Chapter 2: She Watches

“So how did you track him down?”Emma asked,from where she was sitting on Beth’s bed,who was taking a bath. 

“Through his law firm,”Beth replied,remembering how surprised Ethan had been to hear from her. 

“Beth?”he’d said over the phone.”This is unexpected.”  

For some reason,she’d sat on her bed,twirling the telephone cord like a teenage girl at the sound of his voice.  

“Ethan,forgive me for phoning out the blue...its just...I think you gave me something of your mother's by mistake,something that might have sentimental value.”

They’d agreed to meet at a coffee shop in town,in about an hour's time. 

 “So,besides being rich,is he cute?”Emma asked. 

In the bath,Beth smiled.Good old Emma,probably planning her wedding already,to a man she had known all of two days,a man whose only interest in her was in regard to his mother. 

“He's very distinguished,”Beth replied.”I'd say in his late thirties,well built,dark hair greying at the temples,very...handsome.” 

It felt odd describing a man other than Edgar as handsome.  After all,for ten years,he was the only man she had any interest in looking at. 

Although it was true.Ethan Hollingsworth was handsome and suave in a very old fashioned kind of way. 

He reminded her of the heroes on the covers of the Barbara Cartland romances she had devoured as a teenager.

Silly,she chided herself,as if a man like that would even give her a second thought.She almost laughed out loud.

In his office,Ethan checked his Rolex and saw that it was nearly time for his meeting with Beth Collins. 

He couldn’t imagine what she had to give him.Over the phone she had sounded almost worried,despite his assurance that everything in the box,his mother had intended for her to have. 

As he straightened his tie,he remembered how shocked he had been to meet the woman his mother had described as “an old soul,wise to the world.” 

He'd expected to find an elderly woman,someone close to his mother’s age. 

Instead he had found a petite and beautiful young woman with a mass of blonde curls flowing over her shoulders and eyes so blue they seemed to be a reflection of the sky itself.  Even her personality appealed to him.During their conversation the previous day he had found her warm and very articulate.

Yes,he thought,he was definitely intrigued by Beth Collins.  Even though he knew nothing romantic could happen between them,not in his current situation,he felt compelled to meet her today. 

He was treading on dangerous ground and he knew it.

She was a silent and invisible witness to their meeting.She heard every word,saw every gesture.  

Everything about him sickened her,even after all these years.  He had stolen her happiness,her life and she would finish him right here if she could...  But the moment was not yet perfect,she would bide her time and when he was at his happiest she would take everything away and watch him suffer,the same way she was watching him now,speaking to the woman who had the necklace.

“I don’t know what to say Beth,”Ethan said.”My mother finalized her own affairs in the weeks before she passed on.She herself set everything aside.The journals,the album and probably the necklace too.She wanted you to have it.That’s the only explanation I can think of.” 

Beth placed her cup on the table and looked at the necklace,which Ethan still held in his hand.  

“It just seems extravagant,”she finally said.”Surely something so valuable was meant for a family member.Yes,Polly and I were friends,but something so personal...”

Ethan smiled at her.She was so beautiful,so unassuming and awakened an excitement in him he hadn't felt in years.He should be careful he reminded himself,avoid getting too close to her.

“My mother had more jewelry than she knew what to do with.I am convinced this was meant for you.Look,stop overthinking this and just enjoy your gift.”