Part 18 (1/2)

”A few. But at least they're not hidden under greasepaint.”

Josh began nuzzling her neck. ”Right now I wish I didn't have anything at all on, greasepaint, clothes, not anything.”

Responding to him, Carrie slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him with weeks' worth of pent-up desire.

”Papa! Papa!” Dallas yelled as she came running into the shed. ”There's a man here, and he wants to see you.”

Josh's brain was a little foggy as he pulled away from Carrie. ”Who is it?”

”I don't know,” Dallas whispered loudly, ”but I think he's G.o.d.”

Carrie and Josh looked at each other. ” 'Ring,” they said in unison.

Chapter Sixteen.

Carrie and Josh were still brus.h.i.+ng straw off of each other as they walked back to the house.

”He's going to make me go back with him,” Carrie mumbled. ”As soon as he meets that fat woman you married, he's going to make me leave with him.”

Josh tightened his grip on her arm. ”I do wish you would give me a little more credit and your brother less. I can handle this.”

”By fis.h.i.+ng for the papers down Nora's pond?” Carrie said nastily.

”One does what one must,” Josh said, then had to hold Carrie to him. ”Good morning, brother,” Josh called to 'Ring, who was kneeling to speak to the children.

”I have three little boys of my own,” 'Ring was saying to Tem as he rubbed Choo-choo's ears. ”You'll have to come and visit them and sail on a boat.”

”And I'll teach them to ride a horse,” Tem said, but since all three of his new cousins by marriage were younger than he was, he didn't think much of them.

Standing, 'Ring handed Carrie a large box that she knew contained her mother's wedding dress.

In the next moment, Nora came out of the house, her big blond Eric following behind her like Choo-choo followed Carrie.

”Oh, no,” Josh said, hurrying forward, but Carrie pulled him back.

”If you think that my brother is stupid enough to fall for something like that painted, fat, overblown-” She broke off because 'Ring was kissing Nora's bejeweled hand and looking at her as though she were the most delicious thing he'd ever seen.

”You were saying...” Josh said.

Her nose in the air, Carrie swept past him, and when she reached her brother, she put herself between him and Nora. ”How kind of you to stop by, Mrs.-” She broke off, not knowing what to call the hideous woman.

”West,” Nora said, looking over Carrie's head to 'Ring. ”Nora West is my professional name.”

”I saw you as Juliet,” 'Ring said. ”You were divine.”

”Must have had a mule skinner to play Romeo,” Carrie muttered before looking up at her brother and batting her eyelashes. ”You must have been a child to have seen her when she was young enough to play Juliet.”

Grabbing Carrie's arm, Josh pulled her toward the house. ”Food,” he said. ”Carrie has to make lunch for everyone.”

Once Josh and Carrie were inside, he turned on her. ”Can't you contain yourself for even a few hours? At least until I get the paper from her?”

”You expect me to be nice to the woman who is married to my husband?”

”Just for a few hours.”

Carrie gave a nasty little laugh. ”Maybe you are a professional liar, but I'm not.”

Josh rubbed his eyes in exasperation then laughed. ”I cannot believe my own vanity in thinking that my being a renowned actor would change your feelings for me. Alas, the Great Templeton has been reduced to 'a professional liar.' ” He drew her into his arms. ”Do you think I'll ever be able to impress you? After my sentence is up and I go back on stage, are you going to come to see me? Will you swoon over my performances?”

She closed her eyes in ecstasy as he kissed her neck. ”I think I might like for you to quote some of 'Ring's poetry just to me.”

He touched her cheek. ” 'See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!' ”

She smiled at him. ”I'm not sure I'll like hearing you say such things to other women, even women as old and as fat as she is.”

”It won't be real, Carrie,” he said softly. ”I am a liar with them, but I won't be a liar with you.”

She smiled at him and he kissed her.

”What a cozy little scene,” Nora said from the doorway. ”Of course, Joshua, darling, it's not as though I haven't seen you kiss hundreds of other women, both on stage and off.”

Josh released Carrie. ”I want the paper, Nora, and I want it now.”

”I've told you where it is,” she purred at him.

Josh kept his eyes off Nora's magnificent bosom, for he knew that Carrie was watching him. ”What do you want?”

”Why, I want you, of course. I've missed you.”

Catching Carrie's hand in his, Josh squeezed it. ”You want me and half a dozen other men. I don't have any money, you know that, so what else could you want?”

”A bit of Warbrooke s.h.i.+pping.”

Josh opened his mouth to tell her that he didn't know what she was talking about, but then he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Carrie seemed to have limitless access to money and she came from Warbrooke, Maine. He had known she was wealthy, but he'd had no idea she was that wealthy. Warbrooke s.h.i.+pping's motto, We Carry the World, was known everywhere, from China to India to the wilds of America and Australia.

”Josh, my love,” Nora purred. ”I do believe you've been away from the stage too long. Your face is as readable as a child's. So, you didn't know that she was part of Warbrooke s.h.i.+pping.” Smiling in triumph, Nora sat down at the table.

Josh turned to Carrie, ready to tell her what he thought of her not telling him that her family was so very, very rich, but then he smiled at her. Carrie hadn't kept that fact a secret from him; it just hadn't occurred to her that her wealth was of any consequence.

On impulse, he kissed her, not a kiss of pa.s.sion, but a kiss of thanks, thanks to her for coming into his life. With her by his side, with a wife who had her feet so firmly on the ground that she didn't consider ”who” her family was to be of any importance, he didn't think she'd ever allow his vanity as an actor to rule his life. Carrie would never let him forget what was really important in life.

Having no idea what Josh was thinking as he looked at her with so much love in his eyes, Carrie smiled and stepped closer to him.

”How did you find out about Warbrooke s.h.i.+pping?” Josh asked Nora, stalling for time while he tried to figure out what to do. He could not, under any conditions, allow Carrie's family to buy his freedom.