Black & White (Picture Perfect #1) (12 page)

I thought for a moment. I’d never really considered how to explain my family to anyone before. "I guess Anne is the dependable one, she's my rock and my pain. She does have good intentions, just bad timing. And my mom and dad are remarkable. They worked hard to raise Anne and me to be decent people. I admire their morals and ability to see the positive in everything."

"I think they did a wonderful job raising you two." Beth sounded very sincere. "So what does Anne do for a living?"

"She doesn't. Her husband, Michael, makes enough money so she's able to stay at home to watch Angel. We all moved in together after Angel was born, to save on expenses. The house is small and it’s a bit of a tight fit, but it helps all of us by being under the same roof." I decided to take the focus off me. "What about you, Beth? Tell me about your parents."

She sighed. "Unlike your parents, mine are divorced. My dad lives in Vancouver, he’s remarried. My mother... umm... she's been gone for a few years now." She seemed depressed speaking about her parents.

"I'm sorry, Beth. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me, William." Beth’s voice was clipped, and she stood up and walked a short distance down to the lake’s edge. She turned back and faced me. "My parents' divorce wasn't easy on either Wyatt or me, although he took it better than I did. It must've been the age thing. But it shaped us and made us who we are today. It's just a hard thing to live with. Witnessing my dad's heart being broken wasn't easy."

"Is that why you don't do relationships?" I asked cautiously. Could that be the catalyst which had turned her into the person she’d become?

She paused before answering. "Yeah, why get involved with someone, if it's only going to cause heartbreak and hard feelings in the end," she answered quietly. I saw her shake her head a little, before she glanced down at me. "Come on, the sun's going down and I have a few more photos I want to grab before it's too late."

She had shut herself down, but now I knew Beth would be perfect to have as a friend. I only wanted Angel, hers was the only love I needed. Beth wasn't a complication to that desire. She understood losing someone you loved. She had no desire to be with anyone. So why did I feel lost and saddened by this insight?

Maybe, someday, when Beth found the kind of love I’d once had, her way of thinking would change. We could be perfect for each other; I could help her through the transition. Being friends was a new beginning for both of us and, maybe, a new beginning for
us
.

Chapter Eight

Judith

Anne and I had slipped away from the park a few hours earlier. I was feeling a little guilty abandoning Beth like that, but she and William deserved some quiet time. I was glad in a way that we had since little Angel had been experiencing a diaper rash. At least that's what Anne's mother had told us when we arrived at their home.

It was early evening when I found myself exiting Anne's car. I looked towards the house before leaning in through the window. "Thanks for the ride home. You didn't have to, you know that, right?"

"I wanted to, plus, if I hadn't done it, I'd be listening to Mom all night, talking about my behavior and how I was raised better." Anne smiled. "There are disadvantages to moving home at twenty-three."

I giggled. "You love it and you know it."

"Yeah, I do. There are definitely advantages, too." Anne sighed. "I have to get going, she's expecting me back."

"No problem, Anne. I'll talk to Beth about next weekend and give you a call." Stepping back from the car, I watched as Anne drove away.

Meeting Wyatt at the door, his gaze followed the car as it turned the corner. "Who was that, and where's Beth?"

I kissed Wyatt as I threw myself into his arms. It felt like I hadn't seen him in days. His warm, protective arms enveloped me, lifting me off the landing.
God, I love him.

"That was Anne, and Beth is still at the park with Anne’s brother," I answered innocently.

"Judith Snow, what have you done?" Wyatt growled, pushing me back to study my eyes.

I sighed and we went in the house so I could explain everything to him. I wasn't sure how he'd feel about any of it. He never appreciated it when I interfered in people's lives, especially when it came to Beth.

Wyatt paced the room as I explained the plan Anne and I had cooked up to get Beth and William together. The expression on his face morphed from disbelief to full-blown anger. "Judith, don't you remember Ivan? How do you know we aren't going to go through that again?" he demanded.
Damn, he would throw that into the mix of everything.

I hung my head. "Wyatt, I know everything's going to be okay. We're not putting them together for a romantic relationship. William just lost his wife and he's not ready for anything like that."

Wyatt huffed. "There's the next problem... William. What the hell were you thinking? He's gonna get hurt."

"He won't, Wyatt. He's no more interested in getting involved with anyone than Beth is. If it does happen, then nature took it’s course, not me."

"And if this blows up, what then? Remember who William's foreman is? Me! I have to continue to work with him. Did you stop and think about how hard it would be for either of us?" Wyatt was thinking of all the things I hadn't considered, all the things which
could
go wrong.

"I didn't think of that, Wyatt,” I admitted, duly chastised. “I only wanted Beth and William to be friends. Since neither of them seemed to be interested in anything more than that, I didn't contemplate anything else further down the line." I really should have put more thought into how bad this could get if things went wrong.

"Jude, even you told me there's been a change in Beth since she met William. Hell, even I've noticed the difference." Wyatt said softly. "For your sake, her sake, and now mine, I hope this doesn't go down a fucked-up path."

And with that, Wyatt ended the conversation by walking out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. He wasn't happy with me and didn't have to voice it any more than he already had. He knew my conscience would be my punishment, cursing me out for the lack of thought I’d put into this plan.

My mind was reeling and I slumped onto the couch, feeling defeated. If Wyatt was upset, it was beyond a possibility Beth would be too? I’d only been looking at the positive outcomes which were possible from William and Beth developing a friendship. The negative impacts could be disastrous for everyone. Friendships could be fractured, jobs could become awkward or worse, lives forever changed.

What had I been thinking?

~~~~~~~~~~

The banging of the front door announced Beth's arrival at home. "Judith Snow! Get your ass out here right now!" Beth's voice was loud, high pitched and sounded extremely pissed-off.

I sighed, and walked slowly towards the living room, which was apparently doubling as a firing range. After the hell I’d gone through with Wyatt, I was expecting Beth’s lecture to be ten times worse based on her tone.

"Hi," I said calmly, knowing my attitude wouldn't lessen the blow that was obviously coming. But, a woman could always hope.

Knowing Beth and how she could be, her normal reactions to just about everything and anything weren't unknown. Since talking to Wyatt and being enlightened as to how bad he thought this plan had been, I had become more and more terrified of Beth's reaction. There was some very good reasons to tread cautiously with her right now.

"Don't '
hi'
me, Judith," Beth challenged. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I guess I wasn't," I admitted.

"Damn straight you weren't," she stated. "I came to you in confidence about William. I needed a friend to help me figure out how I was feeling about him and why." This was going to a whole new level of disaster, which I hadn't even considered. Beth continued, her voice cold. "And, what do I get for it? My best friend stabs me in the back and sets me up. Are you proud of yourself?" Beth snapped. "William lost his wife during childbirth! Did you know that, Jude?"

The look on Beth's face was scaring me shitless. I nodded, keeping my gaze lowered. Anne and I had done a lot of talking on the phone, and I probably knew more than Beth did at this point. It had stressed Anne out talking about it, but we’d had a good therapist-type talk which made us both more comfortable about our plan than we should have been.

"Did you know that she was his one true love, his fucking soul mate, Jude? Her death fucked him up royally." She stomped around the room, refusing to look me in the eye. Tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to fall - indicating she was beyond pissed. "He's on an emotional roller coaster, Jude! The last thing he needs is someone like me adding another hundred miles to that ride!"

"Beth," I whispered, "I wasn't looking to make a couple out of the two of you. I was only hoping to accomplish two things."

"And, what would they be, oh great matchmaker?" Beth snarled sarcastically.

I watched as she dug at her cuff, but chose to let her be this time. "William needs a friend. Anne said..."

Beth interrupted me. "Oh, don't bring Anne into this. This has you written all over it. I saw the signs as soon as the set-up was revealed."

"But, Beth, it's true," I defended. "Anne hasn't seen William seem so alive since Angelina died. She was so happy to see him returning to his old self."

"Okay, so you've accomplished one thing. You sent William into a tailspin." Beth twisted everything, but I had to admit, she did have a different perspective on this situation. "So, what's your second accomplishment?"

I knew this would be the reason which wouldn't go over well with Beth. "I did it for you. I know there's something about William which has you hooked. I wanted you to find out what it was."

Beth let her gaze skim around the room and then stare back at me. She huffed angrily and squared her shoulders, then in a slightly quieter voice, she hissed at me. "What the fuck, Jude? Did you lose your memory? Did you forget about one of the reasons I decided to leave New York?" The look in her eyes reflected her pain, anger, hurt and heartbreak, all rolled into one impassioned glare. I definitely should've thought about this much more thoroughly before heading down this path.

She was talking about Ivan, someone she never discussed out loud. She hadn't spoken his name once, not since we’d arrived back in Oregon. A huge mistake had been made with Ivan, but I truly believed this wasn't going to turn out the same way. William wasn't anything like Ivan.

"Beth, I’ll never forget New York, but William's different. I'm not trying to set you up in a romantic relationship with him. I just wanted you to be friends."

Beth dropped down onto the couch, obviously exhausted. Everyone was obviously  exhausted, both mentally and emotionally because of what Anne and I had set in motion.

"You and Anne were wrong. I know you both had good intentions, but my feelings will never change. I don't think William will ever get over Angelina, not enough to have a healthy relationship with anyone as fucked up as me." The anger had gone from Beth’s voice and I knew she was done fighting, done being angry. At least for now.

Unfortunately, despite her anger fizzling out, I was still in the doghouse and would be for a long time. This whole situation hadn't been thought through properly and now I’d created a huge mess. I could only hope it wouldn’t cause an avalanche or recriminations and heartache to bury all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~

Anne

"Anne, honey, this plan of yours wasn't a good idea. You understand that, right?" Michael stated. He had remained calm when I told him what happened, but still sounded concerned.

"Michael, William deserves to be happy. That's all I'm trying to do," I answered truthfully. It was all I wished for William, to recover from his heartache and move on with his life.

"Anne, William isn't in a very good place right now. He’s lost Angelina, he's trying to raise a child by himself, he has to work to support her and he's emotionally unstable. This might have been a good idea a few years from now, but this is too much, too soon," Michael replied, pulling me onto the couch.

Falling into his arms, the realization hit me - he was right. "I only wanted him to be happy. All I wanted was to get my brother back. I'm not looking for anything to happen between him and Beth." I was so upset, I felt like crying. "I wanted him to have a friend, to teach that friend love is worth allowing into your life."

"But, Anne, how is he supposed to show this woman love, when he has no interest in her? He's hurting from losing his own love, and on top of all that, he's been coerced into being around this woman; what's her name, Betty?"

"Beth, Michael, her name's Beth," I said softly. "You should see them together, Michael. They
need
each other. She's brought him back to life, I swear that’s what’s changed in his life. I only want to see that spark nourished, so it stays alive and burning in him. I'm not trying to set him up with Beth. I only wanted him to be friends with someone I knew could bring him back from the brink."

"Anne, I seriously think this was a mistake, but I signed on for better or worse. I think this is going to get worse before it gets better," Michael calmed predicted.

I laid my head against his chest, settling in to feed off his love and protection. If anyone could make me second guess myself, it would be him. He loved me unconditionally, so it wasn’t surprising he would back me up no matter what - even if it went against his better judgment.

I knew it would probably get worse. It was possible to gauge William's reaction to something, based on Michael's reaction. Michael was the calm, cool and collected man, while William was the jump now and think later guy. I had a bad feeling he was probably going to slit my throat the moment he came through the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

William finally stepped through the door two hours later. I was snuggled up against Michael, holding on to him for support. The look on William's face made it obvious I was in big trouble.

"What the hell, Anne?" he snapped.

"Hi, William, how was your afternoon?" Michael asked, trying to keep the peace.

William ignored Michael's question and focused on me. "So, would you like to explain a few things?"

I tried to play the innocent card. "William, you needed an afternoon away from everything. Beth's a nice person, and I thought you two would enjoy each other's company."

"Stop trying to be a matchmaker, Anne. I'm not interested and Beth's not the type. Maybe you and Jude should have thought about that, before you hatched this damn plan." William's voice was seething with anger. "So, the next question is, why the hell did you leave like that?"

"Angel wouldn't stop crying. Jude and I drove back here to get Mom's help," I explained quietly.

"It was a stupid thing to do. You could have at least called me, or sent a text, or something! You took it upon yourself to decide Beth would drive me home. Did you ever stop to think this plan of yours could have backfired and I might have had to walk?" he yelled.

“William, Beth is a wonderful person. She'd never have let you walk. I just thought I could give you time for you and Beth to become friends. You need someone in your life.”

"What? Are you saying you decided that setting me up would help me forget all about my wife? Is that it, Anne? Do you want me to forget about my wife, who also happened to be your best friend, the mother of my child?"

I felt my throat tighten. Talking about Angelina wasn't easy for him and as much right as he had to throw it in my face, it was killing both of us to hear the words being said. "William, that was never my intention, Angelina will always be a part of this family. I don't want any of us to forget her, but William, you can't shut the world out just because Angelina isn't in it. I only wanted to try and help you and Beth become friends. I'm not suggesting Beth be your next wife. Hell, I thought maybe the two of you could help each other."