Darcy in Hollywood

She huffed a laugh. “I’m sure you can do that without me.”

“I’d rather do it with you. I like the world I see through your eyes.”

Wow, nobody had ever said anything remotely like that to her before. It made her want to stay locked in his arms forever. “I’ll be back before you know it.” The car had glided to a stop, and the chauffeur was fishing Elizabeth’s suitcase out of the trunk.

He kissed her slowly and tenderly. “I don’t want you to be late for your flight. But I’ll miss you.”

She pulled away reluctantly, sliding toward the door. “I’ll miss you, too. I’ll talk to you tonight.”

“Yeah.”

The driver opened the door and handed Elizabeth her small wheeled suitcase. She wanted to watch until the car disappeared but had a feeling that Darcy wouldn’t leave the airport while he could still see her. Refusing to surrender to the voice that wanted to turn back for one last look, she hurried into the terminal.

***

Darcy watched her disappear into the building before he told Raoul to head for home.

“I trust you had a good weekend, sir?”

Smart ass. “Yes.”

“I bet you did. Ms. Bennet has very perky breasts.”

“Raoul,” Darcy growled.

“I just couldn’t help noticing, sir.” The driver grinned. “She seems to make you very happy.”

Darcy was sure he’d never had so much fun spending an entire weekend with just one person, but he had noticed the shadow of sadness in her eyes. Her family was important to her in a way that Darcy didn’t quite understand, and they had essentially exiled her.

“Yes. Unfortunately, her family has made her very unhappy.” Darcy’s hands balled into fists. It was so unfair. They should be blaming Lydia and Wickham, not Elizabeth.

“That’s a shame,” Raoul said. “Is there anything you can do to help her?”

The words were like a lightning bolt. Of course, why didn’t I think of that? Helping was something boyfriends did. It was the kind of thing Elizabeth would do for someone she cared about. God, I am so bad at being a boyfriend. Hell, I’m bad at being a human being.

There must be something Darcy could do to help. He considered her dilemma from multiple angles but kept returning to one fact: her parents were blaming her for something that was Wickham’s fault. And if there was one thing Darcy knew, it was Wickham.

Darcy pulled out his phone and called up the In the Shadows production staff list. “I think there is,” he told Raoul. “Change in plans. Can you take me to 1515 Oak Terrace?”

They arrived within an hour, not bad for rush-hour in L.A. traffic. When Darcy knocked, Tom Bennet came to his front door wearing rumpled clothing and a puzzled expression. But he gave Darcy an amiable smile and had no objection to welcoming him in for a chat. Darcy didn’t linger; the Bennets were due to leave for the hospital soon.

However, Darcy was heartened by the results of the half-hour visit and hoped some good would come from it.

Chapter Fifteen

Elizabeth had a whirlwind two days in Baltimore. She interviewed with the director of the program, who seemed very impressed with her knowledge and experience, toured the facilities at Johns Hopkins, met with current interns, and enjoyed catching up with Denise. The internship itself seemed like a great opportunity to learn and keep her skills sharp, and it might give her a leg up on getting into Johns Hopkins medical school. There was no downside, except that she was unsure if she wanted to move to Baltimore.

Will didn’t call the first night as expected. Eventually she called him, but it went straight to voicemail. Her texts went unanswered. Finally, she got a text, but from Charlie: Darcy says he dropped his phone into the swimming pool. He’s sorry. He will try to call or text when he gets a new phone. Elizabeth chuckled and swallowed her disappointment. She would see him again in two days; it wasn’t a big deal.

When she still hadn’t heard from him at the end of the next day, she tried to ignore prickles of uneasiness. He probably hadn’t gotten the new phone yet. The last thing she wanted was to look like a clingy girlfriend, particularly when she didn’t even know if they were at the girlfriend/boyfriend stage yet. Finally around midnight, she got an apologetic text from Darcy explaining that he had been doing interviews all day and still couldn’t free up some time to talk. The message allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief, but it wasn’t the same as hearing his voice.

During the plane ride back to California her thoughts swung wildly between extremes. One minute she was reassuring herself that she was being silly and the next she was worried that their relationship was over before it had begun.

She didn’t even know where she would sleep that night. Since she was still persona non grata with her family, she would probably need to beg Charlotte for a spot on her sofa again. The sensible course would be to sit down for a heart-to-heart with Jane. Elizabeth knew they could work out any difficulties, but she was exhausted and couldn’t imagine having the energy for such a conversation.

I should have stayed in Baltimore.