Book Preview – Chapter 1 – Catching Lizzy

Guess what! I have a quick modern that started bugging me during A Worthy Woman, so I when wrote it, it just flowed out and it’s almost ready. I’m finishing up the final editing, and I have the cover, so I wanted to go ahead and share Chapter 1 with you. I’ll be posting the preview between here and my website. Look for Chapter 2 on Thursday at lldiamondwrites.com. Release day is soon–as soon as I get everything formatted I’ll have it out for you to read!

Don’t forget to comment at the end and tell me what you think!

So, without further ado!!

Chapter 1

I was a snow beast—the great snow monster from the north. What self-respecting designer would create such a hideous dress? I attempted to shove down the outrageous organza skirt that flared from my waist in a way that would make Scarlett O’Hara jealous, but it only bounced back. Then there were the large bows trimming the hemline. Somehow, they seemed to make the skirt wider.

“I won’t fit through the door of the chapel.” Would I even fit down the aisle? My father couldn’t escort me without tripping on a bow and face-planting in the middle of the procession.

“Oh, pooh!” Faith Bennet, my mother—the woman who bore me, at least—wore the most ridiculous dreamy expression while she picked at the puffed sleeves, making them balloon further than they already were. Meanwhile, my sister Jane gave a small snort, one hand on her sizeable baby bump. The little snot was trying not to laugh.

“I knew when I saw this in the bridal store that it would be perfect,” said Faith. My best friend and I have always called my mother by her first name. I’m not sure when it started, but at times, it seemed to make her more bearable. “If only I’d been able to have a beautiful gown when I married, but my mother wouldn’t hear of it.”

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. How many times had I heard my mother’s wedding tale of woe? My parents’ wedding ceremony had been of the shotgun variety. Faith Gardiner had been three months pregnant when my grandparents discovered her condition, so Faith and Benjamin Bennet had been married two weeks later, which also happened to be my mother’s eighteenth birthday. Faith had no dream wedding. Instead, her grandparents took Faith and Benjamin to the closest justice of the peace. The happy, or not-so-happy, couple were wed in the living room with no cake, no reception, and no pretty wedding dress.

“But this isn’t even one of the gowns I tried on.” I pressed down on the skirt again, but it poofed out further. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t groan. Even the dress was mocking me.

“I know you loved the Vera Wang, Lizzy, but that one wasn’t romantic enough. You picked a gown with no lace! I mean, who wears a wedding dress without one stitch of lace?”

“A lot of people, Mom,” said Jane.

Faith waved off Jane’s response. “Wait until Bill sees you in this gown. He’ll fall all over himself.”

“Bill’s not really the falling type.” He was more the stick up the ass type if I was being honest. How was I going to spend the rest of my life with a man who chewed each bite of his meal exactly twenty times? He counted the stairs going up to make sure he had equal steps with his right and left leg. So far, I’d never witnessed what happened when the number of steps wasn’t even. I guess I would—one day? The thought made my eyes burn.

With a sigh, Faith clasped her hands together at her chest. “I don’t believe that. Bill always speaks so highly of you, Lizzy. He’s also dependable and has an excellent career ahead of him. I know he’s not rich—yet—but I’m certain he’ll get that promotion at de Bourgh. He’ll be the perfect husband. You’ll see.”

For the thousandth time this morning, I swallowed hard. The acid stinging the back of my throat made me grimace. I was going to vomit. I was going to hyperventilate. I was going to—

“We need to put on your veil! It’s almost time.” My mother practically skipped over to the box while I pressed my palm to my stomach as it churned.

“Is Aunt Maddie here?”

“I’m sure she’s being seated as we speak.”

I swayed in my spot. “I need a minute alone.”

Faith pivoted around so quickly that her shoes squeaked on the parquet floor of the Sunday school room. “We don’t have a minute. You walk down the aisle in less than ten minutes.” My mother’s familiar exasperated tone was the same as when I was ten and had skinned my knee, tearing my tights in the process.

“Mom? Did you check to see if Mrs. Goulding showed up to play the organ?” asked Jane. “I heard she was sick last week.”

“What?” I startled at how loudly Faith responded. She had two volumes: stage whisper and shrieking. “Are you sure? I never heard anyone say that, and Clara didn’t say a word.” Probably because Clara Goulding despised Faith and only agreed to play at the wedding for the money.

Jane shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m just asking.”

My mother huffed. “What would you girls do without me? I take care of everything as it is, but I still had to plan both of your weddings…”

As soon as the door closed, Jane caught my gaze in the mirror and lifted her eyebrows. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No.” I tried to rub my eye with my hand, but Jane stopped me before I could smudge the twenty layers of mascara my mother’s cosmetologist applied to my eyelashes. If I cried, I’d resemble Tammy Faye Baker by the time the fourth tear ran down my cheek. “Why do you let her claim credit for planning your wedding?”

“Because it’s easier than arguing. In your case, you did let her plan everything.”

“Well, she’d marry Bill if she could, so why not give her the satisfaction?”

My sister shook her head. “You don’t have to do this, you know?”

“That’s easy for you to say. You fell in love with a guy Faith found perfect while Bill was the only thing I’ve ever done right—and she set us up.” If you asked my mother, Jane was the most perfect child ever created. She married Charlie, the ideal man, and was now expecting what would surely be the most beautiful baby in the world. If I hadn’t loved and idolized my sister like I did, I might’ve been jealous.

Jane’s hand rested on my shoulder. “By Mom’s standards, he’s ideal, but what of your standards? You can paste that smile on your face and say you’re happy, but I’m not fooled, Lizzy. You deserve more. You may not believe it, but I know it.”

I pressed my thumb between my eyes. Yes, it was a weird thing to do, but anything more would ruin the makeup caked on my face. “Can I just be alone for a little while? Please?”

Jane wrapped her arms around me from behind. “I love you.”

I embraced my older sister’s arms. “I know. I love you too. I’m sorry for being such a pain.”

“You’re not a pain.”

As soon as Jane closed the door behind her, I groaned at my reflection in the mirror. “I am the winter wildebeest. Just call me Abominable from the Rudolph Christmas special. The elves could use my skirt for a freaking tent! What was Faith thinking?” I never wore bows and rarely wore lace, and this gown had enough to make up for almost twenty-six years of frilly abstinence. Faith surely rubbed her hands together in glee at the sight of this overdone atrocity.

Organ music began from somewhere on the other side of the door, and my stomach rolled. I had to marry Bill, didn’t I? When I was a little girl, I’d imagined my wedding and the guy who I would meet at the end of the aisle. He wore a sleek black tuxedo and bore a remarkable resemblance to Zac Efron in Hairspray. Sigh! I loved a man with striking blue eyes. Bill’s were brown.

“Why are you marrying someone you don’t love?” I asked the mirror. I glanced down to my empty ring finger. Bill hadn’t bought an engagement ring, not even a cheap silver band. Instead, he gave a prolonged speech about how engagement rings and diamonds were a scam promoted by the jewelry industry. He never mentioned any of the human rights issues behind diamonds. No, only that he refused to pay a small fortune for a commodity that was withheld to keep the prices high and the stones in demand. Bill was romantic to the core.

A knock came from the door, and I swallowed hard. “Two more minutes! Please!”

If I walked out now, Faith would never forgive me. All I’d ever wanted was for Faith Bennet to say, “I’m proud of you.” Would marrying a man my mother loved finally earn me those words?

A voice inside me whispered that nothing would ever satisfy Faith Bennet. Well, that voice had started as a whisper after the engagement. The low murmur had grown and was more of a scream now. I was going to sacrifice a huge part of my life for what? Faith would never accept me for who I was.

My chest burned, and the heat expanded as it engulfed me. Well, Faith would not rule my life for one moment longer! I yanked the pins from my hair and shook out the fat curls, which stuck out in every direction from the shellacking of Aqua Net that had been applied by the hairdresser. “Hah!” I yelled at the mirror. I clapped my hand over my mouth. What if someone heard? What if they walked in on me? I crept over to the door and turned the lock as quietly as possible. No way existed for me to make my escape through the church anyway. I’d never get past the gauntlet of family and friends I’d encounter along the way. As it was, Faith was likely in the hallway waiting for me.

My legs trembled as I rushed to the window. What was I doing? I stopped for a moment and shook myself. No! I couldn’t think about this too much, or I’d chicken out. The window’s latch flipped easily, and I drew up the panel.

Thank God I was on the ground floor! I started to climb through the window one ballooned shoulder at a time, but when I reached the skirt, I had to shove against the frame to make even the slightest progress in freeing myself. I used as much force as I could manage. I pressed. I shoved. No! I wasn’t moving! I tried to backtrack, but that didn’t work either. No, no, no! I was stuck! Why did this kind of thing always happen to me? It was that awful skirt. Leave it to Faith to pick a gown that would ensure I couldn’t escape.

“Lizzy, what are you doing?”

With a gasp, I turned my head, flipping my big hair so I could see the face that went with the low voice I knew well. My best friend in the world, Richard Fitzwilliam, leaned against the brick wall of Our Lady of Hope Catholic church with a crooked grin.

“Thank God! I’m getting the f*** out of here, and you’re going to help me.”

His eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard you say in the past five years!”

I exhaled and strained against the window frame. “Shut up, Dickie, and help me get out of this.”

Richard rolled his eyes and swaggered toward me. “Well, I guess I can. Since it’s you.”

“How gracious of you.” I bit out the response.

“I know. I’m the epitome of kindness.” He grabbed me under the arms and tugged, but I only budged a little. My heart was beating a mile a minute and my palms were starting to sweat, and not in a good way. This was taking too long! Faith would eventually get through that door and find me half in and half out, my feet dangling to the inside.

Richard pushed against the wall with his foot for leverage, but we only gained a half-inch, if that. When Richard slipped his hands into the window and began manipulating the organza of the skirt, he growled. “What the hell is this dress, Bennet? You could house a small family in this skirt.”

I looked over my shoulder. “Why are you asking now? We have to hurry. My mother and Jane will be back any minute. Do you want my mother to know you’re helping me run away?”

“You forget—I don’t speak to your mother, and mine won’t have anything to do with her anymore, so I don’t care… Ha! I might ruin it, but I think I can compress this monstrosity. You work at freeing yourself. Just don’t kill me if I accidentally grab a handful of ass, okay?”

“I don’t care if you ruin the gown or grab my ass. Get me out of here!”

“Stop yelling at me and push!”

I heaved once… twice… three times, then blinked. Suddenly, I was looking up at Richard from the ground.

He reached down to help me to my feet with a stupid grin. “You can thank me later.” Lord, I wanted to slap him when he wore that smug expression. After all the pressing and shoving to get free, I swayed for a second when Richard stepped back. His gaze scanned down to my feet then back up, taking in the entirety of the abominable wildebeest atrocity. He covered his mouth and began to chuckle.

“Not now, Dickie! Where are you parked? You have to get me out of here.”