Elizabeth nodded. “We’re ready.”
“Good. After Austin we will be traveling on the buses. Here is a list of the dates and locations for the next few months.” She passed over a packet several pages long. Elizabeth could feel the excitement growing inside of her as the reality that next week they would be touring settled upon her awareness. She shared a look with Charlotte that told her Charlotte felt it too. Years worth of dreams were coming true.
“There’s something else, girls,” Alex said softly. “On Thursday we will be shooting footage for a video.”
“What!?!”
“The label is putting ‘Everything You Are’ into heavy rotation, and they are going to rush a video together.” He smiled happily. “They believe that with the increased exposure of the tour, you are going to be getting a lot more attention to your songs.”
“What kind of video?” Jane asked.
“It’s just going to be a simple performance shoot from the rehearsal,” Caroline answered. “They want something fast, and you all are pretty enough you don’t need any fancy gimmicks.”
“I always knew my girls would be famous!” Elizabeth cringed as she heard her mother’s voice from the doorway. Chance would have it that she had been looking at Darcy when her mother spoke. “Are you ready for dinner?”
Caroline looked over at Alex, who nodded, and turned to Mrs. Bennet. “Yes, I think we are pretty much done here.”
Francine Bennet was an attractive woman in her late forties. She was very proud of all of her children and had no problem showing it. Without stopping her monologue on the natural talents and gifts of Jane and Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet led her guests into the large dining room she had designed and had built many years ago to accommodate her love of entertaining. The long rectangular table had been fully extended to seat all the Bennets and their guests. Elizabeth wasn’t surprised to see Charles sitting next to Jane but was surprised to see Darcy directly to her left.
“Thank you so much for making the potato salad, Caroline,” Jane said graciously as she passed the serving dishes.
“You made potato salad?” Darcy dryly asked the woman sitting to his left.
“Of course, Darcy. It’s a barbecue,” she replied lightly. “Don’t you think I can cook?”
Darcy shrugged indifferently.
“Caroline, can I put the tour dates on the band’s web page?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of course,” Caroline nodded.
“You manage your band’s website?” Darcy asked quietly.
“I created it,” Elizabeth answered easily.
“Elizabeth has a degree in software design,” Jane explained pleasantly.
“Did you see all those new web pages up about us?” Charlotte asked excitedly.
The sisters all laughed as they acknowledged they had. “My favorite is ‘10 Reasons to Hate Long Borne Suffering,’” Elizabeth smiled wickedly.
“I saw that!” Charlotte exclaimed. “Reason number ten is Jane’s hair!”
Jane winkled her nose and turned, grinning, to her neighbor. “You’re reason number two, Charles.”
Bingley laughed. “That’s not too bad. Where’s Darcy?”
“Number one.”
Darcy smiled in a distinctly satisfied way while Caroline quipped, “The power of those Darcy fans. You gotta love it.”
“Will,” Lydia spoke up, her voice louder than it needed to be. “Are any of the rumors about you true?”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe her ears. She looked down at her plate and hoped that Lydia would realize how rude she was being and stop.
“What rumors are those?” Darcy asked slowly, his eyes unfriendly.
Any other person there would have backed down, but Lydia was blessed with an unfortunate mixture of presumption and cluelessness that enabled her to completely ignore all the signals Darcy was giving off.
“Like, is it true that you have a private chef on tour with you?”
Jane caught Elizabeth’s eye, and they silently breathed a sigh of relief that the question had been so safe.
“No, I don’t have a private chef on tour with me,” Darcy answered, his voice short.
Kitty, never one to be outdone by Lydia, followed up boldly, “What about the masseuse?”
“You have a masseuse, Will?” Charles teased. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
Darcy lifted one side of his mouth in dark amusement and shook his head. “No masseuse. And before you ask, the lawsuit isn’t real either.”
Lydia and Kitty looked at each other with eyes as wide as saucers while Jane quickly redirected the conversation.
The meal continued pleasantly; however, Elizabeth could not help but notice how quiet her neighbor was. He contributed almost nothing to the conversation, except to answer her sisters’ questions in a way that made it clear what he thought of them. While in contrast, the Bingleys were delighting the table with their stories. Elizabeth wondered if her family really offended Darcy, or if he was just quiet by nature.
When the meal was over, Elizabeth escaped onto the rear deck to enjoy the spring day. She was still tired from her past week and craved some quiet time alone. She sat down on her favorite Adirondack chair and listened to the sounds around her. She could hear Mary playing the piano in the living room, entertaining the guests.
Her mind was drifting when she heard footsteps come onto the porch. “May I join you?” Darcy’s voice asked formally.
Go away, she thought. “Certainly,” she answered politely.
Darcy took a seat beside her. “Your sister is very talented,” he said softly.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth replied, careful to hide her surprise. “She is studying at Juilliard. We’re very proud of her.”
“You should be. That must be quite an accomplishment for your family.” He studied her face a moment. “Is everyone in your family musically talented?”
Elizabeth smiled politely. If she had a quarter for every time she had been asked this… “Not everyone. My mother, Lydia, and Kitty aren’t musical at all.”
“What about your father?” Darcy asked, his voice low and indifferent.
“My father is the one who started it all. He is a music professor at Vassar.”
A flash of surprise passed Darcy’s face and quickly disappeared, but Elizabeth had seen it. Inwardly she grinned. Not quite the hicks you thought we were, hmm, Darcy? “Yes, he encouraged all of us in our careers. He’s been very supportive.”
“You’re quite fortunate,” Darcy observed woodenly. His words were interrupted by a loud crash from the kitchen, which was immediately followed by angry screams from Kitty and Lydia.
Elizabeth’s lips tightened as she grew embarrassed by the display. Her mother’s voice joined the fray, and she was relieved when the yelling stopped a second later.
“Lizzy?” her mother called out to her, and she joined her a moment later on the porch. Mrs. Bennet observed that her daughter wasn’t alone and softened her tone as a result of it. “Sweetheart, your sisters had a little accident with the cake. Could you run to the store and get some dessert?”
“Sure, Mom,” Elizabeth answered easily and stood to get her purse.
“Elizabeth,” Darcy’s voice stopped her. “I think my car is blocking yours. Could I give you a ride?”
Recognizing she was trapped, Elizabeth agreed, but she wasn’t fooled for a moment as to why Darcy was offering to help her. She had seen it in his face the moment her mother had asked her to run out. He didn’t want to be stuck with her family a second longer than he had to. The Bennets were simply too suburban middle class for the world-famous Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Elizabeth was simmering inside but was determined not to show it as she followed Darcy to his car. Ignoring the luxury automobile around her, Elizabeth gave directions to Darcy. Then she asked the first thing she could think of. “So, why did you cut your hair?”