Waiting for Mr. Darcy (8 page)

“Me, too. I think the Austen Aristocrats are overdue for a meeting.” The doorbell rang. “I'd better go, Bunny's here.”

“Tell Bunny I said hello, and you, my friend, have a good time tonight.”

“I will, and I definitely will.” Gabby hung up and then took a minute to check her reflection before greeting her mother.

Reed thin, coiffed and perfectly attired in a black dress with pearls, Bunny looked good for her seventy-six years. Though her step had slowed, she still managed to wear three-inch pumps.

“You look well, Mother.” Gabby kissed her cheek and helped her to the sofa.

“Thank you.” She looked her daughter over. “So do you, dear.”

Gabby took a seat as well. “How's Daddy?”

Her father, Richard Blanchard, had had a stroke two years earlier and it had left him frail and unable to travel too much. In Gabby's eyes, though, he was still the superman she loved.

“Your father is doing well. He's been asking for you.”

“My schedule has been crazy, but I will be there soon to see him.”

“Good.” Bunny sipped her tea. “We just got a postcard from Lizzie in Milan. She seems to be having a good time.”

Gabby nibbled a sandwich. “'She's having a great time, and they're in Venice now.”

“Venice already?”

“That's the beauty of the computer, Mother. I can keep up with her in real time. In fact, she emailed me last night with some pictures. She and her friends are having a blast in Europe.”

Bunny shook her head. “I'm all for her enjoying herself, but I don't understand why she's coming back to work in the inner city schools when there are plenty of fine private schools that would love to have her.”

“It's her choice, Mother. She wants to contribute something to the lives of underprivileged children.”

“She did have an interview with Hudson Hills Prep School, and they were going to take her until she handed them her reading list.”

Gabby tried to hide her pride.

“I know you're smiling about it, but they didn't think it was funny when she read passages from
Why Should White Boys Have All the Fun
,
Forced into Glory
and the
Souls of Black Folks
during her demonstration class.”

“She said the kids liked it.”

Bunny pursed her lips. “You encouraged her.”

“She speaks her mind, Mother, and she always has. I can't stop that.”

“Then why doesn't she work in one of the suburban schools on Long Island or in Westchester?”

“We've been around this before, Mother. It's her life.”

Bunny dipped her scone into the tea. “Fine, I guess her mind is made up.” She nibbled her scone. “How's Ian doing?”

“He's good. He and Emily have been splitting their time between his condo in the city and a place in the Hamptons this summer.”

“Now Emily Scofield, there's a girl from a good family.”

Here we go again.
Gabby tried not to roll her eyes. “Ian isn't with her because of her family. She's a lovely girl.”

“Yes, she is nice.” She sipped her tea again. “You know who I just ran into at the country club?”

Here it comes.
Gabby braced herself. “Who?”

“Terrence Talbot. He was there meeting a client for golf.”

“That's nice.”

“He's single.”

“Terrence is a nice man and all but no thanks, Mother.”

“So he's divorced. You're divorced, too.”

“I've been divorced once. Terrence, on the other hand, has as many ex-wives as there are days in the week.”

“Dear, you're forty-six years old. You can't be too picky.”

“No, Mother, that's exactly why I can be picky. I'm too old to put up with just anything, no matter how great the pedigree is.”

“Fine. Contrary to popular belief, I hadn't planned a wedding.”

“Thank you, Mother. Can we change the subject?”

“Certainly. How is Alicia's little show doing?”

Gabby nodded her head. “It's not a little show, Mother. Alicia's show is nationally syndicated and she has a successful magazine to boot. I'd say she's doing very well.”

“That's nice,” she said almost dismissively. “How about Lauren?”

“She's good.”

“Is she still married to that ex-football player?”

“They're getting divorced.”

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Isn't this her third marriage?”

“Yes,” Gabby said reluctantly.

“So I guess being divorced more than once isn't all bad.”

“No, Mother, for some people it isn't. Lauren is a romantic, that's all.”

“Then why can't Terrance be a romantic?”

“Because a man who's been married six times has something to prove.”

“Hmm,” Bunny sighed. “How's the gallery doing?”

Gabby was relieved she'd changed the subject. “It's doing really well. There's a lot of excitement building for the Sixteen to Watch new artist exhibit.”

“I thought you only showcased fifteen artists.”

“I decided to change it up this year.”

“I see. Is that why you're going to dinner tonight?”

Gabby's heart jumped. “What do you mean?”

“You're having dinner with a patron, so I assume it's to raise more money to open more slots.”

“Right.”

Bunny checked her watch. “It's nearly two-thirty and you need time to get ready. Would you mind calling Lee and telling him to bring the car around, please?”

“Not at all, Mother.”

Rosie, who was standing nearby, brought her the phone.

“Thank you, Rosie.”

“No problem, ma'am.”

Gabby dialed. “Hi, Lee. Mother's ready to leave. Thank you.” She put the phone down. “He'll be around in a minute.”

“Good.”

Gabby stood and helped her mother to her feet.

“Thank you, dear.”

Gabby walked her mother outside to her waiting car. Lee held the car door.

“Thanks for coming, Mother.” She kissed her on the cheek.

“You're welcome, dear. I'm going to tell your father that you're coming soon.”

“Please do, I will be there soon.”

“Be sure you are,” she said as Lee helped her into the car.

“I'll call you this week, Mother.”

“Okay, dear.” She waved and then Lee closed the door.

Gabby watched as the car pulled off. Something inside of her wished she could have shared the news of her date with her mother, but she knew better. Bunny was only interested in men with the right family lineage for her daughter, and a black investment banker from Long Island wouldn't qualify in her book. What mattered, however, was that Gabby herself was very interested in Mr. Nigel Clark and looked forward to what the evening would bring.

* * *

Once she'd had a little orange juice for energy and glanced over the style section of
The Times,
Lauren went back to the bedroom. As she walked in she heard the shower running in the master bath. Quietly she opened the door and watched Randy as he closed his eyes and let the hot water wash over his head. The suds seemed to sparkle as they glided down his broad shoulders and muscular back. Lauren dropped her robe and stepped in.

“I see you started without me.”

“There's no reason you can't catch up.” He pulled her close to him and lifted her slightly.

“Oh,” she moaned softly as she held on tight.

Ten minutes later Lauren lay on the bed exhausted but satisfied. “I look like a prune.” She looked at her fingers.

Randy was on the edge of the bed getting dressed. “Hot water will do that to you.”

“It wasn't just the water.”

He stood from the bed to button his shirt. “We did steam it up a bit in there, didn't we?”

“Oh, yes.”

He leaned over to kiss her. “I wish I could stay tonight.”

“But you have a restaurant to run and I have to work, too.”

“When will you have some time to get together again?”

“Well, the show is on hiatus, which means my schedule is a little more flexible. What did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking that maybe we could have dinner at my place Wednesday evening.”

“I'd love that.”

“Great. I can pick you up or you can meet me at the restaurant around seven, whatever you prefer.”

“I'll meet you at the restaurant.”

“Good.” He looked at his watch. “I really have to get to the restaurant to check on the kitchen.”

“Don't you have a sous chef running things in your absence?”

“Yes, but sometimes the sous chef is treated like a substitute teacher. The class might be good for the first day, but by the second they're usually trying to see what they can get away with.”

“Okay, I get it. You have to play big brother.”

“Sort of.” He leaned in again and they kissed. “Hmm, I'm going to miss you.”

“Me, too.”

“I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Lauren stretched out on the bed as he left the bedroom. A few moments later she heard the door close. “I've never been so tired and so happy in my life.” She sighed aloud before picking the phone up to dial.

“Hello?” Alicia answered.

“Hi, Alicia. How's it going, lady?” Lauren was upbeat.

“It's going all right. However, I dare say things are going much better for you today. I take it the date went well.”

“The date went very well.”

“You sound like the cat that ate the canary. You're practically purring.”

“Well, a night with a gorgeous man will do that to you.”

“I'll bet.”

“Really, Alicia, he's a great guy. We got a chance to talk over dinner and we got to know each other.”

“In something other than the biblical sense, you mean,” she teased.

“Yes.” Lauren laughed.

“I'm interested to know where a five-star chef takes a date for dinner.”

“We went to a little place called AOC in Greenwich Village. Have you heard of it?”

“As a matter of fact I have. They're known as a great little French bistro. How was the food, if you know?” Alicia leaned back in her chair.

“You're a riot, Alicia,” Lauren said sarcastically. “The food was good. We had a great little pasta dish with green olives, tomato sauce, basil and cheese. I forget what it was called.”

“You had
pasta de sud
.”

“It figures you'd know.”

“Well, food is my thing. What did you have for dessert?”

“We had the Belgian chocolate gelato.”

“Oh, that sounds fantastic.”

“It was good.”

“So what did you find out about your sexy chef?”

Lauren filled Alicia in on the particulars.

“I tell you there is nothing like a culinary European education.”

“True. You probably know he went to the Culinary Institute here for his training.”

Alicia nodded to herself. “Sure. He went to school with some pretty heavy hitters. Anyway, that's all fine and well, but what really matters is how he connected with you.”

Lauren sighed. “I have to admit it's been a long time since I had a great date.”

“I'd say you were long overdue.”

“I'm not the only one.”

“We're not talking about me.”

“Okay. I'm in too good a mood to argue with you.”

“Good. Are you going out again?”

“Yes, we're getting together for dinner on Wednesday.”

“Cool. It seems summer has turned on the heat in more ways than one.”

“I know. Gabby has a date this evening.”

“I know she's excited, although I'm pretty sure she won't have the wardrobe dilemma you do.”

“You just can't resist mentioning that, can you?”

“Three closets filled with clothes and you draw a blank. It cracks me up.”

“You just wait until you're trying to get dressed for a date.”

“I don't have that problem, nor do I plan to.”

“You're impossible, Alicia.”

“I know.” She paused. “Well, I know one thing. Gabby's going to look great, and I'm pretty sure she's going to have as good a time as you did.”

“Then I hope her AC is working, because she's in for a hot summer night.”

* * *

After a long leisurely evening spent over dinner, Nigel and Gabby stood outside her townhouse.

“I had a wonderful time tonight.” Gabby smiled.

“I did, too.”

“It's hard to believe it's after eleven already. The time just flew by.”

“It doesn't feel late.”

“Would you like to come in for decaf?”

“Sure.”

She unlocked the door and they walked in. Nigel seemed impressed as he looked around. “You have a nice place here.”

“Thanks.” She put her keys on the table. “If you'll follow me upstairs, the kitchen and the living room are on the next level.”

He followed her up the stairs. “Please have a seat.” She motioned toward the living room.

“Okay.” He went to the living room. Once he sat he noticed all the paintings and different art pieces she had. “You have a nicely rounded collection of art in here,” he called.

“Oh, thank you.” She opened another cabinet.

“Do you need any help?”

“No. I'm fine, I promise.” She searched through the cabinet. “My housekeeper is off tonight and I think she moved the coffee.” She closed the cabinet doors and put her hands on her hips. “I just have to keep looking.” She bent down to check the lower set of cabinets.

A moment later Nigel kneeled down next to her. “Are you sure I can't help you?”

She turned toward him and they were face to face. He leaned in and kissed her.

When he pulled away he said, “I wanted to do that all night.” He was a bit breathless.