Chapter 6 Beth #2
"So what you're saying is we have a thirty-six-hour window to witness a crime against the Dewey Decimal System," Maren says.
I laugh and it feels good. Normal. Like I'm actually just a person talking to her friends at a party, not an omega orchestrating a deception that involves a squeeze-based extraction protocol.
Maren catches us up on the bakery, a supplier issue with her flour distributor, a custom cake order for a retirement party that's been more stressful than it has any right to be, the fact that she's been testing a new cardamom scone recipe that she wants me and Luna to try.
We're mid-debate about whether we should drive away right now to taste that delicious-sounding treat when I see them.
Grant. Near the drinks station. Jessica on his arm, in a white sundress similar to the one she wore in my shop (how is she not freezing?? It's barely sixty-three degrees out). They're laughing with someone, looking relaxed... settled.
My stomach drops. I force my shoulders back, lift my chin, and smooth the front of my dress.
If this is happening, I'm striking first.
Luna follows my gaze. Maren follows Luna's. Then Luna gives me a firm nod. "Go," she says quietly. "We're right here if you need to fall back."
I find the alphas a few yards away. Knox is talking to someone I half-recognize, Arthur is gesturing expansively about something, Mason is standing with his arms crossed, listening. I catch Mason's eye first, then point my chin toward the drinks station.
Mason follows my gaze. His expression doesn't change, but I see him touch Knox's elbow. Knox glances at me. Arthur notices both of them noticing me.
We don't have a signal for this. We didn't plan for regroup on my mark. But they understand anyway, because within thirty seconds, we're crossing the garden. Arthur falls in on my left. Knox on my right. Mason behind me.
I reach for Arthur's and Knox's hands. Mason's palm comes to rest on the back of my shoulder. The six contact points make my skin hum, but I don't have time to unpack that because we're already reaching our targets.
Grant notices us first. He straightens, his eyes moving from me to Arthur to Knox, and when they reach Mason looming behind me, he swallows a flinch for a fraction of a second before his expression smooths into something almost friendly.
Jessica's smile is already in place, but it recalibrates slightly as she takes in the formation.
"Beth." Grant's voice is warm. Warmer than I expected. "Hey. It's been a while."
True, I guess he didn't technically see me at the engagement party.
"It has," I say. "How are you?"
"Really good, actually." He nods, and the thing is, he seems like he means it. He looks healthy. Rested. "You look great. Seriously."
"Thanks."
A beat. He glances at the guys, then back at me. "And I heard about the shop," he says. "People say you're doing okay with it. That's so great, Beth. Good for you for living off your little passion project."
I maintain a painfully pleasant smile.
"Thanks. There's nothing like the rush of building something from the ground up." I hold his gaze for a beat. "You know, without dipping into your parents' bank accounts."
A muscle feathers in Grant's jaw.
"Beth's doing awesome work," Arthur says, easy and bright. "Some people drive in from Cedarville and Ridgeville to buy from her."
"That's great," Grant says, and to his credit, he holds eye contact with Arthur while almost looking pleased.
"On a different topic," Jessica says, threading her arm through Grant's. "You look wonderful together." Her gaze sweeps across Arthur, Mason, and Knox in a way that's meant to be admiring but lands somewhere closer to assessing.
Mason's hand settles on my shoulder. Heavy. Warm. Deliberate.
"Thanks. I guess we're... all just really happy right now," he says.
Jessica's smile flickers, just for a second, and then resets, wider than before.
"That's wonderful," she says. "Really. I'm so glad everyone's... moving forward."
Grant is looking at Mason's hand on my shoulder. Then Arthur, then Knox. Something shifts in his expression.
"You know, Beth," Jessica adds, touching Grant's arm, "we should all get together sometime. The six of us. I think that would be so nice."
"Oh, definitely," Arthur says before I can respond, his grin easy and wide. "Come over to our place. Beth's been redecorating, it looks so incredible now."
I have, in fact, not been redecorating. But it seems to struck a nerve as Jessica's fingers tighten around Grant's arm like a vise.
"Well," Grant says. His smile is still there, but it's thinned out. "That sounds—yeah. We'll have to check our schedules." He touches Jessica's back. "We should probably go say hi to Mrs. Patterson. But this was really nice. Seeing you. All of you."
"So nice," Jessica echoes.
They retreat across the lawn, and I watch them go, my hands shaking slightly as the tension finally breaks.
I let out a long, slow exhale.
"Bold move," I say to Arthur. "Inviting them to dinner at our place."
Arthur's grin hasn't faded. "That dinner is never happening in a million years, and we all know it. But did you see her face when I said redecorating?"
I did see it, and a triumphant, petty thrill sings through my veins. It feels amazing to be on the winning side of an interaction with them.
But as I watch Jessica whisper something into Grant's ear, a sinking feeling in my gut warns me not to get too comfortable. I feel this was only round one of a long psychological war.