My Pride, His Prejudice (11 page)

Both girls laughed.

“Ha. Ha.” Will pretended to pout. “I’m feeling completely outnumbered.”

“As you should!” Georgia teased. “It’s about time you knew how I feel when you and Dad get together.”

“Didn’t you say you had a surprise for Eliza?” he asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Oh!” She jumped up. “I nearly forgot. Come on,” she said as she ran to the kitchen. “Will told me what your favorite dessert was, so I wanted to make it for you.”

Will caught Eliza’s arm as she was about to follow. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“For?”

“Making her forget. I could never repay you for this. Never.”

“Here it is!” Georgia exclaimed. She turned around with a pretty two-layered chocolate frosted cake. “I even did the roses myself.”

CHAPTER TWENTY:

“It looks awesome.” Eliza walked forward and took the cake from the girl’s extended hands. “Thank you so much. I never would’ve known you made this. I would’ve thought it came from a bakery.” It really was incredible.

“See, Will? Even she thinks so.” Georgia pushed past her brother to walk with Eliza to the table.

“You’ve got some talent,” Eliza said.

“Oh, don’t say that yet. I can make things beautiful, but how about you taste it before you rave about talent.”

“This is true.” Will pulled out a dining room chair and sat down. “The real test is trying it. You never know with Georgia.”

“Hey. You’d better be nice to me.” The girl went to the kitchen. “Eliza, you stay with Will and make sure he doesn’t snitch any of the frosting. I’ll get the plates.”

Eliza pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. “Did you hear that?” She brought the cake closer to her. “I have to watch out and make sure you don’t eat any.”

“You’d better. I’ve been known to devour whole cakes in a single sitting.”

Eliza shook her head. “I won’t even say how disturbing I think that statement is.”

He winked. “That’s because you clearly don’t have brothers. If you had some, you’d know it’s perfectly healthy for a man to devour a cake every now and then.”

“And take thirds at every meal, too.” Georgia set plates, forks, and napkins on the table.

“Are you serious?” Eliza asked. “How do you stay fit?”

He leaned back and patted his tummy. “Ah, that’s the best part. My brain works so quickly, it completely energizes the rest of me. My metabolism is like a fifteen-year-old boy’s most of the time.”

“You know, that explains so much more than you realize.” She turned to a laughing Georgia. “How can I help you?”’

“Keep getting Will. You have no idea how much fun it is to have a sister around who can clobber him.”

Eliza’s brain skittered to a halt at the word “sister.” Thankfully the two continued on without her.

“Whatever. She isn’t clobbering anything. She’s too tiny.”

Georgia began to slice the cake. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s shaking in his boots.”

“Socks. Remember, I’m wearing socks.”

“Fine. Socks. But you’re still shaking.” She handed a piece of cake to Eliza.

“If I’m shaking, it’s because of low blood sugar. What’s taking so long?”

“Hush. Now how big do you want your piece?”

Eliza took a bite of hers. Suddenly every distracted thought she had of becoming Georgia’s sister fled. “Oh, my gosh. Will, take a huge one. You’re going to want it.”

“You heard the lady. Gimme one huge slice.”

Eliza quickly took another bite. She didn’t care if she was talking with her mouth full. “Georgia, this is seriously to die for. I need the recipe. Like, must. Have. It.”

“Careful. If it’s that good, you might actually die.” Will took the plate his sister handed him and dug in.

“Have I ever mentioned how charming you are?” Eliza took another bite.

“Well, she could’ve poisoned us. You never know. Huh, sis?” He looked up at her.

Georgia sat down and shook her head. “As tempting as it is to kill you, Will, I have yet to give in to the urge.”

“Aw, it’s so nice to have a sister who loves me.”

Eliza put her fork down. “Good grief, you’re incorrigible today. What’s with you?”

He gave his best innocent face. “Aren’t I always like this?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“I think he’s showing off,” Georgia stage-whispered.

“I think he really needs to read one of my books—perhaps get some tips on flirting.”

Will threw his head back and laughed.

Georgia grinned and took a bite of cake. “Do you really think it’s good?”

“Yes. Holy, yes. It’s wonderful. You are really, really talented.” Eliza took another bite. “Did you make this from scratch?”

The girl blushed and looked down. “Yeah.”

“There’s no way I could come close to this. The best cake I make is with a box—anything from scratch turns out super heavy and dry. This is just perfect. Where’d you get all the stuff to make it?”

“Thank you. Will had the hotel bring up the ingredients for me.”

She should’ve known. “You should open up your own shop. Have you ever considered it?”

“I’ve thought about it, sure. But I’ve kind of given up on the idea. Do you think I should open one?

“And you’re completely self-taught? No schooling?”

The girl shook her head. “None.”

“Incredible. You were born to bake.” Eliza leaned forward. “Okay, look. I know you’re still young, so to make this work, your best bet is to get a business degree. That way, you understand the numbers side of all this. And then I’ll come and help you put together a killer marketing plan, and I’ll glance over the place and guarantee you keep your sales up high.”

Georgia’s eyes sparkled. “Do you really think I could get away with this?”

“Not only do I think you can do it, but I bet if your brother helped you out with some of his skills and contacts, you’ll be running your own cake-making business and selling them to restaurants and stores. All you need is one good-sized chain to pick you up, and bam! You’re not just a small corner shop—everyone in America gets to experience this masterpiece.”

“Oh, wow! You really think I’m
that
good?”

Eliza took another bite. “You’re awe-inspiring. Do you have a name picked out already? It’d have to be something killer. Something that’ll make people take notice and remember.”

“Actually, I do.” Georgia grinned and then glanced away. “Okay. So, no one knows this, but I have a whole notebook full of ideas and notes and recipes for a shop one day.”

“So you really have been thinking about it.”

“Yeah.” Georgia grinned. “I have some of my ideas on the iPad you brought. You wanna see them?” She stood up and headed toward her bedroom.

“Sure.” Eliza set her fork down. As she stood, she caught sight of Will across the table. He had leaned back and was watching her. She couldn’t quite read his expression. “Er, is it okay if I talk with Georgia about opening her own store?”

“You mean, give her hope? A dream? Something to live for? And someone to become?” He slowly stood up. “Eliza, I don’t know what I’ve done to you. I imagine—knowing me and my innate idiocy—it was something awful. But if you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me, I would love to—”

“Eliza, are you coming?” Georgia called from the bedroom. “Or should I bring the iPad out there?”

Her eyes never left Will’s. “I’m coming.” There was so much there she really wasn’t equipped to deal with right now. Rescuing Georgia was what this was all about. Wasn’t it?

“Whatever it is, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Please forgive me.”

That night, holding Jane while she sobbed, collided with the image of Will across the table. She shook her head. “We’ll talk later. Not now. Later.”

He nodded. “Okay.”      

Eliza stepped away, her heart clenching as she made her way to the bouncing Georgia.

“Sorry, it’s charging, so it’s over here by the chair,” the girl said. She beckoned Eliza to the side of the room. “I really want to show you my designs and maybe get your opinion on the name. I know you like chocolate, but wait until you see this one.” She held up the iPad. On the screen was an incredible carrot cake, with toasted coconut on the sides.

“Wow. And this is from scratch too?”

She beamed. “Yep.” Pushing her finger across the screen, Georgia popped the next picture up. “Scroll through them all. I have something like fifteen different cakes and seven cheesecakes, as well as cookies, pies—everything.”

“This is amazing.” Georgia had already begun a portfolio.

She happily sighed and sat down on the bed. “Yeah, actually, my boyfriend told me he’d help me open my own shop, so I was getting stuff ready for it.”

All at once, they were treading on very dangerous ground. “You have a boyfriend? Does he like cakes too?”

Her smile slipped, and she looked away. “That’s right, no—I don’t have a boyfriend now. That was before. Back when we were thinking about getting married.”

“Wow. Marriage. That’s exciting.” Eliza couldn’t imagine any man taking advantage of such a sweet girl, let alone leading her along like this, only to destroy her.

She shrugged, and a visible frown showed up. “I thought so too. Turns out, it’s really not that great after all.”

Eliza cautiously sat down next to her on the bed, one arm going around those fragile shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetie. I was engaged once.”

“You were?”

“Yep. Turns out he was a jerk. I know exactly how you feel.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

“What was his name? Georgia asked.

Eliza closed her eyes and pushed through the hurt that came with him. “Collin.”

“Do you mind talking about him? If you do, we can stop.” The girl looked so lost, so alone, so eager to connect with her.

Only Jane had heard the full story of Collin.  After all these years she wasn’t sure she could open up so easily. But if it would help ease Georgia’s pain… “Of course. Ask whatever questions you’d like.”

“How old were you?”

How old
was
she? It happened so long ago, she’d almost forgotten. “Not much older than you. Maybe nineteen.”

“Were you in love?”

Eliza nodded, her heart growing cold. “I thought so. I thought I knew everything there was to know about love—I was wrong.”

“What’d he do?”

Taking a deep breath, Eliza leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her. “What didn’t he do?” She attempted a half chuckle. “I don’t know. Collin was—Collin was so caught up in himself, he never saw me.”

Georgia nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“He wanted to be famous. And rich. And live in a huge house. Basically everything you guys are—he wanted it. And he literally brown-nosed his way through life to get there. Complimenting people he wanted to be like, lavishing praise on them. As for me, he was always worried about appearance, afraid of what others thought of him—of us. Constantly nagging, belittling, degrading.” She took another deep breath. “It was one of those emotionally abusive relationships that scar. Those scars run deep. I’m sort of afraid of anyone who has that mentality now. I know how badly they cut you. It’s hard when your partner doesn’t find you desirable. There comes a point when you try anything to be another person—you forget who you are just so they’re happy. Believing this is best for you, that they’re bringing out the real you.

“But it’s not the real you. It’s a façade of lies they created. And eventually, those lies begin to eat you whole. Collin never even looked back when I finally left. He was engaged just a couple of weeks later to another girl we both knew.  I’ve always felt sorry for her, honestly.”

Eliza began to fiddle with the skirt of her dress. “He broke me a lot worse than I thought. I thought I was the strong one because I walked away. I thought I’d healed, and that was the worst hurdle.”

She touched her chest over her heart. “No. It had only just begun. My journey of finding me after that fiasco took years of growing. And trusting. And believing I was worth it and good enough. It didn’t help that my mom loved Collin, and she was livid that I’d hurt him the way I did. For months afterward, she’d still mutter under her breath about how disappointed she was that I hadn’t married him. I was a failure in her eyes, and it put a serious strain on our relationship.”

“So did that girl marry him?”

“Charlotte? Yeah, they were married really fast. Within a couple of months or so. And as far as I know, they’re still married.”

“I wonder if my ex-boyfriend will get married soon.”

Eliza decided to push a bit. “What’s his name?”

“George, which was kinda cool because mine’s Georgia. But he went by Joe.”

Even though Eliza knew the answer, she had to ask. “How’d you meet? School?”

“No. He’s older than me, so he’d already graduated from college. We originally found each other on Facebook. He started liking my posts and told me I inspired him, and yadda, yadda, yadda. I believed everything he said. And then, when we met, it was romantic and he was totally hot, and I completely forgot about the age difference. He just looked so young, it didn’t matter. And I couldn’t believe he’d actually fallen for me. Out of all the girls he was friends with on Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat—and he had a lot—he chose me. It totally went to my head. 

“He took me on long walks in the park, to the zoo, hiking in the mountains—anywhere you can imagine that’s romantic and perfect and unique and fun, he took me there. Then a few weeks ago, he proposed.” She exhaled and stood up, but didn’t stop talking. “He got down on one knee and told me there had never been a girl so beautiful and inspiring and right for him. He told me how happy I made him, and how he couldn’t wait to show me the world and be my husband.”

Tears started to form in her eyes, and Eliza’s heart dropped. She knew that happiness—that joy. And then to have it destroyed so savagely. It wasn’t fair.

Georgia wiped at her eyes. “Like a fool, I believed every word. I loved him so, so much. I knew—I just knew my world would be perfect, and he’d always take care of me.” She walked to the door and laid her head against it.