Page 53 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)
Chapter Twenty-Five
Impatient. The only word, Beth could use to describe her Monday.
Her brain was truly annoying her, taking any and every spare moment to jump to a new conclusion about what was financially motivating Caroline.
The blessed moments where she was forced to focus on her work, on her clients, became fewer and farther in-between as the day progressed.
Which meant that all day she was impatiently waiting for the workday to be done so she could leave to talk to Jane.
There was, now that she thought about it, one other positive of the day - no contact with Caroline, her client or the crazy bitch alter ego. Which was, honestly, a little concerning to Beth after what Darcy had said last night.
What if she suspected?
Maybe I was too cold, too standoffish. What if I gave something away?
On the other hand, if Caroline knew that she had been discovered, one would think that she would have upped her game immediately, that she would have approached or contacted Beth right away. Unless she had something else planned, something more devious.
Oh, my God, Beth, just relax. Who knows what is going through her head; all you can worry about is what you DO know and right now, that is that Caroline still thinks she has the upper hand.
Right , Beth closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
Tapping her foot impatiently, she hit the home button on her phone to check the time.
Four-thirty.
And a text from Darcy.
Why hadn’t she heard her phone buzz?
Probably because you are busy obsessing over what Caroline MIGHT or MIGHT NOT know, MIGHT or MIGHT NOT do.
Opening up the message, she let Darcy do what he did best - distract her .
- How’s your day going, sweetheart?
She smiled at his endearment, even though his question was laced with the unspoken need to know if Caroline had contacted her in any way today.
~ So far, so good. Just about to head over to Jane’s.
- Are you sure you don’t want me to take you?
~ Yes, I’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll text you later and let you know when I’ll be home.
- I’ll be waiting.
She shivered at his words and the thought of what would be waiting for her when she got home tonight.
It was crazy that in spite of everything going on, in spite of everything that he had done, the thought of seeing him, of being with him, still lit a fire deep down inside of her, giving her goosebumps in anticipation.
She relished it, hoping that it would always be like this.
Checking her email one last time, she packed up her things, finally heading out for the day towards the answers she prayed were waiting for her.
~ On my way. She sent the text to Jane before throwing her phone in her purse, turning off the lights in her office and heading downstairs to the lobby where her friendly, security escorts were awaiting her.
That she was looking forward to doing without.
Twenty minutes later, the car was pulling up in front of her old apartment as Beth’s hands fidgeted in her lap, barely waiting for the car to come to a complete stop before opening the door and getting out - hastily apologizing to her security for not following protocol and letting them open the door for her.
Her foot tapped as she waited for the elevator, it tapped as the elevator ascended to her sister’s floor, and it tapped while she waited for Jane to open the door.
“Hey!” Jane greeted her, giving her a hug before moving back and ushering Beth into the apartment.
“Hey,” Beth responded, setting her purse and laptop bag down along the wall in the hallway, “thanks for moving things around so that we could do dinner and talk.”
“Of course! ”
“Do you just want to order Chinese?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Jane agreed, “why don’t you sit down and I’ll grab the menu.”
“You don’t have to; I’ll just get my usual. I haven’t had Chinese food in so long!”
Beth went into the living room, slumping down on the couch, letting out a huge sigh.
Honestly, she wasn’t even hungry; she was too on edge, dying to see if Jane knew anything about Caroline, but she had to have this discussion carefully.
Caro was going to be Jane’s sister-in-law; she couldn’t just blurt out that she also happens to be a psycho and then ask her to divulge family secrets.
Her foot began to tap again, listening as she heard Jane call the restaurant and order their food.
The minute or two she was on the phone felt like an hour to Beth, anxiously waiting to get this conversation started.
Remembering that she should probably let Darcy know that she was here - safe and sound - Beth pulled out her phone and sent him a quick text that Jane was just ordering them dinner and that she would call when they were done.
Beth exhaled deeply as Jane finally entered the living room, just realizing that she’d been holding her breath ever since she heard Jane hang up the phone.
“So, what’s going on? Did you talk to Darcy? Did you go to the police?” Jane asked immediately as she sat down on the couch to face Beth.
Wow, is my stress that obvious? …Probably.
“I did talk to Darcy, but we haven’t gone to the police,” Beth answered.
Beth watched her sister’s brow furrow in confusion, anticipating the question that was about to follow.
“Why not? I don't understand. ”
Beth froze, staring into her sister’s questioning gaze.
She’d known the question was coming. For as much as she had been looking forward to the conversation all day, she hadn’t actually stopped to think about how exactly to tell Jane about Caroline; how to break the news as gently as possible that Charles’ sister was the cause of her distress.
And now that the moment had come, her mind blanked, words choking in her throat, unable to articulate an answer.
“Beth? Why didn’t you go to the police? What’s going on?” Jane persisted, her voice sounding more worried as she reached over and grabbed Beth’s hand.
The touch of her sister’s hand jarred Beth from her daze, bringing her into the moment and the required necessity of her answer.
“I’m sorry, Jane,” she began, her words hoarse for a moment before her throat warmed up to the idea of confessions, “I talked to Darcy, but we can’t go to the police.
At least, not now, not before I talked to you.
What, umm, I have to tell you is going to come as a shock and I debated trying to keep this from you, at least for a time, but circumstances being what they are, I just want you to know that I’m sorry and if I could prevent any of this from affecting your life, I would. ”
“You’re starting to really worry me, Beth; just tell me. Whatever it is, I can handle it,” Jane pleaded, hardly hearing Beth’s apology through her desire to know what was going on.
Beth broke her gaze from Jane’s, looking down at their hands for a moment, before continuing, “Darcy’s ex, the one who’s been threatening me… it’s Caroline.”
Saying it out loud was terrifying and empowering at the same time; terrifying because this vague concept of a woman was now finally made concrete, yet empowering because that same knowledge now gave her the power to deal with the situation.
Jane stared at her for a moment before comprehension dawned, her mouth opening in a gasp covered quickly by her hand. Beth held her breath as she watched the color drain from her sister’s face .
“I’m sorry, Jane, I didn’t know and then when I did, I wanted to keep it from you - at least until after the wedding.
I don’t want to hurt you or hurt your relationship with Charles, but the more I thought about it, and talked to Darcy, the more I realized that you need to know.
I’m so sorry,” Beth rambled on, biting her lip to stop the words from tumbling out, trying to give her sister a moment to process the information bomb she’d just dropped on her.
Jane still wasn’t responding; her hand had come up to cover her gaping mouth, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Jane…” Beth prompted softly, really starting to worry if this had been the best idea.
Jane’s eyes darted to hers, finally seeing her sister’s concern.
“I’m sorry, Beth, I just… I don’t understand… How… Why?” Jane’s soft, troubled voice permeated the frozen silence that had overtaken the apartment.
“I know, sweetie,” Beth said, squeezing her sister’s hands again, trying to reassure her, “I don’t understand either…”
“So, she’s the one who…hurt Darcy? God, I just don’t understand…” Jane asked, her brain struggling to accept that it was Charles’ sister who had done those things.
“Yes.”
“And this whole time she’s been back, she’s been the one harassing you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, my God, and she was… is… your client!” Jane said in shocked concern, “Beth! How can you continue to work with her? Aren’t you afraid of what she might do?”
“I don’t know. I just found out who she really is; I don’t know how I’m going to continue to work with her, but I’m going to have to find a way, at least through this coming weekend,” Beth responded, not having really thought about dealing with Caro as a client.
“I don’t understand. How could Darcy not tell you? Especially once he knew that you were working so closely with her?”
This was even harder than she thought it was going to be .
“He was trying to protect me,” Beth offered, but continued as she saw her sister’s unsatisfied expression.
“Jane, you have to understand how much she traumatized him all those years ago. He just wants to leave that part of his life behind him, which is why he didn’t tell me initially - what purpose would it have served?
She was in Europe, had had no contact with him for years; the only thing telling me about her would have done would have been to cloud my impression of Charles and his family. ”
“Ok, I can understand that - leaving the past in the past, but when she came home? Why not then? When she specifically requested you to work with, why not then?”