Chapter Thirteen

"You are bloody bonkers, Jonah Holland. Why in heavens name would you even think about marrying Sarah Sutton!"

Jonah turned to face the speaker, a frown on his face. "Who are you to even talk Simmons, she's rejected two proposals from you thus far! You married someone else after her second rejection!"

The speaker, one of his childhood friends, a boisterous Joshua Simmons responded with a shrug, "At least she's never tried to kill me in my sleep. That woman has always had it out for you, why would you willingly commit yourself to never ending torture?"

Jonah laughed out loud, looking around the room he could see how his perfectly planned evening had taken a turn. After his departure from Holland house he had ended up searching the gentlemen clubs for justice Darwin, a few words of flattery here, a favour or two tossed about there and the wedding date was set but just as he was about to depart from the local watering hole, he fell upon some of his old friends who insisted that he have a few drinks with them. Now he was stuck with five drunk buddies asking him idiotic questions.

"What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment." Jonah replied and took a sip of the whiskey he'd been nursing all evening.

"That you are my friend, that you are." Maxwell Cornwall another one of Sarah's former suitors and one of his closest comrades spoke with a smile on his face. Jonah responded by tipping his glass at the soft spoken man who was one of the most responsible and accountable people he'd ever had the pleasure of meeting.

A sharp slap landed on his shoulder making him spill some of his whiskey on the table in front of him. "What the bloody hell!" Standing in anger he stopped short when he stood face to face with his best friend in the world, Charles Walt.

"Good God man how ugly did you get!"

A smile spread on Jonah's face and he embraced his friend responding with, "not as ugly as you I'm afraid."

Charles laughed at the reciprocated jab and clapped Jonah on the back as they sat down.

"How long's it been Charles?" Jonah asked, downing his whiskey and signalling for another glass.

Charles let out a dramatic sigh that earned him chuckles all around the table and an eyeroll or two. "Too long. The last time I saw you was three months ago in Athens, you were joined at the hip with a certain blonde, Maria I think."

Jonah shook his head smiling he said, "that relationship ended the second she met you, you sly dog."

Charles flashed his friend his signature roguish grin before saying, "well I can't help it if she fell in love with my boyish good looks."

Jonah rolled his eyes in response, "she wasn't interested in how you look, it was more of how heavy your purse was."

Charles shrugged before stating, "potato potaato, it's all semantics my friend now tell me what's new with the ton, I've only been back in town for a few hours."

Jonah raised his eyebrow in question, "Let me guess, the prairie was your first stop?"

Laughter erupted from round the table and from Charles as well, " No, this fine establishment wasn't my first stop. I actually passed by Bleecker street first to say hello to a few old friends."

Questioning looks spread around the table before Maxwell said, "trust me Charles, we're the only"old friends" that you have."

Charles merely smiled and shrugged leading to Jonah reading him like a book. With a roll of his eyes, Jonah turned to the rest of his friends and explained, "these old friends don't wear trousers and don't require a shave every now and then."

A chorus of "oh's" spread around the table, widening Charles's smile. The moment was interrupted by Simmons changing the subject, "well as much as we would love to hear about your escapades my friend, I'm afraid Jonah has some rather shocking news."

Charles turned to face Jonah, curiosity colouring his features. Jonah let out a sigh. The situation couldn't have been worse. Not only did Sarah hate Charles as much as she hated him, he wasn't really sure about his best friends feelings about Sarah.

Looking Charles in the eye, Jonah was determined to gauge his reaction before Charles could mask his real emotion, "I asked Sarah to marry me and she said yes."

Jonah watched as curiosity turned to surprise on his friends face just before Charles exclaimed, "finally! Took you two long enough, I was beginning to think both of you would die alone."

Wide eyes from all around the table stared at Charles as if he'd gone crazy but the man was smiling at Jonah.

Jonah was confused and for a few seconds his only response was blinking at his best friend followed by the "intelligent" response of, "excuse me?"

Charles clapped him on the back before stating, "I knew you'd marry Sarah ever since I first saw you push her off your garden swing face first into a mud puddle."

Jonah looked at his friend like he was crazy, lucky for him Simmons was the one to comment on the odd remark. "Has the ocean air, fogged up your brain Charles? What in the world are you talking about?"

Charles accepted a glass of whiskey from a waitress then took a sip before responding, "I'm not mad, if that's what you think."

Charles could see that his friends didn't quite believe him so he turned to Jonah and explained, "You and Sarah have been rivals ever since you both could remember. You've both taken immense pleasure in making each others lives miserable and that was a clear sign that you would end up together. There's a fine line between love and hate and you two walked it everyday from since before this rivalry begun. As children you hadn't realised what love truly is and found yourselves hating each other because you didn't understand your feelings. If you look back you'll see that your pranks and shenanigans always ensured that you spent hours together. Now that you're old enough to comprehend what love is, the attraction between you can't be ignored."

Silence descended on the table and the six men in Charles's company, including Jonah, were speechless until Adam Denning another one of Jonah's chums questioned the group, "How is he the only one of us a bachelor?"

"Cornwall is a bachelor." Simmons added helpfully.

Adam shook his head, swallowing a sip of his drink, "he's a widower, he's been married before. There's a difference."

Charles merely smiled and winked, "I'm just well versed in the ways of women my friends, that's why I'm the perfect man, I can't deny all the women of the world a taste of purebred stock when all that's available is the likes of you." Charles finished only to start dodging peanuts being flung his way.

Jonah took a sip of his whiskey and said, "you are one cocky bastard Charles Walt but we all have to admit that you are and have always been the ladies man of the group."

Charles popped a few peanuts in his mouth before speaking, "correction my good friend, you and I were the ladies men of the group."

Cries of disapproval came from every member of the group and then the bickering started but Jonah stayed quiet, trying to digest what his best friend had just said. It was all finally adding up.

~

A few hours later of drinking and merrymaking with his confidantes and Jonah was walking home with Charles. A quick glance at his timepiece showed him that it was a quarter past two but looking around he couldn't tell it was that late, the streets were still quite busy as people rushed home and closed up shop.

Looking at his friend, his brow furrowed at how quiet Charles had become, "What's wrong?" Jonah asked even though he had an inkling on what had gotten his friend down.

Charles lifted his head to smile sadly at Jonah, "how is she?"

Jonah let out a sigh, kicking a pebble out of his way, "She's fine. The baby has her on her feet but she's alright as far as I can tell. You should come over and say hello, I'm residing in Holland house until the wedding, you can use that as an excuse."

Charles stopped in his tracks making Jonah do the same, a blank look on his face as he questioned, "and what do you suggest I say Jonah? She's married! I can't just drop by and open those wounds all over again. The last time I did, I ended up in Greece at your doorstep, drunk and out of my mind in heartbreak, I'm not going to do that to myself. Not this time."

Jonah couldn't relate to what his friend was feeling but he knew that it was what he'd feel if he ever saw Sarah in someone else's arms. He didn't know how to respond to his friend, if he told him about Beth's husband beating her, he'd only be enlisting another overly righteous male to try and defend her honour. Jonah knew quite well how Beth would respond to the situation if he and Charles would march up to her door in anger and he wasn't eager to relieve the emotional trauma he had underwent as a child because of her. Where Sarah's revenge was cutting and humiliating at the same time, Beth's revenge was actual harm on his person and he couldn't think of those painful kicks without wincing and crossing his legs even as an adult. Beth did not like it when people fought her battles for her, she may have always been soft spoken and kind to those around her but years of Sarah's company had shown her to be equally as stubborn and independent as his soon to be bride. So without a second thought, Jonah knew that it wouldn't be wise to inform Charles of Beth's predicament, not yet. Hopefully the man would drop dead and Charles would swoop in and be the hero his baby sister truly needed because despite the fun loving playboy persona that Charles exhibited, Jonah knew that Charles was a romantic at heart who just wanted to be loved. Jonah walked over to his friend and put his arm around Charles's shoulder, "Someday my friend we will look at all this and it will all be in the past but for now let's discuss how honoured I'd be if you'd say yes to being my best man."

A smile spread on Charles's once forlorn face and they walked on home with sad thoughts in the past and the happy future in their conversation.

★

"I felt like fireworks went off in my tummy. It was absolutely toe curlingly amazing."

Beth smiled at her friends excitement and even chuckled when Sarah did a twirl in the Holland house nursery.

Adjusting the baby on her lap she spoke, "I've honestly never seen you this excited before," she stopped, thought a bit then added, "about anything actually."

Sarah laughed and walked over to Beth, taking the baby out of her hands and bouncing the happy little boy on her hip, "me neither, sweet Beth. I may have had some misgivings about your brother in the past but I have to admit that your brother is one hell of a kisser."

Beth scrunched up her face adorably and stated, "can we talk about something other than my brother's talents in sucking the saliva from your mouth."

Sarah's face mirrored Beth's and she turned to face her adorable nephew and said, "your mother is quite the buzzkill isn't she, don't worry my sweet little Alex, when you're older you are more than welcome to my house for an all you can eat sweet buffet, any time."

Beth shook her head then stood abruptly, walking over to Sarah, "well that's enough of that, you're giving him ideas that shouldn't be in his head."

Sarah passed the child over to Beth, "but he's only one, he probably doesn't understand a word of what I'm saying."

Beth rolled her eyes as she placed the baby in his crib, strategically placed in the sunny nursery. The same nursery that all the Holland children and some of the Sutton children spent their toddler years. "Another old wives tale i suppose."

Sarah frowned at her friend's odd remark.

"What are you going on about Beth?"

Beth let out a sigh as she fluffed the baby's pillow and spoke as she walked back to her seat sans baby, "Alex barely slept last night, his teething problems are driving me crazy and hadn't he slept on the carriage ride over then I would honestly be even grumpier without the nap I took."

Sarah smiled at her friend then remarked, "so that's why you've been as charming as a sourly old cat."

Beth rolled her eyes then spoke, "I'm serious, our mothers and every other mother we've ever met has always told us that mothering is easy, children sleep the whole night, the crying doesn't drive you to drink, so on and so forth but that's all lies my dear friend, old wives tales used to make you want a child."

Sarah sat and thought before asking, "so you don't plan on having any more children?"

Beth blinked twice then stated, "heavens no, I want at least two more."

Now it was Sarah's turn to roll her eyes and say,"old wives tale or no, it's working alright."

"If only I could have them with someone who actually cares about me and our children."

Sarah froze and looked at her best friend.

She could see that the once vibrant look of youth on her friends face was no longer there, on her face was now a look of misery and sadness. Standing up she walked over to sit next to Beth. Wrapping her arms around Beth, Sarah spoke, "I wish the same for you darling, you deserve the best in this world. You have the biggest heart I've ever had the pleasure of being loved by and even though your dimwitted husband can't see that, just know that your family loves you eternally."

Beth cuddled into Sarah's embrace and let out a relieved sigh, "I love you too Sarah, I don't know what I'd do if you weren't apart of my life."

They sat in silence and something dawned on Sarah, it had been a few days since she'd told Jonah about Beth's situation and he'd been acting strangely around his sister, it was only a short while until Beth found out the reason so time to let the cat out of the bag was nigh.

Rubbing Beth's shoulder she slowly detached from her friend and stood, wringing her hands she said, "You know that feeling of love and butterflies that you currently have in your heart about me, keep that in mind."

At Sarah's words, Beth raised a brow and Sarah swallowed guiltily. "What did you do Sarah Sutton."

A bead of sweat broke and rolled down Sarah's back as she tried to rack her brain for the best way to tell Beth that her over protective big brother knows that her walking dead husband has been using her as a punching bag, courtesy of her.

Closing one eye, she whispered, "he knows."

Sarah saw the pillow sailing right at her face from a mile away but she didn't move, mumbling a soft, "I deserved that," when it hit her in the face."

"That and so much more you brat!"

Beth spoke as she stood and stalked over to probably beat her best friend into a pulp but unlike the time before, Sarah didn't stick around for the inevitable and started to shift away from a very vengeful looking Beth.

"I'm not sorry I told him. He's your brother! He deserves to know!" Sarah squeaked as she side stepped a rather aggressive grab.

"I have another brother and last time I checked, you weren't running to him and spilling all my secrets or is it because Jonah conned you into marrying him."

Sarah stepped behind the sofa, putting as much berth between them as possible, "first of all, I wasn't conned into doing anything and secondly, I would never run to your other brother simply because he's the author of this mess to begin with."

Beth was about to lunge at her friend when baby Alex started cooing from his crib. Giving one last glare at her now smug friend, she walked away to pick up the baby.

"See, even the baby agrees with me, his papa is an utter and absolute dimwit." Sarah laughed as she sat, confident that Beth wouldn't strangle her because of the baby in her arms. Beth rolled her eyes then tsked, "everyone and their mother knows that my husband is a dimwit but my brother won't treat him as such. He'll pummel him to a bloody pulp if he even see's a scratch on me "

Sarah blinked in confusion and asked, "and why is that a bad thing?"

Beth rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, "let me put this in terms you'll understand my soon to be dead friend, if Jonah kills my husband, he'll be hanged and you won't be preparing for a wedding, you'll be planning a funeral so I suggest that you fix this mess before it gets even messier."

When Sarah didn't come up with a funny quip or tried to dodge the topic, Beth started to get worried when her friend was silent for far longer than expected. It seemed as if she had somehow fallen into a trance.

"I'm sorry if I overspoke." Beth spoke softly and it seemed to break Sarah out of whatever headspace she was in. Clearing her throat self consciously she said, "for a moment I pictured what I'd do without Jonah in my life and to be honest I drew a blank, a very sad and lonely blank."

Beth smiled sadly as she rocked Alex back to sleep, "I'm sorry for being a tad dramatic with the situation."

Sarah shook her head and reached out to touch Beth's hand reassuringly, "You have nothing to apologize for Beth, I'm the one who should be grovelling for your forgiveness. I went behind your back and revealed something that you told me in confidence and for that I'm truly sorry."

Beth gave her friend a sad smile and said, "You meant well because heaven knows you told the only brother who'd have the guts or better yet the motivation to do something about it. Thank you for having the courage to do that for me."

Sarah smiled at her and gave her hand one last reassuring squeeze before saying, "you are forever welcome sweet Beth."

A soft coo cut through the moment as the baby started fussing, leading to both women letting out identical sighs, "why don't you call in one of the maids to take care of him."

Beth shook her head as she started rocking the baby once more, "like both our mothers I'm determined to know my baby's cries, besides, what better way to ensure that I don't have a dozen children than to have your actual baby cry non stop for thirteen months."

Sarah chuckled as she watched Beth fail to get Alex back to sleep. As she watched Beth renew her efforts an idea popped into her head, "So, since you were thanking me for telling Jonah, does it mean that I did the right thing?"

Beth narrowed her eyes at her best friend before calmly stating, "don't push it."

Raising her hands in surrender she chuckled slightly as she watched Beth with the fussy baby. A whistful smile spread on her face and she said, "I want one of those."

Beth smiled and said, "so does Jonah, you should see him fussing over Alex, he's a natural just like you."

"I'm not a natural." Sarah stated.

Beth rolled her eyes and said, "if I placed Alex in your arms right now he'd quiet down faster than I can ring for tea."

"I just know how to hold him right," Sarah spoke with a smile as she opened her arms to scoop the little boy from his mother's lap.

Beth let out a sigh leaning back indelicately on the chair, "not a natural my left foot. You and Jonah will make lovely parents."

Sarah smiled and kissed Alex softly on the cheek, eliciting giggles from the happy baby. "You really think so?"

Beth smiled at her friend, "I not only think so, I know so. You will make a beautiful mother."

Sarah smiled gratefully and cuddled the baby closer to her chest only to freeze when Beth followed up with, "if only we could find a way to curb that loose tongue of yours."

Giving one final eyeroll Sarah looked at her friend, "I'm never going to live that down am I."

Picking up her tea cup, Beth pretended to think it over before firmly stating, "No."

Sarah bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from saying something inappropriate in front of the innocent child in her arms so she walked the now sleepy Alex back to his crib.

After she laid him down and watched him fall asleep, she walked over to stand behind Beth. Bending to whisper in her friends ear, "you were wrong about something sweet Beth,"

Beth frowned, "what was I wrong about?"

Sarah knew that it was a blatant lie and it didn't help her case but she couldn't resist seeing the look on Beth's face and how she froze, when Sarah said, "I didn't tell him after he proposed, I told him the minute I started talking to him, I think it was right after you left us that day in the drawing room. Remember that particular slice of betrayal?"

Beth sucked in a lungful of air before placing the tea cup in her hand on the table, smoothing her skirts she whispered, "I strongly suggest you run."

★

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, abit of laughter and happiness was long overdue and I wanted you to have a look into the lives of our wonderful stars.