My Own Mr. Darcy (40 page)

“So I’ll actually be
working here?” I asked. “Soon?”

“Alexis is leaving in
three weeks. If you give a two-week notice tomorrow, you’ll have a week to work
with Alexis so she can get you up to speed on all her projects. That is, if you
accept my offer of employment.”

“I accept. Wow! Do I ever
accept!”

“Excellent. I’m sad to see
Alexis leave but I’m delighted to be able to hire you.”

I gave my notice the next
morning.

D

The teenager at the front
desk smiled. “They’re in room 326. Just take the elevator to the third floor
and then turn right. It’s straight down that hall.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I carefully pulled the
balloons into the elevator. They were attached to a bright pink bag that held a
sweet, flowered sleeper, a white dress with pink embroidered tulips across the
bodice and a soft, stuffed puppy—also pink.

I knocked softly when I
found Room 326.

“Come in.” I pushed the
door open and shepherded the bundle of balloons around a hospital curtain. “Hi Lizzie,”
Laura said. “James, Lizzie’s here.”

James stirred, making
crackling sounds on the vinyl recliner where he’d been dozing. “Oh, hey Lizzie.”

“Hi, you guys,” I said,
but I wasn’t looking at them. I was looking at the tiny bundle in the bassinet
beside Laura. I handed the gift and balloons off to James and leaned over the
bassinet. “Can I hold her?”

“Of course,” Laura said. I
carefully picked her up. Her lips were making a tiny sucking motion and her eyes
were squeezed shut. I held her close. She smelled wonderful.

“She’s so beautiful,” I
said.

“Here, Liz. You can take
this chair. I think I’m going to run home and shower and check in on Jonah.”

“He’s been here since
yesterday afternoon,” Laura said.

James leaned over and
kissed Laura goodbye and then kissed the baby’s cheek before hugging me around
the shoulders.

I sat in the chair James
had left and gently rocked the baby. “What’s her name?”

“Ava,” Laura said.

“I love it. Pretty name
for a pretty girl.” I kissed her forehead. “How are you feeling?” I asked
Laura.

“I feel great now. What’s
going on with you? Your mom said your life has been crazy lately. Tell me
what’s happening.”

I told her about my new
job with Emma Cho and about my breakup with Matt.

“Are you doing okay?” she
asked.

“I really am. I’ve been
feeling for a while like it wasn’t right.”

“I guess it’s too much to
expect that everything would work out perfectly just because he looked exactly
like Mr. Darcy.”

I sighed. “Not the most
rational plans for finding the love of my life.”

“I’m so glad to hear you
say that. You know we’ve all worried about you for several years. You were so
focused.”

“You mean obsessed.”

Laura laughed. “Yeah.
Obsessed.”

“Well, I’m over it. I’m no
longer looking for Mr. Darcy.”

“Whatever happened to the
guy you were dating before you met Matt?”

“He’s still around.” I
smiled as I thought of Chad.

“Okay, I sense a story
here. Spill it.”

I told her about Chad and
my last conversation with him.

“So he’s in love with
you?”

“I don’t know. He might
be. He said I knew how he felt about me. I think I do, but he’s never actually
told me.”

“How do you feel about
him?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m in
love with him.”

“And what does he think
about your break-up?”

“I don’t know what he’ll
think. He doesn’t know yet.”

“Why haven’t you told him?
He left it in your court. Don’t you want him to know where you stand?”

“Of course I do. I just
don’t want to seem too eager.” Laura shook her head. “What?” I asked.

“Lizzie, when something is
right, it’s okay to be eager.”

I didn’t go back to work
after I left the hospital. Instead I drove home and changed into a pale gray
dress with a yellow cardigan. I wanted to look pretty when I saw him. I called
the high school and asked if there was swim practice today and was happy to
learn there wasn’t.

The clouds that had
obscured the sun all morning had dissipated by the time I left my apartment. I
told myself that was a good sign and then laughed at my silliness.

But maybe it was. I wanted
to believe it was. It had only been a few weeks since Chad and I had walked and
talked together. Surely nothing had changed in that amount of time. Please let
him feel the same.

My nerves began playing
peek-a-boo and by the time I pulled into the school parking lot, I was having
trouble breathing. School hadn’t dismissed yet so the lot was full of assorted
high school cars, everything from the fancy cars, gifts from wealthy parents,
to the rusted out beaters that had to have limped into the parking lot.

I drove around until I
found Chad’s white Camry. There was nowhere to park by his car so I pulled
around to the back row where I could see both the back of his car and the
entrance to the school.

And then I waited.

I had a book with me but I
didn’t want to read it and risk missing Chad walking to his car.

A few minutes after I
arrived three buses parked in front of the school, blocking my view of the
doors. At three-ten, the bell rang and students started spilling out from
between the buses into the parking lot. Some walked alone, others in groups.

Cars started pulling out
of parking spaces. A couple of horns honked. I couldn’t tell if they honked to
avoid a parking lot collision or because the students were flirting. I
remembered Dad telling me a high school parking lot is the most dangerous place
on earth.

Ten minutes after the bell
rang, the buses released their air brakes and slowly pulled out of the parking
lot. The space beside Chad’s Camry was now empty so I started the engine and
pulled through to park next to him.

Then I waited again.

A few stragglers exited
the building and then there was no one for several more minutes. The next wave
of people was adults, probably teachers and administrators. They got in their
cars and left.

I debated whether to go
into the school or not. I vaguely remembered where Chad’s classroom was but
what if I took one way in while he took another way out. I didn’t want to miss
him and as long as I had his car in sight, I knew I’d see him eventually.

I wiped my damp hands on
my dress and applied some new lip gloss. Every minute that passed left me a
little more nervous, a little less sure this was a good idea.

When something is
right, it’s okay to be eager
.  I
repeated Laura’s words in my mind.

And then Chad walked out
of the school. He was wearing a pair of brown corduroy pants and pale blue
plaid shirt. He was walking with a student. It might have been the boy from his
swim team who would be swimming for the ducks. The one whose parents were
getting a divorce.

They stopped on the
sidewalk and talked for a few more minutes. Chad was a few inches taller than
the boy. He smiled and patted the boy on the back. Man, he looked good.

I reminded myself to
breathe.

The boy started walking
down the sidewalk toward a different parking lot and Chad started walking
toward me. Well, actually toward his car, but since I was by his car, it looked
like he was walking toward me.

I opened my car door and
got out. I straightened my dress and stood by the door. Chad saw me when he was
about thirty feet away. Thirty feet. Fourteen or fifteen regular steps. Twelve
or so steps if you take a slightly longer stride. Eight or nine steps if you’re
in a hurry.

Chad made it to me in eight
steps. He studied my face, questions in his eyes.

“Hi,” I said.

Neither of us spoke for a
few moments. “What does this mean, Lizzie?”

I tried to keep my voice
strong and steady. “It means I’ve changed my dream.”

Suddenly I was in Chad’s
arms. And then my feet no longer touched the ground as Chad spun me around.

Me feet came back to earth
and Chad held me at arm’s length, his hands on my shoulders. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I’m totally and
completely sure.”

Chad’s hands moved up to
my face. He looked at me for a long moment and then he kissed me with so much intensity
I wondered if I’d ever catch my breath. When he finally pulled away, he moaned
and held me close. I could feel his heart racing and I didn’t want to move.

“You know, Lizzie, I’m not
much like Mr. Darcy.”

I looked up at him. “I
don’t care about that at . . .”

Chad cut off my words with
a short kiss. “Shh. I want you to know that in one way, Mr. Darcy and I have a
lot in common.” He smiled his sweet, beautiful, crooked smile and I smiled
back.

“And what way is that?” I
asked.

“Mr. Darcy is madly in
love with Elizabeth. And so am I.”

I wrapped my arms around
Chad’s neck and kissed him again.

 THANK YOU FOR taking the time to read My Own Mr. Darcy.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. With all there
is out there to read, I’m honored that you chose my book.

If you enjoyed the book, I’d be ever so grateful if you’d
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http://kareywhite.com/
.

Have a happily ever
after day!