“She’s proven herself as a valuable vice president, even if I was forced by my aunt to hire her,” Darcy pointed out. “Don’t forget, she also handles PTF’s grants process and attends functions for the foundation all over town.”
“Anything that has to do with DDF and the Pemberley Trust Foundation is still work. She’s not going to be happy that you plan to return to Vietnam and ignore business again.”
Darcy shrugged. “Too bad.”
“Why didn’t you have Elizabeth come with you to New York? It’s not like she has a real job.”
“It’s more than a real job,” Darcy said in a how-dare-you-insult-my-woman voice. “She’s contributing her time and commitment. She and Jane are doing more than writing checks, which is all that you and I do.”
“True.” Bingley turned away to hide a smile and agreed to pacify him.
“I did think about it, asking her to come with me,” Darcy admitted with a sheepish smile. “But she can’t leave Jane alone until something more permanent is settled with the orphanage.” He stood. “I need to stretch my legs.”
While Darcy paced around the jet, Bingley sat and thought about what his friend had just said. When Darcy returned to his seat, Bingley faced him. “Listen, I’m going to help you smooth out some of the urgent problems Anne thinks we’re having. As soon as things are settled at DDF, I’m thinking of taking an extended leave to go do something.”
“Like what?”
Bingley shrugged. “Contribute more than writing checks. I’m in a bit of a funk and I need a change. Not another vacation, but something else.”
Darcy’s knowing eyes scrutinized him for a long moment, but all he said was, “All right.”
Bingley switched the topic back to Darcy’s girlfriend. “I can’t see you handling a long-distance relationship well. You’ll go nuts worrying about Elizabeth. When are you thinking of returning?”
“Hopefully in no more than a month, at most two. I might set up something so I can work in Asia until Elizabeth and Jane are done with their work there.”
“Then?”
“Then I’m going to get down on my knees and beg the most beautiful, wonderful, adorable woman to take pity on me and move to New York and marry me. Then I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure she doesn’t regret it.”
CHAPTER 17
Help Wanted
Three more hours. Elizabeth glanced at the clock and absently picked at the water-spinach leaves.
“You’re thinking of William, aren’t you?” Jane stood beside her, peeling a cucumber.
“I know it’s silly, but I’ve never missed anyone this much before.”
“Why is it silly?”
“We only met last month.”
“You’ve never told any guy you loved him, either,” Jane said in her gentle voice. “He’s special to you.”
“You’re going to make me cry.” Elizabeth sniffed. “At least I’m not at the resort. I’d miss him even more.”
“I can’t believe Hussein went through all that trouble. Did you get ahold of him?”
“All I’ve gotten is a voice mail: ‘Darling, I’ll explain soon.’”
“In the end, it didn’t cost him anything. William paid for it.” Jane sliced a star fruit. Perfect star-shaped slices came off the knife. Tangy, fruity smell infused the air.
“Yes, my new boyfriend, who I initially thought was gay but turned out not to be, paid for the shenanigans of my old boyfriend, who I initially thought wasn’t gay but turned out to be very gay. Careful.” Elizabeth removed the sharp knife from her laughing sister’s hand. “It was a lot of money William paid for someone who’s unemployed. I didn’t know he did that until after he had already left, otherwise I would have stopped him.”
“How’s his job search going?”
“I don’t know.” At Jane’s look of surprise, Elizabeth said, “He hasn’t told me yet he’s unemployed.”
“Still?”
“I think he’s waiting to get some firm offers before he does. I heard him talking to his cousin about preferring to work for some company based in New York versus Holland.”
“Are you sure he’s hard up financially if he’s friends with Charles? They flew out of here on a private jet.”
“That was Charles’s family plane. The Bingley family is loaded. William must have lost his job with the last company when he took time off to take care of his sister last year.” Elizabeth stole a slice of star fruit and popped it in her mouth, then smacked her lips from the sour aftertaste.
“What kind of accounting work? Auditing or tax or something else?”
“He specializes in acquisitions and mergers. I don’t know what that means exactly.” Elizabeth had never understood the various business terms. “He doesn’t like accounting though; never wants to talk about work.”
Jane laughed. “Probably because no one ever wants to hear about accounting.”
“He told me once on the phone that, of all the work he’s done, what relaxed him most and made him happiest was looking over grants for art and cultural foundations. Some type of nonprofit work would suit him better than being stuck in some dreary accounting department shuffling papers around.”
“He strikes me more as management material, rather than someone in a cubicle.” Jane pursed her lips. “Something doesn’t add up. He didn’t act like a man who worries about money.”
“Guys are too proud to show they have money trouble, or any trouble for that matter,” Elizabeth reasoned. “He’s had a tough time. At the age when most guys loaf around drinking beer through their belly buttons, he was raising his sister. Little sister finally off to college, and bam, got hooked into a cult. No wonder William’s been depressed. He blamed himself for working so much that he neglected her.”
“True. When we first met him, he was tightly wound.”
“He’s going to find another unsuitable job for the money, and then he’ll be back in the same grind. He’s only been back there a week and he’s having headaches again.”
“Are you sure it’s not the stress of missing you?” Jane made kissing noises.
“Stop it.” Elizabeth laughed, knowing her sister was trying to cheer her up. She took a deep breath. “Listen, I’ve been thinking. I need to find a job.”
“You mean a paying job?”
“Yes. I want to earn enough money so that William—”
“Whoa! Hold on.” Jane held up her palm. “How would your getting a paying job affect William?”
“I’m going to find a job in New York. Then I can help support us both and help him with his sister’s college tuition. He’d only need to take a job he’d love. Everybody will be happy.” To give her sister time to adjust to her news, and to close her mouth, Elizabeth moved to the dining room and set the table for dinner.
“What?” Her sister followed. She sat down and stared blankly at Elizabeth for a few long moments. “You just met last month and you guys are talking about moving in together, consolidating finances and all that, already?”
“Not in so many explicit words. But he’s mentioned he wants to grow old with me. I do want to marry him, take care of him, and help his sister.” Elizabeth blushed. She sounded exactly like Chau with Bill Collins.
“You haven’t discussed this with him?” Jane gave her that I-think-you-are-crazy look. “You’re moving too fast here. I don’t think it’s going to be that simple.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Life doesn’t always have to be complicated.”
“He does not seem like a man who would let his girlfriend or wife support him financially, and I seriously doubt that he’d let you help with his sister’s college tuition.”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Lizzy, you have a sweet tendency to try to take care of people and you think you know what’s good for them, and we love you for it, but he’s not one of your sisters. He has his male pride—”
Elizabeth cut her sister off. “I won’t be totally supporting him, only shar
ing his financial burden. But you’re right about his pride—he has too much—that’s why I’m not going to tell him until it’s all done.”
Jane pinched her temples. “Are you sure you’ve thought through this very carefully?”
“I have,” Elizabeth assured her. “Remember when I did a two-month stint as a visiting fellow in New York last year? I already have an active license for the state and, more importantly, connections to a few hospitals from my time there. I’ve been making calls and there are definitely some good leads. The hospital where I did my rotation even asked me to give Grand Rounds.”
Jane dropped her hands. “Wow, you have thought things through. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you carefully planning your career.”
“I didn’t have any reason to make plans before.”
“What if you’re misunderstanding the situation with William? Before you fly across the world and change your life and your whole career focus, you need to call and talk to him.”
“And have him refuse my help? I’m not going to let his sensitive male pride get in the way.” Elizabeth was firm. “I’ve made my decision. I’ve thought of nothing else for the last few days.”
Her sister buried her head in her hands and groaned. “Most people take weeks or months to decide on something like this.”
“We spend most of our phone calls talking about how much we miss each other and wishing we’re together.”
Jane lifted her head. “For your sakes, I hope he’ll be so happy to see you, he’ll agree to your crazy scheme.”
That was exactly what Elizabeth hoped would happen. She refused to think beyond that—that William might not appreciate her boldness—for fear she’d lose her nerve. “Let’s have Mary come and stay with you. I want to leave as soon as possible, next week if everything works out. I need to be in New York to job search.”
“That soon?” Jane looked shocked, then resigned. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You were always quick in making decisions, and you’re even quicker with acting on them.”
“About Mary, what do you think?”
“Might be a good change of scenery for her. She’s at loose ends now that she’s out of the tree she was living in,” Jane said. “I can’t believe she lasted that long, living in a tree for weeks, just to protest the logging industry. She’s not going back to grad school yet?”
“She’s holding off going back for a while to see if she wants to protest something else.”
“Get her here quick, before she gets involved in another eco-terrorist stunt.”
“I’ll make some calls tomorrow.” Elizabeth jumped to hug her sister. “Thank you for understanding I want to be with William soon.”
Thirty minutes before ten that night, Elizabeth, wearing William’s old Harvard T-shirt she had begged off him, lay in bed and counted the minutes until his nightly phone call.
Her cell phone rang and her heart skipped a beat. She frowned when it wasn’t his ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw the interloper’s name.
“About time, you asshole!” she shouted into the phone.
“Darling, I’ve been busy. I’m in between breasts, you know,” Hussein calmly returned.
“Why did you waste my time? I was seeing sunburn cases at that damn resort when I could have been at the hospital treating people who could use some real medical help,” she screamed the last words.
“This is the thanks I get for giving you a few weeks of relaxation?”
Not hearing outright excuses or denials, she was immediately suspicious. “You don’t have a ready excuse?”
“Are you not trophy-wife material yet?”
“You have four minutes to explain, or I’ll call your mother.”
“Ouch. You’re getting vicious. All right, since you brought my mother up, I’ll tell the truth. She’s been trying to set me up to marry some girl back home. I told her you and I are getting married and she’s coming to plan our engagement party.”
“What?”
“I thought if I gave you some relaxation time at a spa, you’d get yourself all spruced up. I knew you wouldn’t go to a five-star resort without some noble purpose—you have a terrible work ethic—so I had them set up a little nothing-work for you.”
“So it really was just to make me into trophy-wife material?”
“I’m desperate to get married and, of all the fake girlfriends I’ve had, my mother loves you the best. You’re beautiful in pictures, but you’re not exactly princess material. You don’t highlight, you don’t varnish, you don’t wax. No one would believe I’d marry a granola, natural girl. I’m a plastic surgeon. You wouldn’t be good advertisement.”
She shook her head. He was ridiculous, but she knew he thought he made perfect sense. If it wasn’t for the comic relief he gave her, she would have chucked him and his opportunistic hubris years ago. “I assume you will have a good explanation planned when the fake engagement party doesn’t lead to a fake wedding.”
“But, darling, nothing has to be fake. My green card status isn’t all that settled. It does not help to be an immigrant named Hussein living in Arizona right now.”
“You’re fricking serious?” She glanced at the clock and decided she didn’t have time to listen to him anymore; William would be calling soon. She got down to business and told Hussein in no uncertain terms she would never go along with his fake engagement or fake marriage or whatever else he had cooking. She threatened his life, his body, and—the scariest threat of all to him—to tell his mother everything. When he realized she meant it, he quickly changed his tune; he was a mama’s boy.
After Elizabeth got him scared enough, she extracted promises of restitution from him.
She hung up satisfied. Mary’s airfare would be paid for. Her own trip to New York and job search expenses would be covered. What William paid for her resort bill was about equal to what she would extract from Hussein.
Her cell phone rang again a few minutes later. Grinning in satisfaction, she flipped it open again.
“Hi, love,” she said, smiling with happiness.
CHAPTER 18
New York, New York
Mr. Darcy was not in a good mood, Mrs. Ching concluded, closing the CEO’s office door. He was anxious about something. As his secretary for a few years now, she’d become adept at reading his mood.
Something had happened with a certain Miss Bennet. The day he arrived back at work three weeks ago, he had given her very specific instructions: he was to be available, interrupted or transferred, at any time whenever a certain Miss Elizabeth Bennet called. On a whim, Mrs. Ching Googled the name. Too many results came up. No matter. Though Miss Bennet had not called the office phone yet, Mrs. Ching suspected she’d meet the lady eventually.
***
After dinner that evening, Darcy asked to talk to his sister. She’d just arrived home from England earlier that day. “How was your time at Pemberley?”
Her fingers pulled at a napkin’s corner. “Fine.”
He sighed and wished for Elizabeth’s presence. A chuckle escaped him. He was pathetic. Already, he depended on his girlfriend to help him handle the awkwardness with his sister.
Eyes guarded, Georgiana cast him a glance.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was thinking about someone.” On impulse, he reached for his sister’s hand and squeezed it gently.
After an initial stiffening, she gave his fingers a tiny squeeze in response. “Who?”
“Elizabeth Bennet. I met her in Vietnam. My girlfriend.”
“No! Really?”
He smiled at his sister’s opened mouth. “Yes, really.”
“You have a girlfriend? You never have girlfriends.” The napkin now carelessly discarded, she leaned forward. “Tell me about her.”
Encouraged by his sister’s eagerness, he began to tell her about Elizabeth.
“You sound like you really like her,” his sister said when he finally stopped.
“I do like her, a lot.”
&
nbsp; “I’ve never heard you say that about a woman before. Does she like you?” As if realizing how that might have sounded, she hurriedly added, “I mean lots of women like you, but does she truly like you, in the same way?”
He felt his cheeks redden. “Even better, she loves me… and I love her.”
She raised her hand to her mouth. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” She lunged at him and hugged him tight.
He hugged her back just as tightly. “And I love you, Georgiana.”
“I love you too, Will,” she cried into his shirt. “I’m so sorry for everything last year. I made you depressed because of my stupidity.”
“I should have taken better care of you and not neglected you when you went off to college. I’ve been down lately because… because of my failure, not because of you or what you did. And you are not stupid.”
“I was stupid. I trusted George and I shouldn’t have,” she said. “Do you remember how Father was at the end?” She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “He hardly wanted to see anyone, but he always looked forward to George’s visits. He made Father laugh. I remember that.”
“You had good memories of George, of course you’d trust him when you saw him again.”
“I should have been suspicious when he didn’t want me to tell you about us dating,” she said. “He explained you had cut him off after Father died because you were jealous of his relationship with our father. I should have known you had good reasons.”
“I was jealous of his relationship with our father,” he admitted, “and I did have good reasons to cut George off.”
“I should not have given him money. He convinced me our father supported his spiritual quest for a meaningful life and had planned to leave him money to study theology. He also claimed Father was going to give him a position on the DDF board, but you denied his rights to it. I was stupid to believe him.”
“Georgiana”—he shook his head—“you’re not stupid. I don’t want to hear you say that again.”
“Yes, I was.” She nodded. “I should have realized it was all lies. Even if Father did promise money, he would never give away any part of DDF to someone who isn’t a family member. Richard’s a part-owner and he can’t even run the board meetings without your presence.”
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