Most Ardently

by Susan Mesler-Evans

  “I’ve known him for years,” she said. “And, Elisa—listen to me. Stay away.”

  “So he did leave because of you.”

  “Yes. And he was smart to do so—if I’d seen him face-to-face, I would have ripped his throat out.”

  Elisa raised her eyebrows. “You hate him that much?” Privately, she took this as a ringing endorsement in Wick’s favor.

  “I despise him. And I’m trying to protect you when I say block his number and hope you never run into him again.”

  “Why?”

  Darcy hesitated. “I can’t tell you,” she admitted. “But—but trust me, he’s scum.”

  Elisa gave her an exasperated look. “Oh, come on.”

  “Listen, a lot of the reason why I hate him is not my story to tell,” she said. “But do you really think I’m so spiteful that I’d try to turn you against him for no reason?”

  “You really want an answer to that?”

  She looked hurt. “I can’t force you to believe me,” she said. “If I could tell you the full story, I would. But you have my word—I’m trying to look out for you. Wick is bad news. Run fast, run far.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Shaking her head, she turned to stare out the window. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she muttered.

  …

  Elisa and Wick texted for the rest of the evening, completely ignoring Darcy’s glowering whenever she pulled out her phone. She was almost a little embarrassed at how giddy she felt every time her phone went off, alerting her to a new text. She’d only just met the guy, and here she was—practically tripping over herself to answer every message. If Lucia were here, she’d definitely give her an earful about how she should be playing “hard to get” and how she should stop throwing herself at him if she didn’t want to scare him off. Personally, Elisa was more a fan of “if you like them, tell them so.”

  Elisa was about to head to bed for the night when she passed one of the studies. Inside was Darcy, on her phone. She would’ve kept walking if she hadn’t heard her say, “Wick’s here.”

  She stopped dead and stood outside the study door, holding her breath. Darcy was still talking to whoever was on the other end.

  “I don’t know how long he’s been here… I haven’t seen him since—yes, yes, since then… I don’t know. I don’t know…” It was strange, hearing her sound this uneasy. “Well, the good news is, at least he’s not there with you… Look, try not to think about it… Has he tried to contact—no? No. Okay, good. Hopefully he’ll keep his distance. I made it very clear to him he was never to interact with any of us again… No, he doesn’t know. He was talking to Elisa… I tried. I tried, okay? She wouldn’t listen to me.” To her surprise, that did sound more like concern than like annoyance. “Look, she’s an adult, she’s free to ruin her own life any way she sees fit… Okay, I’ll call tomorrow. Try not to worry too much, all right? I love you. Good night.”

  She’d never heard Darcy’s voice so soft or so gentle before.

  Elisa quickly slipped away before Darcy had the chance to leave the study, heading down another hall to avoid detection. Her mind reeled with questions. Who was that on the other end? Why did Darcy say Wick would ruin her life? Why would she tell Wick to stay away from her, and why did he listen? And what didn’t Darcy want Wick to know?

  Another text came through. It was amazing how easily one could be distracted by a flattering message. Elisa didn’t dwell on those questions any further—at least, not that night.

  Her only other thought on the matter before heading to bed was wondering why Darcy cared if she dated Wick or not.

  And why do I care that she cares?

  Chapter Eight

  In Which the Benitez Sisters are Reunited

  Elisa had enjoyed her stay at Netherfield Park, but by the time she’d been there for two weeks, she felt herself going a little stir-crazy—which, considering how huge the McMansion was, should not have been possible. Then again, it was hard not to go a little crazy when you were living under the same roof as someone you couldn’t stand yet always seemed to run into.

  And it wasn’t just Darcy. Cora and Louise were as awful as ever and seemed to be getting more obnoxious by the day. She doubted they realized how irritating they were, but no way they even cared.

  Bobby tried to keep the peace as best he could, but between his endless capacity to be accommodating, and Julieta’s complete hatred of confrontation, Elisa often felt like she was the only one willing to call Darcy on her crap. She bit her tongue around the twins, since they were Bobby’s sisters. But the way she saw it, Darcy was fair game.

  It wasn’t just the less-than-ideal company, though. The guest room she had been put up in was lovely, and she’d enjoyed having her own space for once, but there came a point where she just missed her bed. She’d never spent more than a week away from her home before, and even though it was only across town, she really missed it. And she missed her mom, too. Phone calls weren’t the same. Hell, she’d even begun to miss her little sisters. But she’d promised she’d stay until Julieta had recovered.

  The second Julieta said she was feeling better, though, her patience wore out.

  “Morning,” Elisa said, slipping into Julieta’s room. The past couple days had been a huge improvement. Julieta had begun joining the others for meals, and while she was still nauseous and unable to go out, she seemed a little less miserable, and she hadn’t thrown up in a few days. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” Julieta said. “Much better, actually. I feel… nearly normal.”

  “Like…‘ready to go home’ normal?”

  Julieta smiled, nodding. “I think so. Tomorrow we can—”

  “Oh, to hell with tomorrow,” she said, rushing to the closet and pulling down her suitcase. “We’re going home today.”

  Julieta sat up, amused. “You’re really that desperate to get out of here?”

  “You’re not? You’ve been here for almost a month. Seriously, I was starting to think you were either plague-ridden or pregnant.”

  “Elisa, I’m not—” Julieta cut herself off, face flushing. “I’m not… There’s no way, okay? I’ve been very careful. Honestly, I think you just like a bit of drama.”

  “Oh, please, with our family? I think the desire for drama is in my blood. Besides, you’ve been throwing up for a month. I doubt I’m the only one who started to wonder.”

  “Pretty sure you are, actually. I just have a cruddy immune system is all. And it hasn’t been all bad… I mean, it was a month with a guy I really like, being treated like royalty.” Even so, she kicked off her blanket and got up, starting to get her clothes out of the closet.

  “Bobby has been very sweet,” Elisa admitted, “but I’m homesick. You must be, too.”

  “I am.” She sighed. “And I’m sure that without me around to micromanage, Mom’s been going nuts.”

  “Ooh, Mom. We should call her.”

  “I’m going to head downstairs and tell Bobby I’m ready to head home,” she said, pulling on her bathrobe over her pajamas. “You go ahead and pack your stuff.”

  “On it.”

  Elisa practically ran down the hall to her own room and wasted no time in getting ready, shoving all her books and clothes into her bag, with no care for organization. She was nearly done when she heard a voice behind her.

  “I heard a rumor you’re leaving.”

  She jumped. Turning around, she was surprised to see Darcy leaning against the doorway to her room. Her arms were crossed, and she was glowering, as always.

  “Julieta’s feeling better, so we’re getting out of your hair,” she said.

  “I doubt Bobby ever saw you as an annoyance.”

  “I think he may have been the only one.”

  Darcy didn’t say anything, just glanced around the room. Her things were almost fully packed.

  Finally, she said, “Well, I came to say goodbye.”

  “Um, thanks?” Elisa said, confused.

&n
bsp; “I enjoyed having you here.”

  “Thanks,” Elisa said again, mainly because she couldn’t exactly say the feeling was mutual.

  “I’ll see you in Professor DeCaro’s class, then,” Darcy said.

  “I guess so.”

  “I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Fahrenheit 451.”

  With that, Darcy gave an awkward, almost comically formal nod, before walking off without another word. Elisa just stared after her. She couldn’t exactly call the interaction unpleasant, per se, but it was…weird. Of course, almost all of Darcy’s attempts at conversation were weird, when they weren’t infuriating. Or both.

  Sometimes, Elisa couldn’t decide if Darcy was actually a naturally mean person, or if she just never quite got the memo on how human interaction worked.

  If it’s the latter…there might be hope for her yet. Maybe she’s less stiff when it’s just her and Bobby?

  Julieta popped into the room shortly after Darcy left.

  “Bobby says he’ll drive us back over to Longbourn,” she said. “You all packed?”

  “Almost,” she said, checking the bedside table drawers to make sure she hadn’t left anything. “Darcy came to say goodbye.”

  Julieta’s gaze flicked the bag on the bed. “Her body isn’t stuffed in there, is it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut up. I was nice.” Julieta raised her eyebrows. “Okay, I wasn’t mean.”

  Julieta shook her head with a small smile. “Well, hopefully, you can manage to continue to be not-mean long enough to finish packing and meet me and Bobby downstairs.”

  “I’ll be down in five.”

  …

  Elisa called her mother from the car and told her that she and Julieta were on the way home. By the time Bobby had pulled up in front of Longbourn Apartments, she was already waiting out front. She hugged and kissed both of her daughters as soon as they were out of the car, before turning to Bobby, thanking him endlessly for letting them stay with him.

  “It was no problem at all, Ms. Bello,” he said. “They can come back anytime.”

  As soon as Bobby drove off, Mom seized Julieta’s left hand, looking hopefully at her ring finger. When she saw it was bare, she deflated instantly.

  “Damn,” she said. “I was hoping you’d managed to lock him down while you were there.”

  Julieta laughed. “Mom, why would I get engaged and not call to tell you about it?”

  “Oh, allow me to have a bit of hope.” She grabbed one of Julieta’s bags, and the three of them headed toward the elevator. “By the way, Elisa—a couple of your friends are up in the apartment. I may have posted on Facebook that you and Jules were coming back, so they just kind of…showed up.”

  Elisa smiled. “Good to know I was missed—wait. A couple?”

  She wasn’t a girl with many enemies, but she also wasn’t a girl with many friends. She had Charlene, of course, and…

  “Colin,” she said, forcing a smile when she saw him waiting on her couch.

  “Elisa,” he said, looking much more genuinely enthusiastic. He threw his arms around her. “I’ve missed you the past two weeks.”

  “I’ve…missed you, too?” Oh, the lies she told to avoid confrontation.

  “Hey, E,” Charlene said. Once Colin released Elisa, she hugged her, too, though she was much gentler about it.

  “Hey,” she said, now with a genuine smile. “How’ve you been? It feels like it’s been ages.”

  “I’m good. Work is murdering me slowly, but other than that, everything’s good. I missed you, though.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  Lucia, Maria, and Camila swarmed Julieta the second she came into the apartment. Their voices, high-pitched and overlapping, grated against Elisa’s eardrums.

  “Did he propose?” Lucia asked, bouncing up and down on her feet.

  Julieta laughed. “You are so like Mom. No, I am still unengaged.”

  Lucia groaned.

  “By the way, my stomach feels much better, thanks for asking,” she added, rolling her eyes a bit.

  “So what did you even have?” Maria asked. “You were there forever.”

  “Ugh, some virus that’s been going around,” she said with a grimace. “Be glad I wasn’t here. I’m shocked I didn’t give it to Bobby.”

  “Yeah, even for you, that one hit you hard.”

  “Honestly, I was starting to wonder if you had a more…permanent issue,” Camila added, patting her stomach.

  Julieta rolled her eyes, groaning aloud before saying, “I am not pregnant, oh my God.”

  Elisa just laughed, smugly saying, “See? Told you.”

  “Drama queens,” Julieta said. “I am surrounded by drama queens. And Maria.”

  “And your mother,” Alejandra added.

  “I said what I said.”

  While Lucia and Camila continued to bombard Julieta with questions about Bobby, Charlene and Elisa sat down on the couch. Much to her annoyance, Colin sat with them. Unsure of how to politely tell someone to go away, she decided not to say anything.

  “Anything exciting happen while you were over there?” Charlene asked.

  “Well, I mean, there was Darcy, who was… Darcy,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “I doubt she knows how to be anything else.”

  “Yeah, but she’s so…so…”

  “Darcy?”

  “So Darcy.”

  “I know firsthand how irritating she can be,” Colin said. “I remember when we were kids, she would entertain herself by dumping whatever she was eating or drinking at the time down my shirt.”

  Elisa sort of understood the urge but didn’t say so.

  “We spent a lot of time together as kids, though. I remember our mothers used to take us to the art museum in Columbus at least once a month…” He trailed off, before turning to Elisa. She suddenly got the sense he’d been planning whatever he was about to say next. “Say, I haven’t been to the museum in a while, and I think you’d like it. How would you feel about making a trip there sometime? This weekend, maybe?”

  Charlene, right on cue, jumped up from the couch, saying, “I’ll see if Julieta needs my help unpacking.”

  Elisa stammered for a moment, before saying, “Colin, that’s nice of you to offer, but I’m…uh…”

  “Busy?” he asked, looking disappointed.

  “Well—no, but, um—”

  “It’s a beautiful museum,” he urged, “and I get in for free. I’m sure I could get you in free, too.”

  “It’s not about the cost of the date, it’s about—you know, I don’t think you and I would make a good…team. Not like that,” she said.

  “I…understand,” he said. The smile slowly dropped from his face, and the cheerful glint in his eye seemed forced.

  Elisa was pretty sure he didn’t understand but decided not to press the issue. “Thank you for inviting me, though.”

  He excused himself, and Charlene returned.

  “Are you gonna run off every time he does that?” Elisa asked.

  She shrugged. “Probably,” she said. “I could choke on all the secondhand embarrassment, you know.”

  “Good.” She groaned, putting her head in her hands. “I’m really trying to be nice to him, but he’s pushing his luck.”

  “He’s…persistent.”

  “That’s one way to put it. I can’t believe Mom let him in.”

  Charlene shrugged. “He’s obnoxious, but he’s not mean. Besides, he likes your mom’s cooking. I think she enjoys the praise.”

  “Well, if he doesn’t knock this off soon, I may lose my temper, and no one wants that. Besides,” Elisa added with a sly smile, “he has competition now.”

  She sat up, suddenly interested. “You actually managed to meet somebody at Netherfield?”

  “Yes. Well, no, not at Netherfield—at The Hangover. Darcy and I went there after class one day, and I met this guy there.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “George Sedgwick
.”

  “Sounds fancy. He old money?”

  Elisa laughed. “No. He said he works as a bouncer for local clubs and lives in a tiny studio apartment.”

  “Damn. You were so close to making your mother happy.”

  “I don’t think I would’ve been able to stand the shame.”

  Elisa pulled up a selfie Wick had sent her and showed it to Charlene.

  “He’s cute,” Char said. “You guys gone out yet?”

  She shook her head. “No, just texting a lot. But get this—he knows Darcy, and she hates him.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “The plot thickens. She say why?”

  “No. She just told me to stay away.”

  “Maybe she was jealous.”

  Elisa felt her face warming up at the idea, but quickly pushed it away. That’s not what Char means, dumbass.

  “Doubt it. According to Bobby, Darcy’s a hundred percent lesbian, so even if she did date him, she probably wouldn’t care if anyone else did,” she said, shrugging. “Wick ran off from the bar the second he saw her, though, so the feeling’s definitely mutual.”

  “Darcy really didn’t say anything?”

  “Well, she said she was trying to ‘protect’ me when she told me to stay away from him.”

  Charlene frowned. “Okay, that sounds serious. I mean, it’d be one thing if she just didn’t like the guy, but if she actually thinks you dating him would be dangerous…”

  Elisa snorted. “Come on, he seemed totally nice.”

  “So did Ted Bundy.”

  “Oh-kay, that’s…morbid.”

  “I’m not saying he’s definitely a serial killer,” she said, “but if Darcy says it’s a matter of safety, don’t you think you should at least find out why?”

  “I tried to ask her. She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Have you tried to ask him?”

  “No. I didn’t want to make things awkward by bringing up Darcy,” she admitted.

  “Maybe you should. Get his side of the story, at least. Then you can decide for yourself.”

  “Okay.”

  Elisa pulled up her texts and typed out a message to Wick.

  Hey, so, I’ve been dying to know since the day we met…what is up with you and Darcy? Darcy Fitzgerald, I mean. She said she knows you, but I got the impression you two aren’t exactly…friends. —E