Sitting on the couch feeling sorry for herself wasn't accomplishing anything. What she needed was something to get her mind off Alex and Lori. Some work in the barn would be nice.
Alex and Lori had been gone over two hours when Josh drove into the yard. Carmen was scooping hay out of one of the kidding stalls when he found her at the barn.
He scowled from the doorway. "I thought Alex was going to help you girls. You shouldn't be out here working like that. You're going to get sick again."
She smiled up at him. "I'm fine - and Alex doesn't even know I'm out here."
"What about Katie?"
"She's in the house sewing. I snuck out, so don't go blaming anyone else."
He leaned against the barn door jam and frowned at her. "You're crazy, you know that?"
Tires crunched on gravel and he glanced out the door. It was Lori and Alex. Alex got out of the car and leaned down to say something to Lori. Then he shut the door and glanced at Josh's truck - and the barn. He headed for the house as Lori turned the car around.
"What are they up to?" Josh asked.
Carmen shrugged. "I don't know. It's none of my business. Oh, and that reminds me. I owe you some money."
He shifted his attention to her. "How's that?"
"The hospital bill. Did you think I wouldn't find out? Why did you pay it?"
He shrugged. "You had enough to worry about. Anyway, I wanted to do something."
She rolled her eyes. "You were doing something. You were doing my chores."
He shrugged again. "It wasn't enough. I felt bad about . . . I just wanted to help."
"You felt bad? How do you think I would have felt if I couldn't pay you back?"
"I never intended for you to pay me back. Anyway," he smiled wryly, "when we get married it will be my bill."
She stabbed the pitchfork into the dirt floor. "Now there's a good reason to get married," she said sourly.
He crammed his hands into his pockets and stared down at her. "We have a lot more reasons than that, don't we? We've been dating since high school. Has there ever been anyone else you considered marrying?"
He was watching her intently. He wanted to know where she stood with Alex. Actually, until she met Alex, even she had assumed that Josh would eventually be her husband - though she wasn't in any big hurry. But was it Alex who had come between them, or did he simply show up at a critical time? Hadn't she been drifting from Josh for the last few months - before she knew anything about Alex? And what did it matter? Alex was interested in Lori, so he was out of the picture anyway. Still, marrying Josh while another man was so capable of lighting her fire didn't seem fair - especially when Josh couldn't.