Page 94 of Second Chances
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.
