinewy strength of his arms as he pulled her close. ‘I love you too, Mr Maddox,’ she murmured between gasped kisses as they sank down onto the chair, bodies sliding together in a sinuous fluid movement of limbs, intertwining and flowing in a perfect fit.
Richard’s phone burst into life with the sort of insistent ring tone you couldn’t ignore. With great reluctance he loosened his hold and dug into his jeans’ pocket.
‘That’s Caroline. I need to answer it.’ He dropped a kiss on her forehead. ‘You distracted me.’
She nipped at his lip with a
sultry purr of satisfaction.
‘Maddox,’ he said, business-like and alert, all trace of sleepy desire banished from his voice.
With a shiver she wrapped her arms around herself and stood up.
‘Tell them we’ll issue a statement at,’ he flipped his wrist, ‘three. No photos … no … absolutely not. Let me talk to Carrie.’
From the phone came the persuasive, strident tone of a very assertive woman. Richard rubbed a weary hand across his forehead, the corners of his mouth turned down
‘I appreciate that but this is a joint decision. I’ll get back to you within the hour.’ He paced back across the terrace. ‘And what about the source?’
With his quiet, grave ‘I see’, a prickle of foreboding shimmered down Carrie’s spine. As if the sun had gone in, goose bumps rose on her skin and she almost shivered at the sight of his sudden granite-hewn profile as he slid his phone into his pocket.
‘We need to talk.’ Shadows darkened his face, throwing his chiselled lines into sharp relief, transforming him into a rather intimidating figure. ‘The whole family.’
‘D-does it need to involve anyone else?’
‘Yes,’ he responded, his tone implacable.
Like a council of war, they convened in the elegant lounge, a rather ragtag band. Angela, clean and neat in a soft print cotton dress, Jade, defiant in a tiny bikini, wearing her outsize sunglasses and a huge floppy sunhat, both of which Carrie suspected were going to be welded on for the duration, and Richard, unusually rumpled and forbidding.
‘So, Jade, what have got to say for yourself?’ Everyone gasped.
‘Richard!’ Carrie sprang up and put a hand on his arm. ‘Is this necessary?’
‘I think so.’ He ignored her and turned to Angela. ‘Don’t you?’
Angela, sitting with her knees together, hands clasped, levelled a quelling look at Carrie, which clearly said, leave this to me, before nodding. ‘She’s not a child.’
‘Er, hello, I am here.’
‘Yes,’ said Angela, the voice of reason as usual. ‘You’ve been telling me that you’re old enough to do adult things. Old enough to drink. Old enough to go to nightclubs. Old enough to almost get yourself into trouble. I’d say you’re old enough to speak for yourself and explain what you’ve done.’
Carrie loved her sister. Despite the heightened emotions in the room, she remained calm and balanced, neither condemning or defending her daughter.
Jade pouted. ‘He’s not my father or anything. And who says I’ve done anything?’
‘No, darling. Officially he’s your uncle but that aside, you know you’ve done wrong.’
Carrie wondered, if she had a daughter of her own, if she’d manage to soften her voice like that but still manage a slight reprimand. Definitely a mother’s skill.
‘How do you know it was me?’ she burst out, ducking her head and looking everywhere but at the adults in the room.
‘The process of elimination wasn’t exactly lengthy,’ Carrie pointed out, trying to copy her sister’s unemotional approach, watching her niece’s face go through a series of transparent contortions. To fight or to flee.
‘Shall I make it easier?’ Richard pulled out his phone, not about to adopt any of this softly, softly crap. ‘My press secretary spoke to the newspaper journalist, who at first, being a journalist, refused to name her source. However, when it was pointed out the possible source was a minor, and the paper could be seen to have been grooming a child for information and offering inappropriate bribes, they handed the name over pretty sharpish.’
Jade shrugged, lifting her chin, and spoke through clenched teeth. ‘And? You know it was me.’
‘Have you any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?’ His actor’s voice carried, resonating anger, irritation and frustration in one neat hit, which made all of them sit up straighter.
Carrie’s stomach twisted as Jade’s mouth tightened and tears shimmered in her eyes, shrinking back into her chair, her fingers clutching the arms. Despite desperately wanting to be treated like an adult, she was still a child and much as she was a pain a lot of the time, she could also be funny, smart and loyal. Compared to most teenagers, she never got into trouble and went out of her way to conform. She lived in mortal dread of getting things wrong or being given a detention at school.
Carrie frowned. No, this wasn’t like her at all.
‘Hang on a minute, Richard.’ She rose and perched on the arm of Jade’s chair, taking her niece’s small trembling hand in hers. ‘Why don’t you give Jade a chance to explain?’
‘Explain? I don’t need an explanation. I’ve seen it all before.’ For a brief second Carrie saw the flash of hurt there. It had to be hard never knowing if you could trust people. Not being able to let go completely.
Sharp insight brought with it a twist of deep-seated pain. This had been a convenient respite, taking him back to those days when he wasn’t famous and when he didn’t have those kinds of worries.
‘People do it for the money all the time. For what they can get. I’m a commodity. I didn’t expect it to happen this close to home.’ His business-like description belied any sense of self-pity in what he said, but Carrie couldn’t help feeling a little bit sorry for him, even though he appeared so sure of himself on the surface.
Jade muttered something in Carrie’s ear, tears spilling down her face as she started to sob.
‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Carrie’s heart missed a beat at her niece’s barely coherent confession. Slipping off the arm and into the chair seat, she gathered Jade to her and hugged her tight, bony ribs, reminding Carrie of her fragility and youth.
Angela went over and sat on the other arm and stroked her daughter’s hair.
‘Do you want to tell Richard why you did it?’ she asked, her mild manner conveying implicit trust.
‘I’d be fascinated to know. Why you would tell the world and his wife something your aunt and I haven’t shared with anyone else, for very good reasons—’
‘That’s not quite true.’ Carrie’s quiet voice stopped Richard in his stride. ‘The security people knew. You listed me as Carrie Maddox.’ She remembered the quiet burn of pride when she realised he’d done that.
‘They’re security people. Paid to keep secrets and private information – private,’ hissed Richard. Although he stood on one spot now, he kept jigging one of his legs up and down.
So much for her secret hope that he’d been making some kind of statement.
‘What in the world possessed you?’ His sudden yell made Jade jump.
‘Don’t shout at her. She was trying to help. She was worried about me losing my job.’
‘Losing your job! Crap. She’s like everyone else, wants a touch of celebrity. Wanted to brag about her celebrity uncle.’
‘How dare you?’ Carrie spat. ‘You pompous … pompous.’
‘I dare because it’s true. I don’t suppose you knew there was a tidy reward for anyone with information on the mystery woman.’
‘She didn’t do it for money.’
‘Tell me another.’
‘I didn’t.’ Jade’s timid voice cut through the anger in the room as she hunched down into the chair. ‘I-I … Carrie’s done everything for us. We’ve had such a brilliant time. We never get to do things like this. My friends … they always go to exciting places. She came with us so we could come. She drove on the wrong side of the road and everything. She’s always doing things for me, for Mum. No one ever does stuff for her. I didn’t know she was in Blood Brothers. She used to do exciting things. She gave all that up and now she might lose her job. I thought this would help. If her boss knew you were married, I thought it wouldn’t look so bad.’
‘Seriously?’ Richard’s scepticism bounced off the walls. ‘You thought it wouldn’t look so bad. You thought that the papers wouldn’t rehash it all again. Or bring it up every time I have new film out? You didn’t think at all.’
Carrie bounded to her feet and stood toe to toe with him, which wasn’t such a
great idea because she had to look up at the arrogant oaf who still had the indecency to be utterly gorgeous.
‘Oh get over yourself. She’s family.’
She planted her hands on her hips to stop them doing something they shouldn’t, either slapping him so hard his teeth would rattle or grabbing him around the neck and kissing the life out of him. ‘She did it for good reasons. Alan was worried I’d lose … we’d both lose, our jobs, if anyone found out it was me in the picture. She thought if people knew we were married, they wouldn’t be quick to judge and that it might save my job. Stop being such a bully …’
He frowned in confusion, his blue eyes clouding, and she almost smiled. She bet no one had ever accused him of being a bully or had told him to get over himself.
‘… and worrying about your precious career. Jade was trying to help.’
He stiffened and then said in voice so quiet that even though she stood almost chest to chest she had to strain to hear it, ‘You’ve always put your family before me, haven’t you?’
The simple statement robbed her of her next breath, her cheeks flooding with colour and heat as she met his searing blue-eyed expression of accusation.
‘W-what?’ It was as if he’d punched her right in the gut.
He turned his back on her and walked towards the French windows. For a second suffocating sadness rolled over her as she took in his dejected stance.
No one said a word. Carrie darted a look at her sister, wanting her to leap in and defend her, but Angela’s face had shut down, her expression impassive.
‘Where the hell did that come from?’ she snapped, anger offering easy refuge.
‘Come off it, Carrie.’ He whirled around, pushing a hand through his hair, his shoulders hunched. ‘You could have come out to the States at any time. You couldn’t leave Angela and Jade. Jade was starting school. Angela’s condition was bad. Jade this, Angela that. Always a reason. And yet Angela had managed perfectly well when Jade was a baby, a toddler. Suddenly she couldn’t do without you.’
‘That’s not true.’ Even as she said it, Carrie knew she wasn’t being completely honest.