Central Park: A Contemporary Retelling of Mansfield Park by Debra White Smith

Author:Debra White Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance;FIC042040;FIC027020;FIC042000
ISBN: 9781493414192
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-04-22T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Eight weeks later, Carrie Casper settled into the corner of her leather sofa and watched the Victorian phone on her end table. The flames in the gas fireplace merrily flickered, dancing to a silent tune that celebrated fall’s splendor. The phone’s brass trim reflected the gyrating flames and seemed to promise Hugh’s call would come soon.

He had been in Paris almost two months now. While they had kept in close contact by email, he had set an appointment to talk via phone today. Carrie couldn’t imagine why. She checked her diamond-studded watch and tapped the couch’s armrest with her freshly manicured nails. So far, Hugh was five minutes late. She’d give her brother ten more minutes, then get on with her day.

Carrie had promised Ethan she’d attend a church service with him tonight—a special Wednesday night event that ushered in the Thanksgiving season. Ethan was speaking. Carrie had only heard him speak two other times. This afternoon she planned to go shopping for a new outfit, enjoy a facial, and then get her hair styled. When Ethan looked into the audience, Carrie wanted him to remember who loved him.

While this church event was special to Carrie because it was special to Ethan, she cringed every time Ethan stepped behind a pulpit. She kept imagining a life of sitting in the audience while Ethan was forever taking the podium. The sensation usually magnified her determination to convince Ethan not to continue this pursuit of ministry. She figured the more gorgeous she kept herself looking, the greater her chances of swaying him to her opinions. Carrie couldn’t deny that she was falling in love with Ethan. But the closer she grew to him, the more convinced she became that she would smother and die as a pastor’s wife.

She eyed her leather skirt that had slid six inches above her knees. Carrie nearly choked as she imagined herself forever doomed to modest dresses that struck her knee and no higher. Last week, she’d purchased a new perfume, “Very Sexy.” The erotic scent reminded her of a few of the passionate kissing scenes from Yancey’s play. Carrie’s midsection fluttered. Ethan’s kisses stirred her as no others. In the midst of her revelry, Carrie imagined herself as a pastor’s wife wearing the fragrance to church and someone asking her the name of her perfume. She lowered her arm and frowned.

Her two-piece swimsuits danced through her mind. She imagined being forced to submit to a one-piece number for the sake of “setting a good example” for the younger girls in the church. The thing would probably have a skirt on it!

“Oh, gag!” Carrie stood and paced toward the stairway that led to her bedroom. Too disturbed to sit still, she abandoned her commitment to wait for Hugh’s call and decided to get on with her day. If Hugh ever did get around to phoning her, he knew her cell number.

Carrie’s heels had only tapped up the third stair when the telephone’s shrill ring stopped her progress. She glanced back at her watch.

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