Chapter 1

She thought she heard a British accent. Unlikely, she thought. Here? On what amounted to a sandbar in the Gulf of Mexico? She was here with her older sister Jane for what the Americans called "Spring Break". It took quite a bit of cajoling to get her father to agree to let them go with their Aunt and Uncle to "experience the American tradition" as her Aunt said.

She wasn't interested so much in the drunken parties and beach volleyball that her aunt said were ubiquitous on this island during Spring break, although she did buy a new bikini. She just wanted to get away from the usual cold, damp weather you found in Oxford during March. Sunshine and 85 degree days (that is, measured in Fahrenheit) sounded wonderful as she struggled over memorizing all 206 bones in the human body or trying to remember the difference between molarity and molality. This was going to be a week of nothing more strenuous than deciding which bar to go to that night. She even thought she might try one of those silly tropical drinks some night.

There was that accent again. She looked around the restaurant and spotted the likely culprit. Oh boy. Yeah. Definitely British. From the north if the accent gave it away. Even the "Rowdy Maui" T-shirt and Bermuda shorts of his friend couldn't hide the pasty white skin and conservative hair cut. He looked like a fish out of water. As if she should talk. She was as white as this napkin and her flowered sundress likely cried "tourist" to the locals.

He was cute, she decided. His friend who was now laughing at him wasn't so bad himself. More like her sister's parameters for a hunk though – not too tall, slight build, sandy, curly hair. Yup, just Jane's type. Now that other one, the quiet one, yeah, he ticked off her boxes – tall, dark, lean, muscular and handsome.

She nudged her sister "did you hear that accent?" she whispered.

"Yeah, a couple of British blokes here? What are the odds?" Jane giggled.

Just then Lizzy had a brilliant idea. She loudly asked her sister "I wonder if there is anyplace on the island that we can watch the Manchester United game today?" She then whispered to her sister "Let's see if that gets their attention."

"Lizzy, I can't believe you just did that!" her sister hissed at her.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Lizzy whispered back. "Besides, it worked." She turned to look up at the gentlemen suddenly standing next to their table.

"Excuse me miss, I couldn't but help to hear your question. Are you perchance from England?" the sandy haired gent asked with a silly smile on his face.

"Why, yes. How did you know?" Lizzy asked as she batted her eyelashes in a ridiculous way. "Lizzy Bennet. This is my sister Jane. Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Charles Bingley and this is my friend William Darcy. It's a pleasure to meet you. You were looking to watch the game today? I don't know if it will be shown locally, they don't seem to be much into football around here, well soccer as they call it. Our condo has streaming service, maybe we could find it on their schedule." His quiet friend was shooting him disapproving looks.

"Oh, where are you staying? We're in town at the Sunshine Inn with our aunt and uncle." His friend looked even more disapproving.

"We're out at the Palm Springs condos on the beach. Nice place." Charles said and although he was talking to Lizzy, his eyes settled on Jane. "Would you like to come watch the game? I think it starts in about an hour, local time."

"That's very nice of you to offer." said Jane. "Thank you. Let us get our bill."

"We've got our car here, we can give you a ride. It's a bit of a hike from here." said Charles. Lizzy was wondering if William ever spoke.

"Let me call our aunt to tell her where we are going. We told her we were just going shopping." Lizzy said. Jane paid their bill and when Lizzy got off the phone she said "Aunt Maddie says it's okay if we go, as long as we stay together."

The four Brits walked out to the Lexus in the parking lot and William opened the car with the clicker. Charles opened the back door and waved Jane into the seat then went around to the other side of the car and got in the back seat.

"I guess I'm riding shotgun." said Lizzy as she went around to the other side of the car to get in the front seat. William looked at her quizzically.

"Shotgun?" he asked.

"American slang for front seat passenger. As in, holding the shotgun while you drive the horses. My Aunt and Uncle have lived in the states for 10 years, I blame them for my vocabulary." She didn't see the little smile he gave as he started the car.

As they drove out of town, Jane and Charles were keeping up a lively conversation about where they lived, where they went to school and what they were studying in college. William and Lizzy were silent. She finally decided they must have some conversation.

"So, how long are you in the States?" Lizzy asked.

"Just a week, during break at Cambridge." William answered.

"Yeah, Oxford is off at the same time this year." Lizzy replied.

"Might have known." William mumbled.

"What does that mean?" Lizzy shot back at him.

"Oh, nothing. Well, it's just that, um, those of us from Cambridge always assumed that Oxford fellows were a bunch of stuck up rich kids, but we can be wrong, I suppose." William replied sheepishly. Lizzy didn't know how to answer that so she decided she didn't really want any conversation after all. The rest of the ride out to the condo was very quiet in the front seat and animated in the back seat.