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Chapter Thirty-Six

When Elisabeth opened her eyes, the sun had long since set. At first, she feared she'd slept for a good twenty-four hours, but a quick peek at the clock next to Darcy's bed informed her that it was just past midnight. With a sigh of relief, she started to snuggle back into the bed, a bit surprised that she hadn't slept forever, as comfortable as the bed was. She didn't think she'd ever slept in a nicer one, but then, this was one of the comforts having money could buy you. Darcy probably hadn't ever slept on anything worse.

Darcy. For a second, she started to panic, remembering what had happened the last time she'd gone to bed with a guy. She'd awakened to find that he was sneaking out her front door, or trying to, anyway. But once she oriented herself with her surroundings, she became aware of the masculine arm that had been thrown over the top of her stomach. Darcy was face-down on the bed, his head buried in the pillow next to hers, sleeping soundly. Elisabeth fumbled for the switch to the lamp on the night stand, finally managing to reach it. She almost toppled the lamp over in the effort, but righted it just before it fell. Her mission accomplished, she turned her head on the pillow and stared at Darcy in the dim lamp light.

She smiled. If you'd told me I would be here four months ago, I would've laughed my head off, she thought. Of course, four months ago, she would've had ample reason to laugh. When she thought of the start Darcy and she had gotten off to, she almost groaned. Why had they hated each other? Because of one overheard comment, which he obviously didn't agree with anymore, and the fact that he had thought he was doing the right thing when she'd passed out for the first time?

Elisabeth supposed the comment would've been a good reason, but helping her cool down never had been. They'd taken a number of turns to get here, but now she could hardly remember why. All that mattered now was that they were together, really.

His arm shifted suddenly, and his eyes opened slowly, blinked several times, then looked right at her. Elisabeth froze, waiting for him to ask, What are you doing in my bed?

But his lips formed a smile, and his blue eyes shimmered with a deep emotion that Elisabeth now knew was love. "Hello, you," he said.

"Hello," she replied, turning so she could face him.

Darcy propped himself on his left elbow, bringing his right hand up to cup her face. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be okay? I mean, it's pretty obvious I wasn't a virgin." Elisabeth made her already obvious point by placing her hands on her stomach.

"I was afraid I might've hurt the baby. Is it okay to...you know...when you're pregnant?"

"I think so. I don't feel any pain or anything, so I'm guessing it's all right. Next time I go to see my doctor, I'll ask just to be sure." Elisabeth rolled over to face him fully. "Would you like to go with me the next time I go to see him?"

"You want me to go with you to the doctor to ask if its okay for us to make love?" Darcy asked.

Elisabeth smacked his free arm. "Very funny," she said, rolling onto her back again. "You know what I meant."

"Yes, I did. And yes, I would like to go with you when you see the obstetrician." Darcy's free hand strayed to her stomach, where her hands grasped hold of it.

"Thank you," she murmured. "I was afraid you wouldn't. I know we've already had this talk, but I want you to feel like this is your child as well as mine. Probably not the easiest of tasks since the father is still around and unfortunately is George Wickham, but I'm going to try my best to forget that fact if you will."

"Since it appears he has no interest in being a father, I don't think that will be hard to do." Darcy smiled. "I'm already starting to think of the baby as my child...my daughter. You're definitely having a girl?"

Elisabeth nodded. The two of them were silent for a minute before a niggling little thought popped into Elisabeth's head. "Dare."

"Yes, Elisabeth?"

"I have to tell Charlie and Jenna the truth about you."

Darcy pulled his hand away from hers. "Why?" he asked. "I mean, is it necessary? I'm not saying I don't trust Charlie and Jenna, but the fewer people who know about this, the better."

"If...no, when your aunt figures out who I am, I'm going to lose my job. Jenna and Charlie depend on me for one-third of the rent and utilities in that apartment. They deserve to know why this is happening." Elisabeth maneuvered herself until her head was resting on Darcy's shoulder, her hand flung over his chest. "If you'd like, I could make them swear to absolute secrecy on the subject. To be quite honest, I don't know why you were so concerned about the whole thing being kept secret in the first place."

"If you were Catherine de Bourgh's relative, working in a place like Planet Earth Pizza, would you admit to it? Especially when it was obvious that you didn't belong there? If I'd told everyone who I was, no one would've bothered to get to know me. They would've seen me as being here on some sort of spy mission for the Company, like you told your grandmother."

"Everyone who matters to you has gotten to know you by now. We knew you came from money, though we didn't know how. We knew you were going to make a miserable waiter, though you've tried so hard and you've gotten better as time's gone on. We knew you were arrogant at first. I like to think that Charlie had a lot to do with your attitude changing. She probably likes to think it, too."

"You say that you like to think it was that. Why don't you know it for sure?" Darcy asked, curious to hear her explanation.

"You may have an expensive education, and you've worked for De Bourgh Enterprises, and you've traveled all over the world and done God only knows what, but you came from a background just like ours."

"My mother was a Darcy," he said automatically, not sounding insulted in the least. The response came so naturally to him that he would've been surprised if he hadn't said it.

"Sure, right. She was indeed a Darcy, but that doesn't mean she was an ice queen like your aunt, does it? She no doubt had her pick of any man in the world, but she married your father. You lived with your parents in a normal sort of family, with a middle-class background, until they died. So you see, although you looked like a blue-blood at first, eventually your true self was going to come out. Charlie may have made it easier on you to make the change, but I think you would've gotten there on your own."

"You think so?" Darcy asked. He thought of all the times he'd heard his aunt say that the Williamson side of the family was responsible for all the mistakes he made in life, how it made him want to do ordinary things like go bowling or to less-than-respectable dance clubs. Catherine had always been slightly disgusted at his habit of eating food from street vendors when he had little time for lunch. It was always his father's fault for giving him tastes like that, she would insinuate.

So if he thought about it, he could honestly say this was the first time anyone had praised the Williamson side of the family.

"I know so. Now, is it okay if I tell Charlie and Jenna about your aunt possibly firing me? It would be easier for me to do it now rather than trying to explain it to them when it happens."

Darcy sighed heavily. "All right, all right. Might as well, because I know you're right. Everything's going to be out in the open soon enough, anyway. But don't tell them everything. I mean, the stuff about Ginger..."

"Don't worry. I'll just tell them that you are who you are, and that Catherine didn't take kindly to the news that you're in love with me. That's it. And I'll make them take a blood oath not to tell anyone what I do tell them." Elisabeth started to get out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Darcy asked.

"I have to go. Charlie's downstairs, and I don't know if Jenna's home in case she needs anything." Elisabeth tried to get out of bed, but a hand on her arm made her pause.

"You can stay for a few more minutes," he said. "Charlie's no doubt asleep after her long day, and if she wakes up, she'll just think you've gone to bed. She won't need anything until the morning."

Elisabeth thought on this. "I suppose there's something you think you need," she said.

"As a matter of fact, there is. Care to guess what it might be?" Darcy grinned.

Elisabeth sighed, pretending to be exasperated. "Men. Even the blue-blooded ones are like their blue-collar brothers."

"Ah, but as you've proven so accurately, I'm not a blue-blood," Darcy said as he kissed her. Elisabeth put up no resistance as he turned off the light.

Morning came far too fast, but at least it brought with it the promise of what looked to be a beautiful day. The sun was actually shining, which would make it maybe the fourth or fifth day this month when there had been sun and not just the occasional glimmer of it amidst dark clouds. Elisabeth's internal clock woke her at eight-thirty, reminding her that she had to be at work at ten. Even though she wanted nothing more than to stay in this bed with Darcy, she had to leave it sometime to earn a living while she still could.

Elisabeth gathered up her clothes and dressed quickly and quietly. She found a small notebook in one of his pockets of his work apron and wrote him a brief note explaining that she'd had to leave. She set it on the night stand where he'd be sure to see it when he woke up. After taking one last look at Darcy, she left him in bed and made her way back to her apartment.

Elisabeth opened the apartment door slowly, wincing every time the door squeaked and vowing to buy some WD-40 for it later. She tiptoed into the apartment, hoping that Charlie had slept soundly through the night and was still resting. And if she hadn't, hopefully Jenna had come home by the time Charlie had needed someone. No doubt Jenna had----really, how much fun could someone have on a date with a guy named Henry?

Elisabeth turned her back to the living room to shut the door. She'd just managed to get it shut and was starting to turn the lock when a loud voice shouted, "Good morning, El!"

Elisabeth jumped, her heart racing as she turned to see Charlie sitting in her chair, as always, sipping on a glass of juice. A half-eaten slice of toast sat on a small plate on the end table beside her chair, along with a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Elisabeth had been so engrossed in sneaking into the apartment without being heard that she'd ignored the sounds of the Bob and Tom show coming from Charlie's computer speakers, listening to the show online having become Charlie's latest hobby.

"Good morning, Charlie," Elisabeth replied. "I see you got up while I was gone." Elisabeth stared at the floor, wondering how she was going to get out of this one. "I...I went for a walk. Dr. Knightley's been recommending that I get a little more exercise than I have lately. You'd think that working all hours at a restaurant would be more than enough exercise, but not for him."

"I think it might be cool enough for you to get that walk in," Charlie said. "I don't imagine the walk from Darcy's apartment was a very long one."

Elisabeth's shoulders slumped. So the secret was finally out, and Charlie knew the truth. She wondered if Caroline had guessed the truth after all and had come to see Charlie after Elisabeth had gone upstairs to Darcy.

Someday soon, they're going to change Murphy's Law to Bennet's Law, Elisabeth thought glumly, because it seems like everything goes wrong in my life just when things seem right.

"Yeah, I was going to get around to telling you about that," she mumbled, walking into the living room and flopping onto the couch just as Tim Wilson started singing his NASCAR tribute song. Normally, she would've been laughing outrageously because she loved the song, but now all she wanted was for the sound to be gone because it was a distraction. "When...who told you?"

"No one," Charlie replied. "I figured it out all by myself, although I got plenty of hints I didn't recognize for what they were."

"Hints?" Jennifer Ann Bennet, you're a dead woman.

"Sure. Granny Bess told me she'd met your boyfriend and he seemed like a nice guy. I asked her who he was and she just gave me this look, then said, 'He's someone you know.' Jenna never would tell me anything, but I knew she knew who it was. Darcy's taking your hand at Busch Stadium so he 'wouldn't get lost,' instead of mine. The fact that he had a date and skipped out of Caroline's birthday party, and the date wasn't me. And then on Friday, you called him Dare."

"On Friday I...no, I didn't. Not when you were around. When did you hear me call him Dare?"

"When I almost passed out in front of that table. You shouted his name to get his attention my way. I knew that no one had called him by that name except his sister since his parents had died. If you used that, at a moment of panic...it was the final piece of the puzzle. You were dating Darcy. Your not coming home last night was just further proof, along with footsteps coming down the stairs and toward our door right before you tried to sneak in." Charlie took another drink of juice. "Pretty clever of me, wasn't it?"

"Y-yes," Elisabeth said hesitantly. Where were the tears, the hysterics, the fury? Where was the anger? Why was Charlie acting so calm? Charlie was never this calm when she was mad, never. If Charlie was mad, you could tell because her jaw would set and she'd be banging things around and muttering to herself.

"Then again, it did take me a while. Three months, to be exact. So maybe I'm not as clever as I thought."

"Oh, Charlie, no," Elisabeth was quick to protest. "It hasn't been that long, I swear on my baby's life. We've only been going out a month, and last night was the first time...well, that's not your business."

"Too late. You already blurted it out," Charlie said. Elisabeth looked at Charlie, who was taking yet another drink of juice. She wouldn't swear to it, but it looked like Charlie was trying to hide a grin.

"I'm sorry," Elisabeth said. "I know that you think you made a huge mistake by letting Darcy go, and that I'm the lowest life form on earth for not telling you about it sooner than this, but I was scared. I thought you were going to hate me for the rest of my life and stick me with the rent because you'd move back home and team up with Caroline to destroy my life." Charlie opened her mouth to speak, but Elisabeth continued. "I love him, Charlie. I don't mean that in the way that I've said I love other guys before. This time, I mean it. I love him. I'm in love with him. I want to spend the rest of my life with Darcy Ambrose Williamson, and I'm sorry if you're upset with that, but I couldn't help it."

"I would hope not. Love is one of those things that you grab on to because you don't know if it'll ever walk back into your life." Charlie leaned forward in her chair. "El, I'm not mad at you. I know that's why you're rambling like this, so you can stop. If I were upset, believe me, you'd know it."

"I know," Elisabeth said with a cheeky grin. "But...you're sure about that? You're not mad at us for what happened?"

"How could I be mad because you two fell in love? That's ridiculous."

"Well, you did go out with him first. And you really liked him, and you've been saying you shouldn't have let him go since you two broke up..."

"Geez, I was kidding about that! Make a joke about something and live to regret it." Charlie smiled. "El, I'm happy for you. I'm happy for both of you, as a matter of fact. I don't think I would ever be one of those vindictive women who would wish death and disease to her ex-boyfriend and the new girl in his life. And I certainly wouldn't do that to you. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

Charlie's smile faded slightly. "I am a little hurt that you didn't tell me, though. I'm not saying I had a right to know, but it would've been nice if you'd said something rather than sneak around about it. I could understand not telling everyone at work, but not to tell me..."

Elisabeth grimaced slightly. "Um, Charlie? Just about everyone at work knows. I guess Darcy and I have been a bit obvious to everyone, with the possible exception of Caroline, who probably suspects herself. But we didn't tell them, either. They just knew."

Charlie's lips puckered as if she'd eaten something sour. "I see," she finally said. Then, with a shrug, she added, "Oh, well. If anyone asks, I'll tell them that I knew all along. Maybe I'll throw in a little fairy godmother tale and tell them I brought you two together."

Just then, Jenna strolled into the room. "Morning," she said, yawning loudly.

"Good morning," Elisabeth replied. "How was your date?"

"Jenna had a date?" Charlie asked before polishing off the toast with a dainty bite. "I didn't know about this. When did Jenna have a date?"

"Last night," Jenna said with yet another yawn. "And it went fine."

"With Chazz?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"No, not with Chazz. I wouldn't date Chazz Bingley now if you paid me to. I went out with a very nice guy named Henry Tilney, and it was a good time." Jenna wandered into the kitchen, where she poured herself a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer, and walked back into the living room. She took a seat on the couch beside Elisabeth. "So, how was work?"

"Uh...fine, of course," Elisabeth replied, confused. "So, are you and Henry going out again?"

"He said he'd call me. And what do you mean, fine? You get called in after you've put in a hard day and you say it was fine at work?" Jenna popped a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and stared at her sister, which had the effect of getting her meaning through.

"Ah. Time to catch you up on current events, Jen. Charlie knows," she told her sister.

Jenna looked from Charlie to Elisabeth, then back to Charlie. Charlie took another drink of juice before saying, "Yeah, the proverbial cat has left the building."

"No, the cat's out of the bag and Elvis has left the building. Get your clichés straight, Charlie." Jenna took a bite of cereal before telling Elisabeth, "I swear I told her nothing."

"Don't worry, we're cool," Elisabeth said. "The world is a beautiful place. Birds are chirping, children are scampering about innocently..."

The telephone rang, cutting off her speech.

"Thank God for the phone," Charlie finished. "If you'd continued, we'd be knee-deep in sickly-sweet images." She started to get up when Jenna set her bowl of cereal down, waved at her to keep her seat, and nearly tripped over her own feet trying to get to the phone.

Once Jenna had righted herself, she picked up the phone and said, "Hello." She listened for a minute before saying, "Charlie? She's here. One second and I'll put her on." Jenna brought the telephone. "It's Darla from Heartland."

Charlie frowned. "Surely she doesn't think I'm faking," she murmured as the took the phone. "Hello?" Charlie listened for a few seconds, then said, "Yes, thanks. I'm fine. Well, I'm not really fine, but I'm feeling a lot better than I did Friday night."

"Who's Darla?" Elisabeth whispered to Jenna.

"Charlie's boss." She put a finger to her lips to indicate that Elisabeth should keep quiet. The two of them listened as Charlie's face lost all expression, then seemed to light up from within.

"Really? That would be great...When would that take effect?...Oh." Charlie listened for a few more seconds, then said, "Well, like I said, that would be great, and it would work out for everyone." She chuckled. "Yeah, you know how long I've been waiting...okay, then. I'll wait to hear from you. I appreciate you calling." She chuckled again. "Yeah, it does make me feel a little better...I don't know. I'm going to see the doctor who did the surgery on Wednesday, so I'll know by then and give you a call...okay. I'll talk to you later then. Thanks again. Bye." Charlie turned the phone off and stared into space for a few seconds.

"What was that all about?" Elisabeth asked. "They weren't about to ask you to work the day after you had major surgery, were they?"

"No, no...and I don't know that this was major surgery. It looks like I'll only be off work for two weeks, maybe not even that at Heartland. Darla called because she wanted to let me know that there's a chance I might be going full-time at the position I'm at now."

"Really?" Elisabeth exclaimed, delighted. "Oh, Charlie, that's wonderful. Do you guys have enough clients to give you a full-time job?"

Charlie shook her head. "God, no. June was the busiest month we've ever had, but we've only had two clients in July and August. But they're thinking of melding our program with the residential program we share space with, so when we didn't have clients in our program, I would work with the residential clients and staff."

"Like you don't do that already," Elisabeth said.

"This is true, but now I'd be on their schedule and would have to attend their meetings. But if I go full-time, I get benefits and my 401K contributions get better...and guys, you know how I need those benefits."

Elisabeth and Jenna nodded. "It's too bad things didn't work out for you with that first full-time job," Jenna said ruefully. "All that money you had to pay out to the insurance company..."

Charlie shrugged with a nonchalance Elisabeth didn't think she felt. "It's just as well. I'd have had a lot of trouble juggling that ridiculous schedule they had me work with light treatments. Besides, I hated being at the center all day long. There was nothing to do and I inevitably felt as though I were under scrutiny all day long. I guess I was, ha ha."

"It's easier for me. I have scheduled appointments most days," Jenna said. "One of the few fringe benefits of being a therapist is that you have plenty to keep you busy."

"Yeah, well, I didn't have that advantage. What I got to do was organize the library----for which I never received credit, by the way. Did I tell you about that damn e-mail everyone got sent thanking Derek for organizing the library? Not a word about the work I did, of course. That should've been my first clue. What else did I do besides get in trouble and freeze when confronted with a real crisis? Oh, yeah. I did research, listened to music, read Jackie Collins' novels by slipping on the dust covers of important research books I was supposed to be reading, stared at the clock above my desk and prayed for quitting time to roll around, and...and I guess that was it. Occasionally I got called out to go with someone who was taking a crisis call, but I never did anything but stand around twiddling my thumbs." Charlie exhaled sharply. "God, you'd think I would've been over this after all this time."

"It's okay," Elisabeth said. "Some things take more time than others."

"Yeah, but the way I'm making it sound, it was all their fault and I did nothing wrong," Charlie said. "And that's not fair. I really wasn't cut out for the job I thought I could do. I..." She closed her eyes. "But that's in the past. This new job, I would work full-time at the home. I wouldn't be at the center with an office and everything. I can handle that."

"When will you be going full-time?" Jenna asked.

"Don't know. Darla wanted to tell me about this so I could have some cheerful news while I was recovering. She said nothing was definite, but she was presenting the idea to the program director and was hopeful that things would go through. She said that the residential coordinator was in favor of the idea, so we'll see what happens. She said I might know within the month, but not to be surprised if it took until the end of the year."

Elisabeth got up from the couch and gave Charlie a hug, careful not to squeeze too hard and cause her any discomfort. "It's going to work out for you," she said. "Don't worry. Pretty soon, you'll have more money than you know what to do with. You'll probably go on a spending spree once you no longer have to pay the insurance company half your monthly salary."

"Don't I wish?" Charlie said with a laugh, her mood lightening. "I could use a new bed."

"I'll say," Jenna muttered. "It's only slightly better than sleeping on this thing." She bounced up and down on the couch for emphasis before picking up her bowl of cereal and eating another spoonful.

"If you want a new bed, pay for it," Charlie said, unrepentant. "What's in there was the best I could do after you moved out and took your bed with you. You could always sneak over to your mother's and take your bed back."

Jenna pondered this over another bite of cereal. After swallowing, she said, "I forgot all about that. That bed was mine, wasn't it?"

"It was the only thing you wanted for Christmas the last year Daddy was alive," Elisabeth said quietly. "You'd had the old one since you were nine and you were ready for a brand-new bed. Daddy took you to several furniture stores, where he said you laid down on every bed they owned before you finally chose one. He compared it to Goldilocks looking for 'just the right bed' to sleep in at the three bears' house."

Jenna smiled at the memory. "I remember that now. He never complained once about the time we spent tromping all over Decatur looking for the bed I wanted."

"Daddy rarely complained about anything." Elisabeth stared at her feet, which she'd propped up on the coffee table, frowning. "Unlike me. Do my ankles look swollen to you?"

"I don't know. I don't take an active interest in your ankles," Jenna replied. She propped her feet up beside Elisabeth's. "Compared to mine, they're a little bigger, but that might be because we've got different body types."

Charlie put her feet on the coffee table in order for Elisabeth to make a comparison. Elisabeth sighed. Her ankles felt a little swollen, but she supposed that they were more or less okay. They didn't look strange compared to Charlie's or Jenna's ankles.

"Since we're talking of jobs, I guess you guys ought to know that I might be out of one very soon," Elisabeth confessed.

"Yeah, yeah. Maternity leave and all that," Charlie said. "We figured you'd be out for a while. Jenna and I already agreed to split the rent between us until you were working again. Are you having to leave sooner than you expected?"

Jenna gave her sister a worried look, which Elisabeth was quick to address. "No, that's not the reason at all." Taking a deep breath, Elisabeth told them who Darcy was.

She was a little surprised to find that neither Jenna nor Charlie looked shocked to hear about Darcy's aunt.

"I always figured he was a spy for the Company," Charlie said. "Just from the attitude he had the minute he walked in the door, you could tell that working at Planet Earth Pizza was a step down for him. I figured he'd been stuck with this God-awful assignment and was trying to make the best of it. But being Catherine de Bourgh's nephew was a bit of a surprise. I wouldn't have thought she'd do this to her own family."

Elisabeth was dying to tell them the rest, but she wasn't going to lose Darcy's trust by blurting it out. "Some people just have no hearts," Elisabeth said. "We have daily proof of that, though, remember?"

"El, Ma isn't so bad," Jenna protested.

"Excuse me? Who showed up on the doorstep a few weeks ago, suitcases in hand, shouting at the top of her lungs that a pack of wolves would've done a better job of raising her than her mother did? Was that you or was that the hitchhiker I picked up a few weeks ago?"

"Must've been the hitchhiker. I never say things like that." Jenna frowned.

"You do when you've had enough drinks," Charlie corrected her. "Well, if you lose your job, don't worry. We'll cover you until you can find another one, although by that time, maybe it won't matter."

"What do you mean?"

Charlie's gaze rose to the ceiling. "I mean that you may be moving out before you can get fired. You're not going to spend the rest of your life sneaking in and out of his apartment, are you?"

Jenna nearly choked on her cereal. "Is that how she found out, Elisabeth? She caught you coming out of his apartment this morning?"

"I didn't catch her leaving his apartment," Charlie said. "I found her sneaking into this one. It made me feel like a parent waiting for the delinquent child to come home after a wild night of partying. I didn't really appreciate that since I'm only twenty-five."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Jenna shook a finger at her sister. "Shame on you. What kind of example are you setting for that poor baby?"

"As she's not born yet, I don't think that's something to worry about just now. When she gets to be eight or nine, I'm sure we'll have the chat about where babies come from and later on we'll discuss how I'll kill her if she comes home at six in the morning after being out all night, but for now she's an unborn child and I don't have to worry about what I do." Elisabeth gave a fake sniffle. "Except smoke. Are you sure I can't have just one little cigarette?"

"I find you having one little cigarette and you'll be dead," Charlie said immediately. "I'm beginning to think you don't miss smoking as much as you claim. That's the first time you've asked me for one since the night Jenna came back here."

"Doesn't mean I don't think about it night and day." Elisabeth laced her fingers over her stomach. "But I'm getting used to it. It's probably just as well that I had to quit for the baby, because I don't think Darcy would be too happy if I went back to the habit after she's born. But God, it's tough."

"We're proud of you, if it helps," Charlie said.

Elisabeth shook her head. "It doesn't, but thanks for the thought, anyway." With a groan, she got up from the chair. "I have to have a shower and get ready for work. You gonna be here today, Jen?"

"I might drop by the house and see if I can talk Mel into helping me with the bed, but it can wait until you get back from work."

"I am not an invalid," Charlie grumbled. "As a matter of fact, I'm feeling much better today. I even ate something other than pudding. See?" She held up the plate which now held only crumbs.

"We're just trying to be sure you're okay," Elisabeth told her, stretching her arms high above her head. "And we're going to keep making sure until you go back to work."

"Just what I always wanted----my very own jailors."

"Well, we could always invite Jack over here to watch over you," Elisabeth suggested. She waited to see how Charlie would react, and was pleased when her cousin's cheeks turned pink. She was a little disappointed, however, when Charlie didn't say anything.

Figuring that Charlie had enough to deal with just then, Elisabeth didn't pursue the issue, but it was something she was going to get back to...soon.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Darcy walked into work Monday morning, whistling to himself. He felt like he was floating on clouds and just about every other cliché used to describe falling in love. It hadn't been easy, and he'd waited twenty-seven years before it happened, but by God, Darcy Williamson was in love and he was thrilled about it. Even the prospect of walking into the store and being told that Sean had received a phone call firing him didn't daunt him in the slightest. If Catherine decided to punish him that way, so be it. He'd find another job.

He threw open the doors and almost broke into song. The only thing which stopped him was the image he got in his head of how he would look if he did, and what suspicions might be aroused. Elisabeth had come up to him last night and told him that Charlie knew the truth at last, but for the time being, they still needed to keep things secret from everyone else. Darcy knew this meant resisting the temptation to caterwaul. People might wonder why he was so happy, and he wouldn't have a legitimate answer for that question.

People probably know anyway, he thought as he walked into the dining room and gave Erin a dazzling smile. "Morning," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning!" she replied, equally cheerful. "And how is Mr. Williamson today?"

"Never been better. And you?"

"Terrific! You know me----I feel that next to Disneyland, this is the happiest place on earth and I'm honored to have a job here!" Erin was exaggerating, of course.

"Yeah, right." But even as Darcy tried to keep his voice sarcastic, he was smiling, and Erin gave him a funny look.

"Did you take a whole bunch of happy pills before coming in here?" she asked. "Because you're never this happy to be at work, not even when you've had a good weekend."

"I'm not currently on medication," Darcy replied. "I'm just happy. What's wrong with being sublimely happy?" That's the way to be subtle, Williamson. Way to go, he thought, knowing even as he did that he was still wearing a goofy grin on his face.

Erin just shook her head and called, "Sean, we're gonna need some heavy drugs to calm this boy down! He's acting like a six-pack without the little rings to hold it together! You got anything worth taking?"

"I don't think drug pusher is in my job description," Sean shouted from the front of the store, where he was cutting pizzas that would be heading for the school order. Now that school was back in session, the cooks were having to get up a little earlier in the morning to get that order out, not that Sean minded in the least. "I don't even have Tylenol, which I could use."

"Did someone call for Tylenol? I don't have that, but I have something stronger and better and I'll even give it to you for free." Darcy's attention turned from Erin to Kit, who was walking out of the bathroom, the ever-present cigarette in her hand. For a brief second, Darcy thought back to George Wickham's words about Kit Longbourn the day he'd been hired for this job. He chuckled.

"You see? He's crazy!" Erin announced.

"No, I'm not. I'm just happy. What's wrong with being happy?" Darcy protested.

"You work here," Kit told him before lighting her cigarette. "And you're working today. Why are you happy?"

"Because the sun is shining, it's a beautiful day, and I was just thinking of something someone told me about you when I first got hired here. George Wickham----"

There was a mock gasp from Erin. "You had George telling you about people here? We couldn't stand that little..." She paused when Sean cleared his throat, indicating that he didn't share Erin's opinion about George. "Most of us couldn't stand that little weasel. Especially after he was such a jerk about Elisabeth losing her store."

"He was not a jerk about that. Thomas Palmer was a jerk by letting him be there when she arrived that morning, yes, but George didn't know he was getting the job until he arrived at the Newton store that morning. Thomas expected Elisabeth to be there before George arrived so he could tell her the news in private." Sean boxed up another pizza, stuck it on top of the oven, and used tongs to pull out the next one in line.

"So you're laying this at Elisabeth's door?" Darcy said with his first frown of the day. "She was humiliated and it was all her fault?"

"No, I didn't say that." Sean paused in cutting the pizza. "It was a bad situation, and Thomas Palmer didn't deal with it the way he should've. And if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it and then kill you."

"Well, Thomas Palmer might've screwed that up, but he wasn't the one bragging about how well the store was going after he took over. George made the success Newton's had sound like it was all his doing, but we all know how hard Elisabeth worked to turn things around. No one gives her any credit for it," Kit said before taking a drag off her cigarette.

"She gets plenty of credit, believe me," Sean said, resuming his work. He pulled the last pizza off the line and cut it. Once he was finished, he wiped his hands off on a towel. "You're wrong about one thing, though. I'm about as sick of George Wickham as all of you are. He's a monumental pain in the butt, and I always thought he was."

"Whaaat?!" Erin exclaimed. "Since when?"

"Since the day I hired the little twerp. You know why George Wickham got as far as he did in this business? Because he was willing to do anything to get there. He stayed behind and helped out when everyone else took off to do other things. He learned things quickly."

"He sucked up to his bosses," Kit muttered low enough to avoid Sean's hearing.

"He was a good worker, and I was glad to have him in my store, but personality-wise, he was a jerk and I'm glad he left. I probably would've killed him if he'd stayed much longer." Sean leaned on the cut table. "He brought a lot of dissension into this store, from his off-color jokes in front of customers to his habit of sleeping with the pretty new waitresses. I know we're not doing much better now----"

"You're the one who hired Lucy, Louisa and Caroline back," Erin said. "We begged you not to do it."

"We needed the help. What else was I to do? But we're doing better than we were with George here. People get along better, if you can believe that. And if you don't, you'll be happy to hear that in the last month or so, George hasn't been doing so well in Newton."

"Really?" Darcy was surprised. From what he'd heard through the grapevine, George was still ruling the roost with Thomas Palmer.

Sean nodded. "Again, I'll kill the first person who tells Palmer I told you this, but one of the waitresses quit because she didn't feel comfortable around him. I don't know if he hit on her and wouldn't leave her alone or what, but she almost filed a complaint."

"Wouldn't the Company have to fire George because of that?" Kit asked, exhaling smoke.

"Yes," Darcy replied. "It goes against De Bourgh Enterprises' policy to sexually harass a co-worker. There should've been a full investigation and a dismissal if the charges turned out to be true. Just last year..." His voice died on him as he realized he'd just inserted his foot into his mouth. All eyes were on him as he cleared his throat and said, "I heard that just last year, a vice-president and two of his underlings were fired for that."

"Really? Then why isn't George gone at Newton?" Erin asked Sean.

"Because the girl never filed a complaint. Not much you can do when she refuses to file a complaint. She said all she wanted was to get a new job and move on. George is staying in Newton, at least as long as he can keep those numbers good. He may be a jerk and he may believe he's God's gift to women, but he can keep costs down like nobody else...except me." Sean smiled at this last bit.

"Let's talk about something more interesting and cheerful than George Wickham," Darcy said. "The only reason I brought him up was because I was thinking of the way he described you to me."

"Lesbian?" Kit grinned. "I get that a lot. I think it's the hair." With her free hand, she patted the frizzy blonde curls that just brushed her shoulders in the back. Her hair was almost shaved to the scalp on the sides with puffy bangs.

"He said you were a butch blonde with an attitude that fit in with the Hell's Angels and a cigarette always hanging out of your mouth. I didn't know you ten minutes before I realized that his description was accurate."

Kit laughed loudly, nearly choking on her cigarette in the process. She walked to the counter and set it in an ashtray, coughing for a minute before being able to catch her breath again. "I'll say this for George----he can be very creative with his words. Did I ever tell you that I dated a Hell's Angel about seven years ago? Amazing guy, but unreliable. Took off without a word after three months." She sighed. "Story of my life when it comes to men. I'm swearing off men forever."

"Me, too," Erin declared. "Men are pigs."

"Men are not pigs," a new voice joined in the conversation. It was all Darcy could do to hold back a groan, because with the return of the school year came the return of J.P. Thorpe to daytime driving. Chazz had gone back to classes.

"But if we needed living proof that they are, you'd do perfectly well," Kit said.

Mondays now that school was back in session were slow in the beginning, picked up pace about noon, and died out altogether by one-thirty. Without teenagers making up the bulk of their business, people who didn't come in during the summer in order to avoid them were returning, and tipping better than the teenagers, too.

Darcy's good mood was infectious, because everyone he came into contact with commented on it. Sean pulled him aside in his office after the lunch rush was order to tell him that he'd received a number of compliments.

"When you first came, I didn't think I'd have a day where you'd get more compliments than Kit and Erin combined," Sean said. "Good job."

"Thanks," Darcy replied, still smiling.

Sean, however, had another reason for pulling him aside, and rather than dance around the issue, he got right to it. "Your aunt called this morning."

Darcy's smile disappeared quickly and for the first time in two days, his stomach reminded him that he was supposed to fear his aunt. "She did?" Darcy asked, his voice squeaking at the end.

Sean nodded. "She wanted to know if there was a woman named Elisabeth working for me."

Ah. So Catherine hadn't been fooled by his explanation of getting to know Elisabeth in a bowling alley. "I had a feeling she was going to call," Darcy said. "I wasn't sure if she would ask that question, though."

"So her suspicion was right----you and El are dating now?" Sean folded his arms across his chest and stared at Darcy.

Darcy remembered that a few months ago, he'd come to Sean to ask for advice on what to do about Elisabeth, so there wasn't any point in lying about it. Besides, if Sean disapproved of it, he would've said something at the time. "Yes," he replied, raising his head and proudly meeting Sean's gaze. "Elisabeth and I have been together for about a month. I suppose you had to tell Catherine that Elisabeth was your assistant manager. And I suppose she told you to fire Elisabeth when she comes in to work tomorrow morning."

Sean shook his head. "She left no instructions on what to do about the situation, but the Company's policy is clear on the matter. All she said when I told her about Elisabeth was that I wasn't to give you special treatment because you're her nephew. As a matter of fact, she said, 'I know your inclination was to no doubt treat him better than the others, because you knew who he was, but as of this moment, you treat him like you would treat anyone else.'"

Darcy snorted. "She obviously doesn't know you, because you have treated me like everyone else. I get my share of criticism----more than my share, sometimes." When Sean looked to say something, Darcy continued, "But I know what she meant, the same as you do. If you're not to give me special treatment, then you have to get rid of either me or Elisabeth. Someone in management can't date a mere employee."

"Exactly. So that got me to looking at the employee manual a little closer----"

"That was nice of you, Sean, but I don't see any way around the rule. If you're going to let someone go...let it be me. Elisabeth needs this job, and I don't. I'll find another one, even if it's working at Niemerg's or some place like that."

"You didn't let me finish. I found something interesting when I got to looking at the manual. You see, a manager can't date an employee, but there's nothing in the rules about a manager dating a manager. There's a rule about managers not working together if they're married, but nothing about managers not working together if they're just dating."

"If they're managers from different stores," Darcy concluded.

Sean shook his head. "It doesn't say that, either. After I finished reading through the manual, I decided that I needed a service leader."

"A...a service leader?"

"Mm-hmm. Thomas Palmer's been after me for about six months to promote one of my servers to be the service leader, someone who would be in charge of crises that take place with customers and fights that break out among the wait staff. It would mean giving up tips to run the floor, but it is technically a managerial position. I'd love to have promoted Charlie, but she can't work weekends. So this little problem you and Elisabeth have will actually turn out to have a benefit for me...if you're willing to accept the position."

Darcy stood in stunned silence for a second. "You'd do that so I could stay on here?" he finally got out.

Sean nodded. "You said a moment ago that you felt you got more than your share of criticism, and maybe you're right. But it's done you a lot of good. Look at what happened today. It's been a slow day, but I'm willing to bet you've got close to thirty dollars in your pocket. You're not the same person I was introduced to four months ago, Darcy. Whether it was Elisabeth who brought on that change or whether you did it on your own, the results are the same. You're a good worker and I like having you on my crew. Your aunt didn't specifically say to fire you, so I'm not going to fire you."

"Well...well, thank you," Darcy said. "You didn't have to do that."

"No, I didn't, but I wanted to. I understand the reasoning behind the rules, but it doesn't mean I always agree with them. If you'd wanted to bankrupt De Bourgh Enterprises, I'm sure you'd have done it much sooner from the main offices rather than coming to the middle of nowhere. You'll accept the promotion, then?"

"Of course I will," Darcy replied. When Sean extended his hand, Darcy shook it enthusiastically.

"Darrr-ceeeee! Someone's heeeere for youuuuu!" Kit sing-songed from the front counter. "It's Caaaaarroooliiiiiine!"

Darcy groaned audibly. "I don't know what I've done to make the Lord mad, but I wish he'd tell me so I could fix it," he said.

"Woman problems?" Sean teased.

"I told that woman Saturday that I wanted nothing to do with her. You'd think she'd finally get the point. How obtuse can someone be, for God's sake?"

"I don't think Caroline's so much obtuse as she is determined," Sean said. "It can be a lethal combination."

"Tell me about it," Darcy muttered as he walked to the front of the store, Sean's laughter ringing in his ears. The moment he neared the counter, he knew Caroline was in full battle mode, Saturday's rejection all forgotten, because she was wearing a white halter top that was almost too small for her with the shortest shorts known to man. "Hello, Caroline," he said.

Caroline smiled. "Hi, Darcy. How are things?"

"Well, they were wonderful until a moment ago. And how are you?"

Kit, who was pretending not to listen from the salad bar she was trying to clean up, muffled her laughter.

"I'm great. I have the day off, so I'm taking Valerie to the St. Louis Zoo for the first time. Valerie's never been, and I thought that it would be such a nice occasion. The only thing is, Valerie's almost too much for me to handle by myself. She does better when there's a man around----natural flirt, just like her aunt." Caroline smiled again. "I was wondering if you'd like to join us."

Darcy glanced about the restaurant. The only person there was a local radio DJ who had come in for a late lunch right after his morning shift had ended. Darcy hoped he was a regular, because if he was going to drive Caroline off this crazy campaign of hers, he was going to have to be a little mean.

"No, thank you," he said calmly, thinking maybe the subtle approach would work. "I'm busy tonight."

"Busy tonight? Doing what?"

"It's bowling night."

"Actually, we're not going bowling," Kit said. "Didn't El or Charlie tell you? One of Charlie's sisters is having a birthday party and she invited the bowling crowd. Charlie's parents live out at----in the country, so we're having a campfire and midnight volleyball and probably some alcoholic beverages."

"Sounds like fun," Caroline said eagerly. "One of Charlie's sisters, you said? I know Danielle. Is it Danie's birthday?"

"No, that wasn't the one. It was the other one."

"Oh." Some of Caroline's eagerness faded. "Miranda, then."

"Yeah, that's the one." Kit smiled. "Don't like Miranda, I take it."

"Miranda was a narc. She used to go into Casey's when Louisa worked there and try to buy beer when she was underage, hoping Louisa would sell it to her so she could have her fired." Caroline frowned, pursing her lips for a minute before composing her features. "Well, I can suffer through it. After all, I don't have to be there to celebrate Miranda's birthday. I can be there just to have fun."

"Hold on a minute," Kit snapped, but Darcy held up a hand to quiet her. Kit, surprised by the action, fell silent and turned her attention back to the salad bar.

"You weren't invited, Caroline," Darcy said. "Charlie's sister invited the bowling crowd, not you."

"I bowl sometimes," Caroline protested. "Maybe not with you guys on Monday night, because I usually have to work, but I bowl."

Darcy's brow furrowed. "What's that got to do with the fact that you've just invited yourself to this party?"

"I didn't invite myself. You invited me."

Darcy refused to let himself get dizzy and disoriented, two states he usually wound up in when talking to Caroline Benson. "I didn't invite you. How could I, when I didn't know until three minutes ago that there was going to be a party tonight?"

"You were going to invite me, though, weren't you?"

"No," Darcy said firmly. "Caroline, we went through this on Saturday. For that matter, we've been going through this pretty much since the day we met. How many times do I have to tell you that I have no interest in you before you finally get it into your head that it's the truth?"

"You're not giving me a chance, that's what it is. You don't see the advantages of being with me." Caroline moved provocatively closer to him, until she was almost in his face. "I can make you very happy."

Darcy sent a silent prayer that Elisabeth would forgive him for what he was about to do, but this...this harassment had to end. "I'm already very happy, because I'm in love with someone else."

"Someone you refuse to name, which as I said before, is a sure sign that you're making her up." Caroline smiled. "Come on. What's one date? You don't know until you try."

"I'm in love with Elisabeth." Darcy stared down at her when he said, wanting to make absolutely certain she knew he was telling the truth. So he was watching as incomprehension, then confusion, then awareness, and finally anger flitted across her face.

Caroline took three steps away from him, all of her emotions resulting in something close to shock. "Elisabeth? Elisabeth who?"

"Elisabeth Bennet----who else?" Darcy took advantage of her state to step behind the counter, putting a barrier between them. "Do you know any others?"

"But..but...why?!"

Darcy had minded it a little bit when Elisabeth had asked the question, but he'd understood it because of their history. Caroline's asking the question was offensive.

"Because I do. That's all there is to it."

"So what you're telling me is that you'd prefer to be with a fat, pregnant...loser over me? Elisabeth's not that skinny when she's not pregnant, you know."

Darcy pretended to think about this. "Yeah."

"And after she has that baby, she's going to have all these ugly stretch marks. You should see the ones Louisa got----not that I want her showing you or anything, I'm just saying. But..."

"Caroline, when I said 'yeah,' I didn't mean I was agreeing with you about Elisabeth's appearance. I'm saying I'd prefer to be with her over you. She wins...every time."

Caroline was left to stand with her mouth gaping open as Darcy took care of his customer. A minute later, she stormed out of the restaurant, nearly taking out the glass door in the process. Darcy breathed a small sigh of relief and hoped that this would be the last time he would have to deal with her. Surely Caroline would finally give up on him now that he'd declared his love for someone else.

Darcy was so focused on his relief that he hadn't noticed Elisabeth coming into the store with almost as much fury as Caroline had left it. His head jerked up when Kit said, "Hi, El."

"Yeah." Elisabeth darted through the foyer and toward the bathroom. Darcy, fearing she might've had words with Caroline, followed her, but wasn't fast enough to catch her before the bathroom door shut. A moment later, he heard retching sounds and backed away quietly to give her privacy. By the time she came out, he was standing at the front counter, busying himself with the silverware. Kit had excused herself to have a smoke in the back room, which had the added benefit of giving them privacy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't recommend giving me a kiss or anything," she replied, reaching around the counter for a breath mint. She popped it into her mouth. "I have just spent the most miserable hour and a half in a lawyer's office. I knew it wasn't going to be fun, but...God! I thought that by sending the notice that things could be squared away with George giving up his rights quickly, before the baby was born, but noooo. We legally can't do anything until after the baby's born, and after paternity has been established, which has George jumping for joy because he's still claiming he's not the father."

"I thought that he was at least acknowledging that fact by sending the papers," Darcy exclaimed.

Elisabeth shook her head. "He said he talked to the lawyer and that it was his recommendation to go ahead and get this out of the way. George was a little disappointed at first to find out that he couldn't give up his rights without my permission, but he was banking on the fact that I'd told him that the baby would be adopted."

"He told you this?"

"Yes. Not that I cared, the little slimeball."

"If you can't do anything until after the baby's born, why did you have to go meet with him and his lawyer?" Darcy asked.

"Because his lawyer wanted to ask me all sorts of intimate details about my sex life. I swear to God, I've never felt more like a slut in my life." Elisabeth's eyes filled with tears. "How many boyfriends have I had? How many of them have I slept with? Was I seeing anyone at the time I was dating George? Was I aware that Mr. Wickham was using birth control the night I claimed the baby was conceived? Had I dated anyone since breaking up with George?" The tears spilled onto her cheeks. "Was it possible that this man was the father and not George Wickham? Funny question to ask, because I didn't even know of your existence at the time."

"You told them we were together?" Darcy asked.

Elisabeth nodded. "I didn't want to lie. Besides, I'm not ashamed of being with you."

"What did George have to say about it?"

"Not much. George didn't do much talking through the whole thing. It was that damned lawyer of his...I swear to God, this man is the smarmiest SOB I've ever met in my life, and believe me, I've met my fair share of them. After grilling me about my sex life, he decides to get down to the particulars. He wanted to know how long George and I had known each other. How long we'd been together when we first hooked up. What had happened when we broke up. When I told him it had been a mutual thing, the man looked at me and said, 'Miss Bennet, my client says he broke up with you.' So I told him, 'If your client said he was a saint, you'd believe him, wouldn't you?'"

Darcy grimaced. "Wrong thing to say," he said. "Accurate, I've no doubt, but still, not what you want to say in a case like this."

"I know, and I regretted it the minute it flew out of my mouth. I was just so tired of all the questions. Finally, my lawyer asked a few questions, mostly asking if George had told anyone he suspected I was two-timing him. George said no, which my lawyer said was a point in my favor. Mr. Gardiner also asked George about that night in the bowling alley, and about other things. But it wasn't nearly as personal as what I had to go through, and I resent the hell out of that."

Darcy took her in his arms and held her while she cried for another few minutes. "He's such a jerk! God, if I could go back in time and change one thing, I'd change this. I would turn George down when he asked me to meet him for a drink after work one night. And then I wouldn't have had to go through this."

"But you wouldn't be pregnant, either," Darcy reminded her. "Whenever you think about wanting to change the past, remember that."

"I know, I know. It's just so hard sometimes, especially today."

"Yeah, I know." Darcy kissed the top of her head. "I probably shouldn't lay anything more on you already, but Catherine called Sean today."

Elisabeth stiffened. "Oh, God. Did she fire me? Did she fire you? What did she say?"

"She was content to make Sean look like the bad guy, which is something I've come to realize she's good at. She told him not to treat me with kid gloves, that I was just like every other employee..."

"In other words, toss you out on your behind."

"Pretty much so." Darcy took her hair out of the single clip she'd used to restrain it and started stroking it. She had such beautiful dark hair, with just a hint of curl...

"Well, we knew it was coming. Until you can find something meaningful, I can call my sister Andie. She's still working at Niemerg's until she finishes with school, and she can get you a job there. By the way, I meant to call and tell you that..."

"It's her birthday, and we're invited to the party so we're not going bowling."

"How did you know?"

"Kit told me." Darcy moved his head until he was able to look at her face before saying, "Don't worry about me. I've got a new job already."

"You do? Where? What sort of hours?"

"Uh...well, I don't know the hours. Sean and I didn't discuss that. He's promoted me to service leader, which is technically a managerial position."

"But there's a rule that..."

"It only applies to married people. People who are dating are exempt, at least until Catherine finds out that both of us are still working here. I don't know how long that will be, but maybe by then, George Wickham will find himself out of a store. Did you hear that some girl almost filed a complaint against him for harassment?"

"Yeah, but George is like a snake. He wriggled out of that, and he's on his guard now. He won't do it again, trust me." Elisabeth sighed. "You didn't ask, but after all of those questions, we've basically gone to a waiting period. I have the option of having an amniocentesis done in order to determine paternity or waiting until after the baby's born and drawing blood. Guess which option I chose. I go to have the amnio as soon as possible. That way, the papers can be filed and all of this can be taken care of. I want this over with." With a sniffle, she added, "I just want this to be over with so we can move on with our lives."

"Me, too." Darcy wished he dared to kiss her, but he didn't think that would go over well if Sean caught them. He thought of telling her that he'd had to tell Caroline about them, but decided she'd had enough trouble for one day.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"If she wanted romance, why the hell was she looking at books?"
~~Stephanie Laurens, from A Rogue's Proposal

Elisabeth walked into her apartment and was not surprised to find Charlie sitting in her chair, feet propped up on a pillow resting on the coffee table, reading a magazine. "Hey," she said in a low voice, leaning against the closed apartment door.

Charlie set the magazine aside and stood up awkwardly. Without saying a word, she walked over to the door and gave Elisabeth a hug. Elisabeth made sure not to avoid squeezing her too hard, which might cause Charlie pain from where she'd had the surgery. After about a minute, Elisabeth let her cousin go.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Charlie asked softly.

Elisabeth shook her head. "I already told..." She was unable to finish, realizing that she'd told the person she felt the closest to now---Darcy, and not Charlie and Jenna. Wonderful, she thought bleakly. One more complication. Now I'm going to hurt two people I really love because they're not number one in my life anymore. "I'm sorry, Charlie."

"Sorry for what? For telling Darcy and not wanting to rehash it now?" Charlie shrugged. "El, we really need to work on this hang-up you continue to have about my feelings. You're not going to crush my soul because you've fallen in love with Darcy Williamson. It's not going to make me mad that you told him what happened today. That's what happens when you fall in love."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Elisabeth ran her hands through her hair. "Thanks for understanding, Charlie. In a few days, when I've had time to get over the hurt and I've worked up a nice, healthy dose of anger, I'll tell you all about today. I'll be screaming mad and ready to recruit you for a lynch mob I want to lead against George Wickham and that awful lawyer of his."

"I've got the tar and feathers on stand-by," Charlie quipped.

Elisabeth smiled weakly. "Maybe later. Right now, I think I'm going to take a short nap so I won't be tempted to fall asleep in the middle of Andie's party. By the way, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Hang on a sec." Elisabeth went to her room and found the Madonna CD Andie had put on her list of possible birthday gifts. She returned and handed it to Charlie. "Could you ask Jenna to wrap that up, please? And tell her to make sure and do it twenty-one times." The twenty-one times was to get back at Andie for her annoying habit of wrapping people's gifts in correlation to their ages.

"I can do it," Charlie said.

"Uh...no offense, Charlie, but the last time I asked you to wrap a gift, you wasted half a roll of wrapping paper and all of the tape. Besides, you hate wrapping gifts. You were probably going to ask Jenna to do yours as well, weren't you?"

Charlie pointed to a large, misshapen package sitting on the dining room table. "I already did mine."

"I rest my case," Elisabeth said with a real smile this time. "Wake me in a couple of hours if I ignore my alarm, would you? That'll leave me time to get ready."

"Sure."

Elisabeth retreated to her bedroom again, stopping long enough to remove her shoes before falling into bed. She was asleep within two minutes.

Someone gently shaking her shoulder awakened her two hours later. Elisabeth reluctantly opened her eyes. "No," she complained. "I need to sleep. That's all I need, really. I can skip Andie's party, can't I?"

"No, you can't," Charlie replied, turning the overhead light on. Elisabeth squinted before putting a hand over her eyes. "You're going to have a good time and put whatever happened today out of your mind for a few hours, anyway. Everyone's going to be there."

With a groan, Elisabeth rolled out of bed. "I probably shouldn't have bothered going to sleep," she said. "It only made me more tired than I was before."

"You needed the rest, though," Charlie said. "You started snoring very quickly."

"I don't snore." Blinking several times in an attempt to get rid of the bleariness in her vision, Elisabeth focused on Charlie. She was wearing a bathrobe and her hair was wet and neatly combed, indicating that she'd just come from a shower. "Is Jenna home yet?"

"She came home and went to Wal-Mart to return your gift. She found out that one of Andie's friends already bought her that CD."

"Damn," Elisabeth said, stretching her arms over her head. "We really should coordinate our gift-buying so this wouldn't happen every year."

"Maybe next year."

"So...the bathroom's available?"

"Yeah, although you might want to wait a few minutes to make sure you won't run out of hot water."

"Daydreaming in the shower again?" Elisabeth teased.

"No, I wasn't," Charlie replied indignantly. "I just dawdled."

Elisabeth stared at her cousin without speaking, her mind racing. What if... Her lips twisted into a smile as an idea came to her.

"Don't look at me that way, Elisabeth. It makes me think you're plotting something evil, which of course, you're not doing." When Elisabeth didn't say anything, Charlie frowned even more. "You're not thinking of doing anything evil, right?"

"How are we defining evil?" Elisabeth asked. "Because my idea of evil and yours probably differ somewhat when it comes to hair and makeup."

"I can do my own hair, and what do I need with makeup? For that matter, what do I need to do with my hair? It's just Andie's birthday party. We're going to be outside playing volleyball."

"You're two days out of surgery. You're not playing volleyball."

"Then I'll officiate or something. My point is, this doesn't require me to do my hair or bother with makeup." Charlie shrugged and walked out of the room.

"What about Jack?" Elisabeth asked.

Charlie, halfway down the hall, froze. She turned around slowly. "What about Jack?"

Oh, no, Charlie, don't do this. I know you remember what happened Friday night. I know you remember what you realized Saturday. Don't pretend that nothing's going on.

"I just thought you might want to look nice for him, that's all." Elisabeth paused. "Although he's seen you looking your worst, so maybe it's not necessary to dress up. Planet Earth Pizza isn't Glamour Central, after all."

Charlie walked back into Elisabeth's room and sat gingerly on the bed. "I knew you were eventually going to get to this," she muttered.

"Me? You were the one who came home from the hospital rambling on about how you were blind not to realize that Jack had had feelings for you all along and not me." Elisabeth crossed her arms over her chest.

"I wasn't rambling!"

"You were. Half-conscious, maybe, but definitely rambling about the whole thing. You wanted to know if everyone else had known about it except you. You didn't stay awake long enough to hear my answer."

Charlie groaned and flopped back onto the bed, flinging her arm across her face. Muffled, Elisabeth heard her say, "You knew, didn't you?"

"I didn't know---I suspected, but I didn't know for sure until after Jack told everyone Darcy came between Chazz and Jenna. Then I asked him and he told me the truth. It was always you, Charlie."

Charlie moved her arm. "Then why didn't he say anything to me? If he's had these so-called feelings for me all this time, why didn't he ask me out?"

"He did. Remember? Right after you found out you had skin cancer, he asked you out and offered you a shoulder to cry on. You turned him down because you thought he just felt sorry for you, but he didn't." Elisabeth closed her bedroom door and leaned against it. "And then you might as well have hired one of those airplanes to send a message across the sky proclaiming that you would never date someone from work. You were adamant about it, in fact."

Charlie sighed. "He heard me, didn't he?"

"Charlie, people in China heard you that day. And I'll tell you the same thing I told you then---I don't think you realize how close you are to Jack. You tell yourself he can't be the one because you would've guessed by now, but did you ever stop to think that you never considered the possibility? You gave it five minutes of thought after you got mad at me, but I don't think five minutes is ever enough to determine something like that."

"I've thought about it since then," Charlie murmured. "Most of yesterday, as a matter of fact, when I had the free time to think about it. And...I just don't know. I don't think I'm in love with him, El. He's not the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. He's not the first person I want to run to when I need to talk. I've tried to picture a future together, and..."

"Oh, for God's sake, Charlotte! Get your head out of the clouds! Life isn't a romance novel!" Elisabeth snapped. "My first thought this morning wasn't of Darcy. When I first thought of Darcy and I together, I didn't think we had much of a future because we're so different. Today was the first day that I went to him to talk instead of you and Jenna. Relationships that start out like that don't last. Love is something that has to build, it's not something that's there right away. And before you go asking how I know, you should know damn good and well that I do. I've had relationships where I thought I was in love, where things were like a romance novel, and where are those guys today? Gone. And now there's Darcy. Nothing in our relationship has been the stuff of romantic novels."

Elisabeth deliberately put out of her mind the first long look they'd exchanged at her front door the night of the party. That, she thought, came close to romance novel fluff. She noticed that Charlie was about to say something but continued before she could start.

"And if you're about to say something about you and Jack knowing each other for four years...well, what makes you think Jack's been interested in you all four years? He had a girlfriend when he started working at the store. He's dated occasionally since they broke up. Maybe it's only been recently that he's taken another look and realized that he cares for you. At the very least, he's cared about you since last September. That's only a year, and when he asked you out, you turned him down. That can be discouraging."

"I know." Charlie raised herself into a sitting position on the bed, wincing slightly. "I am well aware of the fact that life isn't a romance novel. I just don't know if Jack's the one."

Elisabeth took a seat beside Charlie on the bed. "Well, you won't know until you give it a try, will you? That's how people find out these things. They date, they get to know each other, and then they decide where to go from there. You see Jack as someone you work with and someone you like. I don't think you'll know if those feelings of like go farther than that until you get to know him outside of work."

"I do know him outside of work. We hang out."

"Not on your own, you don't. I'm willing to bet I've been alone with him more often than you have." Elisabeth put an arm around Charlie. "Look, no pressure, okay? If you don't want to be with Jack, that's your decision and I'm not going to force you into it. I think Jack's a great guy, and I know you could do a whole lot worse. Ultimately, it's your decision. But if you want to get an idea of what might be, why don't you let me give you a makeover and see how he reacts?"

"Makeover?" Charlie repeated weakly. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing drastic. Just...different."

Charlie whimpered. "I'm going to regret this."

"No, you won't." Elisabeth got off the bed just as she heard the door open. She took Charlie by the hand. "Trust me."

"The last time I trusted you, I wound up with a punk hairstyle and enough makeup to pass for a member of the band Kiss." But Charlie allowed herself to be dragged out of bed anyway.

Darcy wondered for a long while whether or not going to Miranda Lucas' birthday party would be a good thing for Elisabeth. She'd had a long, difficult day, and no doubt the last thing on her mind would be going out and pretending to have a good time. Plus, this would mark the first time the two of them would be together in front of Charlie, which would be an added stress on her. But Elisabeth surprised him by saying that she was looking forward to the party, so he didn't argue with her. Something in her voice made him believe her.

After getting off work, Darcy showered and dressed in blue jeans and a Cardinals baseball jersey that he'd bought when he'd gone to the ball game. He combed his hair out of his eyes before staring at himself in the mirror. Unlike in the past, when he would stare at himself in the mirror for a while in an attempt to figure out who he really was, Darcy only smiled and left the room, turning off the light as he went.

He cheerfully walked downstairs to tap on Elisabeth's apartment door. Darcy waited a few seconds, then tapped again. When the door opened, Darcy gasped and took a step back before he realized that it was Charlie standing there. Not Charlie as he'd ever seen her before, however---this Charlie was wearing a thick blue bathrobe, had her golden brown hair in little curlers, and was wearing a face mask the same shade of green as her eyes.

"Should I come back later?" Darcy asked, hearing water running in the shower.

"Nah. I was just trying my Halloween costume on to see how it would look. You like it?" Charlie stepped aside to let him in. "I've obviously got the look down if I scared you."

"I'm easy to scare, but you are kidding, aren't you?" Darcy noticed Jenna sitting on the couch, trying to wrap a small box that was sitting on the coffee table. She looked up and smiled at him, so he waved.

"Well, of course I am." Charlie shut the door. "El's hogging the bathroom so that my face will turn green or glow in the dark from this gunk. I think it's radioactive."

"It is not radioactive," Jenna muttered as she taped the paper in place. "It's a cucumber and melon face mask. And if you're so worried about your face turning green, use the kitchen sink."

"And have Elisabeth scream at me when her water gets hot all of the sudden? Not in this lifetime." Charlie sighed. "The things you go through in order to be beautiful. No wonder I never did junk like this before."

Darcy heard the water shut off. "I think she's done in there," he told Charlie. "It might be safe to run water now."

Charlie paused, as if listening, before nodding her head. "Thanks." She rushed into the kitchen and started taking the mask off, scrubbing her face to make sure she got it all off.

"So, if you've never bothered to do this before, why are you doing it just for your sister's birthday party?" Darcy asked as he took a seat in Charlie's computer chair.

"Damned if I know. Somehow I got talked into this...this effort to make myself look good for..." Charlie's face was red, although Darcy wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment of from peeling off the mask. "I don't know why I'm bothering. Elisabeth started this argument by saying that he's seen me at my worst and still liked me, so why I'm going through all this torture is beyond me."

"Uh...excuse me, but who are you trying to impress?" Darcy had a good idea that he knew, but he wanted to be sure before making any blind assumptions.

"Jack. Who else?" Charlie took a towel and patted her face dry.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, I see. Yes, you should give any man who makes a fool of himself over you a chance."

"A fool of himself over me? When did he do that?" Charlie gave him a blank look.

"You don't remember how he nearly knocked down three nurses and a security guard to get you a painkiller?" Darcy smiled, knowing he was exaggerating but not caring. "They were going to throw him out of the hospital."

Charlie frowned. "I doubt Jack would've done something like that at the hospital. Especially in the ER, given his moth...well, anyway. I could see him getting angry with the nurses or something, though."

"That's all he really did. I was just kidding," Darcy admitted.

Charlie snapped the towel at him. "No kidding allowed today...Elisabeth, are you about done with that bathroom? My hair's dry and these stupid pins are sticking right into my scalp!" When she didn't receive an answer, she muttered, "Never again. If she didn't leave me enough hair to pull back into a ponytail, I'll never forgive her because I hate bothering with my hair in the mornings."

"Stop worrying," Jenna said as she picked up the wrapped package and examined it carefully. "She barely cut off an inch and a half, and most of that was split ends. You still have plenty of hair on your head."

Elisabeth emerged from the bathroom amidst a billowing cloud of steam, wearing an old white robe with a towel wrapped around her hair. "All right, Charlie, sit down so I can take those curlers out of your hair." She smiled when she noticed Darcy sitting in the computer chair. "Welcome to Elisabeth Bennet's House of Style and Beauty. Would you like an appointment?"

"I'm saving up for one," Darcy replied with a grin as Charlie sat on one of the dining room chairs. "I know how expensive they are."

"Yeah, right." Elisabeth stood behind her cousin and expertly unrolled her hair. As the curlers came out, Darcy observed that Charlie's hair was noticeably shorter, but not so short that she wouldn't have enough hair to pull back into her usual ponytail.

Once the last curler was out, Elisabeth took a pick and started combing through the mass of curls that had been created. "I wish I had a mirror," she mumbled as she parted Charlie's hair to the left. "Hey, Jen, could you help me out and tell me how this looks?"

Jenna glanced over at them. "I think it looks fine."

"Of course it looks fine. It obscures half of my face," Charlie growled. "I can't see a damn thing out of my left eye."

"We'll hold your hand so you won't trip and fall over something," Elisabeth said, adjusting the hair obscuring Charlie's left profile so that she could see. "Hmm...that looks good, I think."

Charlie shook her head. "I don't think it's going to work. I'm going to spend the whole night trying to get my hair off my face. Can't we just pull the sides back and leave the back loose?"

"Nope. It looks great this way---and it's a new style, which ought to go over big. You've got some natural curl in your hair, you know. When you wear it long, the curl turns into frizz. I'll bet if you wore it short, you wouldn't need a perm."

"When I wear it short, I look like Little Orphan Annie."

"So does my sister," Darcy admitted. "Only Ginger's hair gets curlier as it gets longer. She got that from our mother."

"What about you?" Elisabeth asked. "You've got a bit of wave to your hair, I think."

"I...I guess I got it from my father. I'm not sure."

"Hey, Charlie, did I tell you that Darcy's sister is going to be in town for a couple days?" Elisabeth set aside the comb and started spraying hair spray into her cousin's hair.

"Really?" Charlie turned to look at him and got a mouthful of hair spray. "Blech!"

"Quit moving and that won't happen again." Elisabeth finished spraying Charlie's hair and let her leave the chair. Charlie hurried into the bathroom to rinse out her mouth.

"Yes. Ginger is going to be here tomorrow night. She'd like to meet you."

Charlie returned from the bathroom. "Why would she want to meet me? I'm just your ex-girlfriend." She glanced from Elisabeth to Darcy. "Oh, wait. I can guess. You've told her Elisabeth is my cousin and she's curious as to how I'm taking the whole situation."

"She knows just about everything," Darcy admitted. "She's meeting us at the store if you want to stop by after your lights."

"Maybe I will," Charlie mused.

"Think about it later," Jenna said. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."

The Lucas family lived in a large house on Lake Sara, which was several miles outside of Effingham. The family had a pier even though they didn't have a boat, and the Lucas girls had learned at a very early age how to swim. Miranda's party got underway just as the sun was setting, providing an idyllic view of the lake.

The backyard was already jammed full of people by the time Charlie, Elisabeth and Darcy arrived. Andie Lucas, Darcy surmised, was a very popular girl in spite of what Caroline Benson had said about what she used to do. Dressed in a red halter top and tight blue jeans, Andie was surprisingly tiny and birdlike given that her sisters were tall and generously proportioned, although she had the same golden brown hair and green eyes that her sisters had. Before Darcy had a chance to wonder how the relationship between the sisters was, Charlie gave her sister a big hug and said, "Happy birthday, brat."

"Would you stop it with the brat stuff? I'm finally out of my awful teenage years."

"You're still younger than me, though, so that makes you the brat of the family."

"Does this mean in a few years I'll get to tease you about how you'll always be older than me?" Andie grinned.

"Do that and I'll flush your Barbie doll collection down the toilet." Charlie grinned in response.

Darcy chuckled as Elisabeth handed her cousin the gift she'd brought. Andie looked it over and said, "You let Jenna wrap this, didn't you?"

"You bet I did. Twenty-one times. Andie, this is Darcy Williamson---"

"Yeah, I know. We met at the hospital on Friday when Charlie had to go to the emergency room." Andie extended her hand anyway. "It's nice to meet you under better circumstances, though."

"Same here." Darcy smiled and let go of her hand.

"Hey, Andie, is Jack Middleton here?" Elisabeth asked. Darcy noticed that Charlie turned a little pink before she turned her gaze to the pier.

"Uh, no. Actually, he called and left a message for Chazz---I guess Chazz was getting a lift from someone and then Jack was supposed to drive him home. Anyway, Jack said something came up with his mother and he had to take care of that. He didn't think he'd be able to make it after all."

"Something happened with Jack's mother?" Charlie asked, swinging around and pinning Andie with her gaze. "What happened?"

Andie shrugged. "He didn't say, I didn't ask. It wasn't my business."

"What's wrong with his mother? Is she sick or something?" Darcy asked.

Charlie's eyes were sad. "Something," she answered, looking disappointed. She pushed her hair away from the left side of her face and said, "I need a ponytail holder or else my hair will be in my eyes all night."

As Charlie wandered into the house to find what she was looking for, Darcy heard Elisabeth sigh. He put an arm around her as they wandered into the crowd.

"It's not like they'll never see each other again," he told her. "They work together, you know."

"I know, I know, but she looked so pretty tonight. I had her all psyched to give it a shot, and this had to happen." Elisabeth wrapped her arms around his waist. "Aah, well. She'll be fine. You ready to play a little volleyball?"

Darcy looked at the people standing at both sides of the volleyball net. "I don't know how to play," he admitted. "And you probably shouldn't in your condition."

"Condition? I'm pregnant, not at death's door. Besides, with so many people playing, I'll hardly be moving at all. Come on. Let's have a little fun. It's a party."

"Right," Darcy said, putting Charlie's sad eyes out of his mind for the time being as they joined the others.

Continued In Next Section