Page 25 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)
Chapter Thirteen
Beth walked two blocks, letting the cool, crisp air numb her face and her feelings, before hailing a cab to take her to the bridal salon.
She couldn’t think right now, everything inside her was a mess.
The heart wrenching pain of knowing that in those few moments, all of the progress that Darcy and she had made so far in their relationship had evaporated.
Not evaporated, exploded, into a million tiny fragments.
It was mind numbing and too much to process knowing that she had to meet with her mom, Jane, and Caro right now, and pretend to be enthusiastic about someone else’s love story.
Her phone buzzed; she assumed it was Jane calling to see where she was and how long until she would be there, Beth frantically dug through her purse to find it, only to pull it out and catch herself seconds before answering a call from him.
God, fuck you, Darcy.
Holding on to the threads of anger permeating her hurt, she declined the call and forced herself to bottle up her emotions as she got into the cab.
There was no time for feelings now. Maybe, if she was just going to see Jane, she could let them loose, open up to her sister, but not with her mom and Caro there.
Now it was her turn to put on a mask, to put up a wall between her and the world.
Guess it’s a good thing you’ve been learning from the master of masks for the past couple of months.
She let out a harsh laugh at herself, for her foolishness in thinking that Darcy could change, that he would want to, for her.
Her heart ached, trying to tell her that he had changed, that he had made progress, that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,’ but that only made her urge to cry stronger.
Beth redirected her thoughts to the situation she was going to be entering; her sister, her mom, and Jane’s future sister-in-law/her client, all happy and excited for this integral part of the wedding planning journey.
Jane was going to be such a beautiful bride.
God, Jane is getting married .
There had been a few times when Beth had had to stop and remind herself that this was reality.
That only a few short months ago, her sister had resigned herself to never finding that perfect person and now, here she was, trying on wedding gowns about to get married to the love of her life.
Right now, the almost miraculous quality of Jane’s relationship was hitting her even harder.
How did she and Charles always seem to get along? Do they just never fight? I mean, it is Jane but still, they have to fight about something, right?! How do they work things out? Well, Charles probably doesn’t have all the baggage that Darcy does.
Beth’s mind was preoccupied the whole ride to the bridal salon in a comparison between what she knew about Jane and Charles’ relationship and what was happening between her and Darcy.
On the one hand, Jane and Charles were very similar, but mostly in their kindness and willingness to accommodate others, something that would be a benefit to a relationship.
On the other hand, maybe she and Darcy were too alike, their need for independence and control too strong, their stubbornness too overbearing, that as consuming as their love and passion for each other was, it would just never be able to work between them.
“You ok, miss?”
Startled, Beth realized the cab had stopped and the cabbie was looking at her with a face of concern.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she responded, wiping the rogue tear from her cheek and giving the man a grateful smile for his concern .
Stepping out of the cab, she took some long deep breaths of the cool air as she rushed inside.
She’d never been in Kleinfeld’s before, she hadn’t even watched their show Say Yes to the Dress , so she had to stop for a moment once inside and take in everything about this infamous bridal salon, beautifully decorated with everything in white or cream.
Beth made her way to the reception desk to ask where her sister would be.
As the receptionist led her back into the salon, the happy and excited energy that infused the air instantly lifted Beth’s mood.
The walls were lined with wedding gowns of all different silhouettes and in varying colors - who knew white could have so many variations?
Beth watched future brides looking at themselves in the full-length mirrors with their friends and family sitting nearby, lovingly giving their opinions and support.
She was led off to the left to where the fitting rooms were, and quickly saw - more like heard - her mother talking at the end of the hall.
“Beth! Where have you been!” Mrs. Bennet yelled from down the hall, standing with Caro outside what she presumed was Jane’s room.
Beth respectfully waited until she joined her mother and Caro before answering.
“Sorry, Jane called me last minute and then I had to wait for a cab and traffic,” she muttered her excuse, giving her mom and Caro a hug and hello. “Did Jane try any on yet?” Beth asked, trying to redirect the conversation from her tardiness.
“She’s trying on her first one now. We already went around and picked out several for her to try. She tried to stall as long as she could for you to get here but there are only so many times you can look over the same selection of dresses,” her mom scolded.
“I’m sorry,” Beth mumbled, rolling her eyes, before turning to knock on the dressing room door. “Jane, I’m here. Sorry I’m so late!”
“Beth? It’s ok! I’m just glad you’re here! Be right out!” Jane’s muffled reply came amidst the shuffling of material.
Plastering a smile on her face, she turned back to face her mother, whose sour expression had diminished slightly, and Caro, who was watching her intently .
“So, Beth, it looked like your event was a success last night,” Caro began, before Mrs. Bennet could hijack the conversation again.
“Yes, from what I’ve heard it sounds like everyone had a great time. Renée is really great so I’m glad that everything went well,” Beth replied with a smile, wondering if Caro had enjoyed the party after she had left.
“I thought I would see you again before it was over but I couldn’t find you.” Even though it was a statement, her tone implied that she expected Beth to provide a reason for her absence.
“I know, I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling that great so I ended up leaving early,” Beth responded, following the cover story that Darcy had forced on her.
“Oh, really? I’m sorry to hear that. You seemed just fine when I saw you earlier.” Was she questioning her? What was her point?
“Yeah, it came on kind of suddenly so I figured it was best just to go before it got worse or I passed it on to someone else.”
“That was good thinking. It can be quite shocking how quickly feelings can change, that’s for sure. I hope your date took good care of you; I was really looking forward to meeting him,” Caro said coyly.
“What date? You brought a date somewhere?” Mrs. Bennet interjected, “Who is he? What does he do?”
Ignoring her mom, Beth stared at Caroline with confusion. Like before, it was never quite what she said that put Beth on the defensive, but it was the tone, and the looks, like she knew something, like she was always one step ahead - if that made any sense.
No, Beth it doesn’t make sense. What has Caroline ever done to you? She’s going to be Jane’s sister-in-law and she’s just trying to make conversation with you about your event and inquiring after your health. She’s not Mrs. DeBourgh; you can RELAX, and stop treating everyone like an enemy.
Thankfully, Beth was relieved of having to answer her mother’s questions as Jane promptly came out from the dressing room, drawing everyone’s focus .
“Oh Jane, you look beautiful!” her mother exclaimed, approaching her to assess all angles of the gown.
“Mom, she’s going to go stand in front of a bunch of mirrors so you’ll get a good look at everything, give her some space to walk,” Beth scolded.
Jane gave her a grateful glance as she started to follow her consultant out onto the floor and to their designated mirror and sitting area. Beth quickly took a seat in the chair, leaving her mom and Caro the small settee. Definitely needed to keep her distance from her mom’s prying questions .
Beth pretended to be entranced watching Jane maneuver her way onto the small podium as the consultant and her mother began to arrange the ornate, embroidered mermaid-style dress around her.
She was however, still thinking about what Caro had said.
Why would she be calling her out about being sick?
And what did she mean about ‘how quickly feelings can change’?
Who says that about getting sick? It was like there was some double meaning that she was supposed to understand, but couldn’t, for the life of her, fathom what it was.
Not to mention the whole separate issue of Caro bringing up her date to the party in front of her mom; she couldn’t really blame her for that though.
Only Jane would know to never bring up any sort of relationship information in front of their mom unless she were planning on walking down the aisle with that person.
“ Beth, what do you think?”
Jane’s voice registered in her head, and Beth realized that everyone was looking at her, waiting for her thoughts. Busted.
“Sorry,” she muttered. She stood up and walked around Jane, carefully assessing the dress, all the while trying to hide the redness that had crept into her cheeks for being caught distracted from the present moment.
“I mean, the dress is beautiful, Jane,” she began, thoughtfully looking at the whole picture that her sister presented, “but, I’m just not sure that it’s you. ”
She looked up to Jane, hoping that she hadn’t offended her sister too much - not that Jane would ever say. What if this dress had been her first pick, her favorite? Oh, God, Beth cringed at the thought, now dreading her sister’s response .