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The next few days went by quickly. The snow which had been falling on the day of Granny Bess's funeral totaled three inches; however, fifty-degree weather on Sunday melted most of it. By Elisabeth's last day on Tuesday, it was almost gone completely although the weather reports were calling for more snow later in the week.
Sean had been nice enough to schedule her to work with Charlie, Darcy, Jack and Chazz on her last day, for which she was grateful. Although business wasn't doing much, at least she didn't have to put up with any crap. As close as she was to having her first real break from work, she didn't want anything to spoil it. And so far, nothing had.
Elisabeth set a pepperoni and Italian sausage pizza on the buffet, looking over the buffet to see if there was anything else she needed. She walked back into the kitchen and told Jack to throw in more breadsticks because they were running low. Jack gave her a quick nod before heading to get that for her. Elisabeth checked the oven and saw that the next round of buffet pizzas were about four minutes away from coming out.
A free second at last, she thought with a smile. She glanced over at Darcy, who was at one of the computers, looking over an order he'd put in. He must've felt her eyes on him because he turned and looked at her. She winked at him. He winked back. She mouthed, "I love you." He told her the same thing.
Then a customer approached the register, and a trio of older men walked into the restaurant. The moment was over. Darcy went to seat the new arrivals as Elisabeth cashed out the lady at the register, giving her a bright smile. By the time she had finished doing that, the pizzas were coming close to being out of the oven. Business was slow but steady, which suited her just fine.
Fifteen minutes later, Elisabeth was wishing business was busier than it was, because Lydia walked in.
Elisabeth hadn't seen her sister since Friday at the funeral. Lydia had attempted to talk to her at the supper, but wherever Lydia had gone, George had followed, and so the last thing Elisabeth had wanted to do was talk to her sister. Today, it seemed, Lydia had left George behind. Might as well get it out of the way, she thought, wishing that Lydia had a bit more tact. At the rate they were going, they'd end up on Jerry Springer.
"Elisabeth!" Lydia squealed, as if nothing was wrong.
"Hi, Lydia. What brings you to my humble place of business today?" Elisabeth slowly made her way over to the buffet to see if anything needed replacing. Since she'd just done this five minutes earlier, there was nothing for her to do.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing, how the baby was, that sort of thing. You know." Lydia smiled. "Mind if I sit at a table?"
"Not at all. Help yourself to the buffet if you'd like."
Lydia needed no second invitation as she grabbed a plate and filled it with breadsticks, slices of cheese pizza and a dollop of cavatini. She took a seat in the smoking section. "Can I get something to drink?" she asked.
"You know where the beverage bar is." Elisabeth pointed a finger at the monstrosity in the middle of the dining room. Lydia gave her a look, which Elisabeth returned. Finally, the younger woman got up and got herself a drink. Elisabeth was called to the register to cash someone out and spent the next few minutes making sure everything was caught up.
When she returned to Lydia's table, she felt a small stab of envy at the gusto with which her sister ate. Lydia could scarf down an entire buffet without gaining an ounce.
"Hungry?" Elisabeth asked, sliding into the chair across from Lydia. She was facing the register so she could see if someone came to cash out.
Lydia nodded and swallowed. She took a drink of her soda before saying, "I haven't eaten all morning. George is a doll, but he doesn't have anything to eat at his place. Well, I guess you'd know that, wouldn't you?"
Elisabeth grimaced. "Not anymore," she reminded her.
Lydia had almost stuck a breadstick in her mouth, but set it down instead. "I know you're probably dying to ask me all about him," she said. "How we met and when we started going out and everything. George thought you might. He told me I should tell you it's none of your business, but you're my sister, Ellie. I can tell you anything, right?"
"Er...I wasn't all that interested in how you and George started going out. You can just keep those details to yourself."
"Are you sure you don't want to know just a little bit of the details? Because if you asked, I'd tell you everything." Lydia smiled winningly.
Elisabeth knew Lydia was dying to tell her about George, although whether it was to gloat that she had him now or because she truly thought Elisabeth would be interested, she wasn't sure. Whatever the reason, Elisabeth didn't want to talk about him. She shook her head.
"Oh, well." Lydia shrugged. "Probably just as well, because you might get jealous and consider taking him back."
"Taking him----" Elisabeth sputtered in shock. "Why would I take him back?"
"He is the father of your baby, isn't he?" Lydia gasped and said, "I didn't mean it like that, Ellie, really! I know he's the father. I didn't mean to imply that..."
Elisabeth bailed her out. "I know what you meant to say. Don't worry about it."
"Oh...okay."
"And just so you know, I don't want him back. He might be the biological father of my child, but as far as I'm concerned, he's done his part and he can go on his way. Darcy's going to be my child's father."
"Yeah, Ma said something about how she'd seen the rock on your finger at Granny Bess's funeral. She said it was about time he asked you to marry him." Lydia ate a bite of pizza.
Elisabeth willed herself not to react to that statement. She'd only heard it about twenty times over the weekend as various relatives asked her about Darcy, including Aunt Grace, who'd had nothing nice to say about the whole situation. Thank God she hadn't known who George was, otherwise things really would've gotten ugly.
"George doesn't talk much about you," Lydia said in between bites of pizza. "When he does, it's not always nice and I have to remind him that you're my sister and I don't appreciate it when he talks about you that way."
"I'm glad to hear that," Elisabeth said, keeping an eye on the front counter to see if anyone needed to cash out. Unfortunately, no one did. "So if he's always insulting me, why are you with him?"
"Because we love each other."
Elisabeth blinked. George Wickham, in love with Lydia? When pigs flew. "You love each other? He told you that?"
"Well of course he did, silly! How else would I know he loves me? We'd only been dating a couple of weeks when he admitted that he'd always kind of liked me and that he wished he'd gone out with me instead of you."
Sending a nonverbal apology to her unborn child, Elisabeth said, "I wish that, too. He's still planning on signing the documents about terminating his parental rights at the first available moment, isn't he?"
Lydia nodded.
"Liddy, you don't think this is a little strange, do you? You're dating the father of your soon-to-be niece."
"But as you just pointed out, he's not going to be the father. As soon as he signs over his rights and Darcy adopts her, she'll be Darcy's daughter."
"At some point, Lydia, Darcy and I will probably tell her the truth. It would be better for her to hear it from us than from someone else. If you're still with him, how do we explain that her real father is her Uncle George?"
"Uncle...but he'd only become that if I married him. I might not love George by the time you decide to tell your baby the truth so it won't matter."
I can't get that lucky, Elisabeth thought glumly. "What does George think about this?" she asked.
"About what? About the baby? He doesn't care. As far as he's concerned, you can have your way about it because he wants nothing to do with it." Lydia took a drink of soda.
"What does he think about Darcy adopting her?"
Lydia shrugged again. "If he thinks something about it, he hasn't said anything to me. But now that you mention it, he did say something a couple of days ago. He asked me if I knew where Darcy was from originally and if he had any relatives. I told him that I didn't know where he was from and as far as I knew, his only relatives were some mysterious aunt and a sister."
Elisabeth thought back to three months ago, when she'd met Ginger. George had been there that night, hadn't he? He'd known that Darcy's sister was coming to town, and he'd seen them together. So why had he had to ask Lydia if Darcy had any relatives?
"I think he wants to be sure that the baby's going to be spoiled rotten but I told him not to worry about that, because Ma was convinced he had lots of money and he was more than willing to spend it on you and the baby."
Elisabeth dimly heard Darcy calling her name. She looked away from her sister and saw three people at the register. As she walked to the register, she tried not to dwell too much on the chill that had run down her back when Lydia had brought up the money.
Darcy brought a plate heaped with slices of pizza and breadsticks into the back room. He smiled at Charlie, who was rooting through her purse for something. He set the plate next to his sofa on a bit of shelf space and eased himself into a chair with a small groan.
"Have I ever told you how much admiration I have for you, Charlie?" he asked.
"For me? Why----a-ha." Charlie pulled her hand out of the purse, holding what looked to be the container for a roll of film.
"Because I don't know how you've done this for nine years. There are days when I wake up and I can barely stomach the thought of coming in here, even though there's a lot riding on this job. But you've done this for so long...and I..."
"You admire the fact that I've been stuck here for nine years? I wish I could say I admired me, too." Charlie popped the lid open. "Okay, you're my witness here. Today is the last day I'm going to have to do this."
"What is that?" he asked.
She shoved the container at him. Darcy peered into it and saw several pills inside. He gave her a quizzical look.
"I'm having my last light treatment today. These are the pills I have to take before I go, and they are quite possibly the most disgusting things in the world. I get nauseated just thinking about having to take them. But after today, I'm praying, I'll never have to take them again." Charlie popped the pills into her mouth and washed them down with water. When she was done swallowing, she made a face of disgust. "Blech! God, those taste awful!" She swiped a breadstick from his plate and bit into it.
"Hey, go get your own," he growled, putting a hand over his plate in case she thought of taking anything else.
"I just wanted the one," she said. "Trust me, if you had to take these pills, you'd be wanting something to get rid of the taste, too." With another bite, she finished off the breadstick.
"Are you excited about your last treatment?" Darcy asked.
Charlie nodded. "You have no idea." She tossed the container back into her purse and pulled out the familiar protective glasses she'd been wearing the first day he'd met her.
"I meant what I said, Charlie. I don't know how you've managed to get through nine years here."
"Neither do I. I just don't think it's worthy of being praised. I mean, most people who work here move on to bigger and better things, or else they're people who can't get better jobs like J.P. and Bubba." She sighed.
"You'll get that job, Charlie. And if you don't get that one, you'll get another one. I wouldn't worry too much about having been here for so long. If nothing else, it proves that you're loyal and you can handle just about anything."
Charlie smiled. "That's true," she said before returning to the front of the store to keep an eye on things.
Darcy had eaten one breadstick and half a slice of pizza when he heard Charlie call in a hesitant voice, "Darcy? There's...someone here to see you. I seated them at table fifty-one."
With a frown, he set his slice of pizza aside. Ginger wasn't supposed to be coming out for another week, when the two of them would be driving to Evanston to meet their family. James hadn't mentioned coming to see him the last time they'd talked, and Charlie would've told him who it was if she'd known.
Darcy wiped his hands off on a napkin, took a quick drink of his soda, and walked out of the back room and toward the front of the store. He passed Charlie on the way and saw the worried look in her eyes. She didn't return his smile.
When he got close to the front counter, his smile faded and the few bites of food he'd eaten felt like lead in the pit of his stomach. Although the woman's back was turned to him, Darcy would recognize the perfectly-coiffed hair anywhere. Sitting across from her was a younger woman of maybe thirty with pale red hair.
"She asked for you specifically," Charlie murmured, making him realize he'd taken several steps back upon recognizing his aunt and Anne Ripley. "And she seemed to know you were here, otherwise I would've handled her for you."
Darcy shook his head. "No. I have to handle her on my own, but thanks."
"No problem." Charlie lowered her voice even more and asked, "Do you want me to try and keep El distracted until they're gone?"
Darcy retreated behind the kitchen wall, just out of Catherine's view. He contemplated Charlie's suggestion for a moment, remembering the phone call Elisabeth had intercepted several months ago. As close as she was getting to her due date, the last thing Darcy wanted was to upset her. "Sean's here, isn't he?"
"Yeah. He's getting ready to do inventory."
"Ask him to have Elisabeth help him out. Ask him if he could distract her from that by...oh, I don't know. Baby names and work-related things. Whatever he does, make sure it's long enough so that I can get Catherine out of here without either of them knowing the other is here."
Charlie nodded. Darcy was about to step back into the kitchen when he felt Charlie's hand on his arm. "Darcy, although I don't know everything that's between you and your aunt, I feel like I should give you some advice. It's not healthy for you to keep bottling up your true feelings for her. You don't like her, and that's fine. But you need to tell her that."
Don't like her? Of course I like her. She's my aunt, I'm supposed to...
Darcy didn't notice when Charlie left to get Elisabeth out of harm's way, because he suddenly realized that he'd wasted tens of thousands of dollars on therapists from the time he was seventeen. His therapists had always made him think that he loved and respected his aunt but that he had difficulty living up to her high standards.
The reality was, he didn't like Catherine de Bourgh and he never had. He'd resented and disliked her from the day she'd been waiting for him to wake up in the hospital. And nothing she'd done from that day to this one had improved his true opinion of her. He'd wasted so much time and money, when all he needed to do was admit to himself what others could see all along. She'd scared, bullied, and blackmailed him all his life, and when he had finally resisted, she'd humiliated him by forcing him to come here. That he was working at Planet Earth Pizza at all was his own fault because he'd let her do this to him.
Now it was up to him to figure out a way to get out.
Darcy flinched when he heard the back door open. He'd been standing in the same spot long enough for Charlie to return. She nodded at him, so at least Elisabeth was taken care of for the moment.
"Be sure to be extra nice to her. It ticks off your enemies when you're nice to them," Charlie suggested, as though she hadn't realized that he'd had a major breakthrough.
"Do you tell that to your clients who had issues with their parents?" he asked.
"We encourage them to be assertive in these situations."
"And are they?"
"I'd hope so, but I couldn't tell you for sure. Most of them don't come back to give me progress reports."
"Well, consider that advice that's about to be taken." Darcy walked over to his aunt's table, each step seeming lighter than the one before it. "Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Dare, and I'll be your waiter today. Have you decided what you would like to order or would you like a few more minutes to decide?"
"Good afternoon, Darcy," Anne said primly, looking at the roll of silverware with something akin to disdain in her eyes.
"You may sit with us, Darcy," Catherine said. "We have business to discuss."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't sit out front when I'm in uniform without permission from my boss. If you would like me to get his permission, it might take a few minutes since he's in the freezer doing inventory."
"What nonsense. I have told you to sit down and you will sit."
"No, Catherine, I will not." Darcy met her astonished gaze, a warm feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't fear, because he'd felt that all too often and knew it well. "I am working at the moment. You wouldn't appreciate it if I took time to sit and visit with someone if I worked in your office, so why should it be all right here?"
"For heaven's sake, Darcy, this is just a pizza restaurant," Anne said. "Things are not as strict in a place like this."
"You're right...but not for me. Besides, aunt, I don't think we have any business to discuss, except for one thing."
"And what is that?"
"I quit."
A light of triumph warmed Catherine's eyes. "I knew it. My dear, wonderful boy, I knew you had reached an end to this ridiculous job! Excellent! You lasted much longer than I thought you would, but in the end..."
"Catherine, I think you misunderstood me," Darcy said calmly.
"I don't think so, Darcy. You said you quit. I take that to mean you were unable to last the year."
"My name is Dare and I would appreciate it if you would call me that."
"Do not be silly. I thought we agreed years ago that you had a distinguished name and----"
"----and we would have no more of that Dare nonsense. But you're wrong, Catherine. You decreed that I be called Darcy and I agreed to it because I felt it would be best to go along with you. But in the last six months, I've discovered that I'm not that boy anymore. I'm Dare Williamson, Catherine. And I quit."
"Yes, so you have said. You're quitting your job with this place----"
"No, I'm quitting my job with you."
For the first time in his life, Darcy had the great pleasure of seeing Catherine de Bourgh speechless.
"Q-quit? You can't quit, Darcy. You're the senior vice-president----"
"The only reason I had any sort of job is because you made one for me. Do you think I liked going into any restroom in the building and hearing someone talk about the way I got my job? And if they weren't talking about that, they were laughing about the mistakes I made."
"You didn't----"
"Catherine, you know even before you say the words that it's a lie. I made plenty of mistakes, because you threw me into a world I had no idea how to live in and expected me to do well. I wasn't allowed to be human. Now I am, and I have you to thank for it."
"T-thank...this is preposterous! You had everything in New York! You had a career, whatever woman you wanted...you had Anne."
"But I didn't have Ginger. I didn't have a life of my own, separate from yours. I didn't have my freedom. I have those things now, because I'm here. You know, when I look back on how I came across to everyone who works here those first few weeks, I'm amazed they didn't lynch me. I was such a jerk, because that's how you raised me to be----if you could call what you did raising me."
"I certainly didn't raise you to disrespect me in this manner!"
"Maybe it's time someone did. Everyone fears you, Catherine. I used to fear you myself. I used to see you as something greater and more powerful than the human race, but do you know what I've discovered? You're just the same as everyone else. You're no better. In fact, there are some that would call you worse. Most people don't manipulate their relatives the way you have. Most of them don't disinherit their heirs because they remind them of a relative they didn't like. Most people don't forbid a brother to see his only other living relative."
"I fired Georgiana because she was embezzling money, not because she reminds me of your mother."
"The fact that you even have to bring it up is proof of why you did it."
"It's your father's blood that's talking now. If your mother hadn't have run off and married that low-life Williamson..."
"Don't insult my father that way!" Darcy snapped. "Ron Williamson was the best father I could've had, and the worst thing that ever happened to Ginger and me was his death. Mom and Dad gave me principles and values, but because they died I forgot them. I became what I would've hated as a child. I became someone like you. That's why I've been tangled in enough knots to frustrate half a dozen therapists in the last ten years."
Catherine's nostrils flared. "So what are you saying, Darcy? Are you saying that you're still intent on working in this...this...place? You're going to stick out the full year?"
"I'm sticking out the year for Ginger's sake, although I suspect because I'm saying this to you now that you'll renege on your agreement to help her out."
"You've got that right. I'll wash my hands of the two of you altogether. She won't see a penny, and neither will you. And if you think that you'll just wait until I die to get my company, think again! I'll leave it to Anne."
"That's your prerogative," Darcy said mildly. "I don't want your company. I don't think I ever did."
Catherine stared at him in shock. "Don't want it? Anne, can you believe what he said? After everything I've done for him and that...that criminal of a sister of his, he doesn't want what I offered him. What sort of person does that?"
"An ungrateful one," Anne replied, just as Darcy thought she would.
In fact, looking at Anne, Darcy had an image in his mind of himself at the beginning of this year. He had been just like her, knowing what Catherine wanted to hear and making sure to say it. It almost made Darcy feel sorry for her.
"Perhaps I have been ungrateful," Darcy admitted. "You did, after all, give me an education and a job when I left college. I've traveled around the world. I've gotten the chance to meet people I never would've met otherwise. For those things, I thank you."
"As well you should thank me!" Catherine seemed slightly mollified.
"But my thanks don't extend to letting you run my life. It's bad enough I let you do it for seventeen years. So while I thank you for the opportunities you gave me, I think it would be best if we had a parting of the ways. You'll never understand why I couldn't be the person you wanted me to be. I don't even know if I understand it myself. Maybe it's my restless, low-life Williamson blood calling me. Maybe it's the memory of my mother, who gave up your world to be with my father. Maybe...maybe it's just me, Dare Williamson. But whatever it is, I'm not going to be your puppet anymore."
Catherine stood up and walked toward the door. "I did not come here to be insulted," she said coldly. "And that's what you've done, Darcy Williamson. You've insulted me. After all I've done for you, after I let your sister get away with theft, this is the thanks I get!"
"Ginger wasn't entirely to blame, and yet I never heard you say you wanted to find the man who actually did it."
"There was never a man! Georgiana made him up so she could pocket the money and blame someone else. You're a fool if you believe otherwise." Catherine smiled, and it was all Darcy could do not to shiver. "What do you think they'd say at Westendorf, if they found out about her?"
Darcy knew he was about to step on very thin ice. "I don't think it would matter to them. You see, Ginger happens to have a very good friend who is in charge of hiring. I mean, they're such good friends that they're almost related."
Darcy hadn't thought it would be possible for his aunt's eyes to get any colder than they were, but he'd been wrong. "I somehow doubt the person in charge of hiring is the head of the entire operation. And it wouldn't take much to ruin whatever sort of reputation she has at that company. Just a word or two in the right ears..."
"I'm sure the press would love to know all the juicy little details of how you've been manipulating your own relatives for years," he said hotly. "I might even have to tell a few notable journals about how you illegally obtained custody of Ginger and me."
This last had been a complete stab in the dark, not anything he thought could be true. But Catherine's eyes went from cold to horrified, and Darcy realized that he'd hit the mark.
"It's true, isn't it?" Darcy asked, as though he'd known all along.
"If I needed any proof that you were absolutely mad, I now have it. You're living in a delusional world, Darcy, and I pity you. But until you get help..."
Darcy laughed in derision. "I didn't wonder until recently why you would be the one my parents named our guardian. You stood united with the Darcy family and made it clear you wanted nothing to do with my mother...or with us. So why would my parents, who had had no contact with you for more than a decade, suddenly decide to name you the guardian to their children? It made no sense. After talking to my Uncle David, who swore up and down that he'd seen the original will naming him our guardian, I realized what you'd done."
"I don't know what lies your head's been filled with, but..."
"No one's filled my head with anything except you. And now that I've been away from you for a while, my head's gotten clear. You and I both know it's the truth, Catherine. I may never be able to prove it in a court of law, but when the facts of the matter are laid out in a multi-page story in every major newspaper across the country, what are people going to think?"
Catherine was silent.
"I guess it's time we played 'Let's Make a Deal.'" Darcy smiled. "You'll continue to keep your silence about Ginger's indiscretion, and I won't tell anyone that you broke the law in order to get custody of us. Neither Ginger nor I will ever bother you again as long as we have your assurances that you'll stay out of our lives. Agreed?" When she didn't answer, he repeated, "Agreed?"
"Agreed, damn you." Catherine gave Anne a glare, as though any of this were Anne's fault, before she marched out of the restaurant. Anne quickly followed her, staying just long enough to give Darcy a pitying look. Maybe he didn't feel so sorry for her after all.
Once the chauffeur-driven car had cleared the parking lot, Darcy breathed a small sigh of relief and leaned against the front counter. Amazement followed relief, and was soon replaced by pride. He straightened up to his full height, and as he walked back into the kitchen area to tell Charlie she could rescue Sean and Elisabeth, he felt like...well, like he was ten years old again, ready to take on whatever life threw his way.
There was a certain amount of fallout from Darcy's final confrontation with his aunt. After the initial glow of exaltation had faded, Darcy found himself facing the reality of his situation. He had just quit a job that not only paid him a six-figure salary, but he had also given up the security he'd had for his future. Sure, it had been great to feel like he was ready to take on the world again. But now that the world was about to knock at his door, what was he going to do? He wasn't going to wait tables for the rest of his life. At least, he hoped he wouldn't have to do that.
The morning after Catherine's arrival and swift departure from Effingham, he'd received a slim Federal Express envelope from her. It didn't surprise him to read the document from her lawyers informing him that she'd accepted his resignation, effective immediately. Being Catherine, of course, there had been language implying that he hadn't exactly left on his own terms, but he supposed he should've expected that. If he'd been thinking, he would've given her his resignation in writing. Then again, look what not thinking had accomplished.
His severance package was surprisingly generous given the circumstances. Darcy supposed Catherine had feared he would reveal her secret if she didn't treat him fairly, even if she claimed to have fired him. The money would come in handy----when added to his savings and stock portfolio, Darcy knew he wouldn't have to worry about work for a while. If he invested it wisely, he wouldn't have to work again. He certainly didn't need to keep working at Planet Earth Pizza.
The thing was, he didn't know that he wanted to leave right now. He didn't want to work there the rest of his life, but Darcy had become attached to the place. He'd found himself there, and for that he would always be grateful. Besides, if he quit his job, what was he going to do? Sit around the house all day and do nothing? Nice though the thought was, Darcy knew he'd go crazy within a day. He already saw it happening in Elisabeth, who had only been gone a couple of days.
The prospect of going out on his own to look for a job, however, was daunting. Unlike most of his classmates at Harvard, he'd had a job waiting for him once he left college. Even when Catherine had been punishing him, she'd seen to it that he had a job. Now he would have to create a resume and go on interviews. He would have to answer questions about why he'd left De Bourgh Enterprises. And since Catherine was determined to be difficult about this, he wouldn't have a recommendation to help him along.
If all else failed, he could go back to college and get another degree. That option appealed to Darcy. There had been many classes he'd been interested in taking while in college, classes that Catherine had vetoed in favor of classes she said he needed to get ahead in life. Darcy thought of the idea of taking an acting class, or a course on Shakespeare, or the Civil War! Perhaps he could get Charlie's advice on the colleges around here.
When he'd told Elisabeth about the confrontation with Catherine, she had been torn between delight that Darcy had finally broken free of his aunt and anger that he had insured she wasn't around to see it. She had a number of things she would've liked to have said to Catherine de Bourgh, even if they would've gotten her fired alongside Darcy, but she'd never gotten the opportunity.
"I was thinking of the baby," Darcy said. "All that stress wouldn't have done her any good, and you're so close to giving birth that..."
"That if I'd gone into labor, it would've been a blessing," she told him tartly. "That's a cop-out, Dare, and you damn well know it."
Of course he'd known it, but since the deed was done, there was no point in arguing about it.
Ginger had been ecstatic. In disbelief, but ecstatic. "Wish I'd been there to see it," she said after a full minute of silence.
"That seems to be a popular comment about this," Darcy grumbled. "Why does everyone wish they'd seen me quit?"
"Because I never thought it would happen," Ginger said without the slightest hint of an apology. "You were her lapdog for so long..."
"Lapdog? I was never a lapdog."
"Uh-huh. Well, I'm glad it happened even if I didn't get to see it. The old witch deserved it, and so did Anne. Do you think they were serious about having her file a breach of promise suit against you? Did you even date that robot?"
"Anne and I accompanied each other to a few company functions. I think we went on a couple of dates, but nothing memorable. At least, not to me. And no, I don't think she'll file the suit." Darcy proceeded to tell Ginger about what Catherine had done.
There was more silence. Finally, Ginger said, "It doesn't surprise me. I told you long ago, I don't put anything past her. She's a good businesswoman. She had to be after Lewis de Bourgh died and she took over the company, but somewhere along the way she lost whatever heart she had."
"You almost sound like you're sorry for her," Darcy said with surprise.
"Don't get me wrong. She's a witch and there's no doubt about it. She has no heart, soul, or compassion. And she had very little of these traits before she became the Ice Queen of the business world...she did side with her father against our mother. But I would imagine she wasn't quite as hard as she is now back then." Ginger paused. "This is not the part where you agree with me that she isn't so bad, just misunderstood, okay?"
"Don't worry. I wasn't going to say anything like that. You're right."
"Dare, are you going to be okay?" she asked.
"I think so," he said quietly, but with confidence. "For the first time, I think I will be. I'll figure something out. Right now, I think I want to concentrate on the baby. I've had to concentrate on a million things at once for too long, and it didn't do me any good. I just want to focus on this one thing for now."
And that, Darcy decided, pushed all other matters aside, at least for the time being.
Elisabeth had been off work for two days, but she was already about to go bananas. Had she really been under the delusion that she'd enjoy having some time off?
It wasn't that she missed work----not exactly. The work part she didn't miss at all. But she missed odd things about working, things that she hadn't realized made the days interesting if not always bearable. The hum of the oven at work. The cranky computers. The dodgy soda machine. And the people! God, how she missed them! Even the Gossip Sisters and Bubba and J.T., which she never would've thought possible. Sure, they were annoying, but anything was better than sitting around Darcy's apartment or her own with nothing to do.
She was tempted to call Sean and ask him if he would schedule her a couple days next week, but she knew she couldn't. As close as she was to her due date, she didn't want to run the risk of going into labor in the middle of a rush. And what if she had a fast labor? She wasn't about to give birth to her baby at Planet Earth Pizza!
So she sat at home, bored senseless. Darcy worked almost every night and had taken to sleeping late out of exhaustion. By the time he woke up, they had very little time to spend with each other. That was another thing she missed about work, seeing Darcy there and talking and joking with him.
Friday morning, the telephone woke her up before the baby did. She briefly hoped Darcy would get up and answer it because she didn't feel like getting out of bed. Snoring from the other side of the bed told her that he wasn't getting up unless she poured ice water over his head. With a heavy and pointless sigh, Elisabeth got out of bed and threw a pillow in Darcy's direction----if she had to get up, so did he. But the pillow missed and Darcy continued to sleep. Elisabeth made her way out of the room, down the hall, and toward the living room, where the phone was.
"Hello," she muttered, her voice thick with sleep.
"Good morning to you, too." It was Charlie, who sounded way too happy for eight-oh-seven in the morning.
"Is there any reason why I'm talking to you instead of lying in bed dreaming about the day when I'm no longer pregnant?" she asked.
"There is. Darcy told me you've been moping around the house for two days, doing nothing and hardly speaking to him. He suggested we do something. I want you to get ready quick because you're coming with me to St. Louis. I'm being set free today, remember?"
"Of course I remembered, by why are you taking me? Why isn't Jack going with you?"
"Jack's working all day, otherwise he would. I'm supposed to call him as soon as we leave the doctor's office. How long will it take you to be ready to go?"
"I don't think I want to go," Elisabeth said with a yawn.
"You're going. Now go take a shower and be down here in half an hour." Charlie hung up the phone before Elisabeth could object to being ordered to do anything. She supposed she could dawdle in the shower, forcing Charlie to leave without her.
On the other hand, Darcy was right. She needed to get out.
Elisabeth darted into the shower and was out again five minutes later. Her hair was going to look awful because she hadn't conditioned it properly, but at least it was clean. She hustled into the spare room, where she kept some of her clothes, and rooted through until she found a violet maternity top and matching slacks. She put them on and tried not to think of herself as a life-sized walking grape. She added socks and a pair of comfortable tennis shoes in case Charlie decided to go shopping. She then went back to the bathroom to dry her hair. She didn't get the job completely done, but it would do. She pulled her damp hair into a ponytail and hoped that time would do the rest.
Elisabeth had just enough time to leave Darcy a small note telling him where she'd gone before walking out the door.
Darcy was awakened by Elisabeth shutting the door. He looked at the clock and groaned. "Too early," he muttered, rolling onto his stomach. Returning to sleep, however, proved impossible. He'd grown too accustomed to having Elisabeth in the bed next to him. After half an hour, Darcy gave in to the inevitable and rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom.
He decided to wait to shower until after he'd eaten, thinking that maybe food would perk him up. At the very least, he could have some coffee. He stumbled around until he'd managed to get a pot going, then walked into the living room to wait until it was finished. Darcy turned on the television and, out of habit, flipped to CNN. He was only half-listening when he heard his aunt's name, which worked better than coffee to wake him up.
"There was a big shake-up at De Bourgh Enterprises yesterday when company owner Catherine de Bourgh, through a spokesman, announced that one of her senior VP's, Darcy Williamson, was leaving the company. Although the reasons behind Williamson's departure are unknown, there's been speculation that he was fired due to substandard performance. An insider at the company told the Associated Press that Williamson disappeared rather suddenly in May of last year and has not been seen since then. Another source, speaking anonymously, told me that the reason was a far more personal one. As you may recall, Williamson is Catherine de Bourgh's nephew and last spring there had been some rumblings about a rift growing between the two, which may have led to Williamson's disappearance and subsequent dismissal. We were unable to reach Williamson for comment, and Catherine de Bourgh has already informed us that she has nothing more to say."
Darcy had little doubt of the identity of the so-called "company insider." It was Anne Ripley, no doubt about it, doing Catherine's dirty work for her. As for the person who had guessed at the truth, Darcy wished he knew who that was so he could thank him or her. He doubted that anyone in the industry believed he had left of his own accord, but at least someone had tried to make him look a little better on his way out the door at De Bourgh Enterprises.
Darcy debated whether or not Anne's inside information qualified as enough of a reason for him to expose what Catherine had done after his parents had died. His first inclination was to say yes. He thought about which newspaper he should call first, or whether it would be better to go on TV. Then he thought of what the ramifications of such an accusation would be. He knew there would be people who would think he'd made it up to get back at Catherine for firing him. It would only make him look worse, and if Darcy had a prayer of finding a job elsewhere, it might be better to let things die down.
Plus, the mudslinging would only harm the company. Despite the fact that he no longer worked there, and he'd hated much of the time he'd spent there, Darcy had made a few friends and they could lose their jobs if the company started having trouble. Accusing Catherine of illegally obtaining guardianship of him and Ginger would hurt the company financially, because people associated Catherine with the company. Darcy couldn't do that, no matter how tempting it was.
The phone rang. Darcy turned the television off and walked over to answer it. "Hello," he said.
"Is this Darcy?"
Darcy pulled the phone away from his ear and gave it a funny look. It almost sounded like Elisabeth's mother on the line. "Um...yes, it is," he said after a moment. "Who is this?"
"It's Elisabeth's mother, Ruth. Is Elisabeth there?"
"No, I'm afraid she's not. She went with Charlie to St. Louis today."
"Oh...is Charlie going to have more of those cancer treatments? I thought she was done with those."
"She finds out today whether or not she'll be done with them, hopefully for good. Is there any message I can pass along to El, Mrs. Atchison?" Darcy asked.
"Yes...well, perhaps you could answer a question for me. You see, ever since you and Elisabeth got engaged, I've been making a few preliminary plans for the wedding. I've already talked to Pastor Abernathy----he's been the pastor of our church since Ellie was a little girl, not that she's been going that much since she was a teenager----and he says he's got a few days available when he could perform the ceremony. The problem is, I've been trying to find a reception hall that would be free on those same dates, and I'm not having any luck. Had you and Ellie talked at all about when you'd like to be married?"
"No," Darcy said, surprised that Ruth was going to bother planning the wedding considering how distant her relationship with Elisabeth was. "Right now, we're trying to focus on one thing at a time. That means we're waiting for the baby to come."
"Well, of course you are. That's the right thing to do. But you have to think about these things, because if you leave them until later, you don't get the things you want. I mean, I always pictured Elisabeth's reception being held at the K.C. Hall, but they're booked up for a year solid. The earliest it was available was sometime in October, and that was the little reception room."
"I don't think we want to wait that long," Darcy said, wishing that Elisabeth was there to field these questions. He didn't want to commit to anything without her being with him. Had their roles been reversed, he was sure she'd say the same thing. And the last thing either of them wanted was to be roped into some spectacle of Ruth's making.
"So you have talked about when you'd like to get married," Ruth accused.
"No, we haven't. But I don't think either of us wants to wait a long time to get married. Ruth, why don't you call tonight when Elisabeth gets home and talk this over with her? Or better still, call tomorrow. Elisabeth and I can discuss it tonight and let you know what we've decided."
"But I was hoping to get a date confirmed so I could call around and see what was available. I won't be able to do that until Monday if you tell me tomorrow."
Darcy grimaced at the tone in her voice. "I can't tell you anything, Ruth. I'm sorry. Elisabeth may decide she wants to take a justice of the peace, if they have such a thing around here."
"She'll do no such thing! I won't be cheated out of the opportunity of planning a wedding. Jenna shows no signs of marrying, not that I think it's so bad since she's obsessed with that Jazz creature..."
"That's Chazz," Darcy corrected automatically. Ruth had a tendency to get Chazz's name wrong deliberately.
"Whatever. Jenna's not getting married anytime soon, and Lydia...well, she's still young. Elisabeth's the first of my daughters to get married, and I'm not about to let her run off to some city hall to get married. I've already talked to Mel and he's agreed to pay for the wedding----I know you could afford it, dear, but we insist."
"We're at an impasse. I can't set a wedding date without Elisabeth here, so you'll have to wait until I speak with her. You could continue to call around and see what dates are available until we come to a decision on when we want to marry."
"I suppose I could, but..."
"Then go ahead and do that. In fact, that might help us make a decision."
"I hadn't thought of it that way," Ruth admitted. "I'll do that, then."
"Good. We'll talk to you later, okay? Good bye."
"Bye."
Darcy hung up the phone with a small frown on his face. City Hall was starting to sound good to him. He wondered if Elisabeth could be talked into it.
The news at the doctor's office was good. Charlie would no longer have to get light treatments. After an excited phone call to Jack, Charlie and Elisabeth had gone to the Galleria to do some shopping. Actually, Charlie had done some shopping, since Elisabeth had already finished hers. Elisabeth waddled around after her, trying not to think of how bad her feet would be hurting later. She was ready to beg Charlie to take a breather when Charlie suggested having lunch. Charlie, for some strange reason, bought a slice of pizza. Elisabeth had a hamburger and fries.
"So, have you given any thought to the wedding?" Charlie asked before biting into her pizza.
Elisabeth groaned. "What, did my mother talk to you or something?"
"No."
"Ever since Granny Bess's funeral, she's been calling me every day. One day, she wants to know if Darcy and I plan to get married in New York. The next time, she wants to know if Darcy's 'society friends' are going to be there. Then she wants to know if I had any thoughts about what kind of dress I want, and do I want to go shopping for it soon?"
"I presume this is where you remind her that you're pregnant and won't be trying on wedding dresses anytime soon."
Elisabeth nodded. "She says, 'I know that, dear, but you could still look for what you want.' I'm beginning to think Darcy and I should just do what your friend Eve did and get married during the week when no one's around. The last thing I want is some monstrosity of a wedding." Elisabeth ate a French fry. "But at the same time, I do want a real wedding. When I marry Darcy, I want a church and a preacher and a reception where there's lots of dancing and fun and embarrassing relatives."
"I could live without the last bit," Charlie said. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." Elisabeth stared at her food. "Ma's already said Mel wants to pay for the wedding. I think she probably badgered him into agreeing, but she says he wants to do it. And I get the feeling that if I want Mel to pay for it, I'll have to agree to whatever Ma wants."
"No." Charlie shook her head emphatically. "That's not the way it works. She had her wedding already----two of them, in fact. This one's yours. You choose what you want and if she doesn't like it, tell her. You've never been afraid to tell her what you think before. If she insists on getting her way because Mel's paying for it, tell her you don't want his money. It's not like Darcy can't afford it."
"I thought it was the bride's responsibility to pay for the wedding. Or her family, anyway."
"We're living in a new millennium, El. You don't have to do what tradition tells you. Besides, I think Darcy would rather pay for the wedding than end up with Ruth running the show." Charlie sipped her soda.
"Yeah." The baby kicked, causing Elisabeth to absently rub the spot where the foot had been. "I've been thinking a little about it. I want Jenna to be my maid of honor, of course, and you and Ginger to be bridesmaids. And Lydia, too, I guess." Elisabeth sighed. "No way to get out of that. Ma would kill me if I didn't."
"How are you going to include Lydia in the wedding without having to invite George?"
Elisabeth frowned. "I'll figure that out when I get there. I could tell her that he's not invited under any circumstances, but if I do that, she'll bring him out of spite. You'd think she'd have more sense, but..."
Charlie gave her a knowing look. "We're talking Lydia here. Sense isn't in her repertoire."
"I know, I know." Elisabeth took a bite of her hamburger.
"Speaking of Lydia and George, has Georgie boy managed to charm your mother into liking him? Or is she still thinking that no one's good enough for her little Lydia?"
Elisabeth swallowed, took a drink of her bottled water, and said, "I think she's coming around. Lovely, isn't it? She thought he was a total jerk when we were together, but now he's a charming young man and he's so crazy about Lydia. Still, yesterday when I talked to her, she had reservations about him because he's just the manager of the Newton Planet Earth Pizza. I don't know why she seems to think that we should be able to marry rich, handsome men. How many of those are running around here?"
"You've got one," Charlie pointed out.
"That's beside the point. I didn't know Dare had money until he confessed that he was Catherine de Bourgh's nephew, and he's no longer with her."
"I'm sure he made plenty of money working for her, though. Right?"
"I guess." Elisabeth shrugged.
"So your mother sees you with Darcy and thinks, 'If Elisabeth can do it, so can Lydia and Jenna.' Never mind that you lucked into Darcy, you've opened the door for them, so to speak. Your mother is probably picturing you and Darcy in some swanky Manhattan penthouse, having cocktail parties full of rich, single men that Lydia and Jenna could marry." Charlie took another bite of pizza. Once she'd swallowed, she added, "Now, isn't that a cheerful thought?"
"Oh, yes. Just one more thing to keep me awake at night, not that I needed anything."
"Why? What's been keeping you up lately?"
Elisabeth contemplated whether or not to tell Charlie her fears about George. "George has been asking Lydia about Darcy's family."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Lydia told me the other day that he'd asked if Darcy had any family. Lydia told him that Darcy had money."
"And so you think George is going to withhold his consent to Darcy adopting the baby unless he gets paid." Charlie got serious.
Elisabeth nodded.
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. If George plays that card, you can give him a very big Yo Mama answer."
"'Yo Mama answer?' Where did that come from?" Elisabeth laughed.
"I read a book where a character used that phrase. I've been dying to try it ever since."
"Okay." Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "What's the answer?"
"Tell him you'll sue him for child support. It's his baby, he should pay for it. And you'll win, meaning instead of getting money, George will have to pay you."
"Then he can sue for custody and visitation rights. Forget it."
"So you're going to pay him if he asks? You can't do that, El. George will never get off your back if you pay him. Let him try to sue you for custody. He won't get it. Trust me. You've got a lot going for you, and he's got nothing. And if he does try to get custody, I'm sure there are at least a dozen people who would testify as that he's a sneaky little jerk who wouldn't be fit to be a father. Not to mention the dozens of people who heard him shouting at you in the bowling alley when he found out you were pregnant."
Elisabeth took a drink of her soda. "I tell myself not to worry about it, but I can't help it. I thought I knew George before this happened. Before, I knew he was a jerk and I could accept that and move on. But then came that meeting and the inquisition he had his lawyer put me through. I wouldn't put blackmail past him, Charlie. And I'm scared that it'll make things miserable for everyone."
"I can't predict what's going to happen," Charlie said, "but I don't see George taking matters that far. George may be a greedy, shallow, selfish jerk, but he knows he's all these things. A baby would mean responsibility. He doesn't want that. If he comes asking for money, take my advice and threaten to sue him for child support. He'll back off."
"I hope you're right. The last thing I want is to have to go through a custody dispute. I'd much rather be spoiling my baby and planning a wedding."
"That's good. Concentrate on the positive." Charlie smiled. "By the way, I've been wondering something since you guys got engaged."
"What?"
"Did Darcy suddenly become the last man on earth? Because if I recall correctly, that was the only condition under which you would ever marry him."
Elisabeth didn't hesitate. She reached for a spare napkin, balled it up, and tossed it at Charlie's head with a laugh.
Elisabeth shared her fears about George Wickham with Darcy, knowing that he'd know she was keeping something from him if she didn't. While he agreed that George might try something, he thought Charlie's idea of hitting him with child support payments was a good counter to any trick George might try. Elisabeth was convinced that the plan had a good chance of success and resolved to put it out of her mind...for the time being. There were other things to worry about.
The weekend Charlie learned that her light treatments were history was also the weekend that Ginger was flying out to spend the weekend with her brother. Ginger was flying to Chicago for two days before returning to New York to finish up a new ad campaign for one of the company's clients. She would then fly back the following weekend to spend the week with Darcy and Elisabeth. Elisabeth had promised her that she'd get the chance to meet all of the family, including Charlie, whom she hadn't had a chance to meet the last time she'd been in town. Ginger had also been promised a grand tour of the Planet Earth Pizza with the chance to meet everyone Darcy had been talking about for months.
The reason Ginger was coming to town this weekend as well as the next was because they were driving to Evanston to meet the Williamson family. Elisabeth had been invited, and was planning to go, although Darcy was terrified that she would go into labor while they were on the highway and far away from the nearest hospital. To be honest, Elisabeth had worried a bit about that, too, but in the end she'd decided to take the risk. Darcy was going to be walking into very unfamiliar territory and would need all the support she could give him.
He also needed someone to read the map, because although he'd been given perfect directions by his Uncle Mike, he had a feeling he would be so nervous he'd take a wrong turn somewhere. Elisabeth's job was to insure that didn't happen.
The two of them set out just after five on Saturday morning. The sun was shining and the temperature wasn't too bad----cold, of course, but that was nothing new. After stopping at Dixie Cream to get a couple of donuts and drinks, the two of them headed out onto the Interstate. They ate their breakfast in silence. Well, Elisabeth ate, anyway. Darcy nibbled at his cinnamon roll and didn't touch his coffee. He kept his eyes firmly focused on the road. His knuckles were gripping the steering wheel so hard that Elisabeth was afraid he was going to have sore hands by the time the drive was through.
"Darcy," she murmured.
"Hmm."
Elisabeth hesitated. She knew he wasn't afraid to ask her when something was wrong with her, but she was a bit more cautious about asking him. She decided she should, if for no other reason than to get it out of the way. He couldn't be this tense when he met his family----he'd probably bite their heads off.
"The steering wheel's not going to run away, you know. You don't have to hold onto it like that." Elisabeth mentally gave herself a smack in the head----levity was not what this situation seemed to call for. Too late now, she supposed.
Darcy frowned at her. "I'm aware of that," he said curtly, but he did relax his grip. Slightly.
Elisabeth decided to wait a few minutes before speaking again. She finished her apple fritter and sipped her hot chocolate. Occasionally she would look at Darcy with worry. Was it her imagination, or did he look more and more like the egotistical jerk she'd first met? She knew that he was wearing his best suit today, because he'd asked her four times whether or not he should go with it or with something less attention-getting. He had rejected Elisabeth's suggestion of nice jeans and a sweater as too casual.
But your father's family is the casual type, she'd nearly reminded him. If he'd been going to meet the illustrious Darcy family for the first time, she would've agreed that the expensive suit was what to wear, but she had a bad feeling he was going to find himself grossly overdressed for the occasion. Lucky for him, she'd slipped two pairs of his jeans, a sweater, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt in with her clothes.
But it wasn't just the clothes that made her wonder about Darcy today. There was something in his behavior today that was very off-putting. Elisabeth didn't want to call attention to it, because she was sure if their roles were reversed, she'd be acting in much the same way. She had no intention of letting him upset her all day, though.
"Are you going to open that map to make sure we don't get lost?" Darcy asked, annoyed.
Elisabeth looked in her purse, which was where she'd put the map. She pulled it out and glanced at their surroundings as they drove by. "Where are we?" she asked.
"Neoga."
Elisabeth almost laughed. They were barely fifteen minutes out of Effingham. "I know where we're at," she said. "Trust me. Up to about Champaign, I'm know where we're at. Beyond there, we'll need the map to make sure we're doing fine, but Dare, I did bring your uncle's instructions on how to get there. We just stay on this road until..."
"Yeah, well, I want to be sure we don't get lost, okay?" he snapped.
Elisabeth felt the hit, but told herself to overlook it. He was just nervous about this meeting. "Fine," she said in a small voice. After a few seconds, however, she knew she couldn't let it pass. "No, actually, that's not fine."
"What's not fine?"
"You snapping at me like that. There wasn't any reason to be so upset. We're not lost. We're not going to get lost, and if we were to get lost, it wouldn't be for at least another hour. So it's not fine that you're already growling at me."
"I didn't growl at you. Trust me, if I growled at you, you'd know."
"Would I be trembling in my shoes? Is that something your aunt taught you to do?" Elisabeth asked waspishly. "I'm sure it was in her training manual somewhere."
Darcy looked over at her for a second before turning his eyes back to the road. "What is your problem today? Did the baby keep you up late?"
"My problem? I don't have a problem, unless it's you. You're the one with the problem. If you're going to be shouting at me the whole trip, then I want you to turn around and take me home when we get to Mattoon, which should be in about ten minutes. I'm not about to spend six hours in a car with you and your bad mood."
"Fine. Then that's what we'll do."
Elisabeth turned away from him so he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. She told herself she wasn't going to cry because he didn't mean to hurt her. He was just nervous. After a few minutes, she composed herself and decided to give it one last try.
"Dare, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing's wrong."
"No. You're not like this. Not to me, not anymore. Something's bothering you and I don't know what it is. Do you remember when I wouldn't tell you how scared I was about becoming a mother? You made me talk to you about that. Now it's your turn. There's something wrong and I want to know what it is."
Darcy stared at the road for a minute. "You'd be nervous if you were meeting your family for the first time, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," Elisabeth admitted. "But this isn't the first time you've met them. It's just the first time in a long time, that's all. To be honest, I would expect this sort of reaction from Ginger, because she doesn't remember them at all. But you do...sort of." And that, she realized, lay at the heart of his irritation. "You still think they're going to blame you because you never got in touch with them, don't you?"
"Wouldn't you?" he asked. "I mean, it's been so long. I know they could understand and excuse the fact that I didn't get in touch with them when I was younger, because I was still under Catherine's supervision. But what about when I got older? Shouldn't I have..."
"We've been through this before. Catherine convinced you that they didn't give a damn about you! She probably piped subliminal messages into your room while you were sleeping, telling you that your father's family didn't care. You were a child. You didn't know any better. Now that you do, you're rectifying the situation."
"What will we have in common?" Darcy asked brokenly. "El, you know that I'm not good at talking to people I don't have much in common with. Look how we started out."
"Well, there are times when I'd be willing to say that we still don't have a lot in common, except difficult families, but we seem to do fine. Besides, we didn't get a bad start because you had trouble talking to people. It was talking too much that nearly did us in."
Darcy groaned, and for the first time, Elisabeth's hopes raised a bit. "Don't remind me," he said.
"Sorry, I had to." Elisabeth wanted to touch him, to let him know she was supportive, but she was afraid of distracting him. "You do have something in common with them."
"DNA isn't enough. You know that just as well as I do. If being related to someone was enough to give you things in common..."
"I see your point," Elisabeth interrupted.
"As a child, I had plenty in common with them, sure. I was being raised in the same kind of environment as they were. Then Catherine decided to play God with my life and changed everything. Much as I might wish it, there's no changing what happened. My life went in a completely different direction from theirs. I'm nothing like these people."
"You think they'll reject you."
Darcy nodded----only once, and only slightly, but enough for Elisabeth to see it.
"If they had wanted to reject you, all they had to do was to tell me in the e-mail I sent them in August that they'd never heard of you. Or that what Catherine told you was the truth and your parents had been estranged from both families. But your grandmother didn't do that, did she? In fact, she made a point of telling you that they never forgot or stopped loving you."
"Of course she's going to say that. She's my grandmother."
Elisabeth didn't say anything for a minute because she wasn't sure what to say. She'd never been one to be at a loss for words, but she had a tendency to say the wrong things and make the situation worse. She didn't want to do that today, because she knew just how much it meant to him.
"It would be easy for me to say that you don't have anything to worry about," she began falteringly. "I'm not the one about to go through this. Well, in a way I am because I'm coming with you and they're going to be asking me about as many questions as they'll be asking you. But they're not directly related to me. Do you remember how nervous I was that night Ginger came to town?"
"No," Darcy said, distracted.
"You do. Do you remember what you told me?"
"I think I said something about how she had to be great because she was my sister. You laughed at that, if I recall."
"You can look at this situation in much the same way. Discount DNA all you want, but I'm guessing you've got more in common with these people than you think. Sure, you have different values and different ways of looking at things, but so do people who've known each other all their lives. If we weren't different, we'd be sheep."
Darcy was silent, his eyes on the road. She noticed, however, that he'd passed the Mattoon exit without turning off the interstate, so apparently he'd forgotten that he'd intended to turn around and take her home.
"I personally don't feel there's anything for you to worry about. From everything I've seen and heard of your relatives not named Catherine de Bourgh, they seem to be a nice, normal family." Elisabeth exhaled slowly. "I know it's been a long time, but they loved you back then. That's more than Catherine could say at the time your parents died. And they still love you now. You've talked to them several times. I think you've been welcomed back to the fold."
"Yes, but...but there's a difference between talking on the phone and seeing someone in person," Darcy said.
"I would think phone calls are harder than face-to-face meetings. To be honest, I've never liked phones all that much. I prefer to be able to look at someone when I'm talking to them. I really wish you guys had gone to meet them before now. Why didn't you?"
"Scheduling conflicts. Ginger's been busy in New York, I've had things going on here, and Mary...my grandmother wanted the entire family to be there for this."
"It's almost like the prodigal son and daughter are coming home," Elisabeth commented. "You see? You and Ginger were important enough for everyone to be there." She paused for a minute. "Are you afraid of what it'll mean, seeing them at last?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by that."
"Well, before today, you and Ginger were sort of on your own. Catherine took you in, but I don't think you could really consider her part of your family. Does that make any sense?"
"Not really."
"Okay, then. When people were to ask you about your family, what would you say?"
Darcy was puzzled, but he answered, "I'd say that I have a younger sister and that my parents were killed when I was a child."
"Exactly. You don't mention Catherine at all. So your mind is set in this little 'my only real family is Ginger' thought pattern." When Darcy started to smile, she frowned. "Don't laugh at this. I may not have a psychology degree like Charlie or Jenna, but I'm trying my best."
"I wasn't making fun of you. I was just thinking that you had a good point. You're right. Catherine isn't necessarily the first person I think of when I think of my family. She wasn't even before I came here. I'm beginning to see where this is going."
"Good. Could you tell me where I was going? I wasn't quite sure if I was making sense and managed to lose my train of thought."
That made him laugh. "You think I'm afraid of becoming part of an extended family. I haven't had a normal family life in so long that I wouldn't know what to do with one. And in a way, I think you've got a point. I don't think I'm scared of it, but I might be. I tend to be scared of a lot of things, only to find out in the end that there was no reason to be afraid."
Elisabeth sat up a little straighter in her seat. "What are you afraid of right now?" she asked.
Darcy passed a slow-moving semi. "Right now, the one thought that keeps going through my head is that the last time I was on the road to Evanston, I never made it."
"Oh, God." Elisabeth hadn't given that possibility much thought. "I'm sorry."
"No reason for you to be. It's not the only thing on my mind, but it's in the top five." Darcy got back into the right lane.
"What else do you fear?" she asked softly.
"I fear that something will happen to Ginger. Something might happen to you. I fear that we'll get there and find out the whole thing's been a joke and the Williamson family has been laughing at us the entire time----I know what you're going to say, but I can't help it. I fear..." Darcy sighed. "I still fear Catherine. I didn't tell you this, El, but the other day I heard on CNN that she's claiming she fired me."
Elisabeth felt fury rising within her. "I really wish you'd have let me talk to that witch. I swear to God, if I saw her right now..."
"Let's not think on that now, okay? I'd just as soon you not go into labor today." He smiled at her. "No offense."
"None taken. I don't really find the idea of going into labor on the side of the road fun." Elisabeth took a drink of her hot chocolate, which had cooled enough to be pleasantly warm. "Should we do something to keep your mind off of your fears?" she asked. "I could do a good impression of Lydia and talk a lot."
Darcy groaned. "You don't have to do that," he said. "In fact, I thought of something we could do. I stuck something in your purse before we left. Did you see it when you got the map?"
"I saw something but didn't notice at the time." Elisabeth reached for her purse and pulled out the baby name book. "Oh, no. I thought we agreed that we were just going to wait until the baby was born and decide what to name her then."
"I never agreed to that. If we wait until the day she's born, we might end up giving her a ridiculous name like...like..."
"Agatha," Elisabeth said sweetly.
"There is nothing wrong with that name," Darcy muttered.
"Yeah, if she was going to be born a hundred years ago. Give it up." Elisabeth thumbed through the baby name book, throwing out suggestions as Darcy continued driving.
They stopped at a McDonald's in Champaign so Elisabeth could use the bathroom. Darcy debated whether or not to order something for the road and decided against it. There was nothing worse than cold fast food, and he wasn't particularly hungry at the moment. When Elisabeth was finished, they got back onto the interstate.
"Darcy, I've been thinking. Do you think we'll always be having to bail each other out of these situations?" she asked.
"What situations?"
Elisabeth took a drink of water from the thermos she'd borrowed from Charlie. "Times when one of us is having a problem and doesn't want to talk about it. We've been together for four and a half months and it seems like lately, communication's become a problem."
"We've had more problems of late." Darcy wished that they weren't in this car, because he had a feeling this conversation was going to require physical contact.
"Yeah, but shouldn't we be talking more when this happens?"
Darcy sneaked a glance over at her, his heart aching at the forlorn look on her face. He reached out with his right hand and squeezed her hand gently. After he put his hand back on the wheel, he said, "Did you have this problem with prior boyfriends?"
Elisabeth shrugged. "I don't know. It's not something I've spent time obsessing over, so maybe. You?"
Darcy nodded. "But then, this is the most serious relationship I've had. Well, you know the details. We went over them at length, if I recall correctly."
"So we did." Elisabeth smiled briefly. "I don't understand it. I never have a problem talking to Charlie and Jenna. Sometimes, with them, the trouble is getting me to shut up. With you, I worry about saying the wrong thing or upsetting you."
"You shouldn't." Darcy thought about how their trip had started out and added, "Most of the time. This morning...I shouldn't have been angry with you."
"I know, and if you promise never to do it again, I'll forgive you." Elisabeth sighed. "It still worries me, though, this problem we have talking to each other. I don't understand it. After all this time, I should be able to say anything to you and not worry about how it would sound."
"I have the same problem." Darcy passed a gray Ford Taurus. "When you think about it, though, it makes sense. Four and a half months seems like a long time until you put it in context with the other people you've known. You're able to talk easy to Charlie and Jenna because you've known them all your life. I talk easier with Ginger than I do for the same reason. In ten or fifteen years, we'll probably be able to predict what the other says before a word is spoken."
"I'm not sure I like that thought. Where would the spontaneity be if we knew exactly what the other person was thinking?"
"That's not what I meant," Darcy said. "I..." He glanced over at her again and found her smiling. "Very funny. You know what I meant."
"I did. I just hope it doesn't take up ten or fifteen years to be able to communicate freely. Although this conversation could be considered a step in the right direction since we're talking about the problem, couldn't it?"
"Yes, it could," Darcy agreed, and the two of them continued to work on this problem the rest of the way to Evanston.