Driving Miss Darcy

by Gigi Blume

  Mom prepared the trundle in Vicky’s room for Georgia and warned us not to stay up too late before leaving us alone. Georgia and I sat by the fireplace after everyone had gone to sleep, listening to Christmas music at a low volume. I knew we had an early start in the morning, but I couldn’t tear myself away from her. She was effervescent in the glow of the crackling fire and the red chili pepper lights on our tree. It was good to be home for Christmas. And with Georgia, it was the most perfect Christmas I could hope for.

  We curled on the sofa watching the fire dance to the soft music, whispering to one another and laughing at all our adventures. Every time she smiled I captured her mouth, pressing her lips with sweet kisses. She was the one. I was certain of it, more than I had ever been sure of anything in my life. It took every ounce of willpower not to blurt I love you in between kisses. That would scare her off for sure.

  We spent long moments just studying each other’s features. She caressed her fingers along my forearm. I twisted a lock of her soft hair. Her gaze drifted along every inch of my face, watching me. There was a whole world in her eyes. Would I find a place for me in there?

  “I want to give you your present now,” I said, reaching for one of my shopping bags. “I didn’t have time to wrap it.”

  Georgia furrowed her brows. “I didn’t get you anything.”

  “Yes you did.” I kissed her. “You gave me a Christmas Miracle.”

  She snorted and nudged my knee. “You know what I mean.”

  “It’s just a little trinket. You’re gonna laugh. Here.”

  She took the present and felt for the contents inside. Her fingers squeezed at the cardboard box through the paper bag as if she could take a guess what it might be then shook it by her ear.

  “I think you’ll be disappointed after all this hype. Open it.”

  She smirked at me and ripped the bag to shreds, crumpled it up in a ball and threw it at me. Then her eyes grew wide when she saw the box.

  “I love it,” she gasped, tearing open the lid. She took the gift from the box and unwrapped it from the plastic. “It’s so cute.”

  It was pretty nice, actually. I wasn’t sure what the miniature replica of Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree would look like out of the package considering it was roughly the size of a teacup, but I was pleasantly surprised at the detail. It was supposed to be a gag gift, but Georgia’s reaction was priceless. She kissed me over and over again.

  “Thank you, Charlie Brown.” Her smile was radiant. “It’s perfect.”

  She was perfect.

  We were roused by the jazzy orchestrations of The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. No Christmas was complete without the soothing, mellow timbre of his voice.

  “I love this song,” Georgia said with a sigh.

  “Me too.” I slipped off the couch and offered her my hand. “Care to dance?”

  She snickered. “How can I be sure it won’t end with you crashing into the Christmas tree?”

  “Just hold me tight.”

  I pulled her into my arms and we swayed to the music. Her body was soft pressed against mine. She fused into me, filling all the gaps between us.

  My heart swelled along with the music, so full and so happy. I pressed my lips to her forehead, trailing butterfly kisses along her temple, and down her jawbone. My mouth lingered near her ear, dying to tell her my feelings.

  “Georgia...” I breathed, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. She shifted just enough to focus on my face. Her expression spoke to me. Trusting.

  Tell me. Say anything.

  I brushed a stray tendril from her shoulder and leveled my gaze on her eyes.

  “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  She arched a brow, reflecting on my admission. “Think?”

  I paused before admitting, “No. Not think. I know I am.”

  She started giggling. Really tittering to herself.

  “I’m glad you find that amusing,” I deadpanned. “For my next act—“

  Her lips crashed onto mine, shutting me up. She laughed into the kiss. I was a goner. She could laugh at me all she wanted for all I cared, as long as she kissed me like this every day.

  “Thank you for saying it first. I thought I was being a silly girl, falling in love so quickly.”

  I blinked in astonishment. “You love me?”

  She bobbed her head, eyes wide. “It’s crazy, right?”

  “Not as crazy as living life without you.”

  We gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes for exactly two seconds and then cracked up. It was all so wild.

  “Too sappy?”

  She threw her arms around my neck. “I like your brand of sappy.”

  We danced to the end of the song and then danced some more. It was all out in the open now. I could breathe freely.

  A throat cleared behind us. It was Steven tiptoeing into the living room. “Sorry to barge in. Palanca put me on Santa duty.”

  “No worries,” Georgia chirped. “Tell us what to do. We’ll be your elves.”

  He rubbed his eyes, too tired to protest. “I was just going to put out milk and cookies.”

  “We got this.” I nudged him back down the hallway. “We’ll even take a few bites to make it realistic.”

  “Are you sure?” He looked over his shoulder to Georgia.

  “Yes,” I said. “Go to sleep.”

  He shuffled off, waving tiredly. Once he was gone I inclined my head to the kitchen. “Let’s go get those cookies.”

  Georgia started, then stopped when my phone buzzed on the side table. “Who’s texting at two in the morning?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe it’s your brother. I’ll go get the cookies while you check.”

  I pranced into the kitchen and Reeses perked his head from his slumber with the hope of food.

  “Are you hungry buddy?”

  He trotted to the refrigerator and scratched the door.

  “You know where the good stuff is, don’t you? Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  I found some lunch meat and tossed him a slice. Then I eyed the carrots and thought it would be fun to leave those out for the reindeer. Sophia would get a kick out of that.

  I wondered if Georgia wanted kids someday. My heart warmed at the thought, hoping to be the one she’d share that joy with. How long would I have to wait to ask her to marry me? Was right now too soon? Yeah, maybe just a tad. Tomorrow, then. I grinned, almost talking myself into it.

  Once I gathered the milk, cookies, and carrots on a tray, I shut off the kitchen light and strolled back to the living room. But I stopped short as I crossed the threshold when I saw Georgia standing in the middle of the room with the phone hanging at her side and tears streaming down her cheeks.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - GEORGIA

  I had to squint through the massively cracked screen on Wyatt’s phone to make sure I was reading the text correctly.

  Will Darcy wedding...

  At first I thought it was my brother being weird, talking about himself in third person. Or maybe Stella or somebody with a droll sense of humor hijacked his phone.

  Ha ha. Got your brother’s phone.

  Like he was a toddler and they were pretending to catch his nose but it was their thumb all along. I dunno. It was two in the morning and I had just been kissed like there was no tomorrow. I was kinda loopy.

  But then I realized, through the copious amounts of cracks (seriously, how did he deal with that phone?) that the texts were from some guy named T Dawg. I scrolled, just to be sure, and that’s when I found the long string of texts from this T Dawg guy about my brother. More specifically, my brother’s wedding to Beth and the vendor pass he acquired for Wyatt for his exposé story.

  My heart dropped to my navel with a definitive thump. The top secret news story Wyatt was looking forward to. It was about my brother. And not in a good way. What sort of gossip did he think he would uncover? Since Will met Beth, he became even more boring than he was before. All sappy lovey dovey let’s stay in a
nd cuddle tonight kind of boring. Nobody was cheating. Beth wasn’t prego. Not a gold digger in sight. There was literally no dirt a slimy gossip writer could dig up on my brother and his bride. Slimy being the operative word here. I felt slimy. Or rather...slimed on. Wyatt was just another guy using me to get to my brother. And I fell fast and hard. Stupid me.

  I felt numb all over. I didn’t even notice I was crying until my eyes puffed up so much I couldn’t see straight. Wyatt was just a blurry form to me as he came into the living room. All I could make out through my foggy vision was this blob of a man bouncing in all jolly and clueless then freezing at the doorway.

  Jig’s up, blockhead. I can see right through that adorably clutzy facade.

  “Georgia...are you okay?” asked the traitor. “What happened?”

  “What happened?” I spat. “I fell for your...your...deception. That’s what happened.” I wagged the phone around. “Who’s T Dawg?”

  Understanding dawned on his face—at least what I could see of his face through the rainstorm in my eyes. I wiped them with the heel of my thumb so I could see better. See the disappointment in Wyatt’s silly and annoyingly handsome face.

  He took a step toward me. “I can explain—”

  “Don’t come any closer.”

  He paused, looked at the tray, twisted left and right, then resolved to set the tray on the floor for lack of a nearby table. I just stood there waiting to see what kind of two-faced, phony, rascally explanation he would come up with. He raked his hands through is stupidly beautiful hair.

  “I was going to tell you.”

  “Oh? When, pray tell? Or were you too busy lying to me? Telling me you luuurve me.”

  “I do love you.”

  “Stop. Just stop.” I tossed him the phone. It slipped through his fingers and landed at his feet. He didn’t make a move to pick it up. “Just tell me something that isn’t a lie.”

  He exhaled a heavy sigh and squeezed his temple. “Alright. T Dawg is one of my old roommates who moved to L.A. and now works at some catering place.”

  “The wedding caterer?”

  “Yeah. The thing is, I still owe him some rent money and when he caught wind of this wedding, he thought we could both cash in.”

  “That’s an asinine idea,” I snapped.

  “I see that now. But I promise you—I’m not going to go through with it.”

  I huffed. “Of course not. You won’t get anywhere near my house.”

  “Georgia, please...”

  “You know what?” I hissed. “As angry as I am with you, and believe me I’m raging mad, I blame myself. I let you in. Exposed my heart. And that just makes me really freaking sad.”

  I couldn’t speak any more. The tears were burning my throat. Wyatt just stared at me. A deer in the headlights.

  “Goodbye, Wyatt.” I turned on my heel, puffed up my chest, and strode across the living room out the front door. It was one of those these boots are made for walkin’ moments. I was empowered.

  I will survive, suckah!

  Until the arctic blast attacked me and I noted the flaw in my dramatic exodus. I left my coat inside. Also, I had no idea how to drive that RV so I scurried back into the warm house. Wyatt was still standing there with the tray at his feet except now Reeses was digging into the cookies.

  I raised my chin, trying to play it cool. “I have decided to leave first thing in the morning.”

  I began toward Vicky’s room, forced to pass Wyatt on the way. He stopped me with a light touch on my arm.

  “Can we discuss this in the morning?” he bade.

  I shrugged him off. “We’ll see.”

  I gave Reeses one hearty scratch and went to bed. Not that I slept at all. Around four thirty in the morning, sooo over the tossing and turning, I gathered my things (which consisted of my coat and the empanadas Anita packed for me) and paced the living room. Maybe I’d call an Uber? I had no plan. I only knew I had to be gone before Wyatt woke up.

  “You still up?”

  I turned to see Steven shuffling over, scratching his bedhead and yawning as he spoke. His eyes weren’t completely open, either.

  “Actually,” I admitted, my throat thick with tears, “I need to go. Do you think I could use the phone to call a taxi?”

  He blinked at me, clearing the sleep from his eyes, then furrowed his brows when he saw the state I was in.

  “Are you okay?” He looked around. “Where’s Wyatt?”

  I shook my head, willing the tears away. “I just need to go home.”

  The head shaking didn’t work. Thunderstorms flooded from my tear ducts.

  “Okay, okay.” Steven sprang into crisis responder mode. Husbands with babies were good at that sort of thing. “Where’s home? How can I help?”

  Awww. What a guy.

  “I have a plane to catch,” I sobbed. “Santa Fe airport.”

  He held up a finger. “Let me just get my keys.”

  And just like that, this nice man who hardly knew me took me to the airport. No questions asked. Surely he didn’t want to hear how much of a scoundrel his brother-in-law was. It wasn’t my place to expect him to. Here we were on Christmas Day, the sun just a flicker on the horizon. He could have been cozy and warm, waiting to capture his daughter’s reaction on camera when she found her presents. But something in his weary expression showed a genuine concern.

  “Are you going to be okay? I could park and walk you in.”

  We were idling at the drop off curb. The airport was so tiny and empty I imagined he could leave the car there and nobody would complain. But I didn’t want to keep him from his family.

  “No, I’m good.” I attempted a smile. “Thanks for the ride.”

  I reached for the door handle to get out of the car.

  “Listen,” he said, gently bidding me to wait. “I don’t know what happened between you and my brother-in-law—and it’s none of my business. I’m sure you have a valid reason for leaving. But just so you know...Wyatt’s a straight up guy. He might be a wayward clown. A little lost sometimes. Actually he’s kind of a yo-yo.”

  “I’m...not sure where you’re going with this.”

  “The point is, whatever dorky thing he might have done, that man is in love with you. It’s all over his face. I’ve never seen him like that.”

  He shrugged, having fulfilled his obligatory brother-in-law endorsement.

  I gave him a half-smile. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas,” he replied. “Have a safe flight.”

  Minutes later I was inside the terminal wondering what I’d do to pass the few extra hours besides feel sorry for myself. Jaxson wasn’t due to arrive for a while and even though I was hurt and mad, a small part of me was hoping for a grand gesture from Wyatt. One of those airport scenes in every rom-com where the guy crashes through security to stop the girl from boarding a plane. But Wyatt was probably still sleeping.

  Turned out, I didn’t have to wait at all. It was the Australian accent that caught my attention. I spotted Jaxson Knightly chatting it up with one of the aforementioned security guards. Probably the only security guard in this cute little airport. They’d gotten coffee from somewhere. I clutched my little bag of empanadas. Would it be worth it to trade one for a cup of joe? Nah.

  “How are you here so early?” I asked Jaxson after we said our hellos.

  The security guard had to get back to work and tipped his baseball cap to me. Jaxson clapped him on the shoulder. “See ya around, mate.”

  That Jaxson. Made friends everywhere he went. He smiled at me. “You want to know why I arrived so early. Well, the truth is, I’ve never flown such a distance in one go. So I erred on the side of caution.”

  “You are not making me feel overly confident to get in a plane with you.”

  He laughed, a deep rumble comforting my scuffed up heart. “It’s perfectly safe. Ready to go?”

  “Yeah.”

  If he was wondering where my traveling companion was, he didn’t show it. H
e escorted me to his plane, all fueled up and waiting for us. We I slipped on our headsets and once we got the A-OK from the control tower and ran all the checks, we were on our way. My stomach flipped at first, but I soon got used to the sensation of flying in a tiny aircraft. Jaxson maneuvered like a pro—he even looked the part of a G.A. pilot with his leather jacket and aviators.

  “Thank you for coming all this way to get me,” I said into the headset. It really was too kind of him to leave his wife on Christmas morning. They were still technically newlyweds. “My brother said Emma might come with to keep you company.”

  “She wanted to come,” he replied. “But she’s in no condition to fly.”

  “Oh no. Is something wrong?”

  A huge grin split his face. “Everything’s perfect.”

  Oh. OH! He meant...wow. Emma Woods expecting. My thoughts turned to Wyatt, how Emma was his celebrity crush. How I secretly wished he was here. Then I kicked that thought to the curb. No. I slapped it across the face, beat it to a pulp, then kicked it to the curb. Take that, sentimental feelings.

  “Congratulations,” I said. “That’s great news.”

  “Thanks. We’re still keeping it close to our chest, though.”

  We buzzed along through the sky with the sun at our backs. The sights down below were stunning. The rocky terrain of the desert coming to life in hues of pink and purple. It was almost cathartic.

  I wondered what Wyatt was doing just then, Would he just be waking up? How long before he noticed I was gone? Would he go outside to see the sunrise on his beautiful pine nut orchard?

  Annoyed with my pestering thoughts, I shoved my hands in my coat pockets. One of them had something pokey inside. My hand dug it out and I was sad all over again. The miniature Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I thought I’d left it behind. Wyatt must have tucked it in my pocket after our fight.

  I ran a finger over the tiny plastic pine needles and the little scrap of blue felt serving as Linus’ blanket. My heart ripped open anew with the memories contained in that silly tree. How Wyatt kissed me and told me he loved me. It didn’t seem like he was lying at the time. Steven’s parting words still echoed around in my brain. That man is in love with you.