If they weren’t on the Alaska-Canada Highway any longer, then who knew when someone would drive by? Very few tourists drove on the other highways; it could be hours or a day or two before someone could assist them. Walking may also take a day or two. The camper was well stocked; the others would be fine. Elizabeth, however, knew she and Will could have a tough few days ahead of them.
Knowing there was nothing for forty miles at least behind them, they pressed forward. They had walked several miles in silence when Elizabeth decided they must speak some. “Not quite the relaxing vacation to Alaska you imagined, is it Will?”
He looked at her intently. “I never imagined it would be relaxing. Meeting new people, doing new things, constant activity—that’s not relaxing for me.”
Elizabeth was surprised. She had imagined him enjoying a busy and full lifestyle. “You sound like you were determined to be displeased from the start,” she accused.
Will gave a light chuckle. “Perhaps. I do enjoy having the time away from my responsibilities, seeing new places. I just enjoy solitude, the slower things in life. If Bingley wanted to fish all day or hike, I’d be set.”
“I’m surprised to hear that you would rather fish than enjoy a night out since you live in Washington D.C. So what was the allure of Alaska for you then?”
“The distance,” he mumbled, then caught sight of Elizabeth’s curious expression and said louder, “Who could turn down such an opportunity? And I’m from rural Virginia, actually. I only live in D.C. four days a week, working at my uncle’s law practice, and then I return to my family farm. If I am fortunate, I can retire very early and devote all my time to managing the estates.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. Estates? No wonder Caroline hung on him; he sounded loaded. She decided to turn the conversation more to work-a-day things she might understand.
“You’re a partner already, aren’t you?” He nodded. “And your aunt and some others are in politics, aren’t they?”
“Yes…” Will seemed to be growing nervous, although Elizabeth could not fathom why.
Seeing that he was dealing with some personal demon, Elizabeth changed the topic. “Charlie said that you guys drove cross country and then took a ferry to Haines and drove in.” She laughed a bit. “That must have been delightful with Caroline. Did you enjoy the drive versus flying?”
Will shook his head. “Caroline did fly, and she met us at Seattle. No way could a man travel across the country with her. Naturally, she was not supposed to come but…” he trailed off. They both knew that Caroline only followed Will. “But I did enjoy the earlier drive. I have always wanted to drive across the country. There’s so many things to see. I don’t fly commercially, so there are a lot of things I would not see otherwise.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Just like the imperious Will Darcy to be too proud to fly commercially. He understood her thoughts. “I think you misunderstood me. I fly a Cessna Skyhawk, but a lot of the larger airports don’t allow them to land.”
Elizabeth was surprised to hear that he had a pilot’s license. She had one, of course; it was quite common in Alaska. “So you won’t fly commercially. I suppose you don’t trust other pilots? Why not just buy a jet?”
Will laughed. “I have no need for a jet. I seldom have to travel, and when I do, it can be on my terms.” He paused a minute and then said coldly, “But yes, I do not trust other pilots.”
Elizabeth looked at him in puzzlement. There seemed to be a deeper reason than just arrogance. He sighed, looked ahead and explained, “My parents were killed in a flight when I was eighteen. The pilot made an error and…”
“I understand. You don’t have to talk about it,” Elizabeth said with gentleness as she touched his arm.
He looked at her gratefully. “So we have established I enjoy flying and driving. I know you fly,” he gave her a little grin, “and obviously you enjoy driving if you’ve driven the Al-Can yearly for four years.”
“I do!” She chuckled and then turned serious. “But our trips didn’t start out because I enjoyed driving as much as a need for distraction. It was a way to make a fun new memory to cover the bad ones. Each drive is different and unique, as you have seen for yourself.”
“Bad memories?”
“Not mine, actually, so it’s not for me to share. Suffice to say that I am very protective of Jane and am keeping both eyes on Charles.”
Will nodded in understanding. “He’s a good guy. He’s so easy going that he can be easily taken advantage of. I am glad to see him interested in someone who is genuine and artless. And I know what it is to be protective of a sister.”
Hoping to turn the focus away from reasons to protect Jane, Elizabeth seized on the new topic. “Yes, I have heard she is much younger than you. It must have been very difficult for you both after your parents passed.” She had kindness in her eyes.
“Yes, it was. I was named her guardian. She was only seven at the time, and now she’s seventeen, starting college in the fall. I have been almost a father to her more than a brother, I am afraid. Perhaps if not…” He shook his head and changed topics again. “We should stop and rest for a bit.”
Elizabeth agreed and brought out a snack of dried fruit and some water. The walk itself was not very fatiguing, but it was awkward carrying the gasoline cans. Although the cans were light, their hands and arms were cramping. Elizabeth wondered how much more tired they would be on the way back, carrying full cans, but she was also half convinced they would find no settlement and might honestly be stranded for a day or so until another intrepid traveler happened upon them.
After a half hour’s rest, they resumed their trek, finding small things to talk about to avoid silences. The sun stayed high until quite late in this area, although not as high as in Alaska. They were exhausted long before sundown.
“How far do you think we have walked?” Elizabeth asked Will.
“I think it must be nearly twenty miles. How are you feeling?” He looked at her with the same look of concern from the morning.
“My feet are sore, but I don’t think they’re blistered. I truly have no idea where we are. I can only hope we can find something tomorrow.” Elizabeth chewed her lip in thought.
“I packed a compass; I know we are heading north, and we should be going southeast, but I am sure you are correct. We will come upon something or someone tomorrow.” He hardly seemed to believe his own words.
“Will…” Elizabeth eyed his bag and didn’t quite know how to broach the subject.
“Yes?”
“I only brought one tent.”
“I didn’t bring one at all; Charles assured us we’d be sleeping in the fifth wheel.”
“That was the plan, but I brought an emergency tent in case I wanted some solitude.”
“Ok.”
“It’s a very small pop up tent, and you are…huge!” Her eyes ran over his frame. He was definitely over six feet tall. And ruggedly handsome at the moment… Was it the outdoors that made him more appealing or that he went a whole day without offending her?
“Oh.”
“It’s fine. We can be adults about this. I’ll put up the tent if you want to start the fire.” Although it was summer, the temperature could still drop and be chilly overnight. They got to work and ate a light dinner of snacks they both had brought.
“All right, my sleeping bag is already in there. You got yours?”
“Uh…no, I didn’t bring one.”
“What happened to ‘Be Prepared’? Um…all right, I’ll unzip the bag, and I brought an extra blanket. We should be fine with the fire.”
Elizabeth was trying not to blush. She was sharing a bed with Will Darcy! The man who had done nothing but look at her in criticism since they met and declared that she was barely cute upon first sight. She could only wonder who might be more mortified.
Arranging themselves in the tent proved even more embarrassing than she ever could have imagined. They only fit by lying on their sides, Will curled up behind h
er. They were definitely spooning like the most intimate lovers, and she could feel his breath on her neck.
He surprised Elizabeth, though. He did not complain or seem angry. He offered to sleep outside, but it looked like rain, and Elizabeth insisted he sleep inside. He appeared nervous about touching her. It was almost adorable, if she hadn’t been so sure he could never be attracted to her and so certain that unlike herself, this was not an unknown situation for him.
Hoping to break the atmosphere—for surely tension could not be the correct word—she asked Will to talk about his hometown and fell asleep quickly, listening to the sound of his voice.
She awoke from the same dream she had since beginning this journey. It was a dream of a handsome man and his love for her evident in his every look, his every touch, his every kiss. He spoke words of endearment…and regret.
She began to rise when she remembered where she was. The location of Will’s hands, the proximity of his lips to her ear, and the sudden look of guilt on his face could not hide that he had been the force behind her dream.
They lay in a deafening silence for several minutes. Elizabeth broke it. “What do you mean when you say, ‘Don’t forget me. If only?’”
Will looked shocked. Undoubtedly, of all the questions she could ask that was not one he was expecting. “If only you did not live four thousand miles away from me! You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman!”
Elizabeth thought she had been shocked enough to find her dreams were brought on by the ministrations of Will Darcy, but to hear this was beyond belief. “You said I wasn’t even cute enough to ask for a dance!” Before they were even properly introduced, he had insulted her at the Salmon Bake run by her parents’ tourism company.
He cringed. “I’m sorry. I never meant for you to hear. I hate crowds and events like that. Everyone selling something. No one makes a real friendship; they want you to buy something.”
Elizabeth smirked just a bit. “Well, it is a tourist trap.” He laughed lightly. “Would you have ever spoken to me of your…” She wasn’t sure at all what he actually felt.
“My love?” Elizabeth gasped. Stroking her cheek, he looked deeply in her eyes. “I love you.”
How had this happened? Until three days ago, they barely had a civil conversation. He had shown no signs of admiration in these three months, and yet he loved her?
He must have seen her confusion. “I love you, but how can we ever be together? I can’t leave Virginia and D.C., and you love Alaska. We’ve only known each other a few months.”
Elizabeth was silent for a moment as she tried to think through what she wanted, what she felt. He spread one arm underneath her head and pulled her head back down to his shoulder. They were nearly nose to nose, and she could hear his heartbeat. He tenderly stroked her cheek, as though he would never be allowed more and she was the greatest treasure in the world.
Her mouth felt dry, but she needed to tell him. “I’ll be attending George Washington for grad school in the fall. I actually went there for a year in undergrad before leaving because of Jane’s…situation. My aunt and uncle live only a few miles from your farm. I’ve even set up to have an internship at a museum a few miles away from there next summer. I’ve always loved that area; I had hoped to work at one of the living history museums after graduation.” Her heart began to beat wildly as Will’s face lit up with joy. “If you don’t forget about me when you get home, I will soon be very close to you.”
“I’ll never forget a moment spent with you!” Their lips met again and again until they heard a truck approach.
Before they fully calmed themselves, they heard Charles yell out, “Will? Lizzy?”
“It’s them! I know that’s her tent!” Jane’s voice announced her relief.
Elizabeth emerged from the tent first. “Looks like you met with some friendly people! Did you find out where we are?”
Jane replied, “Only a few miles from Fort Liard. We’re actually in the Northwest Territories now and about one hundred miles from the Al-Can. Once we get back on the road, we’re less than twenty miles to Fort Nelson. Charlie saw the sign for Fort Liard and got it confused with Fort Nelson and thought we were to turn.”
“Fort Nelson! That means we may reach Dawson Creek by nightfall!”
Caroline finally emerged from the camper to stand next to her brother just as Will came out of the tent. Elizabeth was still standing very close to it, and the unruly hair of them both, and Will’s misbuttoned shirt said enough to her. She let out a strangling sound and then passed out, caught just in time by Charles.
The remaining four looked at each other for a moment before Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose it’s been just too many frightful moments for her on this trip!” Then she added, “Dawson Creek has an airport…”
Three weeks later, Elizabeth and Will were in Haines, Alaska. He was to board the ferry to take him back to Seattle. From there he would pilot several small crafts he arranged to rent back to Virginia. Charles arranged to take a temporary leave of absence from his job until Christmas. He hoped to transfer full time to Alaska by then.
Will held Elizabeth close and kissed her forehead. He whispered in her ear, “I love you. Don’t forget me, Lizzy.”
She shook her head and fought back tears. “I won’t forget you, Will.”
Another three weeks saw a nervous but joyful Will greeting Elizabeth at Reagan Airport in Virginia. Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle were there as well but allowed Will to greet her first. She ran into his arms and kissed him soundly.
“I didn’t forget you, Will. I love you.”
The End
Come What May
For the launch of A Sense of Obligation, I hosted a party on Facebook. I created a question and answer list of wedding day scenarios, and this story is a result of the choices made by the attendees.
Elizabeth Bennet awoke the morning of her wedding day to her mother shrieking. Why had she decided to marry from her home? Her mother took great pride in the gardens, and they were beautiful, but if they had married from anywhere else, Elizabeth may have won the battle about staying in her own apartment on her last night as a single woman.
“Mrs. Darcy!” her mother screamed outside the childhood bedroom she had shared with Jane.
Seeing her sister still asleep, Elizabeth tossed a pillow at her head.
“Hey!” Jane said, her pretty blonde hair still in place.
“Up!” Fanny Bennet said as she stormed in the room. “It will take hours and hours to get you ready! You have an appointment with the hairdresser in seventy minutes! Lord knows if you’re not perfect he will probably leave you right there at the altar, and then think of what the neighbors will say! And the cost! How can you be so selfish, Lizzy? Get up now!”
“Mom, William would never do that. He loves Lizzy.”
Their mother had already left the room, but Elizabeth gave Jane a hug. “Are you sure you’re ok with seeing Charles again?”
“Of course, I am.”
Elizabeth chewed her bottom lip. She was less certain that her sister’s fragile heart had wholly mended after the terrible breakup with her on-again-off-again boyfriend of the last year. Jane still hadn’t told her everything that happened at the rehearsal dinner last week, but just when Elizabeth expected Charles to propose, Jane was saying they had broken up for good. But he was Will’s best man, and it was rather late to do anything about it. Sighing, she headed to the shower.
Seventy minutes later, Elizabeth and her four sisters arrived at the salon. After a manicure and pedicure, she sat in the chair for her hair. Being a low maintenance girl, she asked for a simple, sophisticated ponytail with shiny curls. With a sinking feeling, she saw her mother speaking with the manager and shoving a manila folder, undoubtedly full of pictures of more elegant hairstyles, into the woman’s hands. Determined to not let all the wedding fuss get to her, she resigned herself to whatever her mother ordered. The woman approached Elizabeth with trepidation.
�
��Miss Bennet, I’m so sorry but your mother…”
“It’s perfectly all right. Really, just as long as it fits under my grandmother’s veil, I don’t care.”
The woman let out a deep breath. “If you’re certain…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Ok, then…” she trailed off as the receptionist from the front called her forward. “Please excuse me for just a moment.”
Elizabeth popped in the ear buds to her iPod and was content to listen to her favorite mix until the woman returned, again with a look of trepidation.
“It seems that we have double-booked the salon this morning by accident and are understaffed. The other bride’s wedding is an hour before yours.”
“Oh, it’s no problem! My mother planned on everything taking so long. I’m sure we’ve got plenty of time. We’ll just dress first.”
“Thank you for being so understanding. If you need anything, please let Kelly up front know.”
The manager left, and Elizabeth turned to tell her mother the change of plans. In a matter of minutes, her father arrived with the bridesmaids’ dresses, and the ladies took turns popping in and out of the restroom in the back. When Lydia came out first, Elizabeth was confused.
“Lyddie…what are you wearing?”
“The rockin’ dress you picked out! Way to go, Lizzy!”
“This isn’t what Jane and I agreed on.”
“Huh…well, it’s awesome. Look at my legs! They’re going to look even better in these heels!”
Elizabeth sighed and was silently thankful that her sister was at least over eighteen now. “Jane?” She called to her sister, who was chewing her nails and trying to not look guilty. “What happened?”
“Well, you had to leave the appointment early!”
“I was taking my master’s examinations! It was kind of an important thing!”
“It’s just that after you left, the attendant said they couldn’t have that dress for another six weeks, but they had these, and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t bother you, and you had gone on and on about how you didn’t care about things like that. So I texted Carrie and…”
One Autumn with Darcy Page 47