by Maggie Way
Anne pushed the computer in front of him.
Bill chose to focus on Henry. “You’ll have to forgive my prying Henry, but what are you doing here? If this is how you enjoy your time away from the Army, you really need to try something else. The beach or the mountains or something.”
Henry’s laugh was more derisive than humorous. “Thanks but no thanks, I’m all set with sand and overly warm climates. Three tours into the sandbox have sufficiently cured me of any desire to see a grain of sand again.” He stared out into the darkness. “In fact, the lush green here is very appealing.”
Anne snorted. “That’s not all that’s appealing. I saw you making eye at one of those sisters. The church one. What’s her name?” She turned to Bill.
“Mary.” Bill suddenly felt very protective of Mary and all the Bennet sisters. “She’s a bit fragile these days. Trying to find her place.” He hoped Henry could read the warning he was trying to impart.
“So is Henry. Our boy Hank is saying goodbye to the Army and hello to corporate life. He’s the next Darcy.”
Henry rubbed his hands down his face and sighed so heavily even Bill felt the weight he was carrying. He said nothing; experience had taught him that silence sometimes was what people needed.
Anne scooped another ice cube.
Henry took the drink from her and tossed it back, finishing it in one swallow. When he set the tumbler down he looked at Bill. “They want to medically discharge me, Bill. Do I look sick to you? I have a few scars here.” He showed one that ran several inches long and a thumb’s width that ran up the back of his calf. “I have all my limbs. I have my wits, but because I’ve had one too many concussive hits and have this little tremor—” he stuck out his hand which shook like a leaf blowing in a mild wind. “I’m no longer fit for duty. Seems snipers aren’t allowed tremors.”
Bill leaned toward him. “I’m sorry, Henry. That completely sucks. You’ve given your life for the service, and I’m sure this was not the outcome you expected. I’d be pissed too.”
Henry stared at Bill for a long second then a slow smile spread across his face. He ducked his head briefly before saying, “Thanks, Bill. If one more person tells me I’m lucky to be alive I might snap. But I’ll adjust to this new normal, right.”
Bill shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. My suggestion is to not set a time frame to it. This may not be your next path. Be open to new ideas. Even if they’re crazy.”
Henry chuckled, “You mean crazier than this? Stepping into corporate America wearing Darcy’s shoes?”
“True,” laughed Bill.
Anne kicked out her legs and propped them up on the edge of Henry’s chair. “It’s crazy beautiful. I for one love having all of you here and being a part of this project. It’s been a long time since any of us have gotten together, and I’m sure even longer since we relaxed. This is going to be good for us. I can feel it in my bones.”
Henry knocked her feet from his chair. “You want to hug now or something?”
“Jeez, you’re already starting to sound like Darcy,” she teased and put her feet right back where they were moments before.
“Looky here, Bill’s filling out the questionnaire.” Henry tapped the screen.
Bill had clicked the START button, and before he’d realized was reading and answering the questions. Shoot, all this marriage talk was making him weak.
Chapter Ten
Elizabeth turned her laptop toward Jane and Lottie so they could see the new website.
Jane’s mouth dropped.
“You think I could have her work on mine,” Lottie asked while leaning toward the screen. “This is really incredible. It’s beautiful.”
Jane picked up her phone. “We should tell her.”
“Wait,” Elizabeth said. “I feel conflicted. Do we get excited about the website—which is technology. Or—”
“Stop,” Jane scolded. “Anne is not our enemy. She’s only doing her job. I know this is an us against them situation, but the them here is Lady Catherine. Not Anne. Not Henry—”
“Don’t say it, Jane. You can’t exclude Darcy. For all we know this whole thing came to The Bourgh’s attention because of him. I’m not willing to be gracious about him just yet.”
Lottie raised her brows. “I can’t imagine what his day to day must be like. Always the guy who’s taking something away from people. It’s no wonder he’s reserved.”
“Reserved! Ha. Try distant. Cold. His heart is probably a shriveled frozen mass like those glacial eyes of his.”
“My, that’s er…” Jane looked to Lottie who shrugged. “Ah, I think I’ll send Anne a text anyway.”
“Here’s the questionnaire, Lottie. You should fill it out.” Elizabeth pushed her computer toward her friend.
“Tonight?” Lottie pushed it back.
“Yeah, tonight. We want to start in on Bill right away.” Elizabeth had filled Jane in with Lottie’s permission.
“All right. I suppose you’re right.” She reached across the table to click the START button.
Elizabeth chuckled and repositioned the computer so it was in front of Lottie.
After a few clicks and some typing Lottie stopped and cleared her throat. “I was thinking that maybe I should have a makeover or something. Maybe cut my hair.”
Lottie pulled the band from her hair and waves of rich dark brown hair fell past her shoulders. “Maybe even dye my hair or add highlights or something.” If Bill didn’t notice her now, she knew she’d have to shake things up.
“No,” said Lydia coming into the room. “Sorry, I overheard.” She slapped a wad of money on the table before Elizabeth. “My half of the rent for the rest of the month. Utilities included.”
Elizabeth glanced at the money and then Lydia.
“I sold some more creams and a purse.” Lydia said with a shrug. “As for you—” She turned to Lottie. “There is nothing you need to change except your clothes, you’re beautiful, but you dress like a frumpy schoolmarm.”
“But everything gets dirty in the kitchen.” Lottie ran a hand down her plain white T-shirt, a dark stain on the neckline.
“I know. But maybe get a V-neck T-shirt and one from the woman’s section. Not a man’s undershirt. And try a color. The only thing I would change with your appearance is to try contacts. Though you could really pull off the hot librarian.”
Lottie beamed at Lydia. “You think?”
“Totally. You have a great figure. Show it off. And twist your hair like this with a few wisps.” Lydia pulled up Lottie's hair into a lose bun. “Little pink lip gloss and shazam!”
“Shazam?” Jane asked with a laugh.
Lottie used her phone’s camera to check out her reflection. Shazam was right. Where was Lottie Lucas, the girl next door who loved to read and eat sweets? She was now Charlotte Lucas, entrepreneur and smart woman. “Can you show me how to do this?”
“Sure? Give me a few minutes to get situated and grab something to eat.” Lydia shot Elizabeth a glower. “See, Lizzy. I do have a value.”
“I never said you didn’t, Lydia.”
“Hm.” Lydia pursed her lips. “I’ll just take this.” She reached across Elizabeth and took the last slice of pizza from the box before turning and leaving the room.
“You’re welcome,” Elizabeth yelled after her. “How’s the questionnaire going?”
Lottie, who was chewing at her lip, shrugged. “It’s really easy. I’m wondering what Bill would put.”
Elizabeth pulled the computer away. “Don’t answer like you think it might make you more compatible with Bill. Just answer honestly.” She waited until after Lottie nodded to push it back.
“I have an idea, and to be honest, I won’t take any objection,” Jane said quietly from across the table.
Elizabeth sat up straighter. If there was one thing she could count in it was Jane being easygoing, so starting with a disclaimer that her idea was not up for discussion was curious, if not a bit unsettling. “Am I going to hate it?”
Jane paused and tilted her head, probably giving Elizabeth’s words thought. “More because you’ll think I’m doing it for the wrong reasons. But I’m not. Here’s my idea, I’m going to start a vlog. My story from singlehood to marriage and how using Meryton Matchmakers helped me achieve my biggest wish. I’m going to vlog about dating issues and meeting people. At the end, hopefully, I’ll be married.”
Elizabeth felt her mouth drop but was unable to produce one coherent thought much less put sound to it.
Jane held up her hand. “I know what you’re thinking, Lizzy, I do. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I’m determined.”
“I’m glad you know what I’m thinking, because I don’t,” Elizabeth said, still trying to understand what would prompt her sister into exposing herself in such a way. Her gentle, amiable, and wouldn’t-swat-a-bug sister was putting her soul out on video.
Elizabeth sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Please tell me you aren’t doing this strictly to keep the company afloat. Because if that’s the case, we can go automated tomorrow. Or I can get a second mortgage for this place and sell my car and maybe sell some shares and we can buy out The Bourgh.”
“No,” Jane said shaking her head adamantly. “I’ll confess Lady Catherine’s barb about none of us being married struck home, but I’ve long wanted to settle down. You know this. I’m almost thirty. I want babies. I want a husband. I want to be something more than Jane, the business owner and sister. Can you understand?”
In her own way, Elizabeth could. Though she wasn’t as desperate about it as Jane suddenly seemed, she couldn’t deny her day for it was coming. But she didn’t want to venture down that path, because what if she never found him—the one? Was she willing to be a spinster? A fun aunt to her sister’s children?
“I can understand that, and I’m not trying to talk you out of it. But hear me out, please.” She waited until Jane nodded. “You’re beautiful, and you’ll come across quite compelling and interesting on the screen. Men will flock to meet you. It gives credit to Darcy and The Bourgh’s automated plan and weight to their desire to add a page to the website where people can scroll and judge others on physical appearance only.”
“No one ever said that specifically,” Jane said, ever so diplomatic.
“Please! What else can they mean? And you’re okay with giving it to them?”
Jane raised one finger. “I’ve thought of that.” Picking up her phone, she messed with it a bit then handed it to Elizabeth. “We made this today. Anne, Lydia, and I. All those video and Photoshop courses I took came in handy today. What do you think?”
Elizabeth pressed the circle to start the video and leaned toward Lottie so she could watch as well.
The backdrop was the sky blue interview room at work. It complemented Jane’s blonde hair and white sundress. Though her face wasn’t showing as the camera was positioned to show only the back of Jane but from an angle. Occasional glimpses of her profile were seen but not enough to make her recognizable. There was no way to determine her weight, or height, or much else other than her hair color, part of her top, and the sweetness of her voice. The profile shots were teasers, really.
In the video, Jane introduced herself and her purpose. She talked about what she was like and what she was looking for. She ended it by asking if anyone was interested in meeting her to see if he might be compatible, he should sign up at Meryton Matchmakers. She reassured the viewer this was not a commercial but a true search for a life partner, and that her journey’s ups and downs would be chronicled here.
“It’s well done,” Lottie said.
“I agree. I think you will get lots of interest. But what if we have lots of people sign up and pay the start fee? Are you going to meet all of them?”
Jane shook her head. “They’ll go through the same process we put everyone through, and I suggest we waive the fee the first week or maybe first few days at least. Something I think we should consider is having other people do this as well. We can use me as a guinea pig, so to speak, and turn it into a tool. But the fact is, we can no longer go without testimonies. People have to be willing to speak out about us or Lady Catherine wins.”
Elizabeth looked between her two closest confidants before nodding. So much was going to change, and—as she well knew—even with good change came some bad.
“How much more needs to happen to make this video live?” Elizabeth asked.
“It’s ready. Anne set it to go out tomorrow at eight Eastern. It’ll hit all our social media sites. I was thinking if our response was low I might do a few Facebook ads.”
Yes, Elizabeth thought. It was all about to change. She couldn’t stop herself from blaming that darned Darcy if she tried. The day he moved on would be one of the happiest in her life.
Chapter Eleven
Elizabeth stood next to Lottie, who was standing back from the tables with her arms crossed. To Elizabeth, the set and atmosphere were perfect. The grills were going, the drinks were being mixed and served in mason jars, and the people were starting to arrive. The town’s park was the perfect venue, and even Mother Nature complied and was cooling the area with a slight breeze. She couldn’t have engineered a better event if she tried.
And Jane’s video. Holy smokes! By noon she had half a million views. Anne was scrambling to get more bandwidth to support their server and keep the system from crashing. People were signing up in droves.
All right, droves might be an exaggeration but since the video launched, they’d had over three hundred new sign-ups and questionnaires submitted. The no fee was likely helping as well.
“Why are you frowning?” Elizabeth asked.
“It bothers me that there is no obvious theme,” Lottie answered.
“Sure there is. It’s summer fun or summer is here or—”
“That’s my point. And the cupcakes, jeez. Naughty or Nice? What was I thinking? Sounds like Christmas.”
Elizabeth watched her friend closely. She’d gone from chewing her lip to biting her thumbnail.
“Lottie? Is this more about our Bill-game plan or about the food? Because I love Naughty or Nice.”
At the mention of Bill, Lottie swung around and appeared to be searching for him.
“Relax. He’s still at the college. As for the theme, I think it plays well into us—The Matchmakers. Come mingle, relax, meet people, and let us know which are you deep down? Naughty or nice?”
Lottie visibly relaxed and began smoothing her top. “This okay? I was wondering if I should pop home and change.”
Elizabeth smiled. “You're going to render him speechless.” Lydia had created a lovely fishnet braid with soft wisps around Lottie’s face. Though she was wearing her glasses, her eye makeup brought out the green of her eyes complemented by the Kelly green V-neck T-shirt she wore. She finished the outfit with navy capris and cute navy wedge heels. “How’d you manage those all day?” Elizabeth pointed to the shoes.
“I didn’t. I changed into them before I came here.” She tapped at her temple. “I’m cooking with bacon today. Even changed my shirt. But I still feel- you know—like myself. Shouldn’t I dress up more?”
Elizabeth shook her head, “You’re perfect. And speaking of perfection here come Jane and Bill now.”
Lottie blanched.
Elizabeth stepped close and lowered her voice. “Relax. Nothing has changed. He’s still your friend. We are just trying to get him to see you as a woman and not the girl who feeds him all the time. Got it?”
“I might be sick.” Lottie whispered back.
Elizabeth tucked her arm through Lottie’s and spun her to face Bill and Jane. “Hey you two, what’s up?”
“Oh, Lottie, I love your hair,” Jane said. She was dressed in a light pink sundress with a linen shrug that set off her pale blonde hair and gave her an angelic appearance.
“Thanks,” Lottie mumbled.
“Guess what? I have had over a million views. Granted, some have left creepy remarks but
most have been very pleasant and nice. I was asking Bill what he thought my next video should be, and we decided it should be here. Mingling. So Lydia’s gone off to get a friend of hers, a guy named Denny, to work the camera,” Jane gushed the whole thing in one breath. Clearly, she was excited.
“Okay. Sounds great.” Did she really have a say in this? Not if Jane was this excited. Though the creepy remarks did worry her, and she made a mental note to talk to the group regarding security.
“She wants me to do my own video, maybe snag me some candidates.” Bill, hands stuffed in his front pockets rocked back on his heels and smiled thinly. “I thought if I had a hard decision making a selection, I might convert to being a Mormon and get me some sister wives. Logic, it’s a powerful tool.” He laughed. “Maybe they’ll do a Bachelor episode on me—‘Marry the Preacher.’ I could have you come on, Lotts, and be my informant. Tell me which ones are crazy and which aren’t.”
Elizabeth knew he was teasing, but next to her Lottie stiffened.
“You’re crazy!” she said. “If I went on as your informant, I’d tell them about how you are too lazy to match your socks, how you drink your milk from the container, and can eat an oversized cupcake by shoving the entire thing in your mouth at once. That’s what I’d tell them! If you’ll excuse me, I need to check the grills and the dessert table. The crowd is already looking larger than we expected.” She turned in a huff, looked in both directions, and then stomped away.
Bill’s head swiveled from the direction in which Lottie had made off to the sisters. “Ah, well, I mean. I’m the only one who drinks the milk so why not out of the container? It’s not like I offer it to people when they come over, because I don’t.”
Jane patted his arm while casting Elizabeth a knowing look. He was clueless, and it was going to take more than a V-neck shirt and cute hairstyle for him to notice what was in front of him.
Elizabeth pursed her lips in thought. Then she remembered an email from this morning. “Bill, did I see that you filled out the questionnaire? Were you serious about having a video done?”