It was maddening, like watching a car crash occur in slow motion and knowing that you could do nothing to prevent the collision. You could only watch the ensuing carnage and hope that all parties involved got out of the wreck alive.
Well, I hoped that Beth got out of it alive.
It wouldn't have mattered at all to me if Gideon Wickham was consumed in an inferno of his own making.
The arrival of the two young men had been met with equal parts excitement and disappointment. Gideon was, as always, the object of many girls' affection. They stared dreamily at him in his classes, fluttering their eyelashes and raising their hands to answer questions just so that they might command a moment of his attention. He lapped it up despite the inappropriate nature of it all. Yes, they were young women of eighteen, and no, he didn't use anything but complete professionalism with younger students, but it didn't change the fact that he was in a position of trust. He was either ignorant of the dangers of encouraging these girls or, as I was more inclined to believe, he enjoyed the thrill of it.
I lived in dread of the day that Beth would find herself in his clutches. As a music teacher, his class was not the most frequent on the schedule, but I felt certain that she must have been in his presence at least once by now. If we were on better terms, I might be able to warn her against him, or at least give her some idea of why she shouldn't let her guard down. But it wasn't my place. Besides, I wanted to believe that she was too sensible to be drawn in by a charming smile and a kind word, but then, who wouldn't be? On the surface, to anyone who didn't know his past, Gideon was as good a catch as any other. The only obstacle as far as the students were concerned was that he was a teacher. Once they graduated from school, that obstacle would cease to exist.
The only thing that might protect Beth was the fact that she was poor.
Her lacking social status had certainly put the brakes on any thoughts I'd had of declaring my own interest in her. My mother was an accepting and forward-thinking woman, but even she had moved us in higher-class circles and hadn't seen fit to slum it with anyone who was of lower birth. Not that I thought Beth was somehow lacking for growing up the way that she had. My heart didn't beat any slower because there were no designer labels on her clothes, I didn't care any less for her wellbeing or wish any ill-fortune upon her. We were just from different worlds.
Still, what kept us worlds apart may be her saving grace. I could only hope that Gideon wouldn't see her other enticing features and endearing traits. That he would only realise her lacking financial worth and be turned away from her. Beth might be hurt in the short term if she did have a crush on him and it wasn't reciprocated, but that was far better than what he might do otherwise.
'You look like someone ran over your dog,' Charlie observed as we strolled through the grounds. 'What's on your mind?'
'That I don't have a dog,' I offered in reply.
'You've been in a mood since those guys turned up.'
Those guys.
It was a fair observation. I wasn't only concerned about Gideon. While he was playing the part of the teacher and keeping some distance between himself and the students during the periods between classes, the other man had turned into Beth's shadow.
He'd been introduced as Wyatt and, although there was no clear connection between the pair, he seemed hyper-focused on his attentions to Beth. He seemed to be an immediate danger to her happiness. He was certainly a danger to her personal space. I'd never seen a man with so little respect for a woman's boundaries in all my life. Well, other than Gideon.
At times I had to remind myself that I had no jurisdiction over who Beth did or didn't want to be in the company of. That she didn't belong to me. She was a person and not property, and she was more than capable of deciding who she wanted to be with. It was just... although I knew that we could never be together – it would be unacceptable to even think it – I knew that she could do better than both Wyatt and Gideon. Thinking about either getting their claws into her made me want to scream.
'I know what's going on,' Charlie decided.
'I doubt it, but go ahead.'
'Exams.'
I almost laughed. 'Sure,' I agreed, glad that my lovably dim-witted friend had so little else to concern him. 'It's the exams.'
Charlie clapped his hand onto my shoulder. 'Relax. Even if you fail, you'll never need to work a day in your life.'
'Thanks, Chaz. That helps.'
He grinned. 'See? I knew I could make it better. Isn't that Beth?'
I stopped in my tracks. It was Beth. Something had her flustered. Her hair was in disarray, her cheeks flush with exertion. Or, was it embarrassment? A man stood before her and she was utterly enchanted by him. I'd seen that rapturous expression before.
It was the expression my sister had once worn in the same man's presence.
Boldly, the man leaned in and whispered something so close to Beth's ear, he was practically kissing her skin. I took a step forward but faltered.
What was I to say?
Back off, Wickham, I saw her first!
Beth would break my nose if anything like that left my mouth. Anyway, even if I had seen her first it didn't mean that I would ever be the first to move her heart, to make it flutter and race like a butterfly trapped in a cage. No, I had no claim over her in that regard. In any regard. I could be disappointed, even hurt, but I could never be truly angry at Beth for feeling affection for anyone.
Wickham, on the other hand?
Him I could be angry at. A man who knew better. A bottom-feeding scum-bag who'd rather schmooze women and line his pockets with their trust funds than feel even an ounce of real human emotion. The only person he had and would ever care about was himself.
How dare he attempt to drag Beth into one of his sordid games?
I balled my hands into fists at my sides, the feeling of my nails digging into my palms grounding me, holding me in place. She was staring at me. At us. Everything that I wanted to declare – Wickham's history, his true personality, my deepest feelings of admiration for her – shrivelled up and died in my chest at the mere sight of her. I was scared for her and of her. I was afraid that her interest in Wickham might overshadow anything that I could offer to her.
That she might think me a nuisance.
That she might break my heart.
Gideon turned and followed her gaze to see us. 'Afternoon, boys. Are you looking for someone?'
'No,' I retorted in a scathing tone. 'There's no one here we're looking for.'
As I turned my back on the pair and forced myself to move away, to put distance between the terrible sight and my own conflicted heart, I could only hope that Beth would be the girl that I knew she was inside. A strong, formidable young woman who couldn't be easily one over with smooth lines and crooked smiles.
I might not have had the power or permission to speak up and save her from this man, but if she was half the girl I thought she was, she would be able to save herself.