My Own Mr. Darcy (32 page)

I saw Sam some days at
lunch, but mostly I watched the mural come together a chunk at a time. One day
there was a little girl’s body, the next she had a head. Day by day the mural
grew and it was even more spectacular than I’d envisioned. Sam was a genius.

Matt had been kind and
attentive. I don’t think he’d mentioned me to his family yet, but I could tell
he was trying to make up for it by being extra sweet. That was fine for now. I
didn’t want to argue with him, but I was a little wary. At some point he’d have
to let his family know about me. I didn’t want to be his embarrassing secret.

The night of the party at
the Kellers arrived. Nerves and concerns crisscrossed through my body. I
worried about Matt. I hoped Chad wouldn’t be there and yet, I hoped I’d see
him. I was excited to meet Emma Cho but was scared she’d see things about the
Keller’s house that I’d done wrong. Janessa had suggested I dress simply with
one “wow” statement. I wore a simple black A-line dress with elbow-length
sleeves. It hit right at my knees. It felt very fifties. My shoes were flat
ballet Mary Janes. My statement was a pair of black and white houndstooth
tights. Janessa had snagged me a pair when they came into the boutique. They
were fantastic and I loved them.

Matt looked good in a pale
blue button-down shirt and charcoal slacks. A buttoned vest and a silk tie
finished the look. He could have been photographed for the cover of GQ he
looked so stylish.

The party turned out to be
a bigger affair than I’d expected. I’d pictured a couple dozen people milling
around the living room and dining room, but the house was teeming with people. February
had been cold and wet, but the first week of March had been dry, if not warm.
The French doors in the dining room and the door from beside the breakfast nook
were opened out onto the spacious back deck. Yard lights twinkled and two
radiant heaters warmed the deck. Tables of food were served in the dining room,
the kitchen and the deck.

Mrs. Keller hurried over
to greet us. “I’m so glad you could come,” she said with a hug before she
looked at Matt.

“Thank you for inviting
us, Lola. This is Matt Dawson. Matt, this is Lola Keller.”

Matt greeted her kindly.

“Emma isn’t here yet, but
they RSVP’d to say they were coming. I’ll come and introduce you at some point
in the evening. In the meantime, just eat and relax and get to know some of
these people. I’ll bet there are quite a few who will want to hire you before
the night is out.”

“Maybe I need to hire you
to be my publicist,” I said.

“Silly girl. You don’t
need me. You just need people to see what you’ve done.”

 The rooms did look
beautiful. The lighting was soft and the colors rich. It almost boggled my mind
to think it was my design and I had pulled it all together.

“You like what you did,
don’t you?” Matt said, his arm around my waist.

“I’ve got to stop gawking
at it like it’s such a big deal, don’t I?” I said and laughed.

“Maybe when Emma gets
here, but until then, go ahead and gawk.”

We made our way to one of
the tables of food and filled a little plate with finger foods. Two middle-aged
women in black pants and white shirts were handling the food. It wasn’t nearly
as fancy as the food served at Meg’s New Year’s Eve party, but it was tasty and
presented nicely.

I looked around for Chad
but he wasn’t there. I felt both relief and disappointment. An older woman in a
pale blue suit walked toward us. “Lola just told me you’re the designer who
redid her living room.”

“I am.”

“My dear, you worked a
miracle. I told Lola at last year’s party that she couldn’t host another
gathering until she got rid of those awful roses. I was thrilled when she said
she’d hired a designer and my, oh my, did you work wonders.”

“Thank you. It was a lot
of fun.”

“Well, I can’t wait until
I’m ready to make some changes. I know who I’ll be calling. My name’s Gwen, by
the way. Gwen Spielman.”

“Does your husband work
with Mr. Keller?”

“Yes, he’s one of the
partners.”

“It’s nice to meet you.
And yes, please call me.”

“I will. It’s great to
meet you, too.” Mrs. Spielman patted my arm and moved to another guest.

“You’ll be a full-time
designer before you know it,” Matt said.

I was excited by Mrs.
Spielman’s reaction to my design and I was sure Matt was just trying to be
supportive, but I bristled a little anyway. Part of me wanted him to have to
introduce me before I became a successful designer. I wanted his family to have
to like me, even as a bank teller. I was the same person no matter which job I
had. But tonight wasn’t a night to bicker and stew about that. I smiled at Matt
and put my arm through his.

And then Chad walked in.
And not alone. He had a cute strawberry blonde with him. She was laughing at
something he’d said just before they walked in and I suddenly felt sick. He
looked my way and our eyes locked for just a moment. He nodded and turned away
first.

I braved a glance at Matt,
hoping he wouldn’t be upset. Thankfully he hadn’t even seen Chad walk in.

“We should go mingle a
little,” Matt said. “You might as well talk to as many people here as possible.
You know, ‘network.’”

I smiled and we moved out
onto the deck where we joined a lively discussion about the Trailblazers. Matt
didn’t pay much attention to basketball, but he knew enough to offer a comment
here and there. The dining room was visible from where I stood and Chad and his
date were laughing and filling their plates. They moved through the kitchen and
into the family room. I could still see them through the window. In fact, I
seemed to be aware of where Chad was no matter where he went.

A short time later, Mrs.
Keller reappeared. “There you are, Lizzie. Can you come with me? I’d like to
introduce you to Emma.”

We followed Mrs. Keller
through the dining room and into the living room where a beautiful Asian woman
was talking to another couple. At an appropriate break, Mrs. Keller inserted
herself into the conversation. “Emma, this is the young lady I was telling you
about. This is Elizabeth Barrett and her friend, Matt. This is Emma Cho.”

Emma extended her hand to
shake ours. “I’m delighted to meet you,” she said. She was an adorable woman
with a quick smile and an unusual smattering of freckles across her cheeks and
nose. I suddenly realized the only other Asian I’d ever seen with freckles was
Lucy Liu. “Do you have a minute to talk? I’d love to pick your brain about how
you came up with this beautiful design.”

I glanced at Matt who
nodded and we sat down, Emma on one of the chairs, Matt and me on the couch. “I
have to say I’m really happy to meet you,” I said. “I’ve heard so much about
you. I even came in to see if you had any openings right after I graduated but
the man who I met said you weren’t hiring.”

“Yes, it’s a sad thing.
I’m sure you know what a toll it’s taken on most of the designers the last few
years. A hard economy hits everyone but designers get hit especially hard. So
many people just decide they’ll wait another year or two to make any changes.”

“That’s what I found as I
was interviewing,” I said. I was thrilled to have this time to talk to Emma but
I felt very self-conscious having this conversation in front of Matt. I knew he
was pulling for me, but I felt like I was being scrutinized.

He must have sensed my
discomfort because he shifted after a moment, leaned forward and interrupted.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you two to talk design.”

After he’d walked away we
continued. “How did Mrs. Keller find you?” Emma asked.

“Her son, Chad, is a
friend of mine.” I was so glad Matt had left. “I was very lucky.”

“I’d say you were all
lucky. Tell me how you came up with this plan.”

I started by explaining
that they wanted something very different than the shabby chic they’d had for so
many years. I also told her that Mr. Keller had wanted something a little less
feminine, but I knew Mrs. Keller would need it to have pretty details or she’d
be disappointed. I described our meeting and how I’d been inspired by the
plates.

Emma asked questions and
we talked for more than thirty minutes. She was excited by various details,
especially the rug and the fireplace. “You know, some designers aren’t brave
enough. They keep things very safe and when they’re finished, you have a
perfectly adequate room, but it doesn’t sing. That fireplace sings. This rug
sings. These orange pillows sing. You have so many things singing in here,
you’ve given them a choir.”

It was hard not to get
excited by her analogy.

“Thank you. I’m so
flattered that you like it.”

“I don’t flatter,
Elizabeth. I design and when someone does it right, I get excited.”

“Thank you.

“I really can’t afford to
take on a new designer. It’s been about all I can do to keep the three I’ve had
for several years.” My heart sank a little but I did my best to keep a pleasant
look on my face. “At the same time, I’m not sure if I can let talent like this turn
into competition.”

She paused and looked
around. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. I didn’t come to this party looking
to interview perspective designers. In fact, I came expecting to get a little
chuckle at the overdone roses. But . . .” She shook her head. “Let me think on
this and then let’s talk.”

“I’d love to. Thank you,
Mrs. Cho.” My insides were singing along with the rest of the room.

“Please. Emma.”

“Thank you, Emma.”

Emma was leaving town and
so we arranged a time to meet for lunch in two weeks and Emma Cho joined her
husband on the deck. I sat there for a few moments soaking in my excitement
before I realized I needed to use the bathroom. I looked for Matt. His back was
to me and he was talking to a couple of men, so I walked down the hall to the
half bath. The door was locked so I waited in the little hallway.

“Is everything okay,
Elizabeth?” It was Mr. Keller.

“Oh yes. I’m fine. Just
waiting for the restroom,” I said.

“You’re welcome to use the
one at the top of the stairs. Second door on the right.”

The stairs were dark and
the only light in the hallway was from a lamp in one of the bedrooms. Thankfully,
the bathroom was available.

When I stepped back out, I
nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Sorry,” Chad said. “I
didn’t mean to scare you.”

I laughed. “That’s okay.
It’s just pretty dark and I didn’t expect anyone to be out here.”

“I hope you don’t mind
that I followed you. I wanted to say hi and see how your visit with Mrs. Cho
went.”

“I’m supposed to call her
Emma,” I said.

“Oh, it went that well,
huh?”

“I was just hoping I’d get
to meet her. I wasn’t planning it to be a real job interview.”

“What did she say?”

“She said I made the room
sing.” Chad smiled. “We’ve got a lunch date in two weeks. She wants to talk.
She said she can’t really afford to hire another designer but she can’t really
afford for me to become her competition.”

“Wow.”

“I’m sure she was just
trying to be nice.”

“So she’s just meeting you
for lunch to be nice? I’m not buying it.”

“She wanted a few days to
think things over,” I said.

“Well, I’m really proud of
you.”

“Thanks.”

It was quiet for a minute.
Chad leaned his shoulder against the wall. I was glad he didn’t seem in a hurry
to leave. I didn’t want to ask but I had to know. “Are you here with a
girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Oh. I saw that woman so I
just thought . . .”

“That’s Bethany. She’s my
cousin.”

“Oh.” I laughed a little
when I realized how close I’d come to saying, “Oh, good.” I felt the color rise
to my cheeks. I hoped the dim lighting would spare me from my traitorous
blushing.

“I wasn’t going to come,
but Mom insisted.”

“You weren’t going to come
because of me?”

“Well, yes. But not
because I don’t want to see you.” He was quiet for so long I looked up at his
face. He was watching me so closely. I held his gaze. “I always want to see
you.”

I looked back at my hands.

“Sorry, Lizzie. I
shouldn’t have said that.” My stomach was twisting into knots that a boy scout
would be proud of. I almost couldn’t breathe. “I thought it might be easier for
Matt if he thought I was here with a date.”

I smiled. “You’re right,
of course.”

“I thought so.”

I looked up at him again.
“Why are you so nice to me?” I said softly.

Chad wasn’t touching me,
but I could almost feel his arm close to mine. I clasped my hands together to
keep from touching his arm. The silence stretched out for several seconds.
“You’re easy to be nice to,” he said.

I knew Matt was
downstairs. Matt loved me. I loved him. So why did I want Chad to close that
last couple of inches and take me in his arms. Why was I aching to touch him?
Why did my heart feel like it was caving in? And why couldn’t I breathe?

I took a ragged breath and
finally spoke. “I’m not sure I deserve a friend like you.”

And that did it. I’d
broken the spell. Chad took a step back and I wanted to cry. “You deserve
whatever you want, Lizzie,” he said.

I wanted a do-over. I
wanted to handle things differently. I wanted to wipe away the word friend. I
wanted to touch his arm. I was horrified when I realized I wanted him to kiss
me. What was wrong with me?

“You’d better go back
down. Matt’s going to wonder where you are.”

“Chad . . .”

“It’s okay, Lizzie. Just
go. I’ll wait up here for a few more minutes.”

I turned and hurried down
the stairs. I needed air. And space. I looked around at all the people, but
couldn’t see Matt. The thought of searching for him or being forced to speak to
anyone was overwhelming. I walked quickly to the front door and let myself out.
The air was cold and brisk and chilled my lungs as I gasped it in. I sat on the
porch step and leaned my head on the rail. I closed my eyes and let the cold
air wrap its arms around me.

I’m not sure how many
minutes I sat there before Matt opened the door. “What are you doing,
Elizabeth?”

“I needed some air.”

“You look so cold. Let’s
get you back inside.”

“Can we just leave? I’m
ready to go home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Matt reached down his hand
and pulled me up. “You’re hands are like ice.”

Matt turned up the heater
in the car but it didn’t warm me. I felt cold from the inside out. Matt tried
to tell me about his talk with a real estate agent who thought the market was
starting to turn around. Matt thought that was good because he’d been thinking
about selling his condo and buying a house. Later, as I thought back on the
conversation, I wondered if Matt was trying to tell me something important. If
he was, I missed it. Because all the way home, I missed Chad.

 
“IT’S SORTA NICE
getting a Christmas present that I can look forward
to for almost three months,” I told Janessa.

“And you’ve wanted to see
Wicked
for forever,” Janessa said.

“I just didn’t know things
would be so crazy right now. I wish the play was in June. It almost feels
irresponsible to get all gussied up for dinner and a play when there’s so much
to be done.”

“You need a night to
relax,” Janessa said. “You’ve been going non-stop since Christmas.”

She was right. It didn’t
usually take me long to get moving in the morning but the last little while, it
had been harder and harder to face the day. I worked at the bank until five, or
six if I had to run the drive-through, then I put in another several hours each
evening at the bookstore. Add to that my determination to be a good maid of
honor and I felt like my tank was nearly empty most of the time.

I tried to ignore it, but
I think part of my weariness was a nagging feeling of discontent. Something
felt off kilter and I knew that at some point I’d have to do some
soul-searching to make it right.

But right now I was too
busy, so I stomped down any feeling of unease and shut out wayward thoughts. I
had two jobs to do, a boyfriend to keep happy, a job interview to look forward
to, and a best friend getting married. That was enough for now.

“Are you sure this looks
okay?” I asked Janessa.

“You look fantastic,” she
said.

“I don’t know about this,”
I said, turning and looking at my reflection.

“Metallics are totally in.
I promise.”

“I’m not doubting you. I’m
just not sure I can pull this off the way you can. I’m so . . . shiny.” The
dress was gold metallic brocade. It had three-quarter length sleeves, a classic
boat neckline and a slightly full skirt. It was a gorgeous dress. Janessa’s
boss had picked it up for her at a sample sale the year before and Janessa had
only worn it once.

“Matt is going to die.
I’ll bet Meg’s never worn anything like this.” I figured she probably had
something like this in the back of her closet, but I didn’t want to think about
Meg or her closet. “You look amazing,” Janessa said standing beside me and
looking at my reflection in the full-length mirror. She fluffed up my curls.
“He’s going to want you to wear this when you meet his family.”

I smiled at Janessa’s
reflection and then turned and hugged my friend. “Let’s just hope I can walk in
these shoes,” I said. Tonight I’d traded in my tights and flats for a pair of
strappy gold heels. Not high heels. That would be a disaster. But these were
higher than I usually wore. I hardly recognized myself and I knew I’d have to
concentrate as I walked so I wouldn’t take a tumble. “Thanks for sharing your fantastic
wardrobe.”

I had to smile at Matt’s
reaction. “Wow, you’re stunning,” he said when I opened the door. “Let’s skip
the play and I’ll just look at you.”

“Knock it off,” I said.

“You look like you just
stepped out of a magazine.”

“It’s not mine,” I said. I
felt a little embarrassed at the lengthy inspection.

“Well, it should be.”

“Oh brother. Let’s go.”

Dinner was Italian food at
a little restaurant a block from the theater. The weather was cool and dry and
we walked from the restaurant to the play. My feet were killing me by the time
we reached our seats and I carefully slid off Janessa’s shoes and tucked them
under my seat.

I was familiar with the
play. James’s wife, Laura, loved musical theater. Before she and James got
married she’d been in regional productions of
Phantom of the Opera
and
Evita
.
Three years ago she’d given me the soundtrack to
Wicked
for my birthday
and I’d learned the words to every song. “When are they going to make a musical
of
Pride and Prejudice
,” I’d asked her one night as we watched the
movie.

“Oh, they really should.
Frank Wildhorn has done
Jekyll and Hyde
and
Alice in Wonderland
.
He should totally do a musical version of
Pride and Prejudice
.

“I wonder if Keira
Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen can sing,” I’d said. “If they can, he should
hurry so they could play the parts.”

Laura had rolled her eyes.
“You and Matthew Macfadyen.” What would she think if she saw Matt? Surely she’d
see the resemblance. Janessa had noticed it.

“What are you thinking?”
Matt whispered in my ear and kissed my temple.

“I was thinking they
should make a musical of
Pride and Prejudice
,” I said.

Matt laughed. “Don’t you
think that would spoil it?”

“Not if it was done by the
right people,” I said.

“I think most of the time
people should just leave the classics alone.”

“This is a classic,” I
said, gesturing toward the stage.

“A classic of what?” Matt
asked.

“
Wicked
. It’s a
take-off of
The Wizard of Oz
.”

“It is?”

“Yes. It isn’t exactly the
same story but you’ll see. It borrows the whole setting from
The Wizard of
Oz
.”

“Hmm. I didn’t know that.”

“Hopefully that won’t ruin
it for you since you think the classics should be left alone.” I elbowed him. “The
music is just so good.”

“I’m sure I’ll like it
fine. And I’m here with you, right?”

I smiled at him and he kissed
my hand before holding it on his lap.

The lights dimmed and the
orchestra began playing and I snuggled into Matt’s arm. This was a wonderful
Christmas present.

The play was excellent
although the blonde that played Glinda didn’t compare to Kristen Chenoweth on
the soundtrack. That made “Popular” a bit of a disappointment, but when Elphaba
sang “Defying Gravity,” I thought I might float away.

One of my favorite parts of
the evening happened behind us when the man on stage held up the green baby. A
little boy behind us started to giggle. “Look Mom, it’s a green baby.”

“I know, honey. Shhh,” his
mother said.

He giggled again. “I’ve
never seen a green baby,” he whispered. “It’s so cute.”

The mom shushed him again
but a moment later he giggled again. “I want to see the green baby again,” he
whispered. I couldn’t help but smile. A short time later, his mother had to
quiet him when he started singing along to “Dancing Through Life.”

“Maybe he’s too young to
be here,” Matt whispered in my ear.

I shook my head. “I think
it’s great. Listen to how much he’s loving it,” I whispered.