Chapter 3 #2
She was not the kind of girl who did one-night stands or hook-ups; she was the dullest, straightest girl who’d ever attended UM.
But she attacked a wealthy, handsome man as if he were a piece of meat and she a starving peasant, and he pushed her away.
How humiliating. He reverted back to the cold, angry man she’d met weeks ago at the football game.
She saw the look of horror on his face when she reminded him she’d gone to a state college.
Not Ivy League. And last night, his look of disbelief that she was getting her master’s at Columbia was obvious.
He looked past her social inferiority just long enough—until cold reality hit him.
She preferred Nurse Darcy, not some cold fish worried about getting an STD from her.
Elizabeth pulled the covers up over her head and sank deeply into the feather pillows. She was asleep within seconds.
Breakfast was a lesson in avoidance. Darcy was up early and out riding when Elizabeth grabbed a bagel and a bottle of juice and went for a walk in what she hoped would prove the opposite direction.
Both were absent when the Hursts and Caroline arrived. One complained of hunger, another whined about foot cramps, and the third wheel was focused on discovering the whereabouts of Charles and his best friend.
Upon her return to the house, Elizabeth was staring at the dizzying stacks of fat-free yogurts and organic smoothies in one of the custom refrigerated drawers when she heard Caroline calling her brother’s name and her heels clicking across the expansive wood floors.
She crouched and quietly closed the drawer.
If she stayed down, she’d be safe behind the enormous granite-topped island.
She heard the kitchen door open. Damn, how low can I go?
she thought, amused at her double meaning.
Then she noticed a tiny label stuck to the drawer: Caroline’s Food.
She started to snicker. Then she heard him.
“C’mon, girl.” Darcy, just back from a walk with Coco, froze in the doorway at the sound of Caroline’s voice.
“Darcy, thank God! It’s so quiet here I was sure we’d walked into some horrible slasher movie and you were all dead in your beds.
” Caroline walked quickly toward him but stopped when she saw the muddy-pawed dog.
She glanced down at her calfskin boots and adjusted her winter-white pashmina.
“I keep telling Charles we need a puppy footbath in the mudroom.”
“My fault. I’ll find an old rag or something.”
“Oh, Darcy, don’t be silly. We don’t have rags.
Take these.” She thrust a wad of paper towels at him.
“Let me go unpack and we’ll meet in the living room.
” In an exaggerated whisper, she added, “You can fill me in on just what my brother is doing with Jane. He’s out of his head over her, and we must do something.
She lives in New Jersey, for God’s sake. ”
“Yes, I know, Caroline. It’s not Manhattan.” Elizabeth could hear his disgust.
“Nothing is, darling. And she’s dragging him back to that godforsaken state college she went to for another football game. Pretty soon, she’ll have him wearing orange sweaters with a giant M on the chest.”
“Caroline—”
“You know you agree with me,” she hissed. “That tomboy sister of hers will probably make sure all of us do too. And it’s not as though you enjoyed your previous ordeal at that stadium.” Caroline snorted and clattered away in her inappropriate footwear.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and clutched the drawer handle. She rose slowly and glanced at Darcy, still standing near the door, holding the leash and the paper towels. His eyes widened when he saw her.
“Um, good morning.”
“Hmm…” She eyed him carefully and turned back to the counter. She pulled open the refrigerator drawer and grabbed a peach yogurt.
“I brought you coffee earlier. You didn’t answer your door.”
“Oh, I’m a heavy sleeper. Or maybe I was in the shower,” she lied.
“I see. How’s your leg?”
“Fine. Thank you for your help last night.”
Elizabeth pulled open more drawers until she found the flatware. She grabbed a spoon and started eating her yogurt. She hoped he’d go away, but Darcy lingered, watching her, until the dog whined and he recalled the need to go clean up her muddy trail.
Elizabeth watched him walk away and then glanced at the clock. She’d spent the hours since dawn embarrassed and angry, but for her sister’s sake, she wanted to rein in her feelings and hold her tongue. She wouldn’t have to see him again after today, and she could endure it until mid-afternoon.
During brunch, her resolve to leave as soon as politely practical only deepened.
Jane and Charles arrived tired, giddy, and nearly oblivious to everyone around them.
They had spent the night in bunk beds in a tiny roadside motel cabin, which made for endless giggling and recitals of summer camp stories.
The other new arrivals were less than pleasant company.
Herb was aggravated by the mud splattering his brand-new Audi, Louisa was annoyed she’d forgotten her Xanax, and Caroline was irritated that Darcy wouldn’t join her in ignoring the Bennet girls.
Perhaps, Elizabeth thought, he was collecting more data on them; he certainly seemed far too intent on staring at her.
Jane swallowed a bite of the fresh-baked bread they’d bought at the motel owner’s adjacent bakery and smiled at her sister.
“Lizzy, I’m going to stay another day or two, okay?
After last night, I’d like to relax today and enjoy the house more tomorrow.
Can you stay too?” Her sisterly stare conveyed more than the stated question; it was a plea for support in the face of the twins’ arrival.
Geez, Janey! “Nope. Gotta get back. Big project.”
“But…”
“And I like the train, no problem.” Liar!
Darcy cleared his throat. “I’m heading back this afternoon if you’d like a ride.”
“No, thank you. I have a round-trip ticket. And I find the train relaxing.” Since when do I lie all the time?
“Do you take public transit to your work?” Caroline asked in a brittle voice. “Don’t you own a car?”
“Yes, I do, but I lent my car to a friend so he could impress his girlfriend’s parents with a six-year-old SUV instead of a motorcycle. It was nice to get some reading done on the train. I like my car, but relying on it all the time is expensive, not to mention bad for my carbon footprint.”
“Your what?” Caroline looked horrified.
Elizabeth smirked. “Oh…you know. My carbon footprint. Like knock-off Jimmy Choos.”
Bingley laughed out loud, but Darcy appeared oblivious as he patted his mouth with his napkin. Jane sent her sister a “behave” look and pouted that they wouldn’t have more time together.
Darcy went searching for Elizabeth right after brunch. She hadn’t looked at him during the entire meal, and she’d ignored his attempts at conversation. Was she angry with him? Was she embarrassed? That wasn’t his fault. Was she feeling guilty because of the boyfriend? Again, not his fault.
He wanted to talk to her, to seek out her feelings about what had occurred between them.
He knew the smart thing was to avoid her, but he couldn’t just walk away.
Not yet. He would put her out of his mind tomorrow.
He’d resolved that much in the wee hours once he realized how close he’d come to losing himself in the moment.
A sofa in someone else’s house wasn’t the place for sex, and as sharp and witty as Elizabeth appeared to be, she’d put him in an altogether uncomfortable situation.
Or maybe he’d let her put him in it. The latter option was one he wasn’t sure bore further exploration.
Whatever Darcy was, he wasn’t vulnerable to women, especially tipsy, sharp-tongued ones.
Especially one who kissed as well as she did.
Anyway, he didn’t want to dwell on the details.
It hardly mattered who was more at fault, but it was only proper to maintain cordiality and display his manners.
And perhaps buy her a proper dinner. Or at least give her a ride home.
Get some closure. It was all a bit confusing. He hated being confused.
He found her in the barn, sitting on a bale of hay. The black kitten was curled in her lap.
“Are you taking that one home with you?”
“What?” She looked up, surprised.
“The kitten. Black cats have a hard time finding homes. Same with black dogs. People can’t see their faces. They prefer lighter fur.”
“Uh, I wasn’t…I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on it.” Elizabeth stared at him as if he had two heads.
“I don’t think you can if you take the train. Take the kitten, I mean. Amtrak wouldn’t allow it.”
“Well then, I have no worries.” She mumbled something that might have been, “You don’t either.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Darcy took a deep breath and stepped closer. “I wanted to talk to you. I couldn’t find you this morning, and it’s been a bit hectic here…”
Elizabeth shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about. Like I said, no worries.”
With no other hay bales close at hand, Darcy knelt in front of her and gripped the hayloft ladder for balance. He sought her eyes but she kept them focused on the kitten. “I’m not worried,” he said. “I’m just— Look. About what happened, I don’t do that. I don’t casually sleep around.”
She finally looked at him. “What happened between us was wrong on so many levels, and there are too many cheap excuses for it. Drugs, drink, abandonment, pain, heartache. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to remember it. I want to forget it ever happened. Okay?”
“Excuse me?”
“We just made out. It’s not like we had sex or a mind meld or something. It was a lapse in judgment.”
Darcy’s eyes widened. A lapse in judgment? Whatever he’d been expecting, it hadn’t been that.
“That’s it, then? Move on and forget it?”
She nodded and leaned over, putting the kitten on the barn floor. “Honestly, I can barely remember most of it.”
“Fine.” He closed his eyes and nodded.
“Fine,” she replied, and walked out the door.
Except it wasn’t fine at all.