Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (20 page)

She finally settled down with a spreadsheet and
didn't call him. At lunch she went to the Diner...where she heard all about the
hunky actor meeting with Mr. Christopher from Mary Jo. And how Mr. Christopher
had refused to eat his meal after that and stormed out.

This can't be good, she thought. What could
Charles have said to William to upset him so? The only thing she could think of
was that it must have something to do with her. Which made her stomach feel
nervous and jittery. She asked Mary Jo to cancel her sandwich order and bring
her a cup of chicken broth instead. Mary Jo shook her head as she walked away
from the table.

The early afternoon of work dragged on until Beth
thought she would scream. She spent part of her time reading the script again.
By now she knew everyone's lines. Then suddenly it was time to head for the
Playhouse. She felt her nerves start up again, but at least she was going to
see William.

Once she was up on the stage, she saw William in a
chunky black sweater and black slacks. He was talking to Lucretia, answering
questions. Before she could even wave to him, Charles appeared by her side.

"How's it going pretty lady?"

"It would go much better if you'd stop
calling me that," she said tartly.

He chuckled. "Feisty one. Listen I cleared it
with the director. We're all set to have private rehearsals, just you and
me."

Beth froze in place. "You what? You
told...Mr. Christopher about that?"

"Sure. Always good to stay on the right side
of the director. He was cool with it."

She felt anger and dismay at the same time.
"He was cool...well, I'm not. So you can forget it."

"Hey, if the director wants it, we go with
it."

Beth started to move toward her seat and Charles
grabbed her arm.

"Take your hand off me...now!"

He moved his hand away, both hands up. "Hey,
no harm, no foul. You need to chill out."

She turned away from him and sat down, fuming. It
was happening again. He would say something that sounded bad and then act like
it wasn't. But the worst was that he'd told William about his 'private'
rehearsal idea...and William had agreed...or, had he?

Suddenly she realized that all she had was
Charles' word for what William had said. She stood up and took a deep breath.
Walking over to William, she told herself to stop being nervous. He loved her.
She knew that.

But when she stood in front of him, he glanced
once at her and then looked away. The distance between them was chilling to
her.

"William, Charles told me he spoke with you
about his idea for private rehearsals."

William nodded. "Yes, he told me," came
the curt response.

"And you're...encouraging this?"

He ran a hand through his hair, looking
exasperated. "Beth, anybody in the cast can get together for whatever
reason. That doesn't need my approval."

"William...what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Better take your seat. We're about
to start."

She felt crushed. His eyes were cool and
steely-gray. He must have believed she wanted to meet with Charles, impossible
as that seemed. What was wrong with him? How could he believe she'd want to
spend any time alone with this guy?

Her despair began changing to anger as they ran
through the script. William's comments to the cast were monosyllabic. Her own
work was stilted and she knew it. All because of Charles! And, she admitted in
a small corner of her heart, the fact that William so readily doubted
her...that was also a factor.

"Beth?"

She realized she'd zoned out, and Charles was
calling her name. "What?"

"We're going to run through that kissing
scene now."

"What? Why?"

"It is a part of the play, Beth,"
William said, coolly.

"Fine! She stood up and faced Charles. He
gave her a satisfied look and grabbed her, pulling her body close to his. Right
as he swooped in and his lips touched hers, she reared back and did two things
simultaneously...she slapped his face and kneed him in the balls.

Charles let out a gasp, and fell to his knees.
Beth stepped away from him and glared at William, who'd jumped up.

"If you could think that I'd want
that...that...piece of garbage to spend any time with me alone, you're not the
man I thought you were. And this kissing scene? Hadn't you realized he's been
trying to get me to kiss him for two days now? Didn't you see what a slime he
is? I won't do this play if he stays in the cast! Get someone else." And
she stormed off the stage and out of the building.

Her tears didn't start until she was driving away.

* * * *

She cried, sitting on her sofa for about fifteen
minutes, until the knock on the door. Running to it, thinking it had to be
William, she swung the door open to find her parents standing there.

"Oh, Mom!" she wailed, throwing herself
into her mother's arms.

A little while later, she was seated with her
parents in the living room, sipping a glass of wine. She'd told them
everything, from the first time Charles spoke to her until what had happened at
the Playhouse.

Her father had nodded approvingly when she
described what she'd done to Charles on the stage. "He's a no-good punk,
Beth. The kind that gets away with stuff he shouldn't. It might have helped if
you'd told William right away about Charles' comments, but instead you doubted
your own instincts. I'm glad you followed them today."

"But William should have known something was
wrong!"

Sophia asked, "How could he? All you told him
was that you had a headache, darling. How should he have known? I'm not blaming
you for anything. But I am saying I can see how William might have gotten the
wrong message."

"What wrong message?" Beth asked,
throwing up her hands.

"That you wanted to spend time with the young
hunk," Ed said.

"How could he think...after this
weekend...the engagement...damn it, I love him! How could he doubt that?"

Sophia gave a gentle laugh. "Women aren't the
only ones with insecurities. And your relationship is still pretty new. He's
just that little bit enough older than you to make him doubt that he measures
up."

"What am I supposed to do now?" Beth
asked and scrubbed her face with her hands. Her makeup was long gone after all
the crying.

"Go to him, darling," her mother said.
"Tell him everything, no matter how distant he seems. Then work it
out."

"So now you're not telling me to come home
with you."

Ed shook his head. "Nope. He's a good man.
And you're a grown-up. I finally see that. You two can work this out. It's what
relationships are about. We can leave here tomorrow knowing you're going to be
okay."

Both parents hugged her and kissed her, and left
her standing in the middle of living room. She looked around and then shook
herself. "Okay, Beth. Time to fix this," she said aloud.

She washed her face, but didn't put on any makeup.
After brushing her hair to a shine, she grabbed her handbag and left the
apartment. She just had to get him to listen to her. That was all. They could
figure it out.

But when she got to his house, it was dark. He was
gone.

* * * *

William sat in the booth by the window. When Mary
Jo came over, he gave her a tentative smile. "I want to apologize. I was
out of line last night."

She grinned at him. "Hey, no problem. I heard
about what happened today with that Charles guy."

"You did?"

"It's all over town. They're saying you fired
him on the spot...once he could catch his breath again."

"That's true enough. You might as well spread
the word that we're having auditions for a new male lead day after
tomorrow."

"Cool! You know what? There's this guy,
senior at the high school. He looks older than he is, and he's been in some
plays. Can I tell him to try out?"

"Sure. I'll see anyone who wants to show up.
Whoever gets the part, it will be someone from Sully Point."

"Awesome! What can I get you for
dinner?"

"Can you get me two dinners to go? The
special, the chicken parmesan, is fine."

Mary Jo gave him a wise look. "Aha. Sounds
like a making up dinner."

"Could be," he said with a wink.

She laughed and headed for the kitchen.

While he waited for the food, he thought about the
day. Seeing Beth slap and knee Charles had been like someone throwing cold
water in his face. He'd been incredibly stupid. He should have picked up that
something was wrong with the guy, especially after last night.

Beth had been magnificent when she put Charles in
his place. Which had been on the floor, rolling around, and clutching at
himself. William knew he'd taken far too much pleasure in firing the bastard.

He also knew he had to get a grip. Beth would be
in more plays than this one, and would probably end up being in love scenes. He
would need to keep an even keel on his emotions when that happened. By worrying
about her reaction to Charles, he'd missed important clues about the man.

Mary Jo brought the bag with the dinners and he
paid for them. "Thanks, Mary Jo. You're the best."

"Sure. Now get a play where I can be in
it."

He laughed and nodded.

The one thing he couldn't figure out was why Beth
hadn't come to him and told him something was wrong with Charles. Didn't she
trust him to have dealt with it? He pulled up at her apartment and ran into
Kayla who was locking up the Bakery in the back.

"Hi, Mr. Christopher. She's not there."

He stopped walking to the stairs and came over to
Kayla. "Where is she?"

"Well, I saw her parents show up. They stayed
for a while. Then they left and she left. I heard they were going back to their
home in the mountains."

He felt like someone had punched him in the
stomach. She'd left?

He drove home slowly, in a daze. It felt
impossible to him that she could be gone. It made no sense! It...wasn't true?
He parked beside her car at his house and found her sitting on the patio at the
table and chairs there.

"Beth?"

"William?" She jumped up as he set down
the bag of food and opened his arms. She flew into them and he staggered.

"You're here, Beth, you didn't leave
town."

"That's my line! I thought you'd gone back to
the city."

He chuckled. "I only went to get dinner for
us, and then I went to your apartment. Kayla told me your parents had taken you
back home with them."

"She did? Well, that's not true. I came here
to make you listen to me so I can explain everything."

"My love, you don't need to. I've been an
idiot not to see what kind of lowlife he was."

"So you still love me?" she asked
softly.

"Of course I do! I'm going to marry
you." Then he paused. "You still love me, right?"

"Yes! I will always love you. No matter
what."

"Let's go inside. It's chilly out here."

They took the bag of food into the house and set
the dining room table with candle light and china. The chicken parmesan was
delicious, and Mary Jo had also sent garlic bread and tossed salads with the
main course.

While they ate, Beth recited every instance of her
interactions with Charles. William was groaning by the end of it. "He was
quite the manipulator."

Then he told her how Charles had made him think
Beth wanted the 'private rehearsals' as much as he did. "That's what threw
me, you know. The way he presented it. Making it sound as though you wanted
that."

"But how could you believe that?"

"Well...he was a good-looking, younger guy
and..."

"No! No more." She glared at him.
"This is the end of the age difference talk forever. Ten years difference
is nothing. You are not too old for me. You're incredibly sexy and handsome,
and I'll still think that when we're seventy and eighty years old. Okay?"

He smiled at her. "God, you're beautiful. And
yes, I've got it. I promise to leave the topic alone forever. How's that?"

She beamed at him. "That sounds
perfect."

As they cleared the dishes and got the dishwasher
going, they managed to keep gently bumping into each other. Little laughs,
small touches, glances filled with desire, and finally a moment to stand still
looking into each other's eyes.

"I love you, William. With all my
heart."

"You're my life, Beth. I love you."

They came together slowly, her arms going around
his neck, his arms around her waist. When he kissed her, he felt like he'd
found the secrets of the universe as feelings overwhelmed him.

After a long while, the kiss ended and she said,
"Let's get sweaters and go look at the stars."

So they walked through the woods and stood at the
head of the beach where they could see waves crashing. The night caressed them
as they took in the view, him standing behind her, arms wrapped around her. They
pointed out constellations to each other, and murmured of their love.

Later they made love with a level of passion they'd
never reached before. As Beth drifted off to sleep, William thought he might
never sleep. He loved just feeling her breathe, feeling her body against his.
Even as he felt his eyelids closing, he knew he was so incredibly lucky.

* * * *

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp. Chirp.
Chirp. Chirp-chirp-chirp.

"Oh no! Not again," Beth complained,
throwing off the covers and searching through William's clothing for the phone.
"I can't believe you left it set on the freaking bird chirps."

"Forgot," he mumbled.

"Time to get up, sweetie. I'm jumping into
the shower."

She figured that the image of her naked in the
shower should register with his brain in about five more seconds...and here he
came.

After a very thorough shower wake-up, they dressed
and left the house. Beth needed to change clothes at her apartment, so they
agreed that William would hit the Bakery while she dressed.