She laughed, which meant my mind tricks weren’t working on her. “Oh, they’ll do for now, unless I can find better ones?”
“You’ll get those at the Longburn Lagoon,” Austen told her in an undertone. I knew working with her was killing him. He watched her like she would grow fangs and devour us both.
“I was already there,” Jennings said in a smug voice. “I found nothing but a foosball table covered in poppies and some violinists playing a song by our favorite mutual acquaintance. Is this some sort of joke?”
Bigley wiped the water out of his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
He wasn’t drunk like I thought he’d be. I turned to him. “What were you and Junie talking about?”
He gave me a long stare in reply. It was all I needed to know. I bent my knees and pushed off the floor of the deck, racing down the flight of stairs to get back to Pemburkley Hall. I had to find Taylor and bring her to Dancey. A noise beside me alerted me that Austen had caught up. He raced beside me.
“Let’s drop this, Jane,” he said. “You tried everything that you could, but this isn’t working. Let’s just go back to the lobby before everyone finds out what we did and we lose all our self-respect.”
I only ran faster. Bigley had been flirting with Junie and he had been completely sober when he’d done it. I wasn’t going to let Taylor marry that guy.
The music got louder through Maple Grove. The singer wasn’t Dancey, but I had known it wouldn’t be. I turned the corner into Pemburkley Hall and found Dancey staring at the singer across from him. Dancey held a few forgotten poppies in his hand while Colin sang his heart out.
“Dancey,” I called. His eyes drew to mine. Austen stiffened beside me. I’d forgotten how much Austen hated the guy. This was going to be awkward.
Dancey motioned at the overly passionate singer. “What is that?” His British accent emphasized his disdain.
“Colin,” I answered. “Dancey, you were supposed to meet Taylor at Longburn Lagoon.”
“She wasn’t there, just a foosball table and …” He held up some of the poppies we left there.
“Yeah, yeah.” I nodded and picked up my phone to text Taylor.
ME: WHERE ARE YOU!
A few seconds later, I got a text back from her.
TAYLOR: MY CAT! MISTER IS STUCK IN A TREE!
But that plan had been shelved. It went under the potentially harmful category. Austen’s eyes were on me, and I hesitated before grabbing Dancey’s shoulder to shake it. The singer turned from Colin’s appalling performance. “Taylor’s cat is in trouble,” I said.
“Her cat?”
Austen’s expression went dark. I held up my hand before he could blow our cover. “Let me figure out where she is.” I hoped that this was fate working for us instead of against us. I dialed Taylor and put the phone to my ear. “Taylor,” I said as soon as she answered. “Where are you?”
“Outside. Just past Pemburkley.” She sounded frustrated.
I took off to where I thought she might be, picking my way through the grove of trees. Dancey and Austen followed close behind while Taylor recounted her troubles: “I never got to the lagoon to talk to Dancey. Colin passed me on my way and told me that he was taking Dancey’s place tonight. There was no way I was going to let him ruin my party, Jane! I went back, but Bertie stopped me and said … well, never mind what she said. And Crawley was singing that awful song in the background. Dancey must’ve put him up to it. I’m so mad! I finally got Bertie to stop complaining and left to give Dancey a piece of my mind, but then I found Mister crying from the top of a tree. Poor Mister! I’ve been trying to get him down, but Bertie’s dog is making so much noise that I can’t think.”
We took a bend in the pathway to see Taylor on the phone, holding a hand out to her cat who dangled from the lowest branch. Taylor was a few feet too short and couldn’t reach Mister. Bertie’s puppy circled the tree, yapping happily. Thinking back on Ann-Marie’s idea to lock the two animals together, I realized too late that that hadn’t been a good idea.
Dancey rushed to her side. She saw him coming and clung to his arm. “Help me, Dancey! Help me!”
“I …” he looked down at his leather flip-flops. “What do you want me to do? Throw my shoes at your cat?” She gave him one of her exasperated looks, and he amended his words. “We’ll climb the tree. Anyone wearing decent footwear?”
I was barefoot. Looking over at Austen, I saw his feet were bare too. They weren’t before. I smiled slowly. “Dancey, you’ll have to rescue Taylor’s cat.”
Dancey sighed and approached the tree. Taylor watched him breathlessly. Just as Dancey placed his hands on the tree, Bigley came from the shadows, his wet hair plastered back from his head, his shirt clinging to him after falling into the pool. He looked just as good as that six-hour Pride and Prejudice version of Darcy after his dip in the pond. My worried eyes went to Taylor.
“Dancey?” Bigley laughed at his best friend. “You’re not going to try to climb after that cat, are you? Grab the pokey little puppy; I’ve got this.” The moment Dancey gathered the puppy in his big hands, Bigley pulled the grilled Calamari from his plate of snacks that he had clearly snuck from the bachelorette party and now he dangled it under the cat. With no yapping puppy in the way, Mister trailed down the tree and claimed his prize.
“Naughty cat!” Taylor lectured. “Poor cat!” She went to Bigley to claim Mister. “I was so worried. Come here, baby.”
Flashing light followed by a popping in the darkness told me that Jennings was getting her pictures. Bigley smiled to himself and wrapped his muscular arms around Taylor, kissing her for the camera with their cat between them. I glared. The scene looked far too precious.
Austen nudged me, making my hands fall from my hips. “He’s not all bad,” he said.
My mouth hung open. “But …”
“He saved the cat. He’s a hero.”
Clearly he was being sarcastic, but Taylor was impressed with him, and that meant our plan was ruined. She covered Bigley with kisses. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
Clapping and laughter followed the romantic scene. A small crowd had gathered near the tree. Many of Chuck and Taylor’s friends and family had escaped the Colin show to watch the drama unfold in Maple Grove.
The original Mrs. Bigley drew her brows together, annoyed. “Why is my son all wet?”
A deep, masculine voice answered her with a snort. “Jane pushed him into the pool.” The observation came from Redd. He glared at me from the shadows.
Taylor looked shocked. She pulled from Bigley. “What? Why?”
Because her fiancé was flirting with Junie.
“Where’s my baby? Oh there’s my baby!” Bertie ran into the circle to reach Dancey, using every excuse to touch him while she pet down her little dog’s ears. “Come here, honey. Jane!” She turned to me once she had her puppy in hand. “I gave you little Puggy to watch. How did she get out here?”
I wasn’t about to punish Ann-Marie for helping me. I lifted my shoulders. “I’m sorry. She got away.”
Taylor’s hand grew still over Bigley as she watched me get accused of everything. Unfortunately, DeBurgy chose that moment to make his un-timely appearance. He pulled his cigarette from his lips, looking bored as he took in the scene. “It’s just a cat anyway,” he said. “Can we go in now and eat?” He gave me an appraising look, and then his eyes slid over me to Dancey. “I think we should leave these two lovebirds alone.”
Dancey didn’t answer DeBurgy; he swung around and strode back to the party. I couldn’t believe that he was giving up so quickly. Our Darcy could still get the girl. It didn’t matter if she was nothing like Elizabeth from the books. I didn’t believe in fate like that anymore. Taylor and Dancey were meant for each other.
He was disappearing into the trees. I ran to catch up to him. “Dancey, Dancey.” When he kept walking, I stepped in front of him to stop him from getting away. “If she knew you loved her, she wouldn’t go through with
this.”
“Jane.” His hands went to my shoulders and he set me to the side. “There’s a time to give up. So, give up. Now.” He walked past me.
“What about your song?” I called out in desperation.
“It made me a lot of money. Now stop trying to help me. I’m fine.”
Taylor caught up to Dancey. Her suspicious eyes ran between us. “Are you leaving, Dancey? You promised you’d sing. I need you to sing.”
Dancey stopped walking. “Why?”
“I need you.” Taylor sounded desperate.
Dancey looked miserable. He kept his gaze focused firmly on the lights coming from North Abbey in the distance. “No, Taylor, you either take all of me or none of me. There won’t be anything in between. Not anymore.”
Taylor went silent. Dancey met her eyes then. When Taylor didn’t move, he pursed his lips and pushed away from the both of us. She watched him leave the party until he was a speck on the beach. “He said he would sing.” She sounded heartbroken. “How did this happen? Who let Colin get a microphone anyway?”
I slowly raised my hand, though I did it behind my head—it seemed less incriminating.
Taylor’s eyes welled with tears. “You pushed Chuck into the pool. You sent me off to Longburn Lagoon. I don’t get it. You let Bertie’s dog run off. Bertie said that you were trying to sabotage my wedding. But you wouldn’t do that. I know you better than that, right? Jane?”
“She was probably trying to get some good photos for the paparazzi,” Redd said behind us. As usual, he had impeccable timing. “I saw her talking to that reporter tonight.”
A tear slid down Taylor’s cheek. “Jane? Is that true? Answer me.”
I felt awful. “Your fiancé is cheating on you,” I said.
Taylor gave me a look that froze me to the core and swung away, marching over the sand. “You’re fired,” she shouted over her shoulder.
Redd looked shocked. That same shock ran through me.
“Taylor.” Austen sounded breathless behind us. He had run over from the group that was still congratulating Bigley. “You need to listen to Jane. She—”
“Austen, you’re fired too.”
He looked taken aback. “You can’t.”
Austen had a point. Technically, Taylor worked for his parents, but she was too mad to care. She tripped over his shoes in the sand and picked them up. Glaring, Taylor threw his shoes back at him. “I just did it, Austen,” she shouted. “And you’re not invited to my wedding either. That goes for the both of you. I don’t want either of you in my life. You got it? Good. My life isn’t a game. It’s over!”
Chapter 25
“Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another.”
—Jane Austen, Emma
Austen’s arms were perfect for hugs. We sat on the beach soon after getting fired. I rested my head against the crook of his shoulder. His thumb brushed against the bare skin on my arm.
I slumped in defeat. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have made you go through with it. What am I, five?”
Squeezing me closer, Austen tried to comfort me. “Our brains don’t connect until we’re twenty-six, so if anyone asks, we can just blame it on that.”
I sighed. “I failed Taylor because I was short two years?”
“At least you cared enough to get fired. Not many people would do that.”
Austen wasn’t making me feel better. I laughed darkly at our predicament. He did too, then sobered when he looked down at me. “It’s not too late, Jane. If Dancey loves Taylor, he’ll own up to it. He won’t give up.”
I pressed closer to Austen, wondering if that was true for us. “You know, if you tried to make me feel better about tonight, I wouldn’t complain.”
His arms tightened around me. He gave me a soft kiss. I closed my eyes, rendered completely powerless by his gentle touch. I had meant for him to say something comforting, but this was good, too. I smiled. “I know what will make you feel better,” he said. He untied the bracelet that I had given him from his wrist. “You’ve been missing this, I know.”
I tried to stop him from putting it on me, but the temptation to have him play with my wrist made me give in. Soon, I wore our bracelet tied with a neat little bow. “Jane,” he said, his eyes turning devilish. “Do you still think we’re cursed?”
“If we are, then we should do it more often.”
He kissed me again, this time more thoroughly. His fingers slid past my ears and trailed past my face as he pulled slowly away. “Which book are we in?” he asked.
“Jane Austen didn’t have kissing scenes.” I cracked a smile. “Maybe it had something to do with their breath back then?”
“Then I’m glad we’re not in one of her books.”
I pouted. “Don’t say that. She’d give us a happy ending. It’s hard to come by these days.”
“You’re trying to curse us again.” Austen gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “We can’t have that. If you talk that way, I’ll have no choice but to throw you in the water.”
“You’re not strong enough.”
“That’s it.” He picked me up and I gasped, feeling the air lift under my feet like I was flying. His arms made me feel as light as Bertie. “Oh, you’ll be sorry!” I laughed. “I’ll break your back. I was just told tonight that I’m too curvaceous.” I tried to wriggle away, but he had a firm grip on me. “Austen! I do not do night swimming.”
“What happened to your spirit, Jane?” He ran for the waves with me in his arms, and I screeched, holding him firmly around the shoulders. I wasn’t sure where he got the energy, but it was contagious. He set me down in the water and the waves lapped around my ankles. “Have you had enough yet?” he asked me.
Of course I hadn’t. This was too much fun. “No!”
He grasped me around the stomach from behind and dragged my ankles through the waves. It felt lovely. Austen lowered my feet back into the water and held me against his chest to give me a kiss near my ear that rocked me from head to toe. “You know what I love best about the waves?” he asked. “They just keep coming. That’s what I like about you—you don’t give up. Even if it gets us both fired, I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
“You weren’t really fired,” I pointed out.
“No. You want to live off me?”
“Who do you think I am? Bertie?” I splashed him and ran away from him through the waves. He chased after, and I turned and splashed more water at him. Before he could take me down, I tackled him first. The waves crashed over us, and we pulled out of the water, our hair glistening in the moonlight.
The lights from the tiki torches flickered on the deck of Churchell’s Shack. Its ghostly light beckoned from the distance. Junie would be inside cleaning up after the bachelor party. I shifted, trying to make out the details of Austen’s face—I didn’t get much. “Why did you decide to help me after you talked to Junie?” I asked him. “What does she have to do with this?”
Austen helped me stand up out of the sand. “She was upset. It had something to do with Chuck. She didn’t go into details.”
“You didn’t pry?”
“Why would I do that?”
We were so different. I could pry. “Let’s go in, Austen. We’ll say we’re helping the cleanup crew because we feel so bad about what we did, and then we can get everything out of her before it’s too late.”
“And then Taylor orders our execution.” His eyes rested on me. “At least I can’t complain that my stay in San Diego was dull.”
“If you keep talking about going away,” I muttered, “I’ll throw you in the water.” Austen just laughed. I took that as a challenge that I’d take him up on later. I trudged through the sand, my wet clothes dragging me down. Finally we reached steady ground through the means of the deck. We entered Junie’s brightly lit shack. It was empty, but littered with bottles, peanut shells, and dirty dishes. Junie would be back to clean it before morning.
“If you wait for her here, Austen, I�
��ll go to the main building. Whoever finds her first does the interrogation—we’ll do it right this time.”
Austen ran a hand through the back of his wet hair. “Can’t we just raid the fridge and eat all the leftovers?”
“Yeah, make sure you clean the fridge while you’re at it.”
He smirked. “I think I’ll just set up the single light bulb over a rickety chair. I’ve got an interrogation to do.” He dragged a chair from the bar and fell into it, clearly having no intention of following through with anything that he said.
A laugh tickled through my throat as I set off down the beach to Maple Grove. I felt all tingly from Austen’s touch. Maybe it was our adventure in the waves, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I had just gotten fired and I still felt great. Austen really knew how to cheer a girl up.
Picking through the roots growing through Maple Grove, I reached the courtyard in good time. The overhead lights lit the cobblestone pathway. I didn’t want to run into anyone after what had happened, but I was desperate to find Junie. I hadn’t the faintest idea of where she could be.
By the time I smelled the cigarette smoke, I knew it was too late to retreat. A sleek silhouette blocked the door to the main building where DeBurgy had set up watch. No one could get past the publicity manager without being seen, but I still had a right to be here. Straightening my shoulders, I brushed past him.
DeBurgy reached out and caught a string of my wet hair. My T-shirt and shorts were still dripping. “Were you shipwrecked?” he asked.
I pulled away, but the moment my hands rested against the door, I had a sudden thought. I glanced over at DeBurgy. “I thought you were staying at the Kellynch next door?”
He nodded once. In the shadows, his heavyset eyes made dark sockets in his face, giving him a skeletal look. “Let’s take a walk,” he said. My breath caught at the strange request. The lit ash of his cigarette made an orange target in the darkness. He pointed with it to one of the side courtyards. “There’s a pretty garden over there. You can take me on a personal tour.”
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