XXXII
Elizabeth vaguely heard Jane's "Huh?" Normally, that soft sound would not have been enough to rouse her, but she was already partially awake from being shaken and trying to get whomever was bothering her away, so that she could dive back into the pleasant abyss of walking along the river bank at Pemberley. Darcy was walking beside her along with a large chocolate lab whom she knew belonged to Darcy. The dog kept bringing her a drool soaked stick and hopefully wagging its tail back and forth when he approached, begging for Elizabeth to play with him again.
But then, clunk! Pain exploded through Elizabeth's head. The harsh sensation prompted an "Ow!" even as it started fading into just an ouch.
Elizabeth lifted her head and opened her eyes and registered that Jane was pressed against her, their heads quite near each other, and that Darcy was beyond her, but it took a couple of blinks to get the blinding brightness to recede and vague images to form into something that made a modicum of sense.
There was a throbbing in her temple, a sandpaper sensation in her throat along with a sour bile taste. Elizabeth desperately needed the bathroom (Was that what the full river and the drooly dog represented? She had thought the stick might mean something else . . .), but the idea of forcing her whole body up seemed impossible. She blinked a couple of times, saw Darcy move back, his hands up as if he faced a robber with a gun, his face pale, and then sliding down and to the side.
Thwack! Elizabeth heard the sound and felt the vibration of Darcy hitting the wall, even as Darcy exclaimed, "Oooof!"
Jane, who had only begun to awaken when feeling strong hands gripping her, had thought Charlie, before a blast of head pain yanked her to full alertness, heard her sister's exclamation quickly followed by that of a man who was clearly not Charlie, for his cry of pain was much too deep. Jane forced herself up, noting she was at the very edge of the bed as she scooted back a little before feeling something blocking her, which upon turning she discovered was her sister.
In a rush, Jane recalled their girls' night. Mary had only had two drinks, sipping slowly, while she and Lizzy had a few more. They had been very giggly, comparing notes on Charlie and Darcy, while Mary had said far less about Henry . . . . Did we end up inviting Charlie and Darcy to join us? Jane couldn't recall any such thing, but supposed it was possible.
Jane sat up and saw Darcy, tilted sideways beyond Mary's mattress, trying to pull himself up. She was still trying to sort out what was going on.
"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth demanded.
Elizabeth sounded very grumpy to Jane. Jane wondered, Is she hung over? and then concluded, I guess we didn't invite the guys. Jane asked, "Why are you in Lizzy's room? How did you get in the apartment?"
Darcy rubbed at his shoulder. "Elizabeth, Jane, you need to get up. Your mom needs you for wedding stuff. Charlie sent me; Mary gave me the keys."
Elizabeth flicked her eyes toward her alarm clock, which read 12:32 with the dot that indicated p.m. She couldn't help but spout off with an f-bomb, before adding, "Mom must be super angry. Okay, here's what we'll do. Jane, you're going to go shower and get dressed first. Now, no arguing, it is your wedding day. Darcy can then take you straight to Mom's, right?"
Darcy nodded and said, "Sure."
"Okay, so Jane while you're showering I will update Mom, give her a chance to yell at me instead of you and Darcy can tell Charlie that he got us up. Jane, let me get you a robe and then off you go. I'll shower next, and then drive to meet you. Darcy, go make coffee; we're going to need it."
Darcy hurried to comply. Yes, Elizabeth was being bossy, but it was more efficient that way. What a take-charge woman, he thought to himself. She's magnificent! I'm going to marry her someday.
Darcy quickly texted Charlie, "I got in, Jane is getting ready now and Lizzy's talking with her mom." Rather than wait for a response, Darcy decided to work on making coffee.
It took a while for Darcy to find the ground coffee beans, which turned out to be in the drawer under the coffee maker rather than sensibly on a shelf with the sugar, but Darcy didn't dare interrupt Elizabeth while she was having a clearly tense conversation with her mom. He could hear her side through the still open bedroom door as he searched for the coffee and while he waited for it to brew.
"I know we messed up . . . No, I wasn't trying to make things difficult . . . Yes, I suppose we should have known better . . . I wasn't trying to hurt Jane . . . She will live without a manicure . . . Okay, I'll get polish, but that will be less time that I can work on the centerpieces . . . I know you wanted both, but I'm just one person and there is only so much time . . . Yes, I know. I know. Now how much is left to do on those? Uh, huh . . . No one will notice if the centerpieces aren't perfect . . . All we really need is the bride and groom, the clothes, the minister, the food, the flowers and the cake . . . Okay, I will get the topper from them . . . and I will stop and get the lace and ribbons. What width? . . . and what's the back up color if they haven't got more of that color in? . . . She's still showering; I'll check with her when she's out . . . No, her complexion seems fine . . . okay . . . yes mom . . . It will all work out . . . I heard the water stop. I've got to go. Bye."
Elizabeth hurried into the kitchen. She was feeling very stressed out. She wanted just a few sips of coffee to fortify her, and perhaps the caffeine might help stop the pounding in her head like it did in that headache medicine.
Darcy asked, "Rough call?" while handing her a large mug of coffee.
Elizabeth nodded. "Of course everything is all my fault and now my mom wants me to do stuff she was supposed to have already gotten done." She took a careful sip and was pleased that it was not too hot to drink.
Darcy gestured to an open travel mug half filled with coffee. "Does Jane take sugar and milk like you do?"
"Yes, but more of both." Elizabeth watched as Darcy poured, scooped and stirred, then adding a little more coffee to get it to the top.
"Is there anything I can do?" Darcy asked. "Any errands that I can run for you after I drop off Jane? I think I already pretty much fulfilled my best man duties. I hosted his bachelor party, which Don Hurst said was lame, but Charlie seemed to like (we toured a winery and then sampled several vintages), and I picked up the tuxes this morning and then got you gals up. I think I am otherwise supposed to be at your beck and call." Darcy wanted to be helpful, to relieve some of the tightness he saw in Elizabeth's drawn up shoulders, her tight brow.
"I wish." Elizabeth took a sip and thought through everything she needed to do. "Well, I assume you don't paint nails or arrange flowers and as for the errands, I know exactly what my mother wants me to pick up, but it would be difficult to describe them, and I couldn't begin to explain what would be the most appropriate back ups if I can't find them. But . . . perhaps you could pick up the wedding cake topper. Mom was supposed to pick it up but she claims she forgot. I think she just didn't want to make the one and a half hour round trip to get it. Dealing with Miss Mabel's has been the worst! Supposedly they've finally got the right swan topper into their store and it is on hold for the Bennets. I'll text you the address and a description. If you aren't sure it is right, shoot me a pic.
"But as for being done? My mom is sure to want you to help the other guys set up the chairs and tables at around four, so you shouldn't change into your tux until after that. Dad said the wedding is already way over budget, so he's been cutting corners wherever he can and it was cheaper to just have the rental company that only unloads rather than sets up. Of course, anything he saves goes right out the door as my mom finds new things we absolutely have to have. And Jane isn't even getting the simple and classy wedding she wanted, because she's too nice to Mom to ever say no."
"How am I too nice?" Jane walked in on the tail end of their conversation. She was dressed very simply, with her wet hair down and no make up on yet. Still, she had the sort of dewy glow that models have when makeup has already been applied, but they are supposed to look natural, say for a soap or lotion commercial. She did not look like someone who had been drinking and slept late.
"You are letting Mom overrule you on way too many decisions," Elizabeth told her.
"It's fine, the only thing that really matters to me is that I get to marry Charlie today," Jane said in a matter of fact tone, her lips then turning up in a gentle, beatific smile. She repeated in a hushed, almost reverent tone, like someone might used when discussing a miracle, "I get to marry Charlie today!"
"You do!" Elizabeth set down her mug of coffee, hugged Jane and twirled her around. "Best day ever!"
Jane laughed with delight, "For sure!"
In watching their excitement, Darcy wondered how he could have ever thought Jane cold and unfeeling.
Elizabeth released her sister and then said, trying not to sound like she was nagging her sister, "Now, off you go, just make sure you've got your phone and charger."
Elizabeth came up to Darcy then and reached her arms up, which was her signal for him to bend down for a quick kiss. The kiss they exchanged was far too short for both of their tastes, but Elizabeth was trying to make sure she didn't gross him out with her morning, hang-over breath which she hoped it was concealed by the taste of the coffee. Darcy didn't notice anything but the coffee, but he was not wanting to delay getting Jane to her mom's and Elizabeth from her own shower.
As soon as Jane was ready, with the aforementioned items in her purse, Darcy and Jane set off. He felt a bit awkward, never have really spent any time with just her before. He also felt embarrassment about grabbing her earlier and wondered if that was why she wasn't talking.
In truth, Jane was still a bit tired and savoring a few minutes of peace with someone who didn't need to always be speaking. She knew that her mother would be anxious and out-of-sorts based on her late arrival and the importance of the day.
As the quiet dragged on, Darcy's conscience began to make itself known. When he stopped at a yellow light that he probably could have made it through, he said, "I feel that I must apologize for earlier. I didn't mean to touch you, Jane." Hearing how awful that sounded, Darcy tried to reorganize his thoughts. "I was trying to wake Lizzy and she, well she fought being woken up and she ended up pushing you off the bed. I was just acting on instinct, trying to keep you from falling."
Jane struggled to remember what had occurred when she had woken up. It had been all but forgotten in her need to get ready and get to her parents' house. In casting her mind back, she had a vague memory of someone pushing at her shoulder and side. Was that it or did Darcy remember something else? "What exactly do you think you did?"
"I'm just not sure; I don't know." Darcy was hunched forward over the steering wheel. He glanced over at Jane, "Like I said, I was trying to keep you from falling; you were rolling toward me."
Jane decided that one of them needed to be sensible. "Look, Darcy, my sister can get feisty when she doesn't want to wake up, so I don't doubt that she could have tried to push me out of the bed. You were in our apartment, trying to get us up so we'd get where we needed to be. So long as you weren't trying to cop a feel-I can't imagine you would disrespect your friend and my sister in that way-let's just forget about it. I don't want to think about anything but the fact that once I get through the madness of today, that tonight I'll be married. Okay?"
"Okay," Darcy leaned back a little, making a visible effort to relax.
"The very fact that you were worried about this, it basically proves that you are a good guy," Jane added.
When they reached the Bennets' house, Darcy waited for Jane to go through the door but did not go in himself. He had an errand to run. He was off to the little boutique to pick up the cake topper.
When Darcy arrived at Miss Mabel's Fine Gifts, he was glad to see that no other customers were there. There was just an elderly clerk, in a dingy white vest, slowly sweeping. Darcy was hopeful that he could get in and out without much trouble. He asked the man, "Can you help me? I am here to pick up the cake topper reserved for the Bennets."
"What did you say?" The elderly man propped his broom against the wall and walked closer to him. He seemed very confused. Darcy repeated himself, explaining it was a special order and, as Elizabeth had told him to say, "It should be in the bin behind the counter back over there, under Bennet."
The man didn't seem to be getting it, so Darcy went ahead and walked over to what he assumed was the right counter, which had a series of large bins on shelves behind it. Darcy could see one bin that was clearly labeled "A-C" next to one that was "D-H." Darcy paused just outside the swinging doors that led to behind the counter.
"No customers back there," the man instructed. Darcy noticed that the name Phil was embroidered on the man's vest in blue stitching.
"Phil, can you check that bin?" Darcy pointed.
"Those are specialty orders," Phil told him.
"Yes, I know. I have a specialty order for Bennet. Please, can you check for it? The wedding is today!"
"And who are you?" Phil peered at him, looking just above the tops of his readers.
Darcy almost said, "Bennet" as surely that would be less confusing to Phil. But he went ahead and said, "Will Darcy, but I am picking up for Bennet. B.E.N.N.E.T."
"I can only sell you something if it has the right name on it," Phil told Darcy. He shuffled through the swinging doors and started looking through the D-H bin.
"It is Bennet, not Darcy," Darcy corrected.
Phil did not respond and continued to look through the wrong bin, with his back to Darcy. Finally, he turned around and said, "Nothing for Derby, nothing at all."
"Not Derby," Darcy tried again, "Bennet, B.E.N.N.E.T. Please check the 'B's."
"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Phil asked. He proceeded to slowly take out five boxes and lay them on the counter to the left of the bins, instead of the counter across from there, where Darcy stood. Finally, Phil turned around. There was a small white cardboard box in his hand which he laid before Darcy. Darcy noticed that it had a tag that read "Bradley." Phil quoted to Darcy, "That will be $52.50, no returns."
Darcy hoped rather than believed this might be the right item. Recalling Elizabeth's instructions, he opened the box to check that it was indeed two ceramic swans, whose joined beaks and necks formed an open heart. Instead he found an Easter Bunny sitting on a nest full of eggs. As politely as he could, Darcy explained, "This isn't right. I told you, the package is for Bennet. B.E.N.N.E.T. They ordered a white swan cake topper."
The man looked up in confusion, "I said, no returns."
"But I haven't paid yet," Darcy tried his best to be patient. "Can you check the rest of your 'A through C' bin?"
"So you don't want this one?" Phil asked. "It is a very nice piece."
"For Easter, but not for a wedding." Grasping for anything to make Phil understand, Darcy began singing the tune for Here Comes the Bride, "Dun, dun, da-dun. Dun dun da-dun. Dun dun dun duuun dun, da dun da-dun."
"Oh, you are getting married? We can get some beautiful custom wedding cake toppers ordered."
"We ordered a cake topper. Check for Bennet. Please!"
Darcy was about ready to push through the half doors, past Phil and start rummaging through the bin himself when miracle of miracles, he saw a back door open and a woman come in. Spotting Darcy, she hurried over, drying her hands her pants. "Hello there, I'm Carol, are you needing some help? Phil isn't really supposed to be helping customers. He is Miss Mabel's son, if you can believe that. The granddaughter runs the business now." She then yelled to Phil, "I've got this, you can go back to sweeping."
Phil shrugged and slowly walked out from behind the counter and then in the opposite direction of the broom. Darcy was a bit curious as to where he would go, but focused his attention back to getting the topper.
Darcy explained the matter to Carol quickly, leaving out all of Phil's missteps, and within thirty seconds he had another cardboard box in front of him, with the label "Bennitt" on it. Darcy said a quick silent prayer, "Please let this be the right one." As he pulled open the flap, he tried to predict whether what was inside would be cause for celebration or further misery.
Darcy found swans, but they were not white swans but black swans. "I think they were supposed to be white," he told Carol. "I don't suppose you might have a set of white swans back there under Bennet. Or perhaps you could check under Bingley for the groom."
Carol checked the remaining four packages, "Andrews, Ball, Bradley, Cumberland. Nope. Let me check the book. She pulled out a ledger book with handwritten entries. "Do you know when it was ordered?"
Naturally, Darcy didn't, but he was able to estimate that it was within the past month based on how quickly the wedding had been put together. Carol found an entry with an order number and description "swans." "That must be it."
"I've got to make a call," Darcy told Carol.
He tried Elizabeth first but after six rings it went straight to voicemail. Then he tried Jane. Her phone didn't ring at all before it went to voicemail. He wondered if she had ever gotten around to charging it. Fortunately, as he was leaving her a message, he heard the beep of an incoming call for him, which turned out to be from Elizabeth.
"Did you get the swans?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, there are swans here, but I don't think you wanted black ones."
"It is still the black ones? That's what was the wrong order the first time. They were supposed to reorder."
"Okay, I'll check." Darcy explained the situation to Carol. She checked the log book again.
"There's no other entry for Bennet. You see here? This is where we would mark an exchange or a return. If it is not in here, it didn't happen. I'm sorry."
Darcy explained the whole thing to Elizabeth and then asked, "What do you want me to do?"
He heard half a conversation as the women debated and finally Elizabeth told him. "Go ahead and get that one. Then go to a store that has some good white spray paint. Maybe we can make it white."
"Okay," Darcy told Elizabeth.
When he was off the phone Darcy said, "My girlfriend says to get it and we will try to spray paint it."
"Spray paint it? This lovely ceramic? Don't you think black swans against a white cake would be very dramatic?" Carol suggested.
"It might be for someone," Darcy admitted, "but the couple getting married wouldn't like it at all. Now how about giving me a discount, since it is your error that is causing all the havoc?"
"Do you have the corrected order form or the change form?" Carol asked.
Naturally Darcy didn't and eventually he ended up paying full price rather than remain in the store longer. Carol was apologetic but explained, "I just don't have the authority to do a mark down without the proper paperwork."
Fifteen minutes later, Darcy was at a hardware store pondering shades of white spray paint. Who knew there was more than one shade of white spray paint?Was Jane more likely to want Flat White, Satin Blossom White, or white in a gloss enamel? Another call to Elizabeth and another debate and he ended up buying the Satin Blossom. He had a new mission now; he was to be in charge of spraying the swans.
Perhaps it was not surprising that with all that had occurred and with the tasks that Darcy still needed to do, that he did not realize he had forgotten to drop Mary's keys back off at the daycare for her. They were currently sitting in the center cup holder in his car. It wasn't just her apartment key, but her whole key ring which also included the keys to the Subaru, which Mary ended up buying from her parents.
