Page 27 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)

“Men are tricky that is for sure. Not that I’m an expert, as I haven’t been in a serious relationship for some time; being surrounded by Italian men isn’t quite conducive to that type of situation,” Caro joked, and Beth felt some of the tension of the conversation dissipate.

“So, what did he do? Try to go too far, too fast? ”

“Haha, not quite - I mean we’ve definitely gone very far, very fast, but that’s not the problem. Neither of us have been in a relationship in a long time so it’s just a struggle to figure out how to compromise.”

“I see. Well, that is certainly a big struggle; I personally don’t compromise well. Something that I’ve learned over the past few years of exploration, which is why I’m back in town myself,” Caro revealed, almost as a taunt to Beth for her to question her further.

Anything to take her mind off of Darcy.

“Really? I thought you were back for your art career. Thinking about settling down as well?” Beth asked, playing along.

“Well, more like re-settling. I have an ex here who is really my other half; I just have to make him remember how good we were together.” A very suggestive look accompanied Caro’s admission, unfortunately Beth was too distracted by her own thoughts to pay much attention to it.

“Yeah?” Beth half-heartedly acknowledged, suggesting she continue her story - anything to take the attention off of Beth’s own relationship issues.

It wasn’t that Beth wasn’t paying attention to Caro - she heard her, she really did, but it was almost as if she was just observing her conversation with Caroline, meanwhile, actually thinking about how to handle Darcy.

She was trying to focus, but her heart wasn’t cooperating.

She heard what Caro was saying, but she wasn’t listening to it.

Instead, her stupid feelings kept pushing her to explore the reasons for why Darcy had behaved as he did.

“Yes, our relationship was very tumultuous at first - intensely passionate, though. We were together, I guess you could say, for a long time; we went through a lot. But then I left to pursue my own path, but our intention was always to end up back together,” Caro continued .

Maybe he is upset about the wedding? Because I told him that I wouldn’t marry him initially and now he feels like I’ve forced him into this living arrangement with no guarantee that we will end up married?

But I told him yes; I told him I would marry him.

He was the one that suggested this. Maybe he regrets it.

“Mmhmm,” Beth murmured with a nod, trying her best to feign complete interest in whatever Caro was talking about now.

“I’m sure whoever he is would be an idiot to not get back together with you,” she continued, unsure of exactly what Caro had been saying, but knowing that her response made some sense.

“Oh, yes,” a large smile spread over Caro’s face, “the man was obsessed with me; there’s no chance that you just get over that, even if there are a few obstacles in our way; but I'm working on those,” Caro paused here and gave Beth a poignant look, which she took as Caro’s attempt to emphasize that every relationship struggles but there’s always a way through.

“We had a relationship that just worked so well for the both of us, and I know that he knows that. Plus, the sex…. the man was a god,” she concluded with a devilish wink at Beth.

As Caro continued, Beth really started to zone out.

Yes, every relationship has problems but what if one party doesn’t want to make the attempt to fix them?

What if he can’t change this? Would she be forced to accept that this is what her life would be - accepting Darcy’s controlling outbursts when they happened, for the chance at a life with him?

God, she loved him, she did and he has been trying, but what if it’s not enough?

Could she bring herself to give him that control? Did she love him enough to do that?

“Beth?” Caro’s voice cut through her hopeless fog.

At the same moment, she felt her purse vibrating against her leg, startling her almost as much as Caroline had. With no clue what Caroline had just said, Beth pulled out her phone with an apologetic smile. Her face froze when she saw who the caller was, however.

Darcy.

Even if she wanted to answer it, now was not the place or time. Hitting the ‘decline’ button, she sent his call to voicemail .

“Your boy toy?” Caro prompted with a knowing smile.

“Ahh… no. Wrong number,” Beth responded with hesitation, hoping that it came out convincingly.

She caught Caro’s ‘ I don’t believe you ’ smile before she looked back down at her phone to realize that it wasn’t the first time Darcy had called her since she had run out.

She had 10 missed calls and two text messages from him.

Her heart skipped a beat, wondering what he had sent.

She looked up to catch Caroline watching her intently, and for a brief moment, she again wondered why Caro was so interested in her relationship.

That moment was forgotten as Jane and her mother appeared again, effectively ending whatever conversation was about to ensue.

Beth hung back as Caro approached Jane, giving her a moment to read Darcy’s text messages in peace.

- Call me.

- Please.

Beth let out a small laugh, drawing her a questioning look from her mom.

The laugh concealed the fact that she was on the verge of breaking down into tears.

‘Call me. Please.’ That’s it? That’s all he had to say?

Ten phone calls and that’s the best he could come up with?

The worst part wasn’t even what he had said.

The worst part was that she wasn’t surprised; it was classic Mr. Intolerable.

No apology, no begging for forgiveness, no expression of his emotions, his remorse, his love, his explanation. Nothing.

Jane approached her just as a stray tear managed to escape.

“I’m so happy you found your dress, can you believe it?” Beth said, trying to disguise her heartbreak.

“I know, it’s incredible! I thought we would just come for fun today, just to get the process started but it’s true what they say: when you try on the right dress you know,” Jane responded, but then mouthed, “Are you ok?” to her noiselessly .

Beth gave her a curt nod, but Jane knew that it meant ‘no.’ Beth watched as Jane turned to shield her from view and engaged both Caro and their mom in conversation, directing them towards the building exit.

Having just those few solitary moments that Jane provided her was all Beth needed to temporarily put herself back together.

Once outside, her mother pulled her to the side, and Beth feared the worst - that she had remembered Caro’s mention of a date from last night.

“Beth,” Mrs. Bennet began in what she deemed as a whisper.

“Caroline and I were speaking about Jane’s bridal shower.

You didn’t tell me that she had offered to host it at her house!

” Shit. “I guess Caroline has some show or something the following weekend. Anyway, I’m going to finish the invitations and send them out Monday.

I assume that works for you?” she finished presumptuously.

“Wow, um sure, that should be fine. I don’t think I have any events until Caro’s show the following weekend, so just let me know what you want me to do.” Beth replied, trying to get her frazzled brain to focus and think about her upcoming schedule.

“Wonderful. Ok, you figure out the details and help Caroline with whatever she needs. We’ll chat soon. Love you,” Mrs. Bennet quickly finished, giving Beth a kiss on the cheek before turning back to say her goodbyes to her eldest daughter and Caroline.

Well, that was a close call.

“Beth, I’ll be in touch this week to finalize everything for the show next weekend,” Caro said as she leaned in to hug Jane good-bye.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Ciao!”

Finally, it was just Jane and Beth standing on the sidewalk, waiting for their Uber to arrive and take them to the apartment.

The thought made Beth’s heart clench painfully as she realized that she no longer thought of their apartment as home.

No - for reasons too painful to think about, her idea of home had taken on a whole new meaning, a meaning that involved a person more so than a place.