Page 72 of Second Chances
“So, you don’t approve of her exhibition that she’s hosting next weekend?”
Beth’s eyes wandered for a brief moment back into the living room. There, she noticed Caro in a group conversation with Jane, yet simultaneously watching her intently with narrow, speculative eyes.
“No, no. I thought her coming back was to mend things between us, but I was wrong; it was, unfortunately, a little more financially motivated than that,” Mrs. Bingley responded with a hint of resentment, before suddenly realizing her company and deflecting the conversation by asking Mrs. Bennet about Lydia.
Well, that’s interesting information. Would Jane know more?
Jane had told her that Charles was struggling with issues between his parents and sister; maybe he had told her. The problem was that Jane would never gossip about private family issues, even to Beth, unless she knew the real reason that Beth was asking, and that would mean telling her that her future sister-in-law and bridesmaid was a crazy, stalker bitch.
Would Jane be able to handle that? Would she be ok?
There was no way Beth could go through with a restraining order now, before Jane’s wedding; she also knew that she couldn’t keep from Jane who her tormentor was, as much as she wanted to spare her the awkwardness.
What do you say? ‘Hey sis, by the way, the crazy person stalking and threatening me is your new sister-in-law. Good luck with that’?
UGH!
What if she kept it from her until after the wedding at least?
No, you know Jane is going to ask you what you’ve done about the woman harassing you, if you’ve gone to the police. True, but I could lie.
No, she couldn’t lie to Jane. Plus, not that it would change how she felt about Charles, but for Jane’s safety, she should know that Caro is the ex; the CB threatened her, too, after all.
God, what do I do?
She needed to talk to Darcy, first, before she told Jane anything;theyneeded to come up with a plan. Hopefully, once Jane knew who the ex-girlfriend was, she would be able to help Beth figure out the real reason why Caro was back.
Beth stood by the mothers, superficially involved in the conversation, while letting her mind run through the possible implications of what she had just learned. A few minutes later, they were joined by Jane, who graciously thanked them all again for such a wonderful surprise.
“I really had no idea,” she gushed. “Caro did an excellent job with her ruse. Thank you so much, mom, Beth.”
I bet she did.
“I’m so happy you were surprised,” Beth replied, hugging her sister. “It was so hard not to say something to you about it. I hope you’re having a good time. We tried to keep it as low-key as possible.”
“No, it’s perfect. Thank you!!”
“Also, we decided to leave it up to you if you want to open some of your gifts, or if you would rather just mingle and then open them later.”
“Oh, ok,” Jane said, biting her lip as she thought about her options.
“I’m sure your guests would love it if you opened your presents,” Irene interjected her opinion.
“I’malsosure that your guests would love to spend time actually talking to you, too, so, you do what you want, Jane,” Beth added in, giving her mother a glare.
“Ok, yeah maybe I will just do that and open the gifts later. I feel like it’s boring to sit and watch someone open presents.”
“See, Louise, even Jane can be troublesome, too” Mrs. Bennet grumbled, giving Mrs. Bingley an empathetic glance, enjoying their solidarity over disobedient daughters.
“Mom, I think this is what everyone would rather. It does get boring to just sit and watch; I’d hate for any of your friends to get bored,” Beth chastised.
“Ok, fine,” Irene huffed. “Have you seen all of your guests, Jane?”
“Yes, I think I’ve managed to chat with everyone,” Jane replied with a smile. “They are all raving about the food and the house. Caroline really found a wonderful place.”
“Yes, well, it was given to her so I don’t think she had much of a choice,” Mrs. Bingley retorted.
Well, that’s even more interesting.
