Ellie unwittingly came to her rescue. ‘How about we go grab a lane?’ She threaded her arm through Beth’s. ‘You guys right grabbing drinks for all of us?’
Noah and Caleb agreed, and after mumbling her drink order, Beth let Ellie lead her towards the bowling green, away from the thick of the action. With every step, it got harder to keep the tears at bay. She felt so pathetic. And, clearly, her inadequacies were obvious—so obvious that both Ellie and Noah felt compelled to look after her. As if she were a child who needed babysitting.
She dug her nails into her palms as they trekked along the green, the pain helping to ground her, to contain the cocktail of emotions welling up inside her, but once they cleared the last occupied lane, she pulled her arm free of Ellie’s and pressed the heels of her hands to her eye sockets.
‘Beth? Hey.’ Ellie gripped her shoulders. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she blubbered, willing herself to calm down but only getting more worked up. ‘It’s just … crowds make me anxious.’
‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry!’ Ellie ushered her further along the path, guiding her to the farthest lane and pulling her down onto the players’ bench. ‘I feel terrible, forcing you to come here when you told me how much you didn’t want to. I’m the worst friend ever!’
‘You didn’t force me.’ Beth hauled in a shuddering breath. ‘I agreed to come.’
‘Yeah, after I manipulated you into making that decision.’
Beth shook her head, refusing to let Ellie take the blame. ‘It’s not your fault. You didn’t know how hopeless I am at this sort of thing.’
‘Itismy fault. I should’ve listened and not pushed you into this. And you’renothopeless. You’re clearly just overwhelmed by—’ she waved her hands, gesturing towards the crowded clubrooms, ‘—all this. That doesn’t make you hopeless.’
Beth gave her a disbelieving look.
‘Itdoesn’t.’ Ellie crossed her legs and jiggled the one on top. ‘I mean, we all struggle with something. Take me, for instance. I’m running the B&B for my folks while they’re travelling, and from the outside, you might think I have it all together. The place runs like a well-oiled machine and bookings have increased by twenty per cent since I started managing it. But my personal life is an absolute mess. Like, literally.’
She glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. ‘The council would probably shut us down if they got a glimpse of my room. It’s gross! Utter chaos. And despite not having a mortgage or needing to pay rent, I don’t have two cents to rub together because I spend money as soon as I earn it. Let’s not forget, either, that guys only seem to want me for one thing, and the only friends I’ve managed to keep for any decent amount of time are these two bozos.’ She jutted her chin at Noah and Caleb, who were still too far away to have heard Ellie’s term of endearment.
Beth choked out a laugh and used the sleeve of her cardigan to dab at her wet lashes.
Ellie bumped shoulders with her. ‘We don’t have to stay, you know. Just say the word and we’ll head back to the B&B, have a quiet night in instead.’
Beth considered it—the offerwastempting—but they were a good distance from all the noise and commotion. Besides, she was here now, and she still needed to ask Noah for that favour.
‘No, I want to stay. I mean,thatwas definitely too much—’ she pointed at the clubrooms, ‘—but this, I think I can handle.’
Ellie smiled. ‘Right, well, just so long as you know you’re allowed to change your mind. Promise me that you’ll let me know if it gets too much and we can leave, okay?’
Touched that Ellie would be willing to cut out early for her, Beth nodded. ‘I promise.’ Then, noticing Noah and Caleb drawing closer, she took the chance to say something honest. ‘Also, I think anyone would be incredibly lucky to have you as their friend.’
‘Aww! That is officially the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me,’ Ellie gushed, as if she’d just gotten a puppy for Christmas, and threw her arms around Beth as the guys rocked up.
‘Hold up! Let me get in on that.’ Caleb rushed over to them and tried to back into the non-existent space between Beth and Ellie.
‘Get outta here, fool!’ Ellie slapped his butt and pushed him away.
Caleb made a sound of indignance. ‘Nice way to treat the man delivering the alcohol!’
‘Ooh, gimme!’ Ellie leapt after him, but he bounced away, evading her attempts to snatch her drink from his hands.
Amused, Beth watched their antics and only looked away when Noah came towards her.
‘Here you go. Club lemon, right?’
Beth took the can. ‘Thank you.’
He sat beside her and let a moment pass before he broke the silence. ‘So … is everything okay? You seemed a bit agitated earlier.’
She looked away, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment yet again. It wasn’t lost on her that they kept ending up in situations where he felt the need to ask her that question. He was so perceptive, which she kind of hated, and yet he made her feelseen. Apparently, perpetually red cheeks was the price she had to pay for that privilege.
In the end, she nodded. ‘I am, actually. Ellie’s great at making me feel better.’
