Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance (33 page)

"Do you think he is?" Beth asked in a small
voice.

"I don't know. Is he?"

Hope erupted within her.

Cynthia's voice turned firm. "Because he
isn't acting like it. You've both moved on. Making a move toward Oz
could upturn the apple cart. You need closure. You need to get your
head in the game and start drooling after what you have, not what
you used to have."

Beth stared at the ceiling and blinked back
tears.

"Did you hear me?"

Beth nodded and sighed. "Yeah."

"You know, Oz is different. And so are you.
You've both been through a lot and pulled some punches. Nothing
will be the same." Pause. "You can't have the past, Beth. Only the
future, and the future is, of course, completely uncertain. As
uncertain as Oz wanting you back. Whatever you decide, I'll support
you. This is your life, after all."

Beth closed her stinging, sore eyes. She let
out a slow breath between her lips, spraying teardrops. She was
going to have to say goodbye to the man she loved. A man who was
just as good today as he had been the first time she said yes.

But which man was that?

PART 3: The Wedding Day and Where Things Begin to
Unravel

(April)

Chapter 19

Beth paced the small upstairs room in the
church. She hadn't gone to Oz for closure. And she hadn't broken up
with Nash.

Of course she hadn't. There was no reason to
do either. She'd merely had cold feet because she didn't know Nash
as well as she knew Oz. It was so obvious now. Anyway, she and Oz
had their closure ages ago. She had just been miffed that Oz was
still a great catch.

She and Nash were in love and she was ready
to do this. She was ready to get married. She was ready to live a
new life.

Pasting a smile on her face, she took a deep
breath. She kept smiling and breathing until the smile felt real.
Excitement started to build inside her. She was going to get
married. To Nash. Today.

This was the beginning of something new.
Nash would get more in tune with Blueberry Springs, her outreach
program was in full swing, and now she was getting married. It
couldn't get much better than this.

She paced the room in her bare feet and
checked the clock. Where was Katie with her special order shoes
from the city? And where was Cynthia with her necklace? She checked
the time again. Maybe she should get someone to run to the condo
and grab the stand-in shoes with the same height heel she'd worn
for her fittings. She picked up her cell phone, debating who to
call. She already had her two best gals on the job.

The large wood door squeaked open and Mandy
hesitantly stepped inside. She was decked out in designer jeans
that hugged her tush and she had a familiar tote. "I hope I'm not
too late. Katie called from the city and asked me to get your
stand-in shoes but I had troubles getting into your place. Nobody
has a spare key and you keep the place locked." She frowned and
thrust the bag at Beth. "Here are your shoes. Congratulations."

"What's wrong with Katie? I can't get
married without her!" Panic raced up her spine.

Mandy shrugged. "She said she ran into a
slight problem and you might have to go down the aisle without her.
Is there anything else I can help with?"

Beth clutched the bag. "Why are you being so
nice?" Beth whispered.

Mandy's expression lost its friendliness.
"I'm actually a nice person, Beth."

"Sorry," Beth said quickly. "I didn't
mean..." She waved the bag. "I just didn't expect this." As much as
she wanted to give Mandy the benefit of the doubt and even thank
her for trying to break Oz away from his father years ago, she
couldn't help but think that Mandy was getting what she wanted: she
was free to pursue Oz to her heart's content.

But maybe it was better this way. Everyone
got someone they cared about.

She met Mandy's eye. "Thank you, Mandy. For
everything."

Mandy gave her a look. "It's just a pair of
shoes."

Katie burst in, looking harried and
unsettled. She was still in her jeans and ratty old winter coat.
"Sorry, I'm late. Thanks, Mandy. I have the real shoes." She waved
a shoebox. "These bloody shoes cost me my car."

"What?" Beth took the box as Mandy slipped
out the door. "We prepaid for them. Please tell me they didn't
charge you again?"

"I'll explain later." Katie shook her head
and glanced around the room. "Where's my dress? That man better
have brought my dress or I swear I'll—"

Beth slipped into one of the beaded shoes
and pointed to the garment bag hanging by the door. Katie snatched
it up and bolted from the room. Holy hell, these shoes were going
to kill her. She winced and shoved her foot in the second shoe. Oh
well, all she had to do was wear them for a couple of hours and
then she could change into the stand-in shoes.

The door squeaked again and Cynthia entered,
tugging at her pantyhose. She was wearing a short t-shirt over
pantyhose and nothing else. "Who pissed in Katie's cornflakes?"
Cynthia grumbled. She stuck out a hosed leg. "Does this color look
okay?"

"Why aren't you in your dress?" She checked
the clock. "I'm supposed to be going down the aisle in five
minutes!" She turned to shove her sister out of the room. "And I
need my necklace."

"Right!" Cynthia snapped to, returning an
instant later with necklace in hand and dress over her arm. She
dropped the dress on the couch and held out an opened necklace.
"Come here."

Cynthia clipped the necklace in place, her
familiar perfume reassuring as she adjusted it. Beth breathed in
and tried to relax. Was everyone this nervous before they got
married?

She adjusted her engagement ring. This was
the right decision. Nash wanted her and she wanted him. They were
in love. People in love got married.

But she couldn't help believing real closure
should feel more definitive. That she should feel a little more
sure of herself. Or at least a little less curious about what Oz
was up to today.

Her sister spun her around and held her in
place. "There, now you have something borrowed."

"Well, I suppose I'm ready
to get hitched!" Beth's voice cracked on
hitched
, and her sister's grasp
tightened.

Cynthia whispered, "You can still back out,
if that's what you need to do. I'll support whichever choice you
make."

"Nash
is
my choice," Beth said, standing
tall. "He's right for me."

Her sister gazed at her for a long moment.
"You didn't get closure, did you?"

"Of course I did." Beth turned away.

There was something in Oz's eyes the day she
smacked him with his love note. Something she couldn't put her
finger on and it was making it difficult to let go. She shook her
head. She was standing in a wedding gown, about to marry a great
man and all she could think about was her ex? She needed to get her
head on straight.

She quietly drifted to the window seat,
mindlessly admiring how Mother Nature had gifted her with a lovely
layer of snow for her wedding day. The snow twinkled in the bright
spring sunshine and she sat at the window, trying not to think.

"Life's too short, Beth," said Cynthia
quietly.

Beth looked up, having forgotten her sister
was still in the room. "I know."

She could feel Cynthia staring at her while
she slipped into her dress. "Do me up?" she asked, coming over.
Beth quickly sipped up the dress and turned back to the window.

Her confidence sagged. What the hell was she
doing? She was like a yo-yo.

Up.

Down.

Yes.

No.

I do.

I...

She tried to suck in a deep breath. If she
could breathe, everything would feel right.

Her sister slipped out to check on Katie,
and when she returned Beth mindlessly chatted, waiting to head
downstairs. With her sister beside her at the window, she caught a
flash of black tuxedo below and loud voices filtered their way up
to her perch. She stood, nose pressed to the window in an effort to
see directly below. She gasped, and ignoring her sister, fled to
the heavy door blocking her exit. She wrenched it open and took the
stairs as fast as she could. She reached the front doors of the
church in time to witness Nash throw a punch at Oz.

Oz ducked. The momentum of Nash's swinging
arm twisted his body like a corkscrew and his shoes slipped on the
ice. His body arched through the air, a look of surprise, his mouth
curving into a perfect, comical O.

He landed, head first, his body crumpling in
slow motion.

A scream shredded the silence.

Chapter 20

Beth stood on the condo's threshold, hating
everything in it. Everything she used to admire about the place
angered her from the decorative chair that sat uselessly at the
front door to the silly ornamental kitchen lights that shone on
dust-catching sculptures. She'd like nothing more than to break
everything in sight. Nash's perfect condo lacked the comforting,
cozy, homey feeling she craved. She wanted her saggy old velvet
couch under her, not cool, elegant leather.

She dropped the small bag of things her
sister and Katie had brought to the hospital, along with her
blood-stained wedding gown. She held the door for Nash, offering
her arm as he swayed.

"You okay?" she asked tightly.

"Just a touch of lightheadedness." His
complexion matched the bandage spun around his forehead. "Hey,
look. Nobody did up our condo while we were away."

Bitter rage brewed and her
vision flashed with wild colors as she fought for control. "That's
because we didn't go on our honeymoon," she bit out, fighting
tears. "We missed the flight while you were in the hospital. And it
wouldn't have been a honeymoon anyway because we didn't get
married
. And nobody
rearranges your furniture when you end up in the hospital for
acting like an ass instead of getting married like a civilized
man."

She kicked the mangled pile of wedding dress
and tossed her jacket on the floor, heading to the kitchen in
search of a beer. Seeing how she'd hardly slept in the past day and
a half, maybe she should consider a coffee. Either that or go
straight to bed. Angry.

Really freaking angry.

If she went straight to bed, she wouldn't
have to discuss anything lack-of-marriage related with Nash: the
one topic they'd carefully skirted for the past thirty hours.

The anger surprised her. Everyone expected
her to feel hurt or disappointed. But it was anger. One-hundred
percent, barely-bridled anger oozing from her pores like lava from
a volcano before its eruption. Anger at Nash. Anger at Oz. Anger at
herself.

Nash appeared in the kitchen doorway, as
Beth stood, frozen with indecision, staring at the oak cabinet door
which was really nothing more than a dressed-up fridge.

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you okay? You seem upset."

Beth inhaled through her nose and bit her
tongue. Nothing she would say right now would be good for their
relationship.

Nash continued, "It bothers me that our
wedding got ruined. It bothers me a lot."

Beth popped a hand to her
hip. It bothered
him
? What about her? Hello? Only been waiting for her wedding day
all her freaking life and then he went and ruined it with his
stupid inferiority complex.

"Maybe you should have
thought about that
before
you swung at Oz and landed on your head. Hmmm?
Ever thought of that?" She stepped up to Nash. "Ever think that
maybe you don't have to act jealous, because, oh, I don't know—I'm
wearing YOUR RING?" She thrust her ringed finger in front of his
face. "That I chose YOU!"

Nash frowned and squeezed his right hand,
the hand that had connected with nothing but air in his jealous,
male rage. The hand that had ruined everything by doing nothing.
"Beth... I've seen the way you look at your ex." He tipped his head
down, watching her.

"But I chose you, Nash,"
she said, her voice wobbling horribly. "I chose
you
. But maybe I need someone who
understands and trusts me
.
" She sobbed as the burning
realization of what they'd said sunk in.

***

Beth hid in the bathroom, submerged in a hot
bubble bath. When the water had finally cooled she slipped out,
checking to see if Nash had fallen asleep. She found him on the
couch, cramped in the short space, a thin line of drool stringing
down onto the leather. She grabbed her purse and skimmed the note
he'd left on the kitchen island suggesting they book a local
getaway and elope during their week off. Leaving the note as she
found it, she slipped out the door.

She wasn't ready to move on like nothing had
happened. They needed to figure out their feelings if they hoped to
ever be truly good together. And ever since Nash's concussion there
had been an uncertainty in his eyes that made the idea of elopement
feel similar to a wrong turn down a one-way street. A one-way
street where they were speeding headlong toward an approaching
semi.

She shook off the feeling, certain she was
looking for a way out of something that would be right for her in
the end. She strode aimlessly through the fresh spring air and,
spotting Katie's dented car outside Will's, entered the building.
Anything to get away from her whirling thoughts.

Katie opened the door and did a double-take
almost like Beth wasn't welcome. Beth stepped back and started to
apologize when Katie opened the door wider. "Come in," she said
quickly. She paused, then stepped out into the hall, closing the
door behind her, shutting them out. Katie crossed her arms, her
shoulders hunched like she was cold. "What's up?"