Page 20 of Third Time is the Charm
Beth stared off in a daze at her reflection in front of her, waiting as Jane finished curling the last few strands of hair on the back of her head that she’d been struggling to reach.
It was the calm before the storm.Tonight, she would see not only Darcy but also Caroline Bingley, for the first time since that fateful night almost five months ago.
Beth felt her nerves begging to freely speculate through all of the wild possibilities of how tonight would go.
They’d arrived at the Castle Hotel later that morning and unpacked after which, her, Jane, seven-months pregnant Lydia, and their mom had gone over to Blue Hill to drop off some last-minute décor before the rehearsal later that evening. (Mary and Kat insisting that they didn’t want to go up there again, that they would rather hang out in the hotel by the pool.)
It had been weird being with her whole family again – except her dad. When she saw him, she could have cried with how much she missed him. Their reunion had been a complete one-eighty from that with Irene. Still clearly upset that Beth had left town without telling her or explaining her motives, her mom had barely spoken two words to her.Because Lydia hadn’t tried to do the exact same thing. But, that washer Lydia.There were clearly a different set of standards that their mother had for her.
Beth sighed, knowing how upset Lydia’s leaving had made Irene. Maybe this was her mother’s way of coping with Beth’s sudden departure. So, with that guilt nagging at her, Beth tried to be extra nice to her mom instead of just brushing her off. But, to smooth over the tension between them, Beth had offered her mother, on a silver platter, the delicious fact that she was actually bringing a date to the wedding.
At which point, Beth almost preferred the cold distance between them and the absence of conversation.
Not that anything was going to overshadow her excitement for her oldest daughter’s wedding, but the knowledge that Beth was bringing a date came pretty darn close. The entire drive out to Tarrytown had been filled with question after excited question, with barely a pause for breath in-between let alone to allow Beth an opportunity to actually answer.
No, that wasn’t quite true.
Irene had paused long enough to hearwhoher date was. After that, they couldn’t get to their destination fast enough; Beth practically stumbling out of the car before Jane had even turned it off to get some fresh air, suffocated by the stifling inquiries into her no-longer-personal life.
No, her mother’s reaction hadn’t been a shock – Lydia, on the other hand, seemed like a completely different person. She’d only been around her for maybe an hour, but the change was drastic since the last time they’d been in the same room over six months ago. She was no longer whiny and assertive, either pestering or competing with their mother for control of the conversation. She was subdued and, surprisingly, seemed almost as annoyed as Beth at their mother’s constant questions and speculations. Almost – because she wasn’t the topic of them; that honor fell squarely on Beth.
Maybe marriage wasn’t all that Lydia had thought it would be.
Or maybe men weren’t all that she thought they would be.Amen to that, Beth mentally agreed.
George hadn’t come with her, as Jane had said. It wasn’t too much of a disappointment to the group since no one really wanted him there anyway. Beth attributed his absence to his deal with Darcy. Lydia though, couldn’t miss her sister’s wedding.
Beth wanted to reach out to her, to actually talk to her outside of a group of people and really get a sense of what was going on. The only problem was that she and Lydia had never been particularly close and the fact was that she was barely keeping her head above the waters of worry crashing around her. What help or advice could she possibly give to Lydia?
She’d fallen for a man just as intolerable as George – who was she to judge?
The only difference was that Lydia was inextricably tied to a man she no longer seemed so enthused about, whereas Beth was free – free to wish she was just as trapped.
Arriving at the venue had put a halt to Mrs. Bennet’s interrogation, her focus temporarily drawn back to the main event of the weekend. They’d strolled through the space, Jane attempting to show her sisters where everything was going to take place, inevitably always cut off by Irene interjecting her own thoughts and opinions.
Leaving Beth and Lydia in the courtyard outside where the ceremony was going to take place, Jane and their mom went to drop off the boxes of flowers and menus inside with Blue Hill’s wedding coordinator. The courtyard was surrounded by the main restaurant and event building that had an L-shape to it. The building was covered in windows, giving anyone inside an unobstructed view of the event going on. After the ceremony, they would head into the right side of the building for a cocktail hour, after which guests would be funneled back across the courtyard into the left side of the building where the main reception hall was for dinner. And then, assuming the weather cooperated, dancing would be back out in the courtyard underneath the stars.
Beth stared down the ‘aisle’ that she would be walking later.
With Darcy.
The wooden chairs set up on either side, leading down to a wooden arched trellis, adorned with simple white flowers. Beth smiled to herself – the rustic elegance was very Jane. She’d been expecting to show up and see some over-the-top, gaudy ceremony space courtesy of Irene, but it looked like Jane had held her ground more than she’d let on.
Beth slowly strolled up the aisle, her hand gently resting on one chair after another as she made her way to the front. At least tonight she would get out all of her anxieties and uncertainties about seeing Darcy again, then tomorrow, this walk would be a piece of cake.Ha!She groaned at her annoyingly wishful thinking.
She turned around to see Lydia sitting in one of the guest chairs at the now far end of the aisle, her hand resting on her protruding stomach, staring down vacantly at where her unborn child resided. With a sigh, and the urge to talk to her youngest sister that she’d never before felt, Beth walked back towards her.
“Hey,” she began quietly, stirring Lydia from her distracted reverie.
“Hey.”
“How’s everything going with the baby?” Beth watched as Lydia’s hand began to rub over her stomach lovingly.
A smile broke over Lydia’s face. “Good, she’s good; it’s a girl,” she half-whispered to Beth. “Don’t tell mom. I don’t want to hear about all the names that I should name her right now…” She laughed a little, knowing that Beth would understand her reasoning.
The only thing Beth didn’t understand was whyLydia– out of all of them – now had those feelings; six months ago, she would have never kept any of this from their mother. Hell, she probably would have tried to make Jane’s entire wedding about her and her baby.
“How’s Chicago?”
