Page 59 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Holy shit there are a lot of people here.

Beth couldn’t help thinking that this was way more than what Caro had included on the guest list. The gallery had filled up quickly, and suddenly Beth found herself basically trapped near the back by the cake table.

Her position gave her a view of, in her opinion, the two most critical things; one, the door, for when Darcy arrived and two, Caroline, who she’d specifically stationed near the front to greet her guests.

She wasn’t too thrilled that Darcy would probably encounter Caroline before he made it back to her, but she also didn’t trust herself to remain so close to Caroline without giving something away.

Beth took a sip of her wine and scanned the scene before her again.

The way the space was set up was almost like an S, with a display area on the right wall as you entered; following that took you to a half-partition of the room which veered you to the left, where again there was more open space to stand and admire the works on the left wall.

That, then, curved around to the back of the gallery where the caterer had set up a table against the back wall with the cake and wine.

From her post, she was positioned between two of, what she felt, were Caroline’s better works - a portrait of an old man, smiling even though he was missing several of his teeth, and a breakout watercolor piece that she had done of the Trevi Fountain.

These two were originally slated to be hung on the back of the partition wall but when Beth arrived, she managed to persuade Caro to switch up her original layout.

Blaming her lateness on the traffic, she had gushed her apology to Caroline in spite of the distinctly questioning glare she received when she had first entered the building.

Probably due to the essence of time, Caroline’s polite mask descended over her features as she quickly acknowledged Beth’s apology before she’d turned their focus to her art .

Caroline originally had her nude pieces prominently displayed on the front of the partition and on the left wall - giving them the most view time based on where guests were likely to congregate.

Seeing an opportunity to shift the focus on to some of her other works, Beth pretended to think for a moment, scanning the artwork that had been propped up against the walls.

Heart hammering in her chest, Beth had bluntly suggested that the nude pieces be moved to the back of the partition and the far corner.

She cited better lighting and the fact that the food and drinks were back there which would be where most people would tend to linger.

Her reasoning sounded weak, even to her, but then, miraculously, Caroline agreed.

It had rendered Beth speechless for a moment before she quickly covered up her shock by helping to move the artwork to its new home.

In the end, it probably didn’t matter that they had changed the location of the paintings; there were so many people here that every alcove was full, meaning, that even though the nudes were in the worst location, they were still getting just as much visibility as everything else due to the number of people.

However, she had taken that moment, that opportunity, as she re-examined the pieces, to throw in how much she loved the watercolor landscapes that were included in the exhibit, that they were by far her favorite.

Beth felt proud for a moment, that she had won a victory, however slight, over Caroline, by arranging to have the nude sketches placed in a not-ideal location.

Of course, that second was fleeting when she began to wonder why Caroline had taken her advice so easily.

The lighting really wasn’t any better, but it’s true that the food was all in the back.

Maybe Caro truly believed her, or maybe she was just too anxious about the show to really think about it, or maybe she didn’t care because she’d already moved forward with the next part of her plan.

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

“Well, well, well, I can’t say I’m surprised to see you here, Miss Bennet. ”

The familiar authoritative tone immediately set Beth on edge as she turned to acknowledge the person addressing her.

“Good evening, Mrs. DeBourgh. I’m so glad you could make it,” Beth said, her enthusiasm clearly fake.

What was she doing here?! Catharine DeBourgh was NOT on the guest list.

Beth couldn’t help the sinking feeling beginning to grow in her stomach.

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t miss it. Dear Caroline was a good friend of my daughter’s when they were much younger, and lately, she’s proven to be quite invaluable to me,” Mrs. DeBourgh replied with a smirk.

“Yes? Well, enjoy your night,” Beth said, clearly dismissing the woman from her presence.

She had one bitch to deal with tonight, she wasn’t about to add Cathy to the list.

“Oh, I most definitely will,” Mrs. DeBourgh said haughtily, as she turned away from Beth, walking back in Caroline’s direction.

Beth gasped in a huge breath of air, her thoughts, her plan, thrown completely off-guard by her encounter with Mrs. DeBourgh.

As she replayed their short conversation, it wasn’t the fact that she was here that concerned Beth as much as the same, all-knowing, conniving smile that had crossed her face just before she walked away.

It was the same smile that Caroline gave Beth when she thought that she had the upper hand.

The sinking feeling in Beth’s stomach started to get worse. She drained the rest of her wine glass, unintelligently hoping that would settle her.

Beth was pulled from her troubles as Jane approached her through the crush.

“Hey,” she said, giving her sister a hug. “Glad you could make it.”

“Well, we couldn’t miss it. Charles wants to support his sister, at least, for now he does…” Jane trailed off, looking at the people around them. “Where’s Darcy? ”

“Not here yet,” Beth replied with a sigh, “he called me maybe twenty minutes ago, but it was starting to get crazy in here so I couldn’t answer; he texted then and said he was on his way.”

“Oh, I see. So, you haven’t told him yet?”

“No, I tried to call him on my way here but he was in a meeting and didn’t answer.

So, my plan now is to waylay him as soon as he gets here, which is why I’ve planted myself in this spot so that I can see the door…

and Caroline. As soon as he gets here, I’ll make my way towards the front of this mess and pull him outside, but for right now, I don’t trust myself to be up there with her, regardless of all the people in here to separate us. ”

Jane’s lips pursed as she nodded.

“Did you see that Mrs. DeBourgh is here? Did you know that Anne and Caroline used to be friends when they were kids?” Beth asked, pretty certain that Jane wouldn’t know, but needing to talk about this to someone.

“Oh, really? No, I had no idea. I didn’t see her when I came in, but there are a lot of people in here,” Jane replied with an apologetic smile.

“Yeah…I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Beth said, nervously chewing her lip.

Beth jumped, feeling her phone vibrate in her hand. Shaking her head at her nervousness, she quickly opened up his text.

- I’m here.

~ Caroline is in the front. I’m coming.

Beth looked up to see Jane watching her curiously.

“He’s here,” Beth said as she looked past her sister to the front door.

No one was coming in. She frantically scanned what she could see of the front of the gallery space, her eyes halting immediately as they caught and locked with his. Immediately, she could sense his anger and irritation fuming from underneath his hard exterior of control .

Everything around her faded into the background, the only thing that mattered was making her way over to him; she needed the strength and comfort of his presence.

Without breaking eye contact, Beth moved past her sister and began to slink through the crush of people.

Suddenly, his gaze broke from hers, his attention pulled to someone on his right, and Beth immediately felt the loss; the mass of people, the stuffiness in the space threatened to overwhelm her.

She wanted to just push forward, barrel through all of the people in her way, but she couldn’t; she knew that she couldn’t, and that meant she remained vulnerable to all those who stopped her for attention along the way.

“Beth! There you are, I’ve been looking for you!” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed, coming up and hugging her daughter.

“Hi, mom; thanks for coming. I’m actually right in the middle of something so I’ll have to talk to you later. Why don’t you go get a glass of wine? They’re in the back,” Beth managed to get out as she quickly sidestepped her mother.

Her eyes took a moment to find Darcy again; he seemed to be in conversation with someone. Beth had to assume that it was Caroline even though the thought made her stomach queasy again. She wanted to be there next to him, to show a united front; he shouldn’t have had to handle this alone.

This was not going according to plan.

Then, someone grabbed her elbow, stopping her, again, in her tracks and pulling her gaze from Darcy to whoever was physically demanding her attention.

“Hey, Beth! Have you seen Jane?” Charles asked, releasing her elbow.

“Hey, umm… yeah, she was in the back by the cake table, last I saw her,” Beth answered her, forcibly putting a smile on her face.

“Ok, thanks! This looks great by the way; you did a great job. Caroline said that everything is going super well,” Charles continued, jovially.

Ugh...seriously?! Go find Jane already .

“Awesome! Yeah, I’m really happy with how things turned out. There’s a ton of people here – I would go try to find Jane before she gets swallowed up!” Another forced smile planted on her face as she turned away from her future brother-in-law towards her future.

Darcy was only a few feet away now, but it seemed like miles, especially when she could see how hard his jaw was clenching from here. Another few steps brought her through enough of the crowd to see that he was not only talking to Caroline, but Mrs. DeBourgh was part of the conversation as well.

This cannot be good.

Beth felt her heart begin to race as she finally approached the group, watching as Mrs. DeBourgh and Caroline exchanged a conspiratorial glance as Caroline reached out and put her hand on Darcy’s arm. His hand immediately fisted in an attempt not to jerk his arm away and out of her reach.

Caro’s arm came down just as she saw Beth approaching, a satisfied smile spreading over her face.

No turning back now; it was time to throw down the gauntlet.

Beth walked right up to Darcy, her hand reaching down to intertwine with his as she leaned up to kiss him.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for you,” she said softly, waiting for Darcy to acknowledge her.

His eyes finally met hers and she could see instantly that something wasn’t right. She felt no pull from them, none of the emotion that he usually transmitted to her. His gaze felt empty as he barely acknowledged her with a nod.

What happened? Had she gone too far with the kiss?

No, that couldn’t be it. He hated these two women, and yet his response to her was cold and distant.

Don’t dwell on it now.

Her head turned to acknowledge their audience with a false smile, “Hi, ladies, sorry to interrupt your conversation.”

“Oh, that's ok, Beth; I think we were just about done, weren’t we Darcy?” Caroline replied, her devious smile spreading across her face; it was her only smile that Beth realized went from ear to ear .

At least Darcy didn’t acknowledge her. His mouth just thinned even further, his eyes burning with rage at the woman standing in front of him

Ok, well at least that hadn’t changed.

“Wonderful, well, if you wouldn’t mind excusing us, I haven’t seen him all day,” Beth interjected cordially, as she turned towards the front door of the gallery, pulling Darcy’s hand along with her.

For a moment, she felt resistance, as if he wasn’t going to go with her and she began to panic. Then, her arm slackened as he began to follow her, but not before she looked back and saw Caroline and Mrs. DeBourgh both smiling at her as if they were watching her rush eagerly to her own demise.