“C’mon,” Will said, taking her hand. “Let’s go get the truck and go home. I’ll call for takeout.” He pulled his coat tighter as another gust of wind hit them. “I’ll even get you the coconut soup.”
“Will,” Elizabeth said, taking small steps, “I’ll come over for a bit, but I need to go to Montclair and then home, too.”
Will shook his head. “Please stay tonight, Elizabeth. I wouldn’t feel right if you weren’t with me tonight. Please?”
Elizabeth squeezed his hand. Normally she’d acquiesce to him, but she had a desperate need to be alone. “I need to go home.” She kissed his cheek. “I’m feeling a lot better.”
He gave her a skeptical look. “Did you like Trainor?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little.”
“What are you going to do?” His eyebrows nearly met. He was worried about her, and her heart went out to him. I’m such a mess. It’s a miracle I haven’t given the man an ulcer.
She kissed his cheek. “Keep looking.”
He smiled at her, relieved. “Will you let me help?” he asked in a rush.
She nodded. As if I could stop you. “Of course. But the final choice has to be mine.”
He kissed her hand, and they resumed their walk to the truck. “What was it about him you didn’t like?”
She considered that. Lots of things. But what she said was, “I don’t want to drag myself through every awful experience I’ve ever had.” While he takes notes and uses me in a book. Had enough of that. “I don’t think that’ll help me.” Will’s eyes were on her, serious and evaluative. He opened the door for her this time, and she climbed in, immediately reaching back to secure her safety belt. Despite the incident this morning, she was feeling better. She’d have a late lunch with Will, then visit her family. Tonight, she’d go home and figure out what her life in the near term was going to look like.
She watched Will as he swung himself into the driver’s seat and felt a genuine smile working its way onto her face. The founder and owner of FORGE, the co-owner of Darcy Acquisitions, billionaire Fitzwilliam freaking Darcy, and he was driving an old red pickup truck through Manhattan traffic to visit a shrink without batting an eye. For her.
“You okay?” Will asked as he was starting the engine.
Elizabeth laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Yes,” she told him when he rolled his eyes at her. “Yes.”
They parked the big red monster in Will’s garage, where it barely fit, the outside of each tire resting on the edge of a white line. They ate Thai food in the kitchen and wandered into the living room. Elizabeth noticed the popcorn on the carpet but didn’t say anything. She just watched as Will assessed everything with a jaundiced eye, hands on his hips. Eventually, he reached under the coffee table where a few pieces of popcorn had been half-hidden behind the leg. He frowned and tossed them up on the table’s surface. Then he pulled out the cushions on the couch. A few more pieces were mashed underneath, and Elizabeth scooped them up.
“Richard?” she grinned. She took another look. “Oh, no butter. Jane doesn’t like butter.” Her eyes widened. “I guess they’ve been getting along.”
Will grunted, searching for more evidence. “Richard’s usually very neat. He left this here intentionally just to bug me.”
Elizabeth laughed softly. “National pastime.”
“What?” Will asked, bending to lift the front end of the couch. There was nothing underneath.
Her eyes glinted with mischief. “You have three bathrooms, right?”
“Uh huh,” he mumbled, setting the couch back down. “You know where they are.”
“Do they lock?” she asked.
Will looked directly at her. “Why?” he asked.
“I just thought,” she said, rubbing her hands together, “that Richard left this mess to say hello. Maybe we could say hello back?”
Will thought, neutral, but then saw her face. Animated, lively, happy. Mischievous. He planted a kiss on her lips. “What did you have in mind?”
Chapter Fifteen
Elizabeth worked for over an hour, enlisting Jeremy’s help with the delivery and then dragging everything downstairs to set up. Will stood to the side as Elizabeth eyed up the measurements and assessed their supplies, then rubbed her hands together.
“Shall we begin?” she asked merrily.
“This is going to make a hundred times the mess Richard left,” Will grumbled. Elizabeth’s smile vanished, and she peered up at him contritely. Will felt like kicking himself.
“Bad idea, I guess,” she replied casually, grabbing the bags and moving to the door. “I’ll just toss these in the truck. The kids can have them.” She made it upstairs to her coat and had already removed some money and tossed it on the table by the time Will reached the landing.
“Wait,” Will called, and she turned to face him. Her expression was stoic, but the blank expression and slightly narrowed eyes told him she was disappointed, maybe even a little hurt, and he felt like an ass. If he’d meant to nix the thing, he should have done it at the start. The whole point of this exercise was to cheer her up. “I didn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.”
She eyed him, confused.
He grimaced. “I’m a killjoy.”
She waited.
“A wet blanket. A curmudgeon. A . . .”
“And it’s important to tell me this why?” she asked uncertainly.
He sighed and grabbed the bags out of her hands. “Less talking, more working.”
She stood still as he took the stairs down two at a time. “You are a difficult man to understand, William Darcy,” she said from above him.
They finished quickly, and Elizabeth left Will to face the music after extracting the promise of a full report on Richard’s reaction. He’d been loath to let her go but had agreed in the end. They both knew he needed to get back up to speed on FORGE after his time away, and for that, he’d need a few uninterrupted days. He assumed she’d have to reestablish her work routine as well. Elizabeth had sworn up and down that she’d call when she got to Montclair and again when she was in her own apartment. Small price to pay, she thought as she pulled the truck out of Will’s parking spot.
After setting Richard up, she felt pretty good. Almost normal. Part of her felt as though she was strong enough to forget about therapy. What good would it do to talk about her life with a stranger? As she watched for a break in the traffic so she could pull out onto the street, she sighed. Who am I kidding? The incident that morning still had her in a panic. You told Will you wouldn’t give up, she lectured herself. Even if it’s a bust, you can’t break your word.
Her homecoming was a tearful one on the part of Aunt Maddy. She hugged Elizabeth tight and kissed her a dozen times before releasing her. Jane and Uncle Ed were still at work, so she settled in with Kit and Lydia as they sat at the dinner table doing their homework as Aunt Maddy bustled about in the kitchen.
“When do the admission decisions come?” she asked Kit.
“Middle of March or around then,” Kit replied. “They release the date online and then send emails, so at least I’ll know right away.”
“Unless you get wait-listed,” Lydia chimed in.
Kit released a puff of air. “I hadn’t even thought about that,” she groaned. “Thanks, Lyddie.”
Lydia shrugged. “Welcome.”
Mary came into the room, backpack straining under the weight of her textbooks.
Kit shook her head at her sister. “Mary,” she said, “I will never understand why you lug all those books around instead of buying e-books.”
Mary dropped the bag on the floor with a heavy thump. “I like real books when I’m studying.” She walked around the table to give Elizabeth a hug. “I missed you, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth rose to give her a return hug. “Missed you too, dragon lady.”
Mary laughed. “You haven’t called me that in years.”
Lydia nearly sang, “Paper doesn’t make a book real, Mary. It’s the words, the word
s, the words.”
Mary grinned a little. “I think we’ve had this conversation before. Let’s cut to the chase. I’m a dinosaur, hopelessly out of touch, and with all your digital acumen, you will one day rule the world.”
Lydia appeared thoughtful, her nose scrunching up. She nodded. “Yep, that’s about it.”
While Mary emptied her backpack, she asked, “Are you staying for dinner, Lizzy?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I ate a late lunch, but I’ll stay to see Uncle Ed. When’s Jane off tonight?”
“Oh, not until late,” Mary said. “I think she’s off at eleven. You might need to wait till tomorrow.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Well, I’ll be around.”
Kit smiled up at her brightly. “Sounds good.”
Elizabeth watched her sisters sitting at the long dining table working on school projects, occasionally looking up to talk or argue with each other. She paged through one of her Mary’s textbooks and listened to the sounds of her four little cousins in the next room. Aunt Maddy’s soft voice was reading to Sarah. She felt a small smile forming, and she felt at peace.
“Hello there,” Uncle Ed said gruffly from the doorway. She looked up and her eyes met his. She smiled and stood, walking around the end of the table into his waiting arms.
Uncle Ed threw both arms around her and hugged her hard. “I’m so glad you’re home, Lizbet.”
Elizabeth rested her head on his chest and hugged him back, hard. “Me too, Uncle Ed.”
“Let me just tell your aunt I’m here,” he said in her ear, “and then come join me in the study.”
She stiffened. Moment over. “Okay,” she agreed.
When they were ensconced in his office, Uncle Ed gave her a long, serious look. “I’m happy that you’re back, Elizabeth,” he said roughly, “but I need to know what the hell you thought you were doing, taking off like that.”
Elizabeth scratched the side of her head. She’d expected this talk, though perhaps not the same day she returned. The speed of the remonstrance testified to how badly she’d scared him. “Not one of my better decisions, I’ll admit,” she began, but Uncle Ed cut her off.
“That’s the understatement of all time,” he said stonily. “Have you any idea what you put us through?”
Elizabeth was silent at first. Caught. Then she closed her eyes. “There’s no good answer to that, Uncle Ed. If I say yes, I’m just hard-hearted. If I say no, I’m thoughtless and insensitive.”
“Don’t take this lightly, Elizabeth,” he ground out.
Exactly. “See?” she asked, tossing her hands up. “No good answer.” She grunted in frustration. “I saw Will’s whole business going up in flames, and he wouldn’t let me help save it. I called in backup.”
Ed spoke grimly. “Without thinking about who was offering that backup?”
“You’re relentless, Uncle Ed,” Elizabeth moaned, dropping into the nearest chair. “I knew what I was doing.”
Uncle Ed sighed. “I don’t want to be relentless, Elizabeth. I just want you to acknowledge that this was a stupid move.”
Elizabeth pinched the bridge of her nose, something she’d picked up from Will. It didn’t help. “It was a stupid move,” she admitted.
“She recruited you, right?” he inquired. He leaned against the edge of his desk and kept his eyes on his niece.
Elizabeth pressed her lips into a thin line. “Yes,” she said.
Ed pushed on. “And you said no?” He raised his eyebrows. “Definitively?”
“Yes.” She replied, then clarified. “I said no.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
Uncle Ed seemed to accept that, but he had additional questions. “What about your work?”
Nosy, she thought, and instantly regretted it. It’s Uncle Ed. Of course he wants to know. “She won’t reach me through work, Uncle Ed,” Elizabeth said, her voice sharp.
Ed’s expression was wary. “She was clearly keeping tabs on you through your work this time. Don’t try to deny it.”
Elizabeth looked away. Abby had done that. But she never offered more or made an appearance unless she was asked to do so. Elizabeth knew Abby, as well as anyone could know her, and she believed that in her own way, Abby cared about every member of her team. She never took anyone on who didn’t choose to be there. But she was also aware of that other part of Abby, the opportunist, the manipulator. Abby didn’t hide those things. She was baldly honest with those she valued, and Elizabeth knew that Abby valued her highly. It irritated her that Uncle Ed thought perhaps she’d forgotten that part of Abby’s character, or that he might believe she’d never seen it. She knew better than him, better than almost anyone, what Abby was. But she’d grown so much working for the Abbot she couldn’t regret knowing her.
“How do you know she won’t do it again?”
There it was, the Big Question. Elizabeth stood hastily, gazing out of a window that overlooked the front porch and lawn. When I say this out loud, it’s forever. I made the decision but saying it makes it real.
“Because I quit,” she said softly.
“What?” Ed Gardiner sounded shocked.
Elizabeth almost laughed. From the look on his face, Uncle Ed had been prepared to talk her into taking another job, she thought suddenly, maybe one with regular hours. He knows I’d hate it, but he’d argue that he’d rather me be safe. He’d been all geared up to do battle, and now that energy had nowhere to go.
“I quit,” Elizabeth said again. “I called the four jobs she got me and I quit.” My big jobs. My steady jobs. Her smile was wan. “They paid well, but I can build up again. I had a substitute working them while I was gone, so he’ll just keep them.” She sat on the window sash. “I was well paid for the trip, so I’m fine financially. I’ll make do with my smaller gigs for a while. I think I have some things to clear up before I start job hunting again, anyway.”
Ed’s eye narrowed suspiciously. “Like?”
“Things.”
Ed stared at his niece, and she stared back. Standoff. His take-no-prisoners approach had pushed her too far. On this day of all days, she thought wearily. She would offer him nothing more.
“You can’t ever do that again,” he told her, and though he hid it well, she could hear the fear that lingered in his voice. Elizabeth softened, instantly forgiving him. He stood, took three steps forward, took her chin in his hand, and said, clearly and distinctively, “You’re done. Tell me you’re done.”
She met his clear gaze unflinchingly. “I’m done, Uncle Ed.”
Elizabeth said her goodbyes, telling her aunt she’d be around the next morning to see Jane. As she approached the front door, Mary called her name. The younger girl’s lips were pursed, and she wouldn’t meet Elizabeth’s eyes, but she held out a large, flat envelope with a red ribbon tied around it.
“Merry Christmas, Lizzy,” she mumbled.
“Thanks, Mary,” Elizabeth said quietly. She tried to get the girl to meet her gaze. Finally, Mary glanced up and blushed. “May I open it now?” Elizabeth asked.
Mary shook her head. “It’s just something I wrote in my journal a long time ago. Kit copied it out so it would look nice. And Lydia . . . well, you’ll see.”
Elizabeth smiled warmly. “It’s from all three of you, then?”
Mary nodded, dropping her head again.
“Then I’ll love it,” Elizabeth said, touched. She ran a hand over the envelope lightly. “But if makes you uncomfortable, Mary, I’ll wait to open it.”
Mary flushed and nodded. “I’m sorry to be so . . . it’s just not that great. I mean . . .”
Elizabeth tossed an arm around her younger sister. “Thank you, Mary.”
Mary let out a nervous breath. “You’re welcome.”
Elizabeth grinned. “How are you planning to make arguments in the courtroom if you blush over a gift?” she asked, trying to turn the conversation.
Mary snorted, her sarcastic bent returning. “Because I don’t give a damn what they think about me, Lizzy.
”
Elizabeth hugged her tightly, then released her. “I will always think well of you, Mary. You don’t ever need to worry about that.” She gave Mary a playful shove with her shoulder. “You’re tougher than you let people see.”
Mary nodded. “I know. But you always say that being underestimated is an advantage.”
Elizabeth chuckled at that. Mary is the best straight man ever. “I do say that, don’t I?”
“And you’re right,” Mary affirmed. She gave the envelope one last, tense look and said, abruptly, “I need to go study.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Okay. Thanks again.”
Mary nodded and was gone.
Elizabeth shut off the engine on her truck and grabbed her bags from the passenger seat. She pressed the locks and jumped the short distance to the ground, shutting the door behind her. The building appeared shabbier than she remembered, the neighborhood a little rougher. She tossed one of the bags over her shoulder and trudged to the front entrance, letting herself in, dragging heavy legs up the stairs, unlocking her front door, and engaging the deadbolts behind her.
Jane had been here, and probably Aunt Maddy. They’d cleaned out her refrigerator, thank goodness, so she made a mental note to go for groceries in the morning. A respectable stack of mail sat on her small dining table, and she idly knocked it over with one finger and spread out the envelopes. Mostly junk mail. She picked out a few business letters, receipts, statements, and placed them to the side.
She placed her promised call to Will, who was up to his eyebrows in the new client inquiries Richard had been holding for him for two weeks, so she didn’t keep him long. She’d texted Jane before but sent another to say she’d drop by the next day. Then she dug out her music and turned on her speakers.
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