Pride's Prejudice (27 page)

William
grimaced at her, drawing an exasperated breath.  Then he set his melting
chocolate eyes on hers, doubling his efforts.  "Please?"

"Below
the belt," Beth muttered, relocating her eyes to the ceiling to study the
swirled stucco patterns.  "It was about you."

"And
you wrote it?"

"If
Fritz wrote a song like that about you, then you've got bigger problems than my
angst-ridden poetry," she answered loftily.

William
didn't seem to register the jibe.  His dark eyes were alight with
something Beth couldn't define.  "When did you write it?"

"Um…..it
was sort of a progressive work."

William
finally grinned at that, circling his arms around Beth and drawing her
closer.  "I'll be the source of your angst any day,
Sweetheart.
"

"Not
likely," she countered.  "Pain is good for creativity. 
Happily ever after, not so much."

"I'll
keep that in mind," he whispered, placing a very soft kiss on her lips.

~:~

Half
an hour later, William carried Beth to her room, setting her just inside the
door and stepping back out.  As she leaned against the door, William
wondered if she knew how difficult she was making  this "being
respectable" business.  Her eyes were that entrancing combination of
dark and bright he'd committed to memory, and her cheeks were flushed with
heat.

"I'm
going to go take a shower," William informed her, backing down the hall
toward the guestroom.  "A cold one."

Beth
smiled, catching her lower lip in her teeth.  The sight made it absolutely
necessary for William to turn and all but run.

When
William was showered, dried, dressed, and sufficiently de-aroused, he ventured
into the kitchen for a drink, meeting Gianna as she came through the front
door.

"Hey,
kid."

"Hey,
are you guys still up?"

William
jerked his head toward his bedroom.  "Beth went to bed.  How was
the movie?"  He pulled his fingers through his hair self-consciously,
feeling slightly warm at the thought of Beth in bed.

"It
was okay - pretty sappy, though."  Gianna eyed her brother with a
shrewd expression.

"What?"

"You're
all blotchy."  Gianna's eyes lit up.  "Are you guys back
together?!"

William
grinned despite his best efforts.

Gianna
leaped up to hug her brother.  "Yes!  I knew you guys would work
it out.  She pulled him over to the couch.  "Tell me
everything.
"

William
gave a detailed narrative up until his apology, chivalrously leaving out the
make-out session that followed.

"Who
kissed who first?"

William
sat up a little straighter, his chin lifted a fraction.  "She kissed
me."

Gianna
giggled.  "I'm going to have a sister!"

"Slow
down, kiddo.  I haven't even asked her yet."

"But
you're planning to?!"

William
gave his sister a scathing look.  "Time for bed, kid.  It's
late.  Tomorrow - I mean today - is going to be a long day."

Gianna
sighed like she used to at the end of her favorite Disney movies, hugged
William severely, pecked him on the cheek, and floated toward her room.

William
frowned slightly.  Had he been wrong to tell Gianna?  The last thing
he wanted was to get her hopes up.  Then again, his were already sky high
- so there really was no help for either of them.

NUPTIALS

"While
I can get any of my acquaintance to marry for me, I shall never think of doing
so myself."

 ~Jane
Austen

Beth
helped Jenna out of the limo, reminding her to duck her head so as to not ruin
the crown of curls that was pinned carefully atop her head.  It had been
an early morning at the spa, and Beth had slipped out of William's apartment
unnoticed.  She had even managed to call her own cab, which she would
definitely have to brag about later.  Fortunately, Jenna was too
preoccupied today to notice the way Beth's eyes kept glazing over whenever she
remembered William's eyes or the feel of his lips on hers.

After
being pushed, pulled, and primped from tresses to toes, Jenna and Beth had
finally arrived at the Bradfords'.  They had less than an hour to get
dressed for the ceremony.  Once back inside the guest wing, Beth helped
Jenna into her wedding gown.  Jenna's teary-eyed mother then took over,
her anxious hands fluttering up and down her daughter accompanied by frequent '
oh's
'
and '
my baby's'.
  Beth realized that she had spent the whole
morning with Jenna, and it was probably the time for her to bow out now, and
give Jenna a few minutes alone with her parents.

After
sheathing herself in her own gown, Beth left the room with a quiet glance back
at her best friend, a staggering sensation of homesickness for Jenna rocking
through her.

After
making her way down the staircase and out the front door, she paused to take in
her surroundings.  Next to the bridge a battalion of white-backed chairs
stood in neat rows, facing a canopy swathed in breezy white fabric.  The
chairs were still empty, and none of the wedding party were to be seen. 
It hadn't taken them as long to get dressed as Beth had anticipated.

She
wandered off to the right, guessing that the large porch wrapping around the
house would take her through to the back, surprised when she was stopped by a
tall, thick hedge.  Scowling at the bushes, she turned back to take the
long way.

William
leaned against the side of the house with his hands in his pockets, watching
her, a bemused smile on his lips.  Beth felt her nostalgia lift when she
saw his face, replaced by a sort of nervous anticipation.

Dang,
he looked good in a tux.

~:~

Beth's
eyes brightened when she saw William, and she walked into his open arms without
the slightest hesitation.

"So
you're not wandering the streets after all," he teased against her
hair.  "I was worried there for a bit."

Beth
smiled up at him.  "Not even close.  I even took a cab,"
she gloated.

William
grinned down at her, wondering if she knew that the sight of her tripled his
heart rate.  Beth was stunning - there was just no other word for
it.  Her chin-length hair had been twirled into a mass of cork-screw
curls, her eyes had been softly shaded, and her lips were glossed in the same
shade as her dress.  The strapless top had been topped with a matching
shrug, and the skirt billowed and bubbled all the way to the ground in a purple
cloud.  He shouldn't know what a sweetheart neckline or a pick-up skirt
was; no self-respecting, heterosexual male would.  But what did you do
when you were cooped up for three months with your sister, whose every whim you
were keen to indulge?  You watched every blasted episode of
Say Yes to
the Dress
without regard for your manhood.  At the time, he'd simply
been glad she'd finally given up on
A Baby Story.

William's
dismal recollections were short-lived, chased away by the vision before
him.  Drawing her closer, he rested his forehead against hers. 
"You are heart-stopping," he managed in a broken whisper, and was rewarded
by the flush of color in Beth's cheeks.  "
Smoky plum
is
definitely your color," he added, then scowled at her mouth.  "I
don't think it's mine though."

"That's
a shame," Beth agreed.

"Maybe
later," William murmured, nuzzling her ear.  Beth shivered, and he
smiled.

"Promise?"
she asked with twinkling eyes.

"Count
on it," he pledged, moving to her neck.

The
moment was choked by a deliberate-sounding cough.  When William looked up,
he saw that Kara stood rigidly before them, her arms folded and a livid
expression on her face.

"Well,
well. 
There
you are, Beth.  We've been looking
everywhere.  Nothing worse than an M.I.A. Maid of Honor.  I should've
guessed you'd be hiding somewhere with the best man."

Kara
tried to look pleased with herself, but she emanated defeat.  "We're
ready to start.  Unless you want me to make your excuses to the
bride?"

William
fully anticipated a well-deserved comeback from Beth.  Instead, she simply
swallowed whatever retort was on her tongue, smiled, and said "I'm
coming," in a polite tone.  Then she met William's eyes for a moment
before turning and leaving.  He hadn't known she was capable of
suppressing her witty repartee.

It
took a moment before he realized Kara was talking to him.

"……
so
the wrong color for her, it totally washes her out - I mean, has she
never
heard of sunless tanner?"

"I'm
sorry," William said in his least apologetic voice, "are you talking
to me?"

"William,
you silly.  Of course I am - there's no one else here."  She
slunk toward him and smoothed the lapels of his tux.  "Beth may look
less than appealing today, but you, on the other hand, look positively
dashing."

William
looked down at her, compassion altering his original rejoinder. 
"Kara," he began thoughtfully, "we've known each other a long
time, haven't we?"

Her
eyes lit up.  "Yes, we have."

"So,
you know me pretty well by now, right?"

"I
think I know you better than anyone, William."  She inched closer.

"Then
you should be able to see that I'm in love with Beth."  He paused to
let that sink in.  "And I'm going to ask her to marry me."

William
may as well have slashed Kara across the face with a machete.  He pressed
the advantage of her speechlessness, taking a step back from her enforced
proximity.  "So, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate if you'd stop
talking about my future wife that way."

Kara's
bottle-bronzed skin turned pallid, but her eyes were on fire.  William was
positive he'd never seen her so speechless.  Before she could answer,
William walked away from her, smiling to himself as triumph won out over pity.

The
tense expression on Les's face relaxed when his best friend strode up to him a
few minutes later.

"Where
have you been?" Les asked impatiently as William took his place as best
man.

William's
answering grin must have been sufficient response.

"So….what's
up?  Did you guys……?"

William
punched Les on the shoulder.  "Just because it's all
you
can
think about."

Les
just nodded.

"But
no, we haven't."

"Do
you think tonight?"

"No,
but you will be."

Les's
eyes went out of focus for a second before a gaping smile split his face. 
"Tough break, man."

William
bumped him hard with his shoulder.  "Nervous?"

"Not
a bit," Les decreed as the opening strains of the wedding march sounded
and Kara began trudging up the aisle.

~:~

Beth
hugged Jenna fiercely, wanting to draw the embrace out into a world where
nothing changed; where they would be roommates at Longbourn Hall indefinitely,
eating Pringles and peanut butter cups, playing Phase Ten, and drinking Dr.
Pepper.

Jenna
literally glistened from head to toe, a dew-kissed angel sent down from the
gods.  The sheen of her veil glimmered faintly in the light of
mid-morning, and when she turned this way and that at the request of her
mother, the rhinestones scattered on her dress would catch the light and throw
it back to the eye.  But the glow of her wedding gown was midnight
compared to the glow emanating from her face.  Her smile looked bright
enough to power all of New York for the day.  Beth felt a tremor of
nostalgia again, and was intensely grateful that she had flown to New York to
be a part of this day.  She never would have missed it, though the cost
and William were deterrents at the time. 
How ironic,
she
thought. 
A round-trip ticket seems a small price to pay for what I
have received in turn.

This new
direction to her thoughts made her feel sad again, though she couldn't think
why.  As far as she could tell, she and William were together.  At
least until she boarded the plane again. 
Oh,
she thought. 
That's
why
.  She only had him for now, for today.

And it
simply wasn't enough.

"Okay,
Maid of Honor - your turn," the wedding coordinator chirped at Beth.

She
obediently began her trek down the aisle, catching snippets of conversation as
she walked along.  A couple of older ladies were speaking just loud enough
for Beth to hear them over the music as she passed.

"Which
one's the groom again?"

"They're
both grinning like idiots.  I'm not sure.  I thought you knew the
family?"

"I
used to work for Mr. Bradford years ago - I don't know which one is his son, though."

"Oh,
well…..free champagne!"

Beth
suppressed her laughter, looking up for a confirmation of their speech and
meeting William's eyes.  She could see how someone uninvolved would be
confused as to who was getting married today.  Beth pushed the sadness
away, willing herself to enjoy this day for Jenna and for herself.  It
would be her last day with Jenna for a long time.