My Own Mr. Darcy (5 page)

The Women’s Fiction room
was lined with built-in bookshelves. Two overstuffed chairs with soft, yellow
upholstery sat at the window. It was an elegant room. I easily found
The
Help
, but I didn’t feel like leaving. Soft piano music wafted through the
air from a speaker somewhere near the door and the pretty chairs beckoned me. I
sat down and started to read. The chair was comfortable and the book captured my
attention from the first page.

“Pardon me. We’re going to
be closing soon.” Startled, I looked up to see Mr. Dawson leaning on the
doorframe, his arms folded. The light had changed while I’d been reading and the
last of the late-evening sun slanted through the room. Tiny specks of dust floated
in the air giving Mr. Dawson a hazy, dreamy glow.

“I’m so sorry. I must have
lost track of time.” I hurried toward the door.

“Your purse,” he said and
nodded toward my purse, still sitting beside the chair.

“Oh yes, of course.” I
retrieved my purse, intensely aware that Mr. Dawson was still filling the
doorway, watching me. “I’ll just pay for this downstairs then,” I said as I
moved past him. He shifted, but barely enough for me to walk by without
touching him.

“Nanette Eggleston will be
doing a reading and book signing here next week.”

I was almost at the top of
the stairs. I turned back toward him. “I’m sorry. Who’s Nanette Eggleston?”

“She’s a local author who
writes women’s fiction. I thought you might be interested. If you read something
other than just best-sellers.”

“Of course, I do.” My
voice sounded defensive so I tried to soften my tone. “I read all kinds of
books.”

“Then perhaps you’d like
to come. She’ll be here next Tuesday evening.”

“I’d love to. Thanks for
inviting me.”

Wait. Had he invited me?
Or had he just informed me. There was a big difference and I wasn’t sure. I searched
his face for a clue, but his empty expression gave nothing away. He looked at
me for a long moment more before he turned and walked away.

“LIZZIE? ARE YOU
sick?”
Janessa asked. We’d finished dinner and were watching a reality dance show on
television.

“No, why?”

“You haven’t said a word
since the show started and you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I was thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“I’ll bet you were
daydreaming about the wonderful time you’re going to have with Chad tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “Nope.
That wasn’t it.”

“What are you guys doing,
anyway?”

“I have no idea. He said
to wear comfortable shoes and warm clothes.”

“That doesn’t sound very
romantic,” Janessa said., wiggling her eyebrows.

“Thank goodness. I’m not
looking for romance.” That wasn’t true. I was definitely looking for romance,
just not with Chad.

“Give him time. Maybe
he’ll start to grow on you. This is good, though. After tomorrow, you’ll have
two dates down. Only eight to go.”

“No, tomorrow is date
number three.”

“No, it isn’t.” Janessa
gave me a stern look. “You don’t get to count the lunch date where you
purposely tried to drive him away. It’s ten dates with you on your best
behavior.”

“You’re impossible,” I
said.

“Did something happen at work
today? Why are you so deep in thought?”

 I was torn. I wanted to tell
Janessa about Mr. Dawson. What I didn’t want was for her to freak out and tell
me I was crazy. But she was my best friend and not telling her about it seemed
cruel. I sighed. “Okay, Janessa. I’ll tell you what happened today but don’t
tell me it’s no big deal because I want it to be a big deal and I don’t want
you to discourage me.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“I think I’ve met him.”

“Met who?”

“Mr. Darcy. Of course his
name isn’t Darcy, but it’s close to Darcy and if you saw him, you’d be
stunned.”

I told Janessa about the
times Mr. Dawson had come into the bank and about my excursion to the
bookstore. I told her about how he’d stood in the doorway watching me and how
he’d told me about the book signing. She didn’t interrupt. She just looked at me
and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. There was a long pause after I
stopped talking.

“Wow. Are you sure you’re
not just imagining that he looks and acts like Mr. Darcy because you want him
to?”

“See, Janessa. That’s what
I was afraid you’d say.”

“No, no. Lizzie, don’t get
me wrong. I’d love it if you got your dream. I’m just asking if it’s possible
you’re imagining some of these similarities.”

“I’m not. I’ve never seen such
a resemblance. And he’s so serious and intense. You should have seen him
standing there by that door looking at me. It’s like I was Elizabeth—well, I am
Elizabeth—but like I was
that
Elizabeth and he was looking right at me.
He didn’t smile or anything. It’s like he was studying me the way Mr. Darcy
studies Elizabeth.”

“Maybe he didn’t smile at
you because he’s a stuck-up jerk.”

“Don’t forget, everyone
thought Mr. Darcy was a stuck-up jerk, too. I think he’s just serious. I’m sure
he’s really nice once you get to know him. He told me about the book signing,
after all. Maybe you should go into the bookstore and see for yourself. Just
take Ben with you so Mr. Dawson doesn’t set his sights on you and your ravishing
beauty.”

Janessa laughed off the
compliment. “You’re safe whether I take Ben with me or not. Mr. Darcy isn’t
really my type.”

We watched two more dances.
Suddenly Janessa grabbed the remote and muted the sound. She turned to me, her
face serious. “Lizzie, promise me something.”

“What?”

“Even though you think
you’ve met Mr. Darcy, or whatever his name is, you have to promise me you’ll
still be agreeable and fun with Chad. Just in case this Darcy thing doesn’t
work out. Remember, you agreed to ten dates and the agreement holds even if this
guy turns out to be perfect.”

“Fine,” I said, but I knew
if Mr. Dawson proved to be all I hoped he was, ten dates with Chad was
unlikely.

 “If you don’t like
hiking, we can do the short trail.”

“I like hiking,” I said.

“Have you ever hiked
Multnomah Falls?” Chad asked.

“We went to the overlook
above the footbridge when I was a kid, but I’ve never hiked any further.”

“Then you’re in for a
treat. This is my favorite time of year to hike Multnomah. I love the fall
colors and I prefer hiking when it’s cooler. There’s a five and a half mile
loop that goes past some of the other waterfalls. That should get us back to
the lodge in time for a late lunch.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Oh, and I’ve got a few
snacks if we get hungry in the meantime.”

Multnomah Falls was a scenic
half-hour drive from Portland. Early morning sunshine slanted through the trees
that lined the road. Patches of autumn colors peaked above the clouds that
snuggled low on the hills.  Morning mists hadn’t yet burned off the banks of
the Columbia River. Of course, morning mists reminded me of Mr. Darcy walking
toward Elizabeth in a long coat, which somehow evolved into an image of Mr.
Dawson standing in the doorway of the Women’s Fiction room looking at me
through an evening glow.

I dragged my thoughts away
from tall brooding men and realized the companionable silence had swelled into
an awkward pause. “I don’t know what you do,” I said to Chad.

“I thought I told you at
lunch,” Chad said. I felt ashamed that I hadn’t really listened to him that day.

“You probably did. Sorry.
Sometimes my memory fails me.”

“I teach high school
science. And I coach the swimming team.”

“You’re a swimmer?”  

“Mom said I started swimming
before I started to walk. I don’t remember that and moms are prone to
exaggerate their children’s accomplishments, so I can’t swear to it.”

“I’m a terrible swimmer. I
took lessons three different summers but never got comfortable putting my face
in the water. I’m afraid the backstroke and dog paddle are all I can do and I’m
really slow at those.”

“Maybe we should go
swimming sometime. I could give you a few pointers to help you with your
breathing so you feel more comfortable with your face in the water.”

“That would be great.” And
it would take care of another date. Janessa would be so proud of me. “I’ll bet
you couldn’t give me pointers that would make me understand science. That was
by far my hardest subject.”

“That’s why I decided to
teach science, against my Dad’s wishes. I understood it but so many of the kids
around me were lost. The teacher asked me to tutor a couple of the kids and I
discovered I had a knack for helping them understand it better than the
teacher. I like helping my students feel smart and when they understand
science, they feel smart.”

“And when they don’t, they
feel dumb. I had my share of those feelings in science. Your students are
lucky. What did your dad want you to do?”

“Go into the family
business. Dad’s a partner at Bradshaw, Keller and Spielman. He hoped I’d come
work with him someday.”

“That’s the firm in the big
glass building off the freeway.”

“That’s the one. There’s
good money to be made in corporate law and he wanted me to go to law school and
join his firm. I took two years of pre-law requirements and hated them. I just
couldn’t see myself doing that the rest of my life.”

“Was he terribly
disappointed?”

“He was at first. He was
worried I wouldn’t make enough as a schoolteacher to be comfortable, but I
think he’s gotten used to the idea. What about you? What made you want to be a
bank teller?”

I laughed. “I don’t think
anyone sets their sites on being a bank teller. At least I didn’t. I got the
job during college and when I graduated last year, I couldn’t find work in my
field. So I’m still there.”

“What did you study?”

“Interior design. I loved
it but I guess I didn’t think much about how economy-driven it is. I made
appointments with several places, but no one was hiring. In fact most of them
have cut back the past few years. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to use my
skills to decorate instead of counting out money.”

“I guess teaching has its
advantages. It might not make me rich but there’s a certain amount of job
security.”

“Especially if you’re
good,” I said.

“Hopefully
things will improve and you’ll be able to use your degree.”

“I hope so. If nothing
else, my own home will look great someday. I’m not complaining though. I’m
really thankful I have a job.”

The parking lot at
Multnomah Falls was already filling up when we arrived. The morning was lovely—crisp
air, bright colors and noisy water. Waves of cold spray drifted through the
air.

The bottom part of the
hike was an easy, paved trail. As we continued up the trail, it got steeper and
less populated as casual hikers and tourists turned around. A few areas were
pretty difficult. At a stream, Chad took my hand and guided me across the biggest
stones. As soon as we reached the other side, he let go of my hand. Could he
tell I wanted    to keep things friendly or was he not very interested? It bothered
me that I was contemplating his motives when it really didn’t matter. I was
only here to appease Janessa, after all.