Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (21 page)

When she heard him coming into the apartment,
laughing, she put in her gold earrings and went to see what was so funny. The
smell of freshly baked muffins filled the air.

"Beth, you will not believe all the rumors
going around about Charles. People are coming up with all sorts of reasons for
you to have slapped him and kneed him."

"What kind of muffins are those?"

"Apple spice. My favorite one was the suggestion
that Charles had been coming on to me, and so you stopped him."

"What? People are crazy weird when it comes
to gossip."

They sat in the yellow and orange kitchen and ate
warm muffins with coffee. Beth felt like she'd never been so alive. Or so
happy. Then a truly awesome thought came to her.

"William...let's get married."

"We are getting married."

"Not months from now. Let's do it soon, like,
I don't know, next week?"

She watched his eyes widen. "You're
serious?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"But don't you want the big fancy wedding
with all the trimmings like your mother is planning?"

She shook her head. "I don't care. I want us
to be married. To live in the same place. To start our lives together right
now."

This time it was William who got up from the table
and came around to kneel beside her. "Beth, will you marry me next
week?"

She laughed. "Yes, yes, I will marry you next
week."

William got up and kissed her, but then he
frowned. "Your mother is going to kill me."

"Mom! I forgot they're leaving. I have to stop
them!"

She grabbed her phone and began dialing Sam's
house. "Anna? Is Sam...never mind. Are my parents still there?"

"Yes, they are," Anna said.
"Finishing up breakfast and then they're hitting the road."

"Stop them, Anna. You have to keep them there
until I arrive. Don't let them leave."

"Why? What's going on, Beth?"

"A big surprise. I'm on my way now. Keep them
there!"

William had already put away the muffins and had
his keys out. "Oh no, I'm driving," Beth said. "You're far too
slow."

By the time they were on the winding road along
the beach, she could tell he was regretting letting her drive the Thunderbird.

"You need to relax when I'm driving. I'm in
total control."

"Right."

She sighed. "I shouldn't need to tell you
this...but, my father insisted I take a driving course that was taught by race
car driver. I am highly trained at driving fast."

She felt his eyes on her. "What?" he
asked.

"You heard me."

They approached Sam and Anna's beach house, and
Beth could see her parents in the driveway, talking to Anna. Anna's face was
filled with relief when she saw the car drive up.

"Mom, Dad, I have something to tell
you," Beth called out to them as she exited the car.

"We can see," her father said. "You
two worked out your problems."

"No. I mean yes, we did. But what we want to
tell you is that we've decided to get married sooner. Next week."

"What?" her mother yelled. "What
are you doing to me? Not another one!"

Ed gave his daughter a serious look. "Are you
pregnant, honey?"

"No, Dad, I'm not. But we've decided we want
to get married now rather than waiting. We don't need anything fancy. Just the
family and someone to marry us. Easy."

Sophia began heading back to the front door of the
house. "We're going to need our suitcases unpacked, Ed." She already
had her tablet out.

* * * *

William discovered that planning any wedding was
much like planning a production on stage. But in this production, Sophia was
the producer and director. When Beth insisted on keeping it simple, Sophia said
they could do it in two weeks, if Beth left everything to her. Beth agreed, and
since then, William found himself running obscure errands, in between directing
rehearsals for the play.

The auditions for the leading man had included one
by the high school senior mentioned by Mary Jo. His name was Hank Johannson,
and he was perfect. He looked about five years older than his actual age and
William was delighted to discover that he had talent. Shy and withdrawn away
from the stage, Hank seemed to come to life when on it. Although his reaction
upon finding he would have to kiss Beth during the play was to go pale and
clammy and nearly fall over, they were working that out.

William was informed by Sophia that he would be
wearing a tux to the wedding, and the shirt would not be black. She was so
stern about it that he agreed right away. That night at home, he asked Beth,
"Has your mother always been so...controlling?"

Beth looked at him and laughed. "She is when
it comes to fashion. And, evidently, whenever any of her daughters is getting
married. Turns out she has had my gown made for over a year. She did one for
each of us, hoping they'd one day be used."

"She told me I had to wear a white shirt with
my tux."

"Ah. That will be strange for you, I'd
bet."

"Well, yes, but actually...wait here. I have
to get something."

She looked confused as he set down his wine glass
and ran up the stairs. When he came back down, she glanced over at him and then
stared with wide green eyes.

"You...your sweater! It's blue!"

And it was, a lightweight cotton sweater done in a
blue that matched his eyes. "Do you like it?"

She was already up and touching the sweater.
"I love it. Blue is perfect on you. But what caused this?"

His arms encircled her. "You. You've brought
the color back into my life. How can I go around wearing black all the time
when I'm so damn happy?"

"Oh, William!" She kissed his jaw, then
his cheek, and finally his lips. Later she wanted to make him wear the blue
sweater to bed. Until he showed her that he'd replaced the black silk pajama
bottoms with blue silk.

Chapter 9

By noon the next day it was all over town that Mr.
Christopher was wearing a blue shirt. Beth figured colors other than blue might
take a while to add to his wardrobe, but she was thrilled by how he looked in
blue.

The Playhouse was essentially completed. There
were still a myriad of small details to finish it up, but the curtain had
finally arrived, the seating was in place, the lighting was ready to go, and
sets for the play were already done.

William decided that Beth was no longer needed in
the office, so she had time to spend with her mother working on the wedding.

"Where will you go for a honeymoon?"
Sophia asked as Beth tried on the dress for one final fitting.

"I don't think we'll go anywhere. The play is
coming up and we have rehearsals. Maybe after it's over we'll go somewhere.
William and I haven't talked about it."

"I definitely think you should have a
honeymoon."

Beth's cell phone rang and she answered just as
she got stuck with a pin. "Ouch! Hello."

"Beth? Are you okay?"

"Rose! Yes, I'm fine. Mom likes to use me as
a pin cushion. We're doing final fitting on the dress today."

"That's what I'm calling about. It turns out
I'm free to come to the wedding if you still want me."

"Want you? Of course I do! This is terrific.
We'll get you a dress whipped up to match Maggie's and you'll be all set. Ouch,
Mom!"

"Okay then. I should arrive tomorrow. And
Beth...I'm so happy I can be there."

"Me too. Drive safe and we'll see you
tomorrow."

She ended the call and turned to face her mother.
"You can make a dress for her, right?"

"You're just lucky I have her measurements.
But yes, I can and I'm thrilled she's coming. I can't believe she can get off
work."

"She works way too hard. She
sounded...different...like she'd been crying or something."

"We'll take care of her once she gets
here," Sophia said. "And by the way, I refuse to make two matching
bridesmaid dresses. They'll be out of the same material basically, but in
styles to flatter each one of them. Maggie and Rose are very different in
looks."

"Whatever. I know you can do it, Mom."

"Of course I can, darling. Nothing to worry
about. Did you check with Holly and Jason to be sure they can come?"

"Oh yeah, I need to talk to her. Anyone else
you want me to check in with?"

"The florist."

"Right."

As Beth settled down in her brocade chair to make
phone calls, she sipped a fresh cup of coffee. Her mother had set up a sewing
machine in the bedroom. Her assistant Beatrice was expected later in the day.
Beth was amazed at how well it was coming together. With Beatrice's help, she
knew the dresses would all be ready on time.

The choice of where to have the wedding had been
difficult. The church wasn't available on such short notice, unlike Maggie's
wedding. Frank Grainger offered his home, as did Holly, along with Sam. Each
house had something to offer, but Beth had rejected each idea. None of them had
any special meaning to her.

The discussion had been held at Holly and Jason's
large home, with everyone sprawled around on chairs and couches in the big
room. Suddenly, William straightened up in his chair and said, "Wait a
minute."

When they'd all looked at him, he continued.
"This is a production, right? Then let's put it on stage. The Playhouse is
brand new, and quite polished-looking. Beth and I both love the stage. We could
get married there, with all of you gathered around on the stage with us. We
could do a semi-circle of those white wedding chairs. Add some flowers and
voila! A theater wedding...what could be more right?"

While Beth had kissed him, the rest of the group
agreed that the idea would work. They were going to have two large floral
arrangements in wrought-iron stands to either side of where she and William
would be standing to give their vows. Plus, there would be the bouquets. Hence,
Beth's need to check in with the florist to make sure everything was going
according to plan.

She made the call and remembered to order a
bouquet for Rose. Then she called the local shoe store and ordered a pair of
the shoes to match the dress, after getting Rose's shoe size from her mother. Being
one of Sophia's children was sort of like having a CIA file except that it was
compiled by her mother and kept on the ubiquitous tablet. Any detail about any
of them could be found there.

Beth then spent time making the rounds to tell
people Rose would be attending. Holly, Jason and Harry would be coming. The
tuxes would be ready for William and Sam...And then she realized they needed
another groomsman to even it out now that Rose was coming.

A quick call to William led to Cody joining the
wedding party. William felt one of the Graingers should be up there with them.

Finally, Beth stared at her phone, debating
whether to toss it in the trash. She knew realistically that she couldn't do
that, but she did turn the sound off for a while. When she'd thought about
getting married, she'd had no idea of all the details, large and tiny, that
would come up. All she wanted was to say, 'I do' but it seemed to take a lot to
get to that point.

She thought back to a conversation with William
before they had fallen asleep the night before.

"Shouldn't we be inviting your friends to
come, from the city?" she'd asked him.

"There aren't any."

"None?"

"Not really. I have tons of professional
acquaintances, but no true friends. It took Sully Point to show me that friends
are important and that people are worth taking the time to know."

"There is something about this place, that's
for sure," Beth had said.

Now as she got up to make more coffee, she
wondered what would have happened to her if she hadn't come here, to this
quirky little town. It caused her to shudder. She would never have met
William...and yet, their relationship felt as if it had always been meant to
be.

"Darling...is there a reason you're staring
at the Keurig as if it holds the secrets of the pyramids?"

Beth jumped, startled, and then said, "No,
Mom, I was just thinking how life works. And how I'm glad William and I are
going to keep his house here in Sully Point. I like this place. It will be good
to come home here after we spend time in the city."

Sophia flicked the coffee maker on, and nodded.
"I know. Your father and I...well, don't tell anyone this yet, but we're
seriously considering moving down here."

"What? For real?" Beth hugged her mother
in excitement. "That would be great. We'd have everyone here except for
Rose."

"We'll have to work on her while she's
visiting. Just don't spread it around yet, about us moving here. We need to
decide what to do with the house in the mountains, and a few other things
before we're sure."

"You'll come here. I know you will. You won't
be able to stay away from all of us clumped up here together."

Sophia laughed. "Yes, you're probably
right."

Later that day, Beth headed for Deb's Deli to get
sandwiches for lunch. When she walked in, she was immediately inundated with
congratulations as well as questions about the wedding that would be held on a
stage. And there were other comments about the wearing of the blue shirt by
William. Everyone had a different theory as to why he'd started wearing a color
all of a sudden.

Beth answered what she could while placing her
order for turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches for herself and her mother.
Many of the people in the deli had attended Maggie's wedding and they wanted to
know all about Sophia's latest wedding dress creation for Beth.

When she got back to the apartment and sat down
with Sophia to eat a late lunch, she told her mother about the dress questions.

"Well, it's gratifying to know they all
remember Maggie's dress. For a small town, people do dress remarkably
well..."