Beginning, Previous Section, Section XXVII, Next Section
Posted on Monday, 7 July 2003
Elisabeth didn't know whether Thomas Palmer was furious or secretly relieved that she had refused to take over the Newton store, although she had a feeling it was probably the latter. Sean had given her a mild rebuke for turning down her opportunity to be a store manager, but even he couldn't argue with her once she'd explained her reasoning. He'd gone over Palmer's head to explain the situation to Thomas Bertram, who had sent a directive to Thomas Palmer informing him to find someone else to run the store.
Once Elisabeth had turned it down and it was clear Thomas Palmer was going to be unable to force her into the position, everyone figured that Bubba Collins was sure to get the job. Bubba had only a few months' less experience than Elisabeth and had been making no secret of the fact that he thought he should've been the person selected to run the Newton store in the first place. Bubba started walking around the Effingham store as though he expected Thomas Palmer to walk in at any second with keys in hand to ask him to manage in Newton.
But Bubba was to be disappointed, because Thomas Palmer had never had any intention of asking Bubba to go to Newton. Instead, the job went to the assistant manager in Vandalia, a young woman with less experience than Bubba but a better track record and a much more pleasant personality. Bubba was livid and threatened to walk out.
"Yeah, right," Charlie muttered to Elisabeth when she heard this. "Where else is he going to get a job as good as the one he's got now? Anyplace else would've fired his butt months ago."
"He does have seniority over Elinor," Elisabeth pointed out. "I probably wouldn't be thrilled if Thomas had promoted her over me. Not that I'm saying Elinor didn't deserve it, because from what I've heard she's great----she's Marianne Brandon's older sister, you know. But Bubba's got more time in than she does, and probably feels he's being looked over."
"With very good reason," Charlie said.
Elisabeth couldn't quite agree with her cousin, so she didn't reply and Charlie didn't continue it.
Monday morning after she'd made her decision about college, she sent her deposit to Eastern and mulled over the catalog of classes available. She wrote down the names of a few classes that sounded interesting. Since it was her day off, she contemplated going up to the school to take a trek around the campus, but she decided to make plans to spend the day with Darcy and Grace.
She managed to get as far as telling Darcy that she wanted to spend the day with him before her mother called to tell her to cancel any plans she had.
"I made an appointment for you at Gotcha By the Hair to try out different hairstyles for the wedding," Ruth said. "You'll have to remember to bring that...veil." This last was said with distaste.
"But Ma, I've already talked with Danie and she's doing my hair. We've even practiced it with the veil half a dozen times. It looks great. I don't need..."
"Then we're going to buzz over to St. Louis because you need to pick out gifts for the bridesmaids and for Jenna."
"I've already bought them gifts."
"Gift certificates to Wal-Mart are not what you should give your bridesmaids. Gifts should be much more personal than that."
"I asked them three times if that would be all right! All of them said yes, except Charlie who wanted a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. There's no need for me to get them something else."
"I also have to pick up my dress while we're there."
"Your...dress?" Elisabeth asked weakly. "I thought you were just going to wear the light green dress you wore to church at Christmas."
"Oh, no. That's too ordinary a dress for your wedding. I told you a while back that I was having a special dress made just for the occasion. Well, it's ready and I'm going to get it while we're in St. Louis. Plus, there are a couple other things we need to get, just last-minute odds and ends. So hurry and have a shower, because I'm going to be at your door in half an hour."
Elisabeth was tempted to refuse, but since her mother seemed to be in the first good mood she'd been in since the big blow-up at the bridal shop, she decided to go along with her. Besides, if left to her own devices, who knew what Ruth would do next?
Darcy assured her that there were things he could be doing, and that they'd have plenty of time to be together after the wedding. He did, however, remind her to ask her mother if she would watch Grace that night while they went bowling.
There really wasn't much for Darcy to do, but he bundled up Grace and headed to the Bookworm anyway.
Darcy smiled as he looked over the store. Everything was ready to go. The walls had been painted, the new carpeting put down, the stock organized, the computer system in place, and the chairs he'd bought for people to sit in if they wanted to rest while looking over a book were where he'd wanted them. All the place needed now were customers.
Maybe I should do a test run and open up for a few hours, just to see how I'd do.
That suggestion seemed like a good one for ten seconds, which was when fear and doubt crept over him. His stomach clenched and he feared that he might be sick. He took a seat in the chair behind the counter, resting his head on the cool surface.
What do you think you're doing? Do you really think you're going to be able to make a go of this? A used bookstore in the middle of nowhere? Is this what you intend to do for the rest of your life?
Darcy swallowed heavily. Whenever he was having second thoughts about where his life seemed to be heading, Catherine's voice came to mind. She'd probably find it hilarious, but he wished he could banish her from his life and his mind.
He wished he'd thought to bring a soda or something to drink, because his mouth felt dry. He'd bought a small refrigerator for the back room but hadn't remembered to stock it. He hadn't thought he'd have a reason to stock it before he opened the store, but now he wished he'd gone ahead and done it. He got up and went to the bathroom, where he swallowed a couple of handfuls of cool water from the faucet. It didn't help much.
Once he was finished, he again sat in the chair behind the counter, placing his head on the counter, trying to focus on the positive things in his life rather than on the negative voice telling him he was going to fail.
Okay, good things...Elisabeth. That's definitely a good thing. She's the best thing that happened to you....but is marrying her so soon a mistake? You've barely known her a year. How much do you really know about her? Has she been completely honest with you? Is a year long enough to get to know someone you plan to spend the rest of your life with? What if someone comes along in five or ten years who might be better for you?
"Stop it!" Darcy hissed at himself, deliberately thumping his head against the counter, but the thoughts kept on coming. Are you ready to spend the rest of your life with one woman? Are you ready to make that kind of commitment? You never got the chance to date a lot of women because of your aunt, did you? Now you've got all the time in the world.
Darcy nearly screamed in frustration. He did not want to date other women. He just wanted Elisabeth. He knew this for certain, just as he knew that his wayward thoughts were popping up because the wedding was in less than two weeks. He'd rather swallow fire than admit it, but he thought George Wickham had had the right idea by eloping with Lydia rather than go through the hell of an actual wedding. What could be more rational than deciding to get married and then going off and doing it? What was so great about weddings, anyway? All the pomp and circumstance and headaches, when everything could be accomplished in half an hour with a justice of the peace or...or and Elvis impersonator, or whatever.
What about Grace? She's something good in your life...no matter who her father really is.
"STOP IT!" Darcy had shouted loud enough to scare Grace, who started crying. Muttering a curse under his breath, he picked her up and tried to calm her down. "I'm sorry, sweetie....Daddy's sorry. He didn't mean to scream like that."
Darcy stared down at the red-faced infant. How can you even think a thing like that? he asked himself angrily. Why should it matter? She's your daughter, no matter what. And to say that she's something good in your life in spite of her real father is cheapening the fact that she's something good.
Grace stopped crying after a few minutes, and Darcy carefully put her back in the baby bed he'd bought for her. Once she was taken care of, he wearily flopped back into his seat with his head on the counter again. All of the negative, frustrating thoughts were winning out, he was convinced he was going to be a loser with no future, Elisabeth was going to turn into her mother...
Darcy's thoughts were interrupted by someone opening the door to the store. He hadn't realized he'd left the door unlocked, but he figured it would be all right if a customer decided to take a look around. It had been what had set off this flood of fears and doubts. He raised his head off the counter to find Chazz Bingley standing in front of him.
Chazz grinned. "Caught you napping, didn't I?"
"I wasn't napping. I was just wondering if I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life."
"I know the feeling. Sometimes I'll look at Ruth and think, 'That could be Jenna in twenty years.' Might make a guy think twice before getting involved with one of the Bennet girls."
Darcy was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
It was Chazz's turn to look puzzled. "Weren't you talking about getting married to Elisabeth?"
"No. Did I say I was talking about my upcoming wedding?"
"Well, no, but when a guy who's got two weeks to go before the big day starts saying things like 'I may be making the biggest mistake of my life,' you assume he's talking about the wedding."
"I wasn't talking about getting married. That's about the only thing I'm feeling confident about right now, except for the timing." A lie, but he didn't want to talk about his fears with Chazz. Chazz was a good friend, but he probably wouldn't think Darcy was being serious.
"If you weren't talking about getting married, then what were you talking about when you said it was the biggest mistake of your life?" Chazz asked.
"Um...nothing. Never mind. It's just...a lot of things, all piled on top of each other." Darcy's bangs fell into his eyes and he brushed them back. "It's been a long year."
"Tell me about it. But I guess it has been a long year for you, with the change in work and Elisabeth and the baby and now this place. And the wedding and the prospect of being related to Ruth Atchison."
"That's the second time you've mentioned that, Chazz. Did you come here with the express purpose of bringing up the worst of Elisabeth's family or did you have another reason?"
"I had another reason." Chazz looked around and started to hop up onto the counter.
"Hey! I just polished that," Darcy protested, shoving him off.
"With what, your head?" Chazz didn't attempt to sit on the counter again, instead making a beeline for one of the new chairs. "Damn, this is a nice chair. I'm not asking how much you paid for it."
"Too much, probably," Darcy said in agreement, waiting for Chazz to get to the reason for his visit. He had a bit of a wait, because Chazz stared stonily at the wall across from his chair. Darcy was about to throw him out the door when Chazz finally spoke again.
"I was wanting your excellent guidance," he began.
"No. Let me correct that----hell no. I'm not about to give you any more advice. The last time I did, you and Jenna broke up, Jack started a rumor about the whole mess, and Elisabeth slapped me. There's no way I'm going down that road again."
"I apologized for that, didn't I?"
"Not to me, you didn't!"
"I'm sorry, then, and I promise that the advice I'm about to ask for has nothing to do with whether or not I should break up with Jenna."
Darcy grew suspicious. "But it does have something to do with her, doesn't it? Otherwise you'd have said it didn't."
"Yes, it does, but like I said, nothing about our relationship. You saw her mother at Christmas. She was practically fawning over me once she found out I was almost out of college for good."
"And this has what to do with the advice you want me to give?"
"Well, nothing, but I did want to point something out. She didn't want me around when she told her mother, and look how it turned out in the end." Chazz grinned again. "Mothers can't help but love me once they get to know me."
"If you'd told Ruth that you were going to be in school for another three years..."
"Oh, I know, it would've taken longer to win her over. Anyway, that's all beside the point because what I wanted to ask your advice on was this." Chazz tossed something at Darcy. Darcy missed it completely as it skidded off the counter and onto the floor. "Nice catch," Chazz said sarcastically.
"The ability to catch flying objects wasn't high on my aunt's list of attributes." Darcy picked up the object, which was a small, square jewelry box. Darcy opened it and looked inside. There was a diamond ring inside. "Thanks for the thought, but I'm already getting married."
"Smart ass. That wasn't what I wanted advice about."
"Please don't ask me whether or not you should ask Jenna to marry you. Just do what..." Darcy paused. "No, I'm not going to say that. Last time I did..."
"I know, I know. All hell broke loose. Besides, I already know I'm gonna propose to her. What I wanted to know was...is what I heard about your proposal true?"
"Depends on what you heard."
"Something about a mall, Santa Claus, and a Christmas wish. Elisabeth told Jenna about it and I only caught the highlights."
"Sounds like you got it about right. Throw in a bunch of kids with their parents waiting to see Santa and you'll have the whole picture." Darcy tossed the ring back to Chazz with no more accuracy than he'd had in catching it.
"Watch it! I'm not like you, Mr. Millionaire. I can't afford the replacement if this breaks," Chazz grumbled as he picked the box up from off the floor. He opened it to make sure the ring was still in place, and apparently it was because he snapped the box shut just as quickly.
"Sorry." Darcy took his chair from behind the counter and went to sit with Chazz.
"It's okay. I'm still in shock over the fact that you were that creative when you proposed to Elisabeth. I mean, if ever there was someone who would just get on one knee and ask the magic question, I figured it to be you. Not that there's anything wrong with that, in fact, that's considered romantic. But you didn't do that."
"How many times did you just insult me there, Chazz?"
"Three or four. I lost count. I didn't mean to go that far, but I think you know what I mean. You set the bar for anyone dating a woman who knows about your proposal."
"Give me a break," Darcy said. "It wasn't that original. And it wasn't planned, either. The Santa idea came to me while we were in the mall."
"You're missing my point. It doesn't matter how or why the idea came to you. The point is, you acted on it and screwed every guy in Effingham who isn't going to be able to come up with anything just as good."
"Great. How did I become responsible for every guy's proposal being lousy because it doesn't include Santa Claus and Christmas wishes?" Darcy might have sounded like he was mad, but inwardly he was laughing at the absurdity of Chazz's argument.
"You proposed, and your fiancée's got a big mouth."
"I'm sure she doesn't. She undoubtedly just to Jenna and Charlie..."
"And they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on. Anyway, since you're an old hand at proposing, and proposing well, I figured you might have a pointer or two you could give me."
"Didn't I just get done saying that I wasn't planning on proposing in a mall? It was something off the top of my head. It was spontaneous. You're the spontaneous expert around here, so why are you asking me for advice?"
"Because I've been going crazy over the last two weeks trying to think of a creative, spontaneous way to propose to Jenna. And you know what I got? Nothing, that's what. So I thought I'd ask someone who was able to be spontaneous under pressure."
"Just when I thought I'd heard everything," Darcy mumbled. "Look, Chazz, I have a feeling that any idea I give to you is going to be shot down because you won't like it, so why bother asking me?"
"I swear I would take your suggestions seriously. I am, after all, standing in the presence of greatness."
Chazz was seriously starting to tick him off. It was only the dead earnest expression on his face that made Darcy believe he was being serious, but even if he was, Darcy had no idea what Chazz should do.
With a sigh, Darcy said, "The proposal doesn't have to be flashy. It doesn't have to be creative. If I give you something you think sounds good, in twenty years you're probably going to look back and think it was the stupidest suggestion you've ever heard because it meant nothing to you. I...I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing in proposing where I did rather than being more romantic."
"It's the sort of proposal people don't stop talking about."
"That's exactly why I wonder. I didn't want my proposal to be some joke. I wanted it to be sincere and serious."
"I wouldn't say your proposal was a joke. I thought it inspired, and I'm sure Elisabeth loved it just as much or else she wouldn't have told a soul about it. You have nothing to worry about. Me, I'm the one who has to worry."
"Why? Jenna's hardly going to say 'Sorry, that wasn't good enough, try again' if it's not the most original proposal in the world. You're going to flash that diamond at her, ask her the question, and I'll bet you a million dollars that she'll say yes. If she doesn't..."
"You've got the million to back it up." Chazz grinned. "Maybe I'll deliberately make it terrible so I can get the million. Jenna made me sit through this God-awful movie called The Bachelor..."
"You have to ask her, nitwit. You can't hand her the ring and say 'you win.' Doing that negates your right to the million."
"Damn. I was hoping you'd overlook that." Chazz's smile faded. "I know I was wrong in coming here to ask for ideas on how to propose to Jenna, but every time I start thinking about it, I draw a blank."
"Well, like I said, it doesn't have to be something over the top just because you usually are. It it's something nice and quiet, she'll love it just the same. Maybe even more because it shows that you restrained your natural impulses just for her."
Chazz seemed to consider this before shaking his head. "Nah," he said. "It's got to be something great. Any ideas?"
Darcy was saved by someone walking into the store. He turned to watch as Jack walked into the store and looked around. "I like what you've done with the place," he said.
"Aah, you're just saying that to be polite," Chazz said.
Jack ignored him. "Darcy. Just the guy I wanted to talk to. You got a minute?"
Darcy sighed and wondered when he'd become the advisor for his friends. "If you're about to ask for advice about your love life or my opinion on jewelry, you'll have to take a number."
"I don't need advice about love or jewelry." Jack frowned at Chazz. "Why are you asking for advice about love? Didn't you learn anything from the last time?"
"This has nothing to do with love," Chazz snapped. "Well, it does, but that's beside the point."
"He's proposing to Jenna and he wanted some ideas for how he could do it with originality," Darcy said. "He seems to think that because I proposed to Elisabeth in a mall that he has to somehow one-up me on the originality scale."
"You did sort of screw over any guy whose girlfriend heard about it," Jack said. "Including mine."
"You see?!" Chazz yelled triumphantly.
"Thanks a lot," Darcy muttered. "Look, what do you want me to do? Take out an ad in the paper where I apologize to every man on the planet? I hardly think my proposal was that extraordinary. It was just different. And other than your girlfriends, who else knows about it? I'm sure Charlie didn't tell anyone who didn't already know. The same goes for Jenna."
At that moment, the door opened again and a man in his mid-thirties walked in. "Hey, are you open again?" he asked.
"Uh...no, not yet, but if you're looking for something in particular, go ahead."
"Thanks, man."
"Excuse me, sir?" Chazz got the man's attention before he could head to the mystery section. "Are you from around here?"
If the man thought this was an odd question, he didn't say. "Yeah. Why?"
"I was just wondering if you knew who Darcy Williamson is."
The man nodded. "The Santa Claus proposal guy. My wife was talking about it with her sister a few days after it happened."
"Oh, come on!" Darcy snapped. "There's no way the entire town knows about that! This was a set-up, wasn't it?"
The man smiled at him. "Not from around here, are you?"
"He's a New Yorker, but you'd think he'd have figured this town out in the year since he moved here," Jack said. "He still thinks you can do something out of the ordinary and not have people talking about it."
"I'm learning fast, believe me." Darcy gave his friends a dark look, hoping the customer wouldn't think it was meant for him.
Fifteen minutes later, the man had found two books he wanted and had left, but not before Darcy had had to borrow change from Chazz because he didn't have any money in the cash register. Darcy locked the door behind him so that no one else could get in.
"I'm with Darcy on this one," Jack said. "You're gonna have to figure out what to do on your own. You know Jenna better than either of us. You know what she would want in a proposal. If you think that means dressing up like a gorilla or getting a bunch of preschoolers to spell out 'Marry Me Jenna,' then do it. If you think she'd want moonlight and roses and the ring floating in a glass of champagne, then that's what you should do. We're not going to be of any help to you at all."
Chazz nodded slowly. "I think I knew that all along. I was just hoping for a little...I don't know. A little incentive to come up with an idea on my own rather than having to use something lame that you guys would come up with."
"I resemble that remark, I'll have you know," Jack said.
"Jack, what did you want to talk to me about?" Darcy asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I got a phone call from your cousin D.J. last night. He was asking me about the bachelor party and wanting to know how many guys were going to be there and if we had any thoughts on what to do."
"Then why the hell did he call you? I'd be the man who knows all the great places to go for a bachelor party," Chazz said, sounding offended.
"I didn't know your phone number, so I gave him Jack's. What does it matter whose phone number he got, as long as he reached one of you?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "I know where all the strip clubs are, just like you do."
"No strip clubs," Darcy said.
"What?" Chazz said with a whine in his voice. "C'mon, man. This is your bachelor party. We have to do the stripper thing."
Darcy shook his head. "I promised Elisabeth I wasn't going to have a bachelor party with strippers of any kind. I can't back out on that promise, especially since the bachelor party's going to be so close to the wedding."
"Did you make her give you the same kind of promise?" Chazz asked.
Darcy frowned. "No. I didn't figure I'd need to. Why would Elisabeth and her friends go to a strip club?"
"My boy, with that statement you've proven that you're a true innocent in this world," Jack said. "Women like to see men take their clothes off nearly as much as men like seeing naked women. Especially when the men in question are about six-five and look like they could play ball for the Cardinals."
"I'm not that innocent," Darcy snapped. "But Ruth put herself in charge of Elisabeth's bridal shower. I don't see her agreeing to go to a strip club."
"I thought Jenna and Lydia were in charge of the bridal shower," Chazz said. "Maybe I heard wrong."
"You usually do," Jack said.
Chazz flipped him the bird. "Seriously, Darcy, you can't have a bachelor party without strippers. What would you do? Have tea and crumpets and sit around playing stupid games and talking about how wonderful marriage is going to be?"
"I don't know," Darcy said. "I left the planning to you guys."
"Well, we want strippers. El's just going to have to live with it."
"He wants strippers," Jack was quick to point out. "I'm neutral on the subject. Personally, I don't see the point since I've got a girlfriend that I'm happy with. For that matter, why is it such a big deal to you, Bingley? You've got a girlfriend you're about to propose to. Why do you want to see strippers?"
"It's like Jeff Foxworthy once said," Chazz said with an exaggerated Southern drawl, "all men want out of life is a cold beer and to see women nekkid."
"Careful that your knuckles don't drag on the ground on your way out, Neanderthal man," Jack said. "And are you saying that you've never seen Jenna naked? She comes to bed with the lights off and a nightgown on?"
Chazz blushed and said, "All right, no more talking about what Jenna may or may not wear to bed. Get the thoughts of what she looks like naked out of your head. End of discussion. And we're going to a strip club because it's a tradition that a bachelor have one last great night out."
"Chazz, I'd like to make it to my wedding day in one piece, not a million," Darcy said. "I don't really care what we do, Jack. You and Chazz know Effingham and the surrounding area a lot better than I do, so whatever you guys choose to do is fine as long as it's not some strip club. I don't know how many are going to be there. Just about all the guys from the store, and whichever of my relatives choose to show."
"All right. I'll let him know when he calls back."
"That's fine, and remember----no strippers."
"Right," Chazz grumbled. "We'll remember. No fun, no drinking, no nothing. What kind of cookies do you want, and do you prefer green tea to Lipton's?"
Posted on Thursday, 17 July 2003
Elisabeth got back to Effingham around four in surprisingly good humor in spite of the fact that she'd spent the day with her mother. Her mother had spent the day bemoaning the fact that George had lost his job, but her grumbling about this gave Elisabeth the opportunity to relive the moment when he'd been fired, so she didn't say anything negative about George.
Ruth's dress, far from being the disaster Elisabeth had feared it would be, turned out to be tasteful and appropriate for the mother of the bride. Her mother had even been gracious enough to choose green. The two of them had lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then did a little more shopping, although Ruth had been disappointed when Elisabeth had refused to have her hair done by the beautician and also when she'd refused to buy Ruth's idea of "appropriate gifts" for her attendants. Still, Elisabeth's afternoon with her mother ended with good feelings on both sides, and she had no trouble getting Ruth to agree to watch Grace for the night while Elisabeth and Darcy went bowling.
Elisabeth went home to change before arriving at the store at five o'clock. Of the bowling group, only Chazz was there, sitting at a non-smoking table and toying with a brown paper bag.
"Hey," she said, sitting down.
"Hey." Chazz set the bag aside.
"What's that?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Chazz tried to grab it before Elisabeth could pick it up, but she was too quick for him. "Hey! Give that back!"
"I want to see what this is," she said, jumping out of her chair in a futile effort to run away. She clenched her hands around the bag when he tried to take it back. He reached around and grabbed one of her hands, but she had managed to figure out from the shape that there was a small box inside the bag. A box that was just big enough to be holding a ring inside.
"You don't need to know what that is," Chazz snapped as he tried to wrestle control of the bag away from her.
"Yes, I do! If there's an engagement ring in here, I have a right to know!" Elisabeth shrieked as Chazz tickled her side. "Stop! Stop, stop! I'll give it back!"
"What's going on up here?" Caroline asked as she walked to the front of the store.
"Chazz has something in this bag that he doesn't want me knowing about," Elisabeth said. She still hadn't relinquished possession of the bag, so Chazz tickled her again. "Hey! I said I'd give it back!"
"I'd like it back now, please," Chazz said.
Elisabeth thought on it for about three seconds before she tossed the bag over to Caroline. Caroline nearly dropped it, but managed to hang on and dart back into the kitchen. Elisabeth detained Chazz just long enough to hear Caroline shout, "Oh...my...God! Chazz, how the hell did you ever afford a ring like this?!"
Chazz cursed loudly, making Elisabeth grateful that the store was almost empty and that he wasn't in uniform. "Thanks a lot, El. Now Jenna's going to know I'm proposing before I get around to doing it!" he yelled, sweeping past her and into the back of the store.
Elisabeth blinked, surprised by how angry Chazz was. She didn't think she'd ever seen him so upset, not even when things were going bad with Jenna back in August. She was so startled that she barely noticed when he pushed past her again, bag in hand, and returned to his seat.
Caroline reappeared, saying, "El, you really should take a look at that thing. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's not as big as yours, or as nice, but..."
"I wasn't wanting to compare it to my ring," Elisabeth said. "I only wanted to be sure it was an engagement ring."
"Well, I don't think there's any doubt about it. It's gold, it's got a diamond, it has 'engagement ring' written all over it. And I still want to know how Chazz afforded it. I mean, I know how Darcy was able to afford your ring. He's got all that money from De Bourgh Enterprises and everything, but Chazz..."
"Maybe he decided that two months' salary wasn't too much to spend on the woman he loved."
"We're talking more than two months' salary here. We're talking more like a year's salary." Caroline sighed and glanced at her hand, as though picturing Jenna's ring there. "It's gorgeous, like I said."
"You weren't thinking of trying it on, were you?" Elisabeth asked, outraged. Bad enough she'd been picturing it on her own hand!
"No, of course not. I was just wishing..." Caroline dropped her hands to her sides. "I was just wishing there was someone who loved me enough to give me an engagement ring. Someone who would take me away from all this."
"Darcy didn't take me away from 'all this,' as you put it, when I agreed to marry him."
"Yeah, but you're going to quit come this fall, aren't you?"
"To go to college, yes."
"But would you be going to college if Darcy didn't have money to fall back on? Or would you have accepted the Newton store and be working there as we speak?" Caroline gave her a knowing look.
Elisabeth thought about her answer for ten seconds. "I would be going to college anyway. To be honest, the real reason I decided not to take over the Newton store was because of Grace. I didn't like the idea of being apart from her so much of the time. Plus, I'd never have time to be with Darcy because I would've had to work nights."
"Oh." Caroline nodded knowingly. "Yeah, I can see where that would've been a problem. I guess you made the right call. What time is it?"
Elisabeth glanced at her watch. "Five after five. Why?"
Caroline looked around the dining room. "It's pretty dead right now, so I'm gonna have a quick cigarette. You want one?"
Elisabeth hesitated. She hadn't smoked a cigarette in more than ten months, mostly because of Grace but also in part because of Darcy. She knew he didn't approve of smokers. But the temptation was so strong, and the main reason she'd quit smoking was because she didn't like the idea of second-hand smoke around her baby.
A baby who wasn't around at the moment.
"Hell, yes," she said. "But I'm only having one, okay? If I have more than one, I'll get hooked again and be a poor example for Grace."
"I don't see the big deal about that. Louisa smokes around Valerie all the time." The two of them walked into the break room.
"When she's trying to get Valerie not to smoke when the brat is fourteen, it'll be because Valerie saw her smoking all the time. I'm not going to do that with Grace." She took the offered cigarette and lighter from Caroline and lit her cigarette. She inhaled sharply, taking the smoke into her lungs...
...and immediately started coughing. The next thing she knew, Caroline was pounding her on the back and Elisabeth was feeling dizzy.
"This isn't fair!" Elisabeth complained as someone thrust a glass of water into her hand. "Why did that happen? Surely having one cigarette after a break of ten months shouldn't nearly kill me!"
"Do you remember those commercials where the pregnant woman tries to smoke and the matches keep going out before she can light the cigarette?" Chazz asked. Elisabeth wasn't sure when he'd reappeared.
"Yeah. What about it? I'm not pregnant anymore."
"I'm talking about the end of the commercial, where the narrator says, 'Maybe someone's trying to tell you something.' You could look at it that way. This is a sign that you were meant to give up smoking forever."
"Maybe the smoke went down the wrong way," Caroline suggested.
"Or maybe someone's trying to tell you something," Chazz said.
"Yes, thank you, Chazz. I think I got the hint from you. Thanks for the water, by the way." Elisabeth took a drink of it.
"No problem."
"Since I nearly died from smoke inhalation, can I at least see the ring? Please? I'm not looking to compare it to mine, if that's what you're thinking. And I won't laugh if it's just a chip of a diamond, and I won't think it's not good enough for Jenna or anything like that. I just wanted to see it."
"You just wanted to be sure it was an engagement ring," Caroline said. When Elisabeth glared at her, she added defensively, "That's what you said a minute ago."
"Okay, okay," Chazz muttered. He went back toward the front and returned a minute later with the jewelry box in his hand. He handed it to Elisabeth, who set the water glass on the dough table and took it from him. She opened the box. The diamond twinkled in the light. Caroline had been right when she'd said Chazz had obviously spent a good chunk of money on the ring.
"It's beautiful, Chazz. She's going to love it," Elisabeth said, closing the box and handing the ring back to him.
"Yeah, well, I wish I had a clue about how to give it to her."
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked. "You get down on one knee, you ask, 'Will you marry me,' she says yes, you slip the ring on her finger, and boom, you're engaged."
"It's not quite so simple, Caroline. It has to be unique. It has to be...it has to be perfect."
"I think Caroline's on to something," Elisabeth said. "That's what Darcy did when he proposed to me."
Chazz snorted. "Right. I heard all about the proposal Darcy gave you. Santa Claus and a mall full of kiddies looking on. I never thought Darcy had it in him. But he's set the standard."
"Oh, come on," Elisabeth said before laughing. "There's no standard except in your own mind. Just because Darcy got creative with his proposal doesn't mean you have to do the same thing. I would've been just as happy if he'd waited until we got to the hotel room before proposing as I was when he did it at the mall. And I would've told Jenna all about that if that's what had happened, too."
"You don't understand. I'm supposed to be this zany guy who's always coming up with fun things to do or say. If I do something conventional for my proposal, how is that going to look?"
"For you? Unconventional," Caroline pointed out. "Besides, Jenna strikes me as the conventional type. Maybe not in her choice of boyfriends, exactly, but a romantic proposal would be exactly what she wants."
Chazz shook his head. "No way. I've got to come up with something creative. And until I do, I don't want either of you breathing a word about it to anyone, especially not Jenna. Okay?"
"Agreed," Elisabeth said before taking her water glass back to the table. "But you might not want to leave that lying around or she'll see it and all your plans will be shot to hell."
"I know that," Chazz said. "If your hubby-to-be had been any help, I wouldn't be in this predicament."
"What does Darcy have to do with any of this?"
"I asked him earlier today for advice and suggestions. He didn't have any. Neither did Jack."
"Any suggestions Jack might have he'd save for Charlie, if they ever get to that point. As for Darcy, I imagine he told you that he didn't have any set idea of how he was going to do it until the opportunity presented itself. Am I right?"
Chazz smiled briefly. "You got it in one. Caroline, I'm still waiting for your promise not to tell anyone."
"I thought I gave it to you." Caroline smiled innocently.
"No, you didn't." Chazz stared at her until Caroline, obviously uncomfortable, muttered her promise and scurried away.
"You'd better get your mind thinking on that proposal," Elisabeth said. "A promise from Caroline Benson lasts about as long as a breath mint, so unless you want Jenna knowing all about the ring..."
"I know," Chazz said grimly. "I've got to come up with something----fast."
The Monday-night bowling group had been temporarily disbanded in November due to Sean's hectic and unpredictable schedule, Jack's ongoing difficulties with his family pressuring him to move home, and Elisabeth's impending motherhood. There had been talk of starting up again in January, but nothing happened until March for a variety of different reasons.
As Darcy held the door for Elisabeth, Chazz, and Jenna to walk through, he heard the sounds which had become so familiar to him in the past year. He smiled at the thought of how hesitant he'd been when Charlie had first invited him to join them. Now he not only welcomed the idea of bowling, he had his own bowling ball and shoes----Christmas gifts from Elisabeth.
He walked inside after Jenna and headed straight for the lanes that Sean and Rachel had waiting for them as the others made a detour to the front desk to get a pair of shoes and a bowling ball. He noticed that Charlie was already standing there, and from the way she was gesturing to the person behind the counter, Darcy guessed she was trying to get the least offensive pair of shoes she could.
"Hello, Darcy," Rachel said cheerfully.
"Hi, Rachel. Hey, Sean, how are things at the happiest store on Earth?" Darcy asked his former boss.
"I wouldn't know because I don't work there. But if you're asking how things are at Planet Earth Pizza, they're fine." Sean had started on his first beer, which was half-finished. "Where's your rugrat?"
"With her grandmother. Ruth was in a good mood today so she agreed to keep Grace for the night so Elisabeth and I could have some time alone. Where's yours?"
"For some reason, I agreed to let her go to Louisa's so she could play with Valerie. I'm just praying she doesn't pick up any bad habits from that brat. The last thing I want is a child like Valerie in my house."
"Tasha won't be anything like Valerie," Rachel said. "For one thing, she's the older of the two. If anything, Valerie might pick up some tips on good behavior from Tasha."
"Sure she will, hon. And I'm going to bowl a perfect game tonight."
Rachel looked like she wanted to argue the point, but Elisabeth was waving at them so she smiled in her direction. "I can't believe you turned down the Newton store!" she called.
"Me, either. I must be the biggest idiot ever," Elisabeth said as she walked over to them. She sat down and started putting on her shoes. "And if you needed any further proof, you could look at these shoes. If I'd been smart, I would've bought myself a pair of good bowling shoes a long time ago."
"They can't get much worse than mine," Charlie said as she took a seat next to Elisabeth. She held up her shoes. "Do you suppose they special-order them like this? And if so, how expensive do you think they are?"
"Now I feel like things are completely back to normal," Chazz said as he sat down across from Charlie and Elisabeth. "Charlie complaining about her bowling shoes was all that was missing from tonight."
"Thanks, Chazz. It's nice to be needed." Charlie raised one of her street shoes and pretended to throw it at him. Chazz ducked accordingly, laughing.
When he rose again, he leaned over and whispered to Darcy, "I put the ring in your bowling bag. Keep a close eye on it, would you?"
"You brought it here?"
"Yeah, well, you never know when inspiration's going to strike, so I've been keeping it on me at all times. Just in case, you know?"
Darcy almost told Chazz how silly that was until he remembered that he'd done the exact same thing before proposing to Elisabeth. "Okay, okay. I'll keep an eye on it as best I can, but if something does happen to it, I'm not taking responsibility, got it?"
"Got it."
Darcy finished tying his shoes and looked up to find Elisabeth giving him a puzzled look. Darcy wished he could tell her that Chazz was planning to propose to her sister but figured that if he said anything, Chazz would kill him. Especially since Jenna was making her way over to them at the moment.
"Where's Jack?" she asked Charlie as she set her ball down and slipped off her shoes.
"He's on his way. He had to wait for his sister Alice to show up to watch their mother."
"Watch their mother? I thought she was doing fine," Rachel said. "I thought the whole point of him moving home was so that she would be happy."
"Well, she's not so happy anymore. Jack told her over the weekend that she was going to be living in a group residential home. She threw a fit and refused to leave. He told her she didn't have a choice because he was made her guardian and he'd made the decision for her to go. She hasn't threatened to kill herself yet, but he knows it's coming. He's hoping to avoid another trip to the ER by making sure someone's with her all the time and that the pills and sharp objects are locked away in a safe place." Charlie finished with her shoes and sat up straight.
"What do the sisters have to say?" Elisabeth asked.
"They're about as furious as she is, but they don't get a say in the matter, either. The oldest one, Anna, had been the guardian but passed the duty on to Jack when he agreed to move back in with her. Although he won't admit it, I think that's part of the reason why he did it, to get her into a more appropriate setting."
"Is he allowed to do this?" Darcy asked. "If she doesn't want to go..."
Charlie shrugged. "He's her guardian. And before you ask, I have no idea how or why she ended up with a guardian in the first place. It was probably something Anna did."
"But if she's threatening to kill herself rather than go to a group home, wouldn't it be better for everyone if she went to a hospital instead?" Jenna asked. "That's what I would recommend. It would be an easier transition if she were to go from the hospital to the group home."
"I thought the same thing myself, but Jack's afraid she'll lose her placement. He's got three weeks to change her mind about going. I don't know what he's going to have to do to convince her to go. It would help if his sisters would back him on this, but they're not and his mother knows it." Charlie looked at the entrance to the bowling alley. "He's here."
Jack gave them a less-than-jaunty wave as he made his way to the front desk. He got a pair of shoes and walked over to them. "Hey," he said. "I guess Charlie's already told you that my mother's having some trouble adjusting to the idea of moving to a group home."
"She mentioned it," Jenna said. "I mentioned that you might consider sending her to the hospital for a few days before she goes there, to make the transition a little easier."
"Well, if you can believe it, Alice has almost managed to talk her into going without a struggle. Of course, the staff people who work there might not appreciate what Alice told her would happen, but she's no longer screaming that I'm inhuman because I want to send her away."
"What did Alice tell her?" Charlie asked.
Jack kicked off his shoes and took a seat next to Charlie. "She told her that in a group home, she'd get plenty of attention. She wouldn't have to cook every day. She could do whatever she wanted----like she doesn't do that now. She'd make friends and have lots of activities to do. Alice promised that she could call any of us and talk for as long as she wanted."
"No, she won't," Charlie said. "I don't know about this place she's going to, but at Heartland's residential homes, phone time is limited if it gets to be too much."
"Alice also promised that someone would visit her all the time. My mother then made her promise that the person visiting wouldn't be me, which she did, of course. So then she said she'd seriously think about it. As I was leaving, my mother was asking Alice if she knew what sort of things she could do while she was there."
"That's a step in the right direction, isn't it?" Rachel asked.
"I hope to God it is. Anyway, Alice is with her for the evening, as long as I'm home early. She has to be at work at five-thirty tomorrow." Jack sighed. "Thank God for Alice."
"I thought your sisters were sort of a package deal as far as your mother went," Darcy said. "They all felt you were doing the wrong thing by sending your mother to live in a group home, right?"
Jack nodded. "Until recently, yes. When I told them of my decision, they were all furious, but Alice was the only one who bothered to do any research about the home to find out what would happen to our mother. I guess she's become convinced that Mother will have the best of care."
"If it's anything like what we've got at Heartland, she will," Charlie assured him. "You're doing the right thing, Jack, even if it doesn't seem like it."
"I know." He leaned over and kissed her. "So now that we've gotten that discussed, I'm ready to have a little fun. Think you can beat us this week, ladies?"
"With blindfolds on," Rachel boasted.
Rachel's boast had spurred the men to easily defeat the women in the first game. Darcy bowled a personal best of two forty-three, while Charlie bowled her all-time low of sixty-seven.
"My fingers are killing me," she grumbled as she dug through her purse for money. "I think it's from all the paperwork I have to do at Heartland. I wish they'd get computers. The woman I was working with yesterday said they'd always planned to have them but never got around to buying them."
"Speaking of Heartland, why are you off tonight? I thought your usual work schedule was Sunday through Thursday," Jenna said.
"It is. Since we didn't have a crisis client, I traded with one of the part-time residential workers. I'll have to work Saturday morning." Charlie handed her money to Rachel, who was going to get the drinks.
Darcy glanced up at the scores. "I think I should take a picture of that," he said. "I may never bowl anything that good again."
"Oh, please," Elisabeth grumbled. "Stop rubbing it in."
Chazz glanced up at the scores as well. Darcy thought later that if Chazz Bingley had been in a cartoon, a light bulb would've turned on over his head. His face brightened so quickly that it would've been obvious to anyone that he had an idea.
"Guys, we need a huddle while the girls get our drinks," Chazz said, looking over at the women.
"A huddle?" Elisabeth asked before laughing. "When did this become a football game?"
"We're forming our winning strategy. You might as well all go to get our drinks." Chazz looked from Elisabeth to Jenna and back to Elisabeth. Darcy almost laughed himself when he saw the bewildered look on Elisabeth's face. Chazz had already told him that Elisabeth knew about his predicament, so he kicked his bowling bag before remembering that Elisabeth had no idea what was inside of it.
"That's a good idea. I don't think Rachel can carry all of them at the same time," he said.
"Sure I can. I used to be a waitress in a bar before I got my college degree. Carrying half a dozen drinks without dropping one or forgetting who got what was my specialty."
"You're probably out of practice," Chazz said.
"No, I'm not. I work on it every night at home."
Elisabeth opened her mouth, probably to ask what was going on, but Darcy grasped her hand and pulled her to him. Pretending to kiss her with gusto, he hissed, "Chazz is going to propose to Jenna so get her out of here for a few minutes so he can set it up."
"Okay, you two, cut that out before you're arrested for public indecency," Jack said. "And since we're plotting our strategy, we obviously don't want you to hear about it. You can plot your own winning strategy while you're getting the drinks."
"All right, all right," Jenna said. "Come on, ladies. I'll show you that fembot prototype I've been working on."
The quartet walked over to the bar area to get the drinks. "I was beginning to think they'd never get the hint," Chazz muttered.
"What's going on?" Sean asked.
"You'll see," Darcy said. "I told Elisabeth what you were doing, Chazz, so she should keep Jenna occupied until you're done."
Chazz moved to sit at the computer and frantically started pushing the buttons to change information. He changed the name of the first bowler to the word "will," then frowned when he looked up on the screen. "Why did it only put a W up there for the first bowler?" he snapped.
"Oh, for God's sake, step away from the computer and let me do it," Jack said, pushing Chazz aside. Within minutes, he'd changed the names of all four women and added a fifth with Jenna's name. When he was finished, he looked up to see his handiwork----WIL YOU MRY ME JEN. "It looks like a license plate up there."
"It's intelligible, though," Sean said. "I think she'll get the message, but Chazz...are you sure you want to propose like this?"
"Absolutely." Chazz took the ring out of Darcy's bowling bag. "The moment I thought of it, I just knew. Our first date was here, you know."
"No, it wasn't. You can't count going bowling with the group as a date," Jack said.
"Why not? I'm sure she would." Chazz looked over at Charlie, Elisabeth, and Jenna, who were making their way back to the lanes with drinks in hand.
Jenna set the drinks on the table behind them. "Okay, I think that's all of them," she said. "Rachel had to run to the ladies' room. She said we should start without her. Keystone Light for Sean, rum and coke for Darcy, Bud Light for Jack, Bud Light for Chazz...Elisabeth, is this your Sprite?"
"Yeah," Elisabeth said, her eyes on the screen above their heads.
"Then take it, would you?"
"Uh, sure." Elisabeth absently grasped the glass Jenna handed her, took a drink, and set it aside. She went to sit at the computer console.
Jenna finished distributing the drinks and wiped her hands on a napkin. "Okay, I think we're ready. We've talked strategy and we know what we have to do. Are you guys ready to have your egos handed to you on a silver platter?"
No one spoke. Jenna gave them a funny look. "Hello? Am I talking to myself here?"
"Uh..." Darcy was about to tell Jenna to look up when he saw Chazz shaking his head furiously.
Why go to all the trouble of setting this up if she's not going to notice the screen? he wondered. He said, "Sorry, we were just blinded by your beauty."
Jenna gave him an exasperated look and walked by as Elisabeth punched him in the arm.
"Well, what the hell was I supposed to say?" he hissed at Elisabeth. "Chazz didn't want me to say anything about the screen."
"Something other than remarking on how beautiful she is. Sheesh. She's going to think you're cheating on me next."
"I'm sure that once she realizes what's going on, she'll understand why I had to change what I was going to say. Although why Chazz didn't want me to..."
It was Elisabeth's turn to shoot him an exasperated look. "Don't you get it? If you have to tell her to look up, it loses some of the surprise element. That's what Chazz wanted. He wants Jenna to discover it's up there on her own, without help from anyone else. Frankly, I'm surprised she didn't notice it, but she'll figure it out soon enough."
Darcy rubbed his arm where she'd punched him and returned to his seat without continuing the argument. "Let's get started," he muttered. "Jenna's going first again, right?"
"Of course," she replied as she picked up her ball. Jenna had no preamble before throwing her ball down the lane and knocking down all the pins for her first strike of the night. "Yeeees!" she shouted with a pump of her fist. "A good start to the second game. I think our strategy's going to pay off, ladies." She walked away from the lane and back to her seat.
And then she looked up to see the evidence of her strike reflected on the screen.
Darcy almost laughed at the expression on Jenna's face. She started with glee at having gotten a strike before moving on to confusion as she read what Chazz had put up on the screen. Her mouth gaped in shock as her eyes bounced from the screen to Chazz and back to the screen again. Within seconds, her attention was focused on Chazz.
Chazz knelt on one knee. "Um...I guess...er...I...I...oh, God. Um..." He opened up the box with the ring. "M-marry me."
There was a long silence where Jenna stood staring at Chazz. The hand holding the ring was trembling as he waited for her answer. Darcy was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen when Jenna blinked and abruptly dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Chazz, kissing him passionately.
"I think that's a yes," Jack said, smiling.
"That's definitely a yes," Jenna said once she'd pulled away from Chazz. "I'm sorry I couldn't say anything, but I was so stunned that I just...I...."
"Don't worry about it," Chazz said before kissing her again. "I thought I'd blown it all to hell when I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. I've never felt more like an idiot in my life. Not because I was proposing, but because I sounded stupid when I said it."
"And that's saying something for Chazz," Charlie teased.
"Lay off him, Charlie. It's not an easy thing for a guy to propose to a woman," Darcy said.
"Yeah," Sean said in agreement.
Just then, Rachel returned from the bathroom and looked at the scene in front of her. "Okay, what happened here?" she asked, to the amusement of her husband, who filled her in on the situation.