Page 16 of Third Time is the Charm (Passion and Perseverance #3)

The shifting of everyone around her caused Beth to halt her musings.

The rehearsal was over, it was time to head to dinner.

She looked around wishing Col was here to help her feel comfortable; Jane was walking next to Charles, her dad was locked into a conversation with her mom and Mr. Bingley, and she, well, she was alone.

Beth stole one last glance at Darcy and, feeling like she would become easy prey if she didn’t put some distance between them, turned quickly toward the exit.

Suddenly, an arm linked through hers from behind; looking back, Beth saw it was Lydia who had attached to her. Her eyebrows raised curiously at Lydia coming to her rescue, coming to her support.

“I didn’t know it was possible either,” she whispered quietly, her voice almost completely lost amongst the commotion, “to feel like you are suffocating and yet realize it’s the air around that’s drowning you.

” Beth just nodded as the truth of her little sister’s words washed over her.

“So, where is dinner again?” Lydia asked as they turned and walked slowly back to the limo; her tone switched towards more superficial conversation to disguise the pain that neither of them wanted to talk about.

The car brought them all back to the Castle Hotel, and the Equus restaurant, where the rehearsal dinner was taking place.

They had the entire closed-in patio all to their party, the tables broken down to seat six people per in order to accommodate everyone.

The bride and groom-to-be sat at a table with their parents, the bridal party split up into bridesmaids and groomsmen, with Charles’ grandparents seated with the groomsmen, and the Gardiners seated with Beth and her remaining sisters.

It was a reprieve to know that she wasn’t at the same table as Darcy.

She set her purse down on her chair, the position of which put him at her back – so she wasn’t tempted to look at him.

Ok, she was tempted. But it would have been too obvious.

Before even sitting down, Beth went in search of the restroom just to have a brief moment to herself.

Another mistake. When she returned, she saw her purse had been moved; Phil’s wife had taken her seat.

Walking up to the chair next to Lydia, where her clutch now resided, she turned to her sister with a questioning glance.

“Sorry,” Lydia mumbled. “He said something about wanting to be able to see the almost-newlyweds.” Beth just nodded briefly in response before Phil approached her himself and enveloped her into a hug.

“Beth!” he exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too,” she said, returning the embrace.

“How’s everything going? Boy, I sure do miss you at Gardiner – and so do your clients! Let me tell you. I’ve already had Renée email me and tell me that if you won’t coordinate her birthday party still this year, she’s just not going to have one,” he chuckled – drama queen.

Beth smiled, knowing that Renée would probably contact her personally when it came time – and she would be happy to do it.

“She’s a piece of work, that’s for sure,” she replied with a smile.

“Everything has been going really well, actually. It’s a whole different vibe, working for a non-profit, and I’m finding myself really enjoying it. ”

“Wonderful, just wonderful. You had me worried there, just up-and-leaving like that. Well, even before you left, I knew something was up. You’re looking better, though, which is all I can ask for.

” He grinned, kissing her on the cheek before letting himself get waylaid by Mr. Bennet, motioning him over to his table.

Finally, able to sit down, Beth reached for the already poured glass of white wine that was at her seat, taking a healthy sip.

From her new position, she could now see Mr. Intolerable again – well, at least the side of him.

Beth sipped her wine and watched as he… made small talk?

She didn’t care if she was caught staring, she watched as the cold and callous Darcy talked with Charles’ groomsmen, with a (small) smile on his face, seeming to express a genuine interest in what they were saying.

“He’s different,” Lydia’s reserved voice hummed over her.

Turning her gaze towards her sister, she asked the question that neither of them could know the answer to. “Why?”

“Hmmm,” Lydia murmured in response, taking a sip of water as her other hand lightly rubbed her stomach.

“Are you feeling ok? We were standing outside for a while…” Beth asked, concerned that something was wrong.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine – we’re fine. Thank you,” she replied with a smile. “Just hungry.”

“Well that makes… three of us,” Beth agreed, just as the waiters entered the room with the salad course.

She didn’t realize how hungry she was or remember the fact that she’d forgotten to eat lunch until the first bite of lettuce hit her mouth.

She listened to the conversation going on around her, mostly between Phil, Kat, and Lydia, about school, about the baby; she was too hungry to participate.

“So, how are you?” Beth asked Lydia cautiously when it seemed like the rest of the table had strayed onto the topic of school and college for Kat and Mary. She didn’t want to be too specific; she knew what it was like to not want to talk about something.

A wistful smile passed over Lydia’s face, as she set her fork down. “I’m ok – mostly thanks to this little lady.” Her face lit at the mention of her baby. “And thanks to the man that you can’t take your eyes off of.”

Beth felt a blush creep over her face at the reference to Darcy, her eyes unable to stop themselves from glancing back in his direction, to where he still sat comfortably chatting with the other guests at his table.

Wait, why thanks to Darcy? He’d forced George to marry her in the first place…

Beth swiveled her head back to her sister, her mouth opening and the words starting to escape it when the loud clanging of a knife on a wine glass forced her into silence.

Time for toasts.

“If I could just have everyone’s attention for a moment,” Charles’ happily warm voice rolled through the room.

“I won’t take long, especially as I see that dinner is about to happen.

” The waiters returned, starting to serve the main course as Charles continued to speak.

“I just want to thank you all for coming this weekend to help celebrate with Jane and I. All I can say is that I knew from the day that she fell for me in her office—” He paused as a laugh rippled through the crowd, remembering the story about how Jane had tripped over Beth’s briefcase and sprained her ankle.

“I knew from that day that she would be my wife. So, thank you again, everyone, we love you. Cheers!” He raised his glass, signaling everyone else to do the same.

Just as the clapping began, Beth watched as her mother stood, her wine glass chiming for attention.

“Thank you, Charles. We are so lucky that you are joining our family and that you take such good care of our dear Jane,” Irene began, and Beth prayed that this would be over shortly.

“Mr. Bennet and I, and Mr. and Mrs. Bingley, also would like to thank everyone for coming, your presence will make their day even more wonderful. I would like to give a special thank you as well, to Mr. Darcy, without whom this celebration would not have been possible.” And there was the awkward statement.

Beth watched in confusion – Jane’s face flushed, Charles gave Darcy a sheepish shrug of his shoulders, and Darcy himself, looked surprisingly more embarrassed than angry.

Whatever he had contributed to their day, he would have preferred it to remain a secret – something he should have known was a foolish impossibility with Irene Bennet.

But what had he contributed? Beth wondered desperately.

“To Charles and Jane,” Darcy exclaimed gruffly, raising his glass to end the uncomfortable silence that her mother had propagated.

Beth looked at Lydia, hoping that their mother had said something to her. “I don’t know…” Lydia answered the silent question with a regretful shrug. Beth bit her lip in consternation, picking up her knife and fork to dig into the delicious-looking chicken Milanese that had been served.

She needed to talk to Jane; Jane would know.