First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice (16 page)

They were just not compatible.

But Luke was lonely and Lizzy knew it. Luke had tried so hard to be the celibate gay man his family and church wanted him to be. Lizzy had stood by him through it all, but she could never offer the kind of companionship Luke craved.

But Liam Collins? It would never last.

Then again
, Liam accepted Luke just as he was. That must have been rather nice for Luke.

Lizzy felt a little ashamed. Had she really accepted Luke or had she only played lip service to it? If she’d really accepted him, wouldn’t she be happy for them?

She switched off her tablet; she didn’t feel much like fluff about love and romance and happy endings. Did happy endings even exist in real life? She saw no evidence of it.

Her parents hadn’t had a happy ending. They were ill-suited to each other. Her mother’s nervous fretting meant she was constantly whipping herself up into a frenzy over something or another, mostly her useless daughters.

Jane, the darling eldest, who had so much talent and now was, in Mom’s eyes, one-legged and broken. Elizabeth, her father’s favourite, relationshipless for pretty much ever. Mary, the asexual, socially awkward sister who’d rather spend all day on the internet than have a conversation with someone.

And finally, Lydia. Mom’s favourite, who was constantly going here and there, her face splattered in magazines, TV, and billboards.

Lizzy sighed and realized that Luke really was right; she absolutely needed this vacation. She needed to get away from anything that reminded her of Susan, Charles, Caroline, or George. She needed peace and to be left alone to relax, heal, and rediscover her centre.

****

Luke and Liam were waiting at the airport. Luke looked himself; he wore faded jeans, work boots, and a red flannel shirt. He’d grown sideburns, though. They suited him. The sign he held up: “Picking up World’s Best Friend,” however, did not suit Luke and he held it awkwardly.

Next to him was Liam. Shorter than Luke, he nonetheless stood proud in his khakis, loafers, and powder blue sweater. Liam was growing his hair out and it was approaching mullet length in the back. He held the strings to several helium balloons.

Liam was waving excitedly and even Luke, quiet as ever, smiled at her, though he rolled his eyes at Liam for Lizzy’s benefit. Lizzy laughed in spite of herself. This was obviously and completely Liam’s doing, but it made her feel good; they really did want her to visit.

“Hey, you guys. Great sign.”

Luke pushed the sign at Liam and gripped Lizzy into a giant bear hug. He lifted her off the floor until her legs dangled in the air. Lizzy wrapped her arms around him as her eyes misted over. “I missed you, Luke.”

“I’m so happy to see you, Lizzy.” He put her down. “God, you’re pale.”

“It’s been a long week. Hey Liam,” Lizzy held her hand out to shake his.

He swatted it away and wrapped his arms around her. “I said you’re family. I don’t shake hands with family.”

Lizzy chuckled and hugged back.

“All right, all right, enough of that,” Luke said. “Lizzy, do you have any checked luggage?”

She shook her head, so Luke took her small carry-on suitcase. “Great. Let’s go. We’re going out for supper tonight, our treat.”

Lizzy smiled. They were right, after all. This was exactly what she needed.

Chapter 19

November 30

It was the third day of Lizzy’s vacation when the work withdrawal slapped her across the face and screamed that she must start checking her email NOW NOW NOW. Lizzy had no illusions; she was a workaholic in the way that Mount Everest was tall. The job put her on a never-ending adrenaline high, juggling catastrophes, disasters, and tragedy.

When the crisis mode of always reacting to something new was taken from her, Lizzy felt lost. She had no idea what to do. She was so bored. The world moved in slow motion. Everything and everyone were
soooooooooo slooooooow.

God bless Luke, who understood her inability to relax without copious amounts of sedatives, alcohol, and/or a head injury. He and Liam took her to God’s Refuge, the church that Liam ran. They headed to the Downtown East end, one of Canada’s poorest urban communities and the home of thousands of addicts.

Smack in the middle of the detritus stood a three-storey building, painted bright blue, with a sloping green roof. The front property was mostly brown, the grass having been killed off with the last frost and freezing rain. But the green fence that encompassed the property helped keep things cheery. Attached to the fence were bright blue metal trash cans with chains on their lids.

Attached to each can was a sign that read, “Needle box inside the front doors.”

Over the front door of the large building flapped a banner. “All are loved. All are welcome.”

“Yes, Catherine suggested a banner would make the place seem friendlier and more open to the public,” Liam said, motioning for her and Luke to hurry up the stairs into the church.

Lizzy glanced at Luke, but Luke seemed unbothered by Liam’s enthusiasm. They stepped into the main foyer. The tile floor was covered in stylish but affordable rugs that Lizzy recognized: her parents owned the same ones from Ikea.

“Look at this, Lizzy!” Liam motioned to the shelves on the wall, filled with baskets and literature. “What do you think of that?”

“Well…?”

“Catherine said to put some nutritious packaged food and basic toiletries here for people to come and take, freely without asking, and to have various pamphlets arranged just like they are. And then, you see, there are flyers with all of our programs here, too.”

“Literature shelves in the foyer,” she said, trying very hard not to laugh. “That’s a good idea.”

“Catherine is very keen on God’s Refuge presenting the right image,” Liam said. He looked at Luke. “Don’t you agree?”

“Catherine is very attentive to the smallest details,” Luke said. He gave Lizzy a wink when Liam had turned away.

“She sounds like a wonderful patron,” Lizzy said and she did mean it. Liam was very proud of his church and his programs, and while he was silly and over-the-top, he also was clearly good for someone. Though she still was convinced they were the oddest couple ever.

“This was all renovated last Christmas,” a strong female voice was saying in one of the corridors. “It allows the Refuge to serve another two hundred families with meals. Which the Fitz & William Foundation and The de Bourgh Foundation provided funding for.”

Liam gasped and stood ram-rod straight. Then he smoothed out his shirt and tugged up his jeans. Lizzy grinned at Luke, who rolled his eyes a little.

“Liam?” Lizzy asked.

“Shh,” he said. “I’ll introduce you. Ah! Catherine, is that you?”

A moment later, a woman and two men came into view. The woman entered the foyer first; she was tall, nearly as tall as Luke, with strong, sharp features. Her figure, even at her age, was quite enviable, and her olive skin was radiant. From the crow’s feet and wrinkled hands, Lizzy guessed she was in her fifties, but she was still good-looking and in great shape.

“Good day, Pastor Liam. I was giving my nephews a tour of the church.”

The two men stepped out from behind her. The first was a beanpole of a man; several inches over six foot and he couldn’t have weighed two hundred pounds. What he lacked in muscle, he made up for in handsome, chiseled features and wide, bright eyes. His hair was dark, shaggy and curly, and Lizzy liked him instantly from the smile he gave her.

“I’m Fitzy Chatterjee, Catherine de Bourgh’s nephew.” He reached out his hand to Lizzy. “You must be Elizabeth Bennet.”

“I am. How did you—?”

Lizzy’s greeting died as the third figure became recognizable and lots and lots of four letter words rushed her mind. She stared, tongue-tied, until she was perfectly sure she was not going to shout the f-word in a church. Even she had some effing respect.

So she wouldn’t even use the effing f word in her thoughts, even though she really, really, wanted to. Lizzy managed to take Fitzy’s extended hand and shake. “It’s nice to meet you. How do you know me?”

“Liam’s been tweeting that you were coming into town,” said Fitzy. “So I just assumed.”

“Oh,” she said and turned to William effing Darcy. “Hello. It’s good to see you again.” Even if that was a complete lie, it seemed polite to say it in a church.

Would God be angrier at a lie or rudeness? Oh, crap.

Darcy gave her a tight smile. “Hello, Lizzy. It’s good to see you again.”

“Oh, you know my nephew?” Catherine enquired.

“Yes. I’m a…an acquaintance of his and Charles Bingley’s. Darcy stayed at my house for a couple of weeks while Charles’s condo was being renovated.”

Catherine gave Lizzy a calculating once-over. “Interesting. Pastor Liam, I’m disappointed to see that the public showers downstairs have not been upgraded to the water-saving ones. I did express how important reducing our environmental footprint is to me at our last chair meeting.”

“Yes, Catherine, and I have purchased the specific ones you suggested. They are backordered, though, but I promise we’ll install them once they arrive.”

“Public showers?” Lizzy asked Liam. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “We run them on food bank night, since we have a number of homeless people who access that.”

Lizzy blew out a breath. “I’m jealous, Liam. Good job.”

“Thank you,” Catherine replied. “It was my idea.”

“Yes, it was,” Liam confirmed. “Oh, I didn’t mean to take credit for your idea, Catherine. I’d never do that. I was just going to correct Lizzy on it once you were gone.”

Fitzy made a face at her and Lizzy snorted, covering it with a cough. “Sorry. I swallowed the wrong way,” she gasped.

Darcy gave Fitzy a dirty look.

Catherine explained that she had a meeting in one of the offices downstairs. Something about a children’s Christmas party she was funding and organizing, so she excused herself and disappeared into one of the side corridors, her heels clicking on the tiles.

Fitzy turned to Lizzy. “Darcy and I are heading out to lunch. Would you like to join us? Liam, you’re welcome, too. And Luke, right?”

“Yeah, it’s Luke. Hey, Darcy.”

“Luke.” They shook hands.

“We’d love that,” Liam answered. “Lizzy has no plans, right?”

She cleared her throat, still looking at the awkward Darcy and the smiling Fitzy. “Well, I was…” She couldn’t think of one excuse. “Sure. That would be nice.”

Why couldn’t she think of an excuse? Dammit. She shouldn’t swear in a church. Dammit. William fucking Darcy was here.

Goddammit.

****

It turned out that Fitzwilliam Chatterjee was the polar opposite of his cousin, the Earl of Assholery. Fitzy was all smiles and cheery good-nature, while Darcy remained sullen and withdrawn. Though, to be honest, that might have been because Liam had latched on to Darcy and wouldn’t let go.

The group spread out around the corner booth at a local vegetarian eatery. Lizzy was flanked by Fitzy and Luke, with Liam next to him, and Darcy across from her. Fitzy was all about making Lizzy feel welcome and comfortable, and chattered away at her while they looked at the menu.

“Now, this is my treat,” Fitzy announced. Liam looked like he was about to object, but Fitzy stopped him. “No, I insist. I’ve wanted to meet Elizabeth, since I’ve heard so much about her.” He gave her a smile. “I’m happy to treat everyone, so that I get to know her.”

Lizzy smiled at him and perused the menu. She’d obviously get the French onion soup, so now to decide what else to get. “You’ve heard about me?” She flashed a look at Darcy. “If it was from Darcy, I’m surprised you’d want to be in the same city!”

Fitzy chortled and made a trigger gesture at Darcy. “I’ve only heard good things.” The waitress approached and he ordered an appetizer platter. “The food here is excellent.”

“Are you a vegetarian?” Lizzy asked.

Fitzy made a so-so gesture. “Most of the time, but I’ll eat meat if I have to. For instance, I had a transatlantic flight and they messed up my vegetarian meal and I got fish instead. I ate it because, well, I was hungry. But normally I wouldn’t.”

“A Sikh temple in Edmonton has a men’s group that volunteers at The Faith every month. They put on an Indian-themed meal and that’s vegetarian.”

“How does your community respond to that?” Darcy asked. Other than the initial hello, it was the first thing he’d said to her all afternoon.

“Typical response. Some hate it, either because it’s spicy or different or whatever. Others love it, because they never get to have spicy and different food. But overall, it’s well received and the group started bringing a non-spicy veggie rice dish and naan bread for the picky folks. Oh, and last time? All of their wives made the staff samosas!”

Luke moaned. “I miss the homemade samosas.”

Lizzy nodded. “Remember when they made us butter cauliflower and chick peas?”

Another moan escaped Luke. “I told one of the guys I wanted him to adopt me.”

Everyone laughed.

As the conversation carried on, Lizzy watched Darcy’s awkwardness and a theory popped into her mind. Charles and Darcy had been best friends for years; Darcy would have substantial pull over his friend. What if he’d said something about Jane? What if snobby Darcy had done something to break up Jane and Charles?

There was only one way to find out.

“Darcy, have you seen Jane? She’s been in Calgary for a while now.”

He didn’t look up. “I didn’t realize.”

“Jane’s your oldest sister, right?” Fitzy asked.

“Yes. She’s helping with yoga classes for disabled people.”

“Good for her,” Darcy mumbled.

Lizzy studied him. “It’s strange how Charles took off without really saying goodbye to any of us. Do you know Charles, Fitzy?”

Fitzy nodded. “He’s a nice chap.”

“I used to think that, too, until he dumped my sister by text.” Lizzy met Darcy’s gaze. “Any idea what happened?”

“No, sorry.”

They were interrupted by a platter of hot finger food. The conversation died, and Darcy seemed relieved to see it go.

Chapter 20