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Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jack didn't show up for work the next morning, calling a very crabby Louisa to take his place. Elisabeth was tempted to send the sullen young woman home the moment she walked into the store and attempt to run things herself, but she knew she'd need Louisa if for no other reason than to do the prep work for the Kids' Night that was to come. Elisabeth asked Jack when he called if his mother was feeling better.

"How did you know about my mother?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Andie told us why you weren't at the party last night. Charlie in particular was sad to hear that you weren't going to be there."

There was another long pause. "Nice try, El, but if I've told you once, I've told you ten times since you figured everything out, butt out."

"I will, I will. You didn't answer my question, though. Is your mother doing better?"

"Uh...she's going to a hospital in Springfield, but thanks. I'll be back to work tomorrow, once she's settled."

"What's wrong with her? I asked Chazz, but he pretended he didn't know. I asked Charlie, because she obviously knew, too, but she wouldn't say anything." Elisabeth sighed. "I know---none of my business. Never mind. I don't need to know. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"All right. Thanks, El." Jack hung up the phone, leaving Elisabeth to ponder what was going on...and how did Charlie know what it was? Chazz she could understand because they were roommates, but as Charlie had pointed out herself yesterday, she wasn't as close to Jack as that.

Still, Jack's absence meant she had to deal with Louisa, who wasn't in a good mood due to lingering anger at Caroline for the Friday night debacle. Added to the problem was Darcy, who was nervous over his sister's impending arrival. Elisabeth couldn't blame him---she was as nervous as he was about this first meeting---but she wished he didn't have to work today, because he was making quite a few mistakes which she was having to correct. Thankfully, it wasn't a very busy lunch rush or else she really would've had her hands full.

When business died out, Elisabeth and Darcy took a seat and swiped an uneaten pizza from the buffet for their lunch.

"I hate mushrooms," she said as she picked them out. "This was supposed to be only half with mushrooms."

"I'll take them. Next to pineapple, mushrooms are my favorite topping." Darcy grinned as Elisabeth piled her uneaten mushrooms onto his plate.

"I must be insane to be dating a guy who eats mushrooms and pineapple on his pizza." Elisabeth took a bite out of what was left of her pizza. She swallowed and frowned. "Bleh. I can still taste the mushrooms." She stood up and went to the buffet to survey what was left, but the only thing she would eat was two slices of plain cheese pizza. She loaded up on breadsticks before sitting down again. "I'm going to have to talk to Louisa about overusing mushrooms. Every single pizza but this one had mushrooms on it."

"I heard that complaint from someone today," Darcy commented before taking another bite of his pizza. "And you don't know what you're missing when you leave off pineapple and mushrooms."

"Oh, yes I do. I made the mistake of trying pineapple on pizza once. It was revolting." She bit into a breadstick. Once she'd swallowed, she said, "I suppose you like anchovies, too."

"My perversity only goes so far, although smoked salmon isn't bad on pizza."

"I'm not even going to ask about that. Whatever you do, don't go giving the company ideas about a new topping." Elisabeth sighed and finished off the breadstick. "I'm going to miss this."

"Miss what? Working here?" Darcy seemed surprised. "I always thought you hated this place and worked here because it paid the bills. I didn't know you'd miss it that much."

"I wasn't looking that far ahead. I meant that I'm going to miss working days with you, now that you've been promoted to service leader. You'll be working nights mostly."

Darcy took a drink of his water. "Yeah, I saw next week's schedule. The only day I work is Monday, which is your day off."

"Sean had to do it that way, you know. If Catherine objects to his little end run around the rules, he can at least say that he thought he was doing the right thing, and that we weren't working together. That way she can't drum up any claims of improper behavior."

"Improper behavior? Here?" Darcy grimaced. "God, who would want to?"

"Well, Chazz got written up for making out with Jenna in the parking lot. At the Newton store, there was a story about how the manager who was running the store before I took over had an all-night session with his assistant manager, although I don't think the rumors about the two of them in the freezer could possibly be true. I mean, that's just way too cold to be doing anything like that."

"I'd hope so," Darcy commented. "Still, I don't know why anyone would want to do that here. Planet Earth Pizza doesn't strike me as being a romantic setting."

"It's not, but it does have the benefit of being forbidden. Some people just can't resist." Elisabeth ate another breadstick.

Darcy ate another bite of pizza and took a drink before saying, "I'll miss working with you, too. It's not going to be easy for me, going from working with you and Charlie to working with Bubba, Caroline and Lucy."

"Well, now that we're an official bit of gossip around here, I have a feeling that you won't have to worry about Caroline trying to snag you anymore."

"Are you kidding? She was still trying to 'snag' me, as you put it, after I insulted her on Saturday by turning her down and telling her I didn't find her attractive. I'm sure she sees our relationship as having lost a battle but not the war. She's just biding her time."

"You, Mr. Williamson, are getting paranoid." Elisabeth ate a nibble of her cheese pizza and frowned. She hated plain cheese pizza---it was too bland for her. "But you may be right. Caroline Benson is capable of just about anything. Some days, though, I just like to hope that I'm wrong."

"We'll know soon enough. I work with her tomorrow night."

At the sound of car pulling into the parking lot, Elisabeth sighed and stood up. "I think our break is over," she told him. "Just as well, because I really didn't want to eat that."

Darcy looked at his pizza with regret, but didn't disagree with her.

Darcy got off of work at four-thirty. Ginger had called at three to let him know that her presentation had just finished and that she should be on the road within half an hour. Factoring in traffic, that meant she would be in Effingham before five-thirty, so he changed in the men's room and sat at table fifty-one to wait for her. It worked out well, because Elisabeth was due to get off at five-thirty when Bubba arrived so they could leave as soon as she changed into street clothes. As the time for Ginger's arrival got closer, however, he got so nervous that the door opening had him thinking she'd arrived.

The front door opened, and Darcy started to rise out of his chair until he saw that the person staggering in was Bubba. He cringed a little bit when he saw the man---honestly, had the man never heard of shampoo? Bubba looked like he'd slept in the work uniform he was wearing, although for once in his life it looked clean. His eyes were bleary and bloodshot, and he looked none too steady on his feet.

"Please don't tell me you extended your drinking weekend," Elisabeth said from behind the cash register. She frowned when she saw him and put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I'm not covering for you tonight, Bubba Collins. I have plans."

"This isn't my fault," Bubba explained. "I told Nicky and Josh that I couldn't go out with them last night because I had to be back at work today, but they said I could drive them to their hotel and one thing led to another and...we ended up staying out till almost four-thirty. We went back to my place and...and I don't remember what happened after that."

Elisabeth did not look sympathetic, and Darcy couldn't blame her. "Have you ever considered the possibility that you might be an alcoholic?"

"Naw. Alcoholics go to meetings." Bubba laughed at his own humor, but Elisabeth stared at him in stony silence until he stopped laughing. "Anyway, this won't happen again. They're back in Chicago, or they should be unless they got lost. They probably didn't get lost, or they would've called. But I can't do it tonight, El. I need you."

Elisabeth shook her head. "Forget it. Darcy's sister is due here any time now, and we're taking her out to dinner."

"Why would you care about Darcy's sister? It's not like you and Darcy are together." Bubba rubbed his eyes. "That's against the rules and one or both of you would have to quit. That would benefit me, because I'd get your job and a raise, but..."

"If I were you, I wouldn't finish that sentence. You've already ticked me off, which isn't the best way to convince someone to work for you even if I were considering it. But I'm not." Elisabeth turned away from him to pick up the paperwork she'd been doing before his arrival. "Pepsi came to fix the machine today, but I've already entered the invoice into the computer."

"Great. Excuse me a minute." Bubba walked behind the counter and over to the wait station to make a phone call. He dialed a number and said, "Is George there?"

Elisabeth slammed the paperwork down on the counter. "Don't you dare call that slimeball!" she snapped. "He doesn't work at this damn store anymore!"

Bubba put up a hand to quiet her. "Yeah, I'll hold." He covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his other hand and said, "You're not gonna be here, so what's the big deal? I'll work for him Thursday or something to make up for it and no one will know the difference."

"Sean might, if he calls in."

"I'll call Sean as soon as George agrees to trade with me." Bubba gave her a knowing look. "You're the one with the problems with George, not everyone else. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean we have to dislike him as well."

"I never asked you to dislike him," Elisabeth said. "I don't care one way or the other what the world thinks of him. I'm mad because you knew you had to work tonight and you didn't care. You're always doing crap like this, and I'm always the one having to clean up after you."

"Oh, please. Like you never screw up---hey, George! It's Bubba Collins. You're not working there tonight, are you? Just doing inventory? Well, it's like this." Bubba explained his situation to George and made his request, then listened. He looked over at Elisabeth before saying, "She's getting ready to leave. Apparently, Darcy's sister is coming to town and she's accompanying them to dinner. Don't ask me why...oh, really? How do you know?"

By this time, Darcy was already out of his seat and taking Elisabeth's hand in an attempt to calm her down. "He's right, you know," he said in a low voice. "The minute Ginger shows up, we'll be out of here. Hopefully, she'll be here soon so you won't have to face him."

"I'll have to wait on the slimeball to give him my shift report," Elisabeth said angrily. "Ginger could walk in right now, but I'd have to stay behind. You don't think Bubba's up to sticking around for George, do you? Leave it to Bubba to show up twenty minutes before his shift and then try to get someone to cover for him. He's had all damn day."

"Knowing Bubba, he woke up less than twenty minutes ago," Darcy pointed out.

"No kidding." A burst of laughter from Bubba had Elisabeth glaring at him again. "George will agree to this just to spite me, because he knows I would have to stay."

"Even if he agrees, it doesn't mean Sean will. In fact, I'm willing to bet that Sean's going to be furious with Bubba for pulling a stunt like this."

"I'd like to believe that, but even if Sean gets mad, it won't stop him from agreeing to the scheme. He'd rather have the inconvenience of George being here than Bubba when he's still half-drunk. It would look better for the store." Elisabeth rolled her shoulders as though they ached. Darcy walked back behind the counter and rubbed them for her. "Mmm...that feels good. Don't stop."

"I won't," Darcy promised. "You know, you could call Sean while Bubba's still on the phone with George and explain your side of this."

"That's a hell of an idea." Elisabeth picked up the phone and dialed Sean's number, ignoring another laugh from Bubba. After three rings, the phone was picked up and a little girl's voice answered. "Hello?"

Elisabeth smiled. "Hello, Tasha," she said. "Is Sean there? This is Elisabeth."

"Hi, Elis-a-beth," Tasha said. "I'll get him." The phone was dropped, startling Elisabeth. A minute later, Sean answered. "Hi, Sean. It's Elisabeth, and we've got a problem."

"Bubba hasn't shown up," Sean said dully.

"Oh, he's shown up. And he wants to leave almost as fast as he got here," Elisabeth replied. "He's on the phone with George right now, looking to trade shifts. He said if George works for him tonight, he'll work for George the next time George needs a night off. The problem is, I'm supposed to be off in twenty minutes and I have plans. I don't want to have to wait for George to get here before I leave."

"I see." There was a long pause. "How bad is he?"

"Bubba? It wouldn't surprise me if he had a little hair of the dog before he got here. He doesn't reek of alcohol, but it's obvious that he's still out of it, whether he had a drink or due to the hangover, I don't know. But I can't stay, Sean. Darcy's sister is going to be here and we're going to dinner. She's only going to be in town tonight. Any other time, maybe I'd stay, but not tonight."

"All right, all right, I've got your viewpoint. Let me talk to Bubba."

"Hang on a sec, he's still on the phone with George. They're having a good laugh at my expense. Is it legal for George to be revealing what I had to go through yesterday in his lawyer's office? Isn't there some sort of confidentiality involved?"

"I don't have the slightest clue, Elisabeth. Ask your lawyer."

Elisabeth, hearing more laughter, had had enough. She took a quick look in the dining room, which was fortunately empty, before muffling the mouthpiece of the phone and shouting, "Bubba, quit talking to that slimeball and talk to Sean now!"

Darcy winced---he was still standing behind her.

Bubba muttered, "The witch called Sean. I'll be right back." He put George on hold and frowned. "You have to put him on hold before I can talk to him, Elisabeth."

"Push the button. Our phone system's set up for three-way phone calls." Elisabeth put the phone back up to her ear.

"There better not have been anyone in the store," Sean growled.

"There wasn't," Elisabeth told him. "Bubba's on the phone now."

Darcy could only hear one-third of the conversation, but from the look on Elisabeth's face, it wasn't going well. Her expression continued to darken and her eyes narrowed until he was amazed she could see at all. Finally, she said, "So Bubba gets a free pass for this and I have to change my plans. George will probably take two hours to get here just to spite me. By that time, Ginger will probably have to return to St. Louis and I'll have missed her entirely."

"He promised me he'd get here as soon as possible," Bubba protested.

"Sure he did." Elisabeth twisted around to glare at Bubba again. "I think you should stay long enough to fill him in. That would insure that George gets here fast enough. I'll tell you what's happened, you can tell George, and that'll be an end to it."

"That sounds fair," Sean said. "Bubba, surely you can survive an hour."

"I don't know, Sean," Bubba said in a pathetic voice. "I'm not feeling real well."

"You felt well enough to drag your sorry carcass into work. You can survive an hour. But rest assured, you're not getting a free pass. You can expect to be signing a write-up tomorrow when you come in to work."

"Fine," Bubba agreed. "I'll tell George to get here as soon as possible."

"Fine," Elisabeth muttered, hanging up the phone. She turned back to Darcy. "We're okay. Bubba's going to stay."

"You know, I have a bad feeling that after we went through all that, Ginger's going to be late and we'll be here when George arrives anyway," Darcy said.

"Whatever you do, don't tell Bubba that or he'll try to use it. In fact, pray for the swift arrival of your sister, because I don't think I could bear being around Bubba for very long...and I know I don't to be here when George gets here. Not after yesterday."

Bubba finished talking to Sean and took George off hold. "Get here as soon as you can, would you? Elisabeth insisted on leaving as soon as what's-her-name shows up, so I have to stay behind after she gives me the report so you'll know what's going on." He listened for a few minutes. "Yeah, tell me about it. Well, you're the one who had to screw things up, you know. She'd have stayed if you hadn't---"

"Like hell I would," Elisabeth muttered. "I wouldn't stay for that drunk if he paid me to stay. This isn't the first time he's pulled this crap."

"So you said already," Darcy said, rubbing her shoulders again. "I know why you're so nervous, but I'm not sure that I understand it because you've already talked to her and you know she's a nice girl. She's my sister---how could she not be?"

For the first time in a while, she grinned. "Do you really want me to answer that, Dare?"

"Aha. Got you smiling." Darcy stopped rubbing her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Seriously, Elisabeth, it's going to be fine. There's no reason why anything should go wrong."

"I wish I had your confidence." Elisabeth sighed. "Did you get in touch with your father's family?"

"I sent an e-mail to my grandmother...that sounds so strange to say. But I did get in touch with them and asked for phone numbers. I told them that Ginger and I would talk to them tonight, which is another reason why I'm hoping she gets here soon. We won't have time for supper if she arrives late."

Bubba slammed the phone down and walked over to the cash register. "Give me the damn report," he growled.

Darcy stepped aside and resumed watching for his sister as Elisabeth told Bubba about the day.

"Bennet's Law. It's Bennet's Bloody Law," Elisabeth muttered forty-five minutes later as she swirled the straw in her 7-Up and glanced at Darcy's watch again. "I want something to happen and the exact opposite does. I hope nothing's happened to Ginger. Does she drive well?"

Darcy nodded. "She's very conservative, but that doesn't mean everyone else on the road is. Maybe she got stuck in rush hour traffic or something."

"She was supposed to leave around three, wasn't she? That's a bit early for rush hour traffic." Elisabeth bit her lip after saying that, because she knew taking away one of the possible reasons for Ginger's lateness would only increase Darcy's worries. "I've driven through St. Louis on occasion. The interstate's usually pretty busy no matter what time of day you're driving on it."

"Yeah." Darcy glanced at the parking lot. "I think George is here."

"You're a dead woman, Elisabeth," Bubba muttered as he passed them by. "You could've stayed and I wouldn't have had to put up with this crap for the past hour."

Since Elisabeth had clocked out, business had picked up as Kids' Night had started. Kit was seating everyone as fast as she could and keeping the children entertained---this week, two members of the police department had come by to give the children safety tips. Lucy and Caroline were waiting tables alongside the new girl that had been hired to work nights, Mary Crawford. From the little Elisabeth knew about her, she would fit right in with the Gossip Sisters. She was grateful Mary was working nights, so she wouldn't have to deal with her.

"I'm not responsible for Darcy's sister being late," Elisabeth hissed back.

George strutted into the building as though he owned it. Elisabeth rolled her eyes and exhaled slowly. "What a show-off," she mumbled to Darcy. "Always having to make an entrance, of course."

Lucy stopped at a nearby table to give them their drinks. When she saw George, she groaned. "Oh, God, what's he doing here?"

"Didn't you hear? You're working with him tonight because Bubba's not feeling up to it. Apparently, this is a new system by which Bubba will take over Newton and we'll be stuck with George for the rest of our lives." Elisabeth glanced at George, who was talking with Bubba. The two of them disappeared into the back, no doubt to trash her.

"Can I go home? I think I feel a sudden headache coming on," Lucy muttered just as Darcy stood up suddenly. "Is something wrong, Darcy?"

"I think that's her." Darcy pointed to a young woman approaching the building, looking up to make sure she had the right place. She opened the door and walked inside.

Elisabeth was struck by how stunning Ginger Williamson was. She'd seen a picture of her before, but the pictures had made her seem younger than she was. Not that nineteen was aging, but in the pictures, Ginger had seemed almost child-like. It was obvious from the confident way she walked into the store that there was nothing childish about her, and she wasn't even out of her teens yet. Ginger had a long mane of pale blonde curls that reminded Elisabeth of Julia Roberts' hair in some of her earlier movies to go with dark blue eyes.

"Ginger!" Darcy exclaimed, rushing over to her. He hugged her for a good minute as people stopped to stare.

"Hey, Dare." When the two separated, Elisabeth noticed that Ginger's smile was the same as Darcy's. "Sorry I'm late. I got stuck nearly a rest area thirty miles outside of St. Louis due to an accident on the interstate. From the look I got of the car involved when I passed it by, it was a nasty one."

Elisabeth stood up, left a dollar on the table for whoever would have to clear it, and walked over to Ginger and Darcy.

"How did it go today?" he asked.

"You wouldn't have believed it. They loved the idea. They thought it was absolutely brilliant. I mean, those were the exact words they used. 'Absolutely brilliant.' I personally think they were most impressed with the way Denny Saunders presented it---he's the best. I can only hope to aspire to his level one day. He was head of the project, but never once did he make me feel like I was inferior because I'd been there the least amount of time. And he only made one comment about my age, and it was a nice comment."

Elisabeth noticed that Ginger got a little breathless when talking about this Denny Saunders. From the way Darcy's eyes narrowed, she could tell that he'd noticed this as well.

"That's...nice. So you got the account?"

"Of course we did. Let me tell you, it makes the past couple of months worth all the work. And do you what Denny said to me on our way back to the hotel?"

Elisabeth tuned the conversation out as she saw George and Bubba returning from the back. Bubba was looking more and more like he was about to keel over.

"I'm taking off, man. Thanks a million---I really owe you," Bubba said.

"No problem. Take care." George walked over to the cut table and glanced over the orders that were coming through the oven. He glanced over at Elisabeth and gave her a smile that set her teeth on edge. Of course, she had to give him a smile in return, and she hoped it was as nasty as the one he was giving her. George glanced around the dining room, his eyes freezing when he got to Ginger and Darcy.

The blood drained from his face as he stared at the two, who were paying no attention to him. Elisabeth blinked to make sure that she wasn't seeing things, but before she could take another look at George to see what he was doing, he was heading toward the back, casually telling Chazz that he was going to call up the local DJ to request a song.

What was that all about? she wondered. She shook her head. Probably nothing. Just my imagination. Or maybe George didn't believe me when I said I was with Darcy and seeing us together confirms what I said yesterday.

Elisabeth shrugged it off as someone brushed past her. She realized that they were in everyone's way. "Uh, I hate to break this up, but we should probably take it outside so we're not making customers mad," she suggested to Darcy.

"Oh..." Darcy turned to her and smiled. "Okay. But first, let me introduce you to my sister. Georgiana Williamson, this is Elisabeth Bennet. El, this is Ginger."

Elisabeth extended her hand, but that wouldn't do for Ginger, who hugged her as well. "It's great to finally meet you," Ginger said. "And you're definitely right. We need to get out of the way."

Elisabeth stayed fairly quiet during supper, which they ate at Niemerg's. Elisabeth had almost sighed in relief when their waitress turned out to be an older woman instead of Kimi. At the thought, her gaze had shifted to Darcy, who had winked at her. Obviously, he'd had the same thought.

Ginger and Darcy talked about things Elisabeth had no way of knowing about during supper, which explained her silence. She didn't feel like she should interrupt them while they were reuniting. She knew that if she'd been separated from Jenna for four months, she'd do as much talking as she could at first. (Or she'd have Lydia still talking her ears off, given her younger sister's penchant for chatter.)

Toward the end of the meal, Darcy told his sister what he'd discovered about their family. Ginger listened in silence until he was finished, then said, "It doesn't surprise me that Catherine did all that. Nothing that woman does shocks me anymore."

"Did you ever think of finding them yourself?" he asked.

Ginger nodded. "A couple of times, but I never did. If Catherine had been the only one saying that Daddy's family wanted nothing to do with us, I would've looked for them. But you always said the same thing and it never occurred to me that you were only repeating what you'd been told. I mean, you would've been the one who knew for certain."

Darcy looked guilty. "I didn't remember," he admitted. "I'm having trouble getting over that part of it. I should've..."

"Dare, I don't blame you for this!" Ginger exclaimed. "Don't think for a minute that I do. I blame her. She lied to both of us. Have I told you that I'm proud of you for refusing to return when she told you to?"

"Twice." Darcy smiled sheepishly. "You realize that you're not going to get that allowance she talked about now, don't you?"

"Like I care! When we get back to New York, Denny's already talking of giving me a raise for my hard work on this project. It's not going to be enough for me to live in luxury, but it'll pay off my bed faster. No offense, Darcy, because I know what you've been going through on her promise of giving it to me, but I'd rather die than take another dime from her."

"It's okay. Like I said, I doubt you'll get it, anyway."

There was a pause before Ginger continued. "Have you talked to them?"

Darcy shook his head. "No. I was waiting for you before I did anything except get their phone numbers. I figured we could do that when we got back to my apartment."

"Oh, yeah." Ginger grinned. "Your infamous apartment. This I have to see. Will Charlie be at home?"

Elisabeth had been absently toying with her fork and so it took her a few seconds to realize that the question had been directed at her. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "Yes, she should be."

"And what about Jenna? Has she gotten back together with...Chuck?"

"Chazz," Elisabeth corrected. "And no, they're still apart." Elisabeth grew thoughtful. "But Dare, did you notice last night that she seemed to spend a lot of time staring at him? She looked furious that he invited that girl to Andie's party. I asked her about it, and she said if she'd realized he was bringing a guest that she would've invited Henry." She sighed. "I'm beginning to think that Jack's suggestion has merit."

"What suggestion was that?" Darcy asked.

"That we lock them in a closet until they make up or starve to death."

Ginger laughed in delight. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Something I might do to one of my friends, or a sister, if I'd had one."

"She probably would've done it to you and me if she'd seen the way we were acting around each other when we first met," Darcy told Elisabeth.

"Not necessarily. If she'd seen us when we'd first met, she'd have drawn the correct conclusion, which was that we couldn't stand each other." Elisabeth smiled. "We weren't like Chazz and Jenna at all."

"Are you guys seriously considering that idea?" Ginger asked as Darcy pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket. He took out a five dollar bill and left it for a tip, then stood up.

"No," Darcy said. "We're not." He waited until Elisabeth and Ginger were out of the seats before heading to the register with the bill.

"He's not," Elisabeth corrected. "Charlie and I have just about had enough of the two of them being so childish. I'm not saying I have a lot of room to talk---we won't get into the shouting match I had with your brother on his first day of work---"

"Oh, don't worry. He told me all about it," Ginger said cheerfully.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Elisabeth murmured as they prepared to leave the restaurant.

After a long and slightly awkward phone call in which Darcy and Ginger spoke to no fewer than four members of their father's family, many tears were shed, promises were made to call or e-mail often, and plans were made to get together for the Christmas holidays, Elisabeth and Ginger got the chance to talk to each other. Darcy had disappeared into the bathroom, claiming he needed to wash his hands but in reality to hide the fact that he was crying.

"This must seem bizarre to you," Ginger said as she dabbed at her eyes with a Kleenex. "Our family, I mean. Or maybe just my aunt."

"My family's not exactly from the cookie-cutter mold, either," Elisabeth admitted. "My mother is still undecided on how she feels about my baby. On one hand, she's secretly thrilled to be a grandmother. On the other hand, the baby's illegitimate and the man I'm seeing now isn't the father. And if there's a third hand, she's glad I'm not with the father because she can't stand my ex-boyfriend."

"How would she like things to be?" Ginger asked.

"I wouldn't be pregnant. And if I were, your brother would be the father." Elisabeth placed a hand on her stomach. Almost as though the baby knew where her hand was, she kicked, causing Elisabeth to gasp.

"What's happened? Are you okay? Is the baby fine?" Ginger sounded panicked.

"What's going on?" Darcy asked, having returned from the bathroom with reddened eyes.

"The baby kicked," Elisabeth breathed in awe. "She's been moving around a bit, but this was the first time she actually kicked. It's like...it's almost like she's real, you know? I mean, I know she's real, and she's going to be...I don't know how to describe it." She looked up at Darcy. "I wish you could've felt it."

"Don't worry," Darcy said with a smile. "If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I'll get another chance to feel the baby kick."

Ginger smiled at the two of them. "I never thought I'd see it, Dare," she said. "When you left New York for this place, you were certain you were about to descend into one of the levels of hell. I think you even told me that."

"He did," Elisabeth laughed. "If you knew what it was like working at Planet Earth Pizza, you'd know that it's a lot like hell, in spite of the claims that it's the happiest place on earth next to Disneyland."

Darcy gave her a funny look and sat next to her on the couch. "I've heard that phrase recently."

"Probably because we've all said it at one point or another. I think Chazz was the first one to say it, then Charlie wrote it on her notepad and it just sort of became the unofficial motto of the store. I hope that doesn't offend you, Ginger. I was told that you were the one who came up with the name of the place."

"I did," Ginger admitted. "I loved the food. I still do, can't you tell?"

Elisabeth looked at Ginger's generously proportioned figure with longing. "I wish I had your figure right now. I have this sneaking suspicion that I'll never have that again after the baby's born."

"Try to think positively. I'm sure you'll look great." Ginger smiled. "And no offense taken. If I'd known how silly it might sound, I wouldn't have made the suggestion. Then again, maybe I would've. If I hadn't shown a knack for such things at such a young age, Catherine might not have given me a job when I left college, which would've meant no job at Westendorf now. I've had hands-on experience since I was sixteen, and I thank God for it." Her smile faded slightly. "Oh, no. You know what this means, don't you, Dare?"

"What?" Darcy placed a hand on Elisabeth's stomach, hoping the baby would kick again.

"It means I have a reason to thank Catherine. Without her, I never would've gotten the job and I would be miserable."

"I think we both have reasons to be grateful for Catherine. Without her, I would never have met Elisabeth." Darcy leaned over and kissed her.

"Ugh, stop that." Ginger covered her eyes in mock horror, but her smile gave her away. "Have you two no decency?"

"None whatsoever." Elisabeth grinned. "I'm sorry you're not going to get the chance to meet Charlie. I really did think she was going to be home. She should be, considering the fact that she had surgery Saturday afternoon. I don't suppose you could come back tomorrow, could you?"

Ginger shook her head. "We've got a meeting with a few more people tomorrow---nothing to worry about, Denny assures me, since we got the account. Then we're flying back late tomorrow afternoon. I thought we'd be here a little longer, but unfortunately, we're not going to be. I'm glad I was able to meet you, though."

"The feeling is mutual." Elisabeth was smiling when she said that, but out of nowhere, she shivered and her whole body went cold. She knew herself too well to think that it was just a cold chill. Something was wrong. She stood up slowly. "I think I ought to go. I have to be up early tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Darcy asked. "I hope that we didn't make you feel left out."

"You didn't," she assured him, then gave him a peck on the mouth. "I know you two had a lot to catch up on. I can talk to you anytime. Ginger, it was great meeting you. I hope you get to come back this way sometime soon, or...maybe we'll be in New York, you know."

Ginger gave Darcy a look. "No, I didn't know, but believe me, we'll be talking about that." She gave Elisabeth a hug. "I have a feeling you're going to make a great sister."

Elisabeth's eyes filled with tears which she tried not to shed as she made her good-byes and returned downstairs to her apartment.

Chapter Forty

Neither Darcy nor Ginger spoke again until Elisabeth left the apartment. Darcy was pretty sure Ginger had liked Elisabeth, and her last words to her before she'd left indicated that as well, but now would come Ginger's final judgment. Darcy decided it was just as well that Elisabeth was gone, because he wanted to get this out of the way.

Ginger, however, remained silent. Darcy frowned----was she waiting for him to start the conversation? Or was there something more she wanted to talk about and she wanted him to start? Come to think of it, there was that little matter of that guy at the agency who seemed to be getting too close to her for Darcy's comfort. What was his name? Dennis something.

"Okay, go ahead and say it," Ginger finally said. "You've been dying to make a comment all night about it. Now that Elisabeth's gone and not here to disapprove of anything you might say to me in the guise of brotherly concern, tell me what you've been dying to say."

"Who is this Dennis person?" Darcy blurted out, trying to be careful about where he went with this. "I mean, I hear nothing about him until now, and all of the sudden every other word out of your mouth is his name."

"Denny's a nice guy. He's nothing like...he's nothing like him. Believe me, Denny's as honest as anything and he likes me. Dare, he likes me a lot."

"How old is this guy?"

"Now, I don't want you to get upset..." Ginger bit her lip. "He's thirty."

"Georgiana!" Darcy exclaimed. "He's nearly old enough to be your father!"

"See? I knew it. I knew you were going to go bananas about it. That's why I didn't tell you anything, because I wanted to have this out with you in person. But before you go thinking he's a dirty old man----which he's not, by the way----let me tell you about him. We've been out twice and..."

"There ought to be a rule about such things. He's your boss, Ginger. How's that going to look to people?"

"He's not my boss. He just happened to be the head of the project I was assigned to. Although there's talk that he'll soon be my boss, it hasn't happened yet so technically, this isn't the same thing as you and Elisabeth."

Darcy's mouth gaped open. "What?" he managed to say.

"Well, she is your boss, Darcy. Or would you be her boss, since you're the senior vice-president of a company she works for? It's twisted either way."

"Elisabeth is only a year younger than I am, Ginger, so this isn't the same thing at all," Darcy objected. "We're talking eleven years between you and this guy."

"I know. Believe me, I know. Denny admitted when he asked me out the first time that the age thing bothered him a bit, but he said it was obvious that I was mature for my age and besides, he thought I was very attractive." Ginger sighed. "There hasn't been a guy who thought I was attractive since...since him, Dare. And given how things went with him, I doubt he meant much of what he said to me. I don't know about you, but it's kind of nice to know that someone thinks of you that way. Of course, there have always been thousands of women who thought you were gorgeous, so you probably don't know what it's like. But for those of us who happen to be on the less-than-perfect side of things, having someone to think you're attractive is wonderful."

"Any guy who thinks you're less than perfect..."

"...doesn't deserve me, so you've always said. I don't want a guy who thinks I'm perfect, because I'm not and I can't meet the expectations that come with being perfect. Do you think Elisabeth is perfect?"

"You're trying to get off the topic, Ginger, and it's not working." Darcy gave his sister a stern look.

"We were eventually going to get to Elisabeth, you know, so we might as well bring it up here. Answer my question. Do you think she's perfect? Does she think you're perfect?"

Darcy knew he wasn't going to dodge out of this. "No, I know she's not perfect. And she knows I'm not, either. But in our own way, we're perfect for each other."

"Okay, then. I don't know Denny well outside of two dates and work-related matters, but despite the age difference and whatever else, I'm willing to find out if we're perfect for each other. We might be, but then again, we might not be. I think you'd like him if you met him. He's...well, he's a lot like you, without your polish and your attitude and tastes. Former attitude, I should say. He likes movies and despises art museums. He likes cop shows on TV and he always reads the comics page of the paper before anything else. On our second date, he took me to a Mets game. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'm a Yankees fan, but that can come eventually. I mean...he's really a great, down-to-earth kind of guy. I think our parents would've approved."

In the back of his mind, Darcy had a sudden thought, and the possibility arose that Ginger had, without realizing it, found herself attracted to someone like their father.

"I know your next argument is going to be that I've been hurt before and I'm too young to risk my heart again. Well, consider this----by the time Mommy was my age, she'd married Daddy and you were on the way. Would you say she was too young to risk her heart?"

"No, I wouldn't," he admitted and waited for her to continue her argument. When all she did was stare at him, Darcy realized what it was she wanted. And although he didn't want to say it, because he still had his suspicions about a man in his thirties dating his nineteen-year-old sister, he said it anyway. "You don't need my approval to date someone, Gin. You never asked for it before."

"I know," she said quickly. "Maybe if I had, I wouldn't have ended up with...him."

Darcy's brow furrowed. "I wish you'd tell me who he was. He deserved to get in as much trouble as you did, you know. More, because he was the one who stole the money. If you'd just tell me his name..."

Ginger shook her head violently. "Please. Aunt Catherine chose not to press charges against me, which she'd have to do if you started anything against him. As far as I'm concerned, he's ancient history. I don't want to think about him if I can help it, and this would just bring it all back. Besides, I've got my new job and everything."

"You haven't told Denny about what happened," Darcy concluded.

"No, I haven't. Not yet. I mean, it's just been two dates. If I went around blurting out my whole past to guys, I'd never have a date again."

Darcy refrained from saying that that would suit him just fine.

"At some point, if things progress that far, I will have to tell him because I want him to know the truth. I don't want to run the risk of something happening where he finds out another way." Ginger ran a hand through her hair, glancing at the ends as she did so.

"Who would tell him?" Darcy asked.

"I wouldn't put it past that witch to tell him, just to spite me or to hurt you because it would hurt me."

"She wouldn't----"

"Darcy! Don't tell me you were about to say that she wouldn't do anything like that!" Ginger howled. "After everything she's done?"

Darcy grew thoughtful before speaking. "I don't think she'll want to have anything more to do with us now," he said. "I have a feeling that she'll be coming in person very soon to talk to me, and once I tell her that I have no intention of bowing to her wishes, that'll be the end of it. She won't bother either of us again. Maybe that'll be for the best."

Ginger frowned. "You sound as though you're not sure of that, and you're right. I think she's going to want revenge."

"Revenge for what? She knows when she's lost. She's not going to bother with us anymore, and that'll be it. We'll be as dead to her as Mom was after she married Dad. She never tried to get revenge on Mom, did she?"

"No." Ginger looked reluctant to admit that.

"Okay, then. If and when you decide to tell Denny about what happened to drive you out of De Bourgh Enterprises, do it because you want to be honest with him, not because you fear someone else will tell him first. You'll know when the right time is." Darcy smiled. "I did."

Ginger gave him a hug. "See? This is the sort of advice I like to get from you. Thanks."

"No problem. I just wish you'd tell me----"

"You're beating a dead horse, Dare. Now, just so you know, I give you my approval of Elisabeth. You're allowed to marry her. Have you asked her yet?"

"Uh...no." Darcy was caught off-guard by the sudden change of topic.

"Why not? What's keeping you? She's going to have that baby soon, from the looks of things. Do you want her going into labor on your wedding day? That might throw a wrench into things."

"Ginger, we've only been going out a month. Marriage is a little premature."

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Ginger gave him an angelic smile. "Of course you are. So what's the hold-up?"

Darcy found himself unable to give her an answer.

Elisabeth waited for Charlie to come home that night by napping on the couch. She hadn't exactly been lying to Darcy about being tired, but she'd wanted to talk to Charlie after discovering that she'd left the apartment when she should've been resting. And there was the fact that she was still shivering an hour and a half after leaving Darcy's place. Jenna walked in the door just after nine, a frown marring her lovely features.

"Why are you sleeping on the couch instead of your room?" Jenna asked. "I thought we'd agreed that you would keep your room and Charlie and I would..."

"We did. I'm waiting for Charlie to get home so I can ask her about some things." Elisabeth yawned and sat up. "For starters, I want to know where she is. I want to make sure she's okay."

"Why are you convinced something's wrong? She might've gone over to her parents' house or something." Jenna took a seat in Charlie's chair. She slipped her low-heeled shoes off and sighed in relief, closing her eyes. She glanced over at Elisabeth, who was rubbing her upper arms for warmth. "You don't still think you've got some form of ESP, do you? That cold-chill thing?"

"It's never steered me wrong," Elisabeth retorted. "Just because you don't believe in such things doesn't mean they don't exist. I knew something was wrong before we found out about Matt. I knew before I got demoted. I knew before Daddy came home from the doctor's that the news wasn't good. And I'm feeling it again. Something's wrong, and I'm praying to God that it isn't with Charlie."

"Okay, okay." But it was clear Jenna didn't believe her sister for a second.

"So, what are you so upset about? Another bad day at the office?" Elisabeth asked. "Clients from hell? Co-workers who hate your guts?"

"Ex-boyfriends who are real jerks," Jenna answered. "I can't believe...who was that trollop he invited to Andie's party? For that matter, what was he doing there in the first place? Didn't Andie know that we'd broken up? Shouldn't there be some sort of law about such things? I mean, she's my cousin. She wouldn't have missed him if he didn't come...and with that...that..."

"Didn't we talk about this last night? Why do you care? You're not dating him anymore."

"That doesn't mean he can just go out and throw himself away on such a cheap-looking little..."

"Actually, I think she looked nice. I know those shoes had to cost her a fortune, because they looked like they were real leather." Elisabeth sighed. "I remember when I could afford shoes like that. Long ago and far away. Anyway, if you're going to get all worked up about who Chazz sees, why don't you ask him about it? I'm sure he'd love to discuss Henry with you."

"I'm not going out with Henry to get back at Chazz," Jenna muttered.

"Then why are you going out with Henry? I mean, the guy comes out of nowhere, and all of the sudden, you're wanting to invite him to meet Ma and wishing you'd invited him to family parties. You two are acting worse than a pair of spoiled brats, and the only thing that's wrong with either of you is a stubborn refusal to admit you were both idiots."

"I seem to recall saying something similar to you about Mel, and our mother, and..."

"And despite the fact that I deny it to your face, a lot of the time I privately acknowledge that you're right. You were right about Mel, although Ma is another story. You were right about the way I treated Darcy a few months ago. You were right that it would've been okay to tell Charlie the truth about Darcy and me. But that has absolutely nothing to do with you and Chazz."

"I don't want to talk about me and Chazz." Jenna sighed. "I know what you're trying to do, El, and while it's sweet, it's not going to happen. I know you tried before when you brought him over that day, but...we made some bad mistakes, and they're not the kind that can be fixed."

"Come on, Jen. If Darcy Williamson can fall in love with me after the beginning we had, surely two people who've been in love with each other for quite a while like you and Chazz can work things out."

Jenna shook her head. "If Chazz truly felt we weren't meant to be together, then I have to accept that."

"So you think that if he were to tell you that he still loves you, you'd get back together with him? I mean, I know the reason he broke up with you is because----"

"Because in his heart, he didn't think we were going to make it. Darcy inadvertently brought that fact to his attention, for which I should probably thank him because otherwise I wouldn't have known, but the truth of the matter is, Chazz didn't believe in us. And he didn't think I did, either."

"Let me ask you this. Do you still love him?"

Jenna glared at her. "No. I did love him, but he managed to kill any feelings I had for him that night at dinner. And any that might've been left over died when he flaunted his latest conquest at my cousin's birthday party."

Elisabeth was about to keep needling Jenna about lying to her when the doorknob rattled. Charlie was unlocking the door, and a moment later appeared. Her hair was back to the usual ponytail, although it was a little curlier than usual, but the expression on her face was as bleak as the sky outside.

"It doesn't seem to be anybody's day around here," Elisabeth commented. "Where have you been, young lady? You were supposed to be..." Elisabeth stopped short when she saw that Charlie's eyes were red. She had been crying. Elisabeth felt a renewed chill go through her, causing her to wish she were wearing a heavier shirt.

Oh, God. Someone's hurt. Someone's...dead.

"What's wrong?" Elisabeth asked softly.

"Um...Granny Bess is in the hospital. She had a stroke a couple of hours ago...my mother called. That's where I've been. I...I was going to leave you guys a note, but I got scared that...that she would die and I wouldn't see her again before she did, so I just left and..." Charlie burst into tears. Elisabeth and Jenna were out of their seats immediately to walk her to the couch and give her support.

"How is she?" Jenna asked as Charlie leaned on her shoulder.

"Um...I didn't get to see her. Grandma saw her and she said she didn't look too good. It just doesn't...she was fine the other day when I saw her! How could this have happened so fast?"

"Charlie..." Elisabeth sniffled as her tears fell, "Granny Bess is ninety-four. Despite the way we joke about her living forever, you know as well as I do that it isn't possible. She's eventually going to...to die. And we have to accept that."

"I know," Charlie said in a small voice. "It just doesn't seem like someone who seems so...impervious to death should suddenly be so close to dying. She's overcome so much."

"She might be able to overcome this, too," Jenna said. "We don't know that she won't."

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking of her memories of their great-grandmother. Finally, Elisabeth broke the silence. "Will they let us see her anytime soon?"

"I don't know," Charlie said. "Like I said, my grandma was the only one who saw her. She called the others. Aunt Grace and Aunt Natalie are planning to fly out, but Uncle Law can't fly with his heart problems. He's asked Grandma to keep him up-to-date. I think he's convinced that she's going to pull through again."

"Let's try to think like Uncle Law, then," Elisabeth suggested. "Let's hope she pulls through this, like she has before."

But even as she said the words, Elisabeth had a sinking feeling that this time fate was going to be against Granny Bess.

Jack returned to work the next morning with a forced smile on his face, attempting without success to capture his usual jovial manner. After five minutes, Elisabeth gave him a hug and asked him if he needed another day to be with his mother.

"That's the last place I need to be," Jack said quietly, turning his attention to the large pizzas he was preparing for the school order. "But thanks all the same."

"But if you're going to be worrying about her all day, and she has no one else..."

"Oh, she's got plenty of company," he said with some bitterness. "My sisters are with her today, all of them furious with me because they don't think anything's wrong with her. They're mad because they see me having her put in a hospital as a sign that I'm irresponsible."

"If she's sick, doesn't she need to get the best care she can get?" Elisabeth was confused. She'd never heard Jack talk much about his sisters outside of an occasional reference, usually not good but never this vitriolic.

Jack clenched his jaw. "It's a long story and one I don't really want to get into right now," he said. He paused to take a deep breath, closing his eyes and obviously trying to relax. He was only slightly successful. He opened his eyes. "I'm glad to see you here. I heard on the radio coming in that an Elisabeth Bennet had been admitted to the hospital last night and thought something had happened to the baby. I tried calling your place but I didn't get an answer. You're okay, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My great-grandmother was the one who..." Elisabeth swallowed heavily. "It's the grandmother Charlie and I share, Granny Bess. She had a stroke last night. We heard this morning that she's survived the night, but she's not responding well and...at her age, she might not..."

Jack put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry to hear that." He gave them a quick squeeze before stepping back. "How are you guys doing?"

"Oh, um...we're okay. I felt horrible wrecking Darcy's reunion with his sister for this, but he was wonderful." Darcy had held her for most of the night, contentedly snuggling next to her as she tried to rest. She wasn't sure if he'd gotten any sleep----she knew she hadn't out of fear that she'd wake up to find that Granny Bess had died in the night.

"And...uh, and Charlie?"

"I don't know. Jenna stayed with her." Elisabeth sighed but said nothing more. She didn't want to mention the fact that Charlie had dressed up for him the other night only to have him not show. Put in perspective, it wasn't all that important, and besides, both he and Charlie had enough complications at the moment to hassle with another. However... "Speaking of Jenna, Charlie and I are both starting to think that it would be a good idea to lock her in a closet with Chazz for a couple of days until they straighten themselves out."

Jack smiled for a brief moment. "I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking," he said. "But why now?"

"Because until Charlie showed up last night to tell us about Granny Bess, I had to hear Jenna grumble about how she's over Chazz, but who was that bimbo he brought to Andie's birthday party?"

"Someone he delivered a pizza to, or so he told me. Her name's Paige, and she's very pretty, very nice, and very smart. Chazz gets up to go to the bathroom and she turns to me and asks, 'How long until he realizes he's still in love with this Jenna person?'"

"Hopefully not too much longer, because I'm tired of the two of them acting like children. Even Darcy and I didn't act like that for this long." Elisabeth put lids on the three pizzas Jack had prepared and stacked them up.

"Well, I don't know about that, but my sense of time isn't as good as it used to be. I could've sworn that I was twenty-five just a few weeks ago."

Elisabeth smiled, because if Jack was up to cracking a joke, he was starting to feel a little better about the whole thing. On the other hand, he might still be trying to cover up his problems by trying to be cheerful.

"I'm all for anything that gets him to stop playing Milli Vanilli nonstop at this point," Jack said as he sprinkled cheese on top of the sauce for his next pizza.

"Milli Vanilli?" Elisabeth asked weakly. "Why the hell would he listen to that?"

"You remember that song 'Girl I'm Gonna Miss You?' Chazz did, because it's all I hear. That and 'Blame It on the Rain.' I'm ready to shoot him, but instead I bought earplugs. I'm tired of not hearing important things because I don't want to hear his music. Something must be done."

"Agreed. I got to hear Jenna grumble that she's over Chazz, but who was the girl he was with? She's not jealous, she's just curious. But who does he think he is? And everyone accused me of being bad around Darcy when we first met."

"I thought we just agreed that you were. Fortunately for us all, you got over it and now the two of you are happy together. Now we need to help out these two."

"And after them? This could turn into a job. We could call ourselves Cupid, Incorporated and go around helping out couples who should be together figure out..." Elisabeth gave them an innocent smile when Jack glared at her. "We'll iron out the details later. For now, we have to figure out how exactly we're going to get this plan off the ground."

"I've been thinking about this for a while. I mean, you can't just lock them in a closet at the hospital or anything like that. The doctors and nurses might get mad when they started pounding on the door, demanding to be let out."

"A problem which rules out anywhere public, unless we were to use the freezer out back." Elisabeth grinned. "It would certainly convince them that time is of the essence in getting back together, but I think Jenna would freeze to death before forgiving Chazz now."

"Nah. She just thinks she's mad at him."

"That, Ashley John Middleton, comes fairly close to being a sexist remark. You're lucky I'm not in the mood to shoot you or anything."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you're always saying. And quit calling me Ashley. I know you were the one who suggested to Charlie that she ask me about my real name as punishment for that nonsense with Darcy."

"Oh, no, I didn't. Charlie came up with that all on her own. You know what a nut she is about names. If you hadn't gone to such lengths to hide it, she probably never would've given a damn. How did you get the name Ashley, anyway?"

"My mother was under the mistaken impression that Ashley Wilkes was the real hero of Gone with the Wind instead of the world's biggest wuss."

Elisabeth frowned. Charlie had once bet her twenty dollars that she wouldn't be able to read that whole book. At fourteen, twenty bucks had been a lot of money so even though it had taken her a month to slog her way through it, Elisabeth had actually read the book. "I thought Ashley was the noble guy who married the good girl instead of Scarlett," she said, her memory of the book a little fuzzy.

"He was. But he always buried his head in the sand when trouble came----like when his sister spread the rumors that he was sleeping with Scarlett, he hid behind his wife because she wouldn't believe it was true. Even worse was the fact that he wouldn't even admit he was attracted to Scarlett. You can bet that Rhett Butler wouldn't have hidden behind a woman's skirts."

"So you'd rather have been named after Rhett than Ashley?"

"I never gave much thought to my name when I was growing up. I reached kindergarten and my teacher pulled me aside before class started and asked me if I'd rather go by my middle name instead of my first. When I asked why, she said that there were two little girls in my class named Ashley. It was the first time I realized that the name was feminine, so you'd better believe I said I'd go by John instead of Ashley. I switched schools in the seventh grade and after that, I told people to call me Jack. That's what I've been ever since." Jack shrugged. "It suits me, even if I hate the first name, so I don't think I'd change it. What does any of this have to do with where we're going to stash Chazz and Jenna?"

"I don't know. We somehow managed to lose track of what we were talking about. I think you were grumbling that I used your full name or something to that effect, and here we are."

"Mm." Jack finished adding pepperoni to a pizza and set it aside, reaching for another pan. "Our apartment won't work. There are no rooms you can't get out of."

"That's the same problem we've got at our place. We could use Darcy's balcony, but Chazz would probably break his neck jumping off it. I wish Granny Bess hadn't sold her old farm a few years ago, because then we could've locked them in the garage." Elisabeth's eyes brightened. "I've got it! Charlie's parents have a basement we could put them in!"

"That would work if Charlie's parents wouldn't mind," Jack observed wryly as the back door opened.

"That's not a problem at all. Charlie's father's a truck driver, remember? And she said that her mother went with him again, in spite of the fact that she swore she was never leaving town again because something ended up happening to her girls when she did. Danie's working third shift at the police station and Andie's never home, so we should have the place to ourselves for a few hours."

"Charlie might not go along with this, though. She didn't think it was a good idea at the time."

"I've changed my mind," Charlie called, having been the person who had arrived. "Hi, Jack. How's it going?"

"About as well as could be expected," he replied. "Did you hear Elisabeth's idea of where we should take them?"

"I have, but I don't know how you're going to convince Chazz to stop by my house for something. He's going to sense something's up the minute you suggest it. This would've been a good idea on Monday night when everyone was there for Andie's party."

"True. A golden opportunity wasted," Elisabeth said wistfully. "Oh, well. Getting Jenna there should be no problem----we could just tell her we're going over there to look at some old pictures of Granny Bess and the family. As for Chazz..."

The three of them stood there, all of them thinking of how they might be able to trick Chazz into going to Charlie's parents' house.

"We could always say we're having another midnight volleyball session," Charlie suggested.

"No. He'd invite Paige to come along and that would wreck the whole thing," Elisabeth pointed out. "She may be perfectly nice, pretty and smart, but I don't think she'd appreciate it."

"We could say we're limiting it to staff members only," Jack mused. "But then he wouldn't come because he'd suspect we'd invite Jenna."

"I say we shanghai him. Tell him you're treating him to dinner and then drag him out to the house. Make sure you hide the keys as soon as you get there or he'll try to steal them and make his way back to town."

Elisabeth gave that some thought. "Not a bad idea, but then he'd refuse to go anywhere we asked him to go. The point, I think, would be to have him relaxed until the moment we shut the door on him. Speaking of which, who do want to be in there first----Jenna or Chazz?"

"Jenna," Charlie said. "We can tell her that the pictures are somewhere in the basement, but we're not sure where. You wouldn't want to be down there because of the baby, and..."

"She'll never buy that. I haven't used being pregnant as an excuse for anything so far."

"But she'll volunteer to do it if you say you'll go, and I won't go because the climbing causes me pain right now. So she'll be down there looking for pictures, and then Chazz will show up. We can send him downstairs to look for...I don't know, beer or something. The minute he's halfway down the stairs, we'll shut the door and lock it."

"That sounds like a plan to me, but we still haven't figured out how to get Chazz out to your parents' place," Jack said. "How about if I say we're having a poker party, just the staff? Do you think he'd buy that any easier?"

"It's a possibility," Elisabeth said. "You offer to drive him, though."

"That won't be a problem. I'll just point out how drunk he got at the last poker party." Jack nodded. "How many years do you think we'll do in prison for this stunt?"

"A lot," Charlie said with a laugh. "But if they get back together, it'll be worth every minute."

The lunch rush was a nice one. Not too busy but not too slow, it was one of those days in which the customers were nice, there were very few complaints, and Elisabeth was able to think about the million things that were going on in her life at the moment. Uppermost in her mind was the condition of Granny Bess, of course, and to that end she called Charlie's mother (because she knew her mother could care less) and asked if there had been any change. There hadn't been, to Elisabeth's disappointment. She relayed the message to Charlie.

Elisabeth was surprised to find how lonely the day shift seemed now that Darcy wasn't going to be working with her. Although they'd only been going out a month, they'd been working days together since he'd started and not having him there was a gaping hole in her daily routine. It had been nice to have him around, and now, because of his witch of an aunt, they couldn't work together.

Elisabeth thought of Charlie, which got her to thinking of Jack in spite of what she'd told herself about not attempting to be a matchmaker, and her mind returned to the mystery of Jack's mother. She felt a sharp stab of shame in the fact that she was curious about the woman, because when she got to thinking about it, she realized that she'd never even met Jack's mother. She didn't know the woman's name or anything else about her, except that she was apparently difficult.

Elisabeth knew Jack didn't want to talk about it and she wouldn't feel comfortable asking him about it. The next best thing, she supposed, would be to ask Charlie, who seemed to know what the deal was. When the rush ended, Elisabeth took advantage of Jack's disappearance into the back to prep dough for the night shift to corner Charlie.

"What's wrong with Jack's mother?" Elisabeth asked as her cousin started wiping down the salad bar. Elisabeth was pulling hot pans off the buffet with tongs and putting them on a trolley that she would then wheel into the back to be washed.

"Can't tell you." Charlie studiously scrubbed a sticky little puddle of French dressing. Her refusal to meet Elisabeth's eyes told her a different story.

"Can't or won't?" When Charlie didn't answer, Elisabeth sighed. "I'm not asking because I'm a busybody, Charlie. I'm asking in part because I'm his boss but mostly because I care about him. If something's wrong that we could help him with, either by taking up a collection or...whatever, I want to know."

"Even if I could tell you, El, I'm not sure I would. It's not my place to tell you. Jack really didn't want me to know in the first place, but since I do know, I'm not about to make him any madder by telling you." Before Elisabeth could say anything else, Charlie looked at her. "Please don't ask me again. It's a personal problem that I know Jack would rather no one know about. You wouldn't be asking me about it if he'd been willing to discuss it."

"I didn't ask him. How insensitive do you think I am?"

"Oh, so you don't want to ask him directly, but asking about him behind his back is okay." Charlie scrubbed harder at the wood surface of the salad bar.

"What is wrong with you today?" Elisabeth asked, stung by Charlie's response. "I know you're upset about Granny Bess----we all are----but that's no reason to take it out on me. All I did was ask a question about what was bothering Jack out of concern. You're acting like I'm one of the Gossip Sisters just waiting to print his secrets in some tabloid."

Charlie stopped what she was doing. "I know you're only worried about him," she said. "And I'm sure if you were to ask him, he'd appreciate your concern, but..." She sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me today. Maybe you're right and it's the fact that Granny Bess is sick. Maybe it's this whole mess with Jenna and Chazz. Maybe it's the fact that you've got me thinking things about...about people I never thought about before. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I won't bother you about Jack again, then. Sorry."

"Why were you bothering her about me?"

Elisabeth gasped and whirled around, putting her hand to her chest even though she wasn't nearly that surprised. "I wasn't," she said quickly to Jack, who was leaning against the front counter, arms folded over his chest.

"Then why did you just tell Charlie that you wouldn't bother her about me again?" If they'd been alone, Elisabeth was sure he would've told her what he thought about her, but only because he would've been drawing the wrong conclusion----that she was still trying to hook the two of them up.

"Er...well, I asked her what was wrong with your mother, because I was pretty sure she knew what was going on. I didn't ask because I was nosy, but because you're looking so stressed and I was worried."

"And I wouldn't tell her," Charlie said, getting back to work. "You know why I wouldn't."

"It's okay, Charlie," Jack said quietly. He walked into the dining room and sat down heavily in a chair. "My mother has Borderline Personality Disorder. Charlie knows this because when she was working on the crisis team a couple of years ago, my mother was admitted to the hospital after she...uh, she tried to..."

"She tried to commit suicide?" Elisabeth asked, leaning against the buffet for support.

"Well...she did, but she never intended to die. More often than not, she hurts herself to get attention. The last time before this, when she went to the ER, was when I moved out. She didn't want me to leave and she thought hurting herself would convince me to stay. Instead, my oldest sister Anna agreed to live with her. But now Anna's got a new boyfriend and is thinking of moving in with him, so here comes the suicide threats and self-mutilation all over again."

"So Anna sent her to someplace that would help her yesterday," Elisabeth concluded.

Jack shook his head. "I did. Which is why I'm not there today and why my sisters are. They're all mad at me."

"Why would they be mad at you? I would think they'd agree that your mother needed help if she's going around hurting herself all the time," Elisabeth said.

"No, they don't. They agree that I'm being selfish because I won't move back home to take care of her. They've always felt that what happened to Mother was my fault, because according to them, she didn't start acting this way until our father left right before I was born. According to Anna, our father didn't think I was his child."

"Which is a ridiculous thought, because every single one of you look like him," Charlie said before walking into the back of the store. "And it's even more ridiculous to think your birth was the reason she's got problems. I'm willing to bet she had them long before your father took off. It was your bad luck that the events coincided."

Jack's eyes were staring at the opposite wall, but Elisabeth doubted he was seeing anything. "When I was a kid, I didn't think there was anything strange about my mother. I thought all mothers had spells where they laid in bed for days and said they felt as hollow as an Easter chocolate bunny, or stared in the mirror for hours, telling themselves they were ugly. I thought all mothers had many different boyfriends----something she still does. El, you once called yourself a loser magnet, but trust me, your boyfriends have nothing on the ones my mother's brought home over the years. And she loved them all, passionately, until they couldn't stand it and had to get away, just as my father did.

"When he left, Mother became clingy and distant by turns. She could care less what my sisters did, but instead of hating me for driving him away, which is what my sisters did, Mother became obsessive about me. She had to know where I was at all times. If I went to a friend's house, she called me at least once an hour to make sure I was all right. I wasn't allowed to do things other boys my age did. When I applied for college, she vowed she wouldn't help pay for anything unless I went to Lake Land. The day my acceptance from Illinois came, she started throwing china figurines I'd bought her for Christmas over the years. By the time I left, though, she was ignoring me blatantly and shifting all her attention to my sister Alice, who was still living at home back then. When I was in college, I didn't hear from her. It was like I'd died. After a year, Alice couldn't take it anymore. She moved out and Abby moved in. Same thing happened over and over until I left college. When I graduated, Anna was standing there. Instead of congratulations, she said, 'You're moving back home. You're the reason Mother's the way she is, so it's time you took responsibility for your actions.'"

"And I thought my family was strange," Elisabeth murmured. "I guess that's why you never got a job in your field, despite what you said."

"No, I did have a job for a while. But she would call me there and...and it got to the point where I was spending more time talking to her than I was working. I had to quit. That's when I took the job here and told her if she didn't stop calling me at work, I was going to move out of the house and never speak to her again. That worked, for a while. Then it started all over again, and when I'd finally had enough, I followed through on my threat. So she followed through on hers. I came home and found her lying unconscious on the floor."

Elisabeth was afraid to speak, even though his mother had obviously survived.

"She timed it perfectly. She'd taken the pills knowing when I would get home from work, thus insuring she wouldn't really die. I rushed her to the hospital. They called in Heartland, and that's when Charlie found out. She did the decent thing by telling the person she was supposed to be observing that she couldn't sit in on this one, but she still knew. She assured me that she'd never tell anyone, not only because it was against the law but because she believed I wouldn't want anyone knowing."

"What happened?" Elisabeth asked.

"I told the crisis person who came that I felt my mother needed to be hospitalized, but my sisters insisted that all Mother needed was some rest. Anna said a change of pace might be just the thing, so she agreed to move back home because I was leaving. Mother stayed in the hospital for a few days, made an appointment with a therapist at Heartland and a solemn vow she'd never harm herself again, and went home with my sister. Now, she's right back where she was two years ago, only this time, I refused to pretend that there was nothing wrong with her that some rest wouldn't take care of. She's going to get some rest all right----in a place where she can't hurt herself or manipulate anyone."

"How long will she be there?"

"I don't know. It depends on whether or not she makes progress. If she does, she could be home within a month. If not...I just don't know. She said last night that she wants me to move back in with her, but I can't do it. I can't go back to living my life that way."

"Maybe she could live in one of those houses like the one Charlie works at," Elisabeth suggested.

"That was one option the lady who came to the hospital the other night mentioned. Anna again insisted that we could give Mother all the care she needed."

"But you can't...can you?"

Jack shook his head. "Like I said, I'm not going to try it again. If one of my sisters wants to do it, they're free to try. But not me. My sisters may hate me for giving up on her, but I've done everything I can. I'd spent almost thirty years pretending there was nothing wrong. I don't want to spend another thirty doing the same damn thing." Jack sighed heavily and ran an hand over his thinning dark hair. "I just wish I didn't feel so guilty about what I did."

"You can't do that." Charlie walked back into the dining room and took a seat next to him. "You did what was best for her, Jack. Believe me. I've seen too many cases like your mother's. One of these days, she's going to accidentally kill herself if she doesn't get the help she needs now. She may not mean to do it, but it'll happen just the same."

He nodded. "I keep telling myself that, but then I'll hear Anna's voice or April's and..."

Charlie took his hand. "Listen to my voice, okay? You did the right thing."

Elisabeth stood up quietly, thinking maybe it would be a good idea if she left them alone. She'd pried enough for one day, and wished now that she hadn't. There was a very good reason they had a saying about curiosity and dead cats, she thought to herself as she took the trolley full of pans to the back.

Elisabeth was glad that she, Jack, and Charlie had decided to move on their plan right away, since it seemed to help bring all three of them out of the doldrums they'd been in. Charlie had come up with the idea of making sure there was something for them to eat while they were down there, in case it took a long time. When asked how long she thought it might take, Charlie hadn't been certain, so they'd made sure to have plenty of provisions available.

The plan to get them there worked well. The basement at Charlie's family's home contained so much junk that Jenna hadn't even come close to getting through a tenth of it by the time Chazz arrived. It wasn't until his actual appearance that Elisabeth realized a flaw in their plan. If Jenna heard Chazz talking, she might come up to see what was going on. She whispered the problem in Charlie's ear, making Charlie fly to the television. She turned it up fairly loud to cover the commotion of the new arrivals.

"I never thought of that," Charlie admitted as Chazz walked in the door. "Hey, Chazz."

"Hello, Charlie. How's everything going?" Chazz looked around----presumably looking for Jenna, whose car he had probably seen out front.

"Um...all right. I suppose you'll want a beer."

"When don't I?" Chazz grinned.

"Well, help yourself. There are plenty of leftover beers from Andie's party in the basement fridge if you don't mind walking down some stairs to get them." Charlie flushed beet red, causing Elisabeth to cringe. Why couldn't Charlie be a better liar? Why hadn't she thought to be the one to tell Chazz where he could find the beer?

"Lead me to the basement door." Chazz followed Charlie into the kitchen. Jack and Elisabeth followed close behind in case Charlie needed help. They tried not to follow too close, in case Chazz thought something was up. But Chazz never once turned around to notice them, or maybe he simply didn't care, and he walked down the stairs once Charlie stepped away from the door.

With a swift motion, Charlie pulled the door shut and locked it from the outside. Unless Chazz or Jenna had thought to bring a key, they were trapped in the basement. Elisabeth put an ear to the door in time to hear Jenna snap, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was invited. We are having a poker party tonight, right?" Chazz said, annoyed.

"No! Elisabeth and Charlie and I are going to spend the evening looking at family pictures, as soon as I find the stupid things. I don't know where you get your ideas from."

"From Jack! He's the one who brought me here, telling me we were going to play poker and get drunk. Why would he have brought me here if..."

"Here it comes," Jack murmured as they heard feet stomping up the steps. A moment later, someone tried the door knob. Just in time, the three of them backed away from the door.

"Unlock this damn door!" Chazz followed his bellow with a string of curses, none of them complimentary.

"No!" Jack yelled back. "You two are gonna work this out if it takes you all night!"

"What?!" Jenna screeched. A second set of footsteps up the stairs. "Get out of my way. Let us out! Charlie? Elisabeth? This isn't funny, you know!"

"We're well aware of the fact that this isn't funny," Elisabeth told her sister. "That's why we've taken drastic action. We want the two of you to make up because you were meant to be together, and you know it. Stop being stubborn and make up."

There was a long silence before two sets of fists started pounding on the door.

"You know, I just realized one more thing," Charlie said as the pounding continued. "They could lie to us. They could pretend to make up to get out of there and go right back to hating each other as soon as we unlocked the door."

"We should've installed a video camera. Then we'd know for sure." The door started absorbing heavier blows----Chazz was no doubt ramming his shoulder into it. Jack growled, "Knock it off or you'll hurt yourself!"

"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea," Elisabeth said as the door rattled. "What if one of them falls down the stairs trying to break down the door? And how will we know if they've made up?"

"I say we leave and come back tomorrow morning," Jack replied. "That should give them enough time."

"I say we let them out now because this is a crazy idea," Charlie muttered, grimacing as a particularly hard blow made her flinch. "Chazz isn't a weakling, guys. He could probably take out this door, given enough time and a little help from Jenna."

"We're hoping Jenna has a cooler head and..." Elisabeth's words were drowned out by the screeching of her older sister. "And maybe you're right."

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone on both sides of the door fell silent at the sound of Charlie's voice. Elisabeth remembered how, years ago, she'd scared the living daylights out of the stage crew of a high school play when she was required to scream at the top of her lungs. She grinned and waited for Charlie to continue.

"You two in there, we're not letting you out until you get past your anger and forgive each other for being nitwits. Jenna, you could start by apologizing to Chazz about not inviting to meet your family. Chazz, you could respond by apologizing for misinterpreting Darcy's advice. Things can go from there until you two realize that you're still in love with each other. And if you don't believe you are, then let me ask you this----why did you, Jenna, obsess over that girl Chazz brought to Andie's party? And why, Chazz, did you bring that girl in the first place when you knew Jenna would be there?"

"Bravo, Charlotte," Jack said with a proud smile on his face.

"Thanks," she muttered before raising her voice again. "We're gonna check on you guys every couple of hours until you get things worked out!"

"This is kidnapping, Charlotte Lucas, and you darned well know it!" Jenna shouted. "I'm calling the cops as soon as I get out of here and having all of you arrested!"

"You wouldn't dare arrest your poor pregnant sister!" Elisabeth yelled back.

"No, you're right. You I'm having sent to an insane asylum for agreeing to go along with this harebrained scheme!"

Of their own volition, Elisabeth's eyes darted to Jack, whose face momentarily darkened. He said nothing, however, and murmured words from behind the door made her think that Chazz was telling Jenna not to make that particular threat again. I'm surprised she doesn't know, too. She seems to know everything else, Elisabeth thought traitorously. The thought, however, only strengthened her resolve to leave her sister in the room until she'd made up with Chazz.

"We're leaving!" Charlie called. "We'd love for you two to join us, but we're tired of hearing 'I hate the person I used to love' songs and watching you two use people to make the other jealous. You've only gone on one date with Paige, Chazz, but even she knows you're still in love with Jenna. I'm sure Henry noticed the same thing. So we're going, and the two of you are going to make up. There's food and drinks in the fridge."

A renewed flurry of pounding fists greeted Charlie's pronouncement, and while Elisabeth felt a sliver of guilt for leaving her sister locked in the basement, she walked away with the other two to wait this out.

"I don't think we're going to be able to leave them down there for more than two hours," Charlie admitted once they were seated in the living room. Jack commandeered the remote control and was flipping through channels. "I'm starting to feel really bad about this."

"Me, too," Elisabeth said, relieved that Charlie had brought that up. "It's...barbaric."

"It's the only way they'd ever be in the same room together," Jack commented as he found a baseball game and set the remote down. "Come on, guys. You knew we had to do this."

Neither of them argued with him, but Elisabeth was unable to concentrate on anything. She managed to make herself wait an hour before tiptoeing into the kitchen to listen at the basement door. The banging had stopped, but the door was thick enough that she couldn't hear anything. She walked over to the refrigerator to see if there was anything she might be in the mood to eat.

"I can't believe those monsters did this to us," she suddenly heard Jenna say. Elisabeth gasped and whirled around, thinking that Jenna was in the room although her sister's voice was so faint she knew it to be impossible.

"Aah, they just thought they were doing the right thing." That was Chazz. Elisabeth looked around to see where the voice was coming from and realized that it was coming from the heating vent in the floor. She looked at the floor for just a second before sitting down and putting her ear next to it.

"The right thing? How the hell could you think that locking us in a basement is 'the right thing' to do? It's insane. I could understand how Elisabeth might come up with a plot like this----being pregnant and everything. God, I can't believe I fell for that! She hasn't used pregnancy as an excuse for anything!"

"Is that how they got you down here?"

"Uh-huh. 'The pictures are in the basement, Jenna. Would you mind going and getting them? Charlie can't walk downstairs easily and I think those stairs are a little rickety. I'm afraid I might fall and hurt the baby.' I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot, for all that they said you were." Chazz's voice was softer. "That made me mad, the way they insulted you. I mean..."

"What are you doing?"

Elisabeth put a finger to her lips to shut Charlie up. "I'm listening," she whispered. "You can hear them from this..." Just then, the central air turned on and Elisabeth could hear nothing more. "Well, I could hear them. Turn off that air conditioning."

"As hot as it is? Forget it. Come on. We said we'd give them two hours and we meant it." Charlie held out a hand for Elisabeth to grab on to and helped her struggle to her feet. Elisabeth brushed off whatever dirt she might've accumulated before grabbing a dish of pudding left over from the party and returning to the living room.

After another hour in which Elisabeth noticed Jack and Charlie both glancing at the clock, Jack stood up and said, "I'll go check on them. You guys stay here in case they try to make a run for it."

"Like either of us is going to be able to stop them," Charlie pointed out. "I just had to take a pain pill."

Jack ignored her and walked into the kitchen. Charlie and Elisabeth stayed where they were, both figuring if Jenna and Chazz were so determined to leave, nothing would stop them. But a minute later, Jack returned with a big smile on his face.

"I walk down there and tell them we've changed our minds and they're free to go. They're sitting on that couch you guys have down there, not kissing or anything but just talking. Chazz tells me to get lost and lock the door behind me, so I left."

Elisabeth breathed a huge sigh of relief as she saw a smile creep across Charlie's face. As she relaxed a little more, she thought of how nice it was when things worked out the way you wanted them to. Sometimes, even Bennet's Law could be set aside for a short while.

~~~End of Part Two~~~

Not part of the story: Whew! Halfway through at last! The end is in...er...sight! (Picture a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.) Thanks for sticking with me so far. I do enjoy hearing from you, whether it be through e-mail or on this board, so please respond!

Annie

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