"He seemed talkative to me," Rick announced.
Anne stared at him in surprise. "You've met him?"
"Yes. Once. Said he was a client of Will's."
"A client?" Russelle asked, her voice shrill. "Did he mention that this Wickham is also being sued by your company, a company that Will is supposed to be representing in that case?"
Now it was Rick's turn to stare. "Are you serious?"
"It's true," Anne said. "My dad was initially in charge of that case and I did most of the research. Wickham had a poor case and I doubted he'd have won. But you have a woman, a Mrs. Younge, according to Penny, who works for you, but is also a good friend of Wickham. Since most of the work was being done by me at my house—err, old house, she couldn't gain access to it. That's how Penny got involved, through Mrs. Younge introducing her to Will. The original plot was to ensure Wickham won his case, but when Will learned the lawyer was my father, a man he hated, he hatched a bigger scheme to land my father in jail."
"And Penny told you all this because...?" Russelle asked.
"Because she's willing to help. And, she wants a plea deal. Also, she let me record her confession. There were only us two in the room and we both agreed to be recorded so it will hold up in court."
A warm smile spread across Russelle's lips. "And you said you wouldn't make a good lawyer."
Anne flushed. "I think I'm better at getting people to confess than convicting them."
"Maybe you should go into sleuthing?" Livvy said. Anne shook her head with a laugh but Livvy turned to Rick. "You should encourage her! Unless you're against it?"
Rick laughed. "She can be whatever she wants to be as long as I get to be with her."
Anne's blush deepened, but she managed to shoot a smile at Rick.
"Well," Russelle began, "I'm not entirely for sleuthing—it's a dangerous job—but I do like a man who won't hold his woman back."
Rick seemed to straighten at the compliment. "You can rest assured, ma'am, that it was never my intention to hold Anne back."
Russelle paused, then inclined her head. "I apologize for assuming that wasn't the case."
Anne beamed, happy to see the two finally reconcile.
"Well, you have given me much information. I'll take this all to my office and get my team to work on clearing your father." Russelle stood up and the rest followed. Livvy waved goodbye and headed off, but she turned to Anne for a quick moment and mouthed "details later" while indicating toward Rick; Anne nodded with a grin.
Anne and Rick then saw Russelle off before the two of them stood on the sidewalk, facing each other. They had their own cars and had to part ways, but Anne was glad to see Rick was as reluctant as she to part.
"What were your plans for the rest of today?" Rick asked.
"Honestly? To find an apartment. My sister will be insufferable when she learns both Penny and Will have betrayed her so I need a new place to stay like yesterday."
He cocked his head. "Did you have a place in mind?"
Anne shrugged. "Would be nice if it included a piano!"
He laughed. "Well, I might have a place you could stay for a while."
She looked up at him in surprise. "I thought you didn't own a place?"
"I don't. Not yet, at least. And, really, it's not my place to offer, but I'm pretty sure the people who currently live there wouldn't mind if you showed up at their door. Plus, they have a piano. One of the best or so I've heard from a very talented piano player."
Anne furrowed her eyebrows. "Your friends in Connecticut?" She'd never claim that was a great piano but Anne would be happy with any. And she knew Harv wouldn't mind at all if she stayed with them for a little while.
Rick shook his head. "This one is closer. In Rhode Island. An adorable girl with bewitching chocolate eyes used to live there."
Anne snapped her eyes to his. "You don't mean—"
"That is, if you don't mind Al's terrible jokes."
Her house. He was talking about her house. Her beautiful, childhood home. And living with Sophy and Al who would treat her like family. No, more like what a real family should be like. "Yes." She jumped up and down. "Yes!"
Rick laughed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. "I love it when you're happy."
She grinned up at him. "I love it that you want me to be happy."
He tapped her nose with his. "You need to be spoiled more."
She lifted her chin, bring her lips tantalizing close to his. "Now's a good time."
He chuckled, then leaned in for the kiss she'd been waiting for in eight years.
The End
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed Anne's story. Persuasion is my favorite of Jane Austen's books but updating it to the modern era proved difficult since Anne isn't the typical "strong female" our modern day expects of women. However, what I loved about Anne was her inner strength, her quiet meekness, and her ability to make do with what she had been given. And, after all she went through, she still got her happily ever after. I wanted to show that a woman can be strong without being loud and that you can survive familial neglect without being destroyed in the process.
If you liked this retelling, please leave a review. You have no idea what a huge help it is to have over a hundred reviews so every review counts.
Other retellings of Jane Austen will be forthcoming, each with a her and his side. Next up is Rick's side!
Chapter 1 Excerpt
Rick leaned back in his chair and twirled the fork in his hand. "I have to hand it to you. That was a great find. That little invention will fit perfectly with our goals this year." He wagged the fork across the restaurant table at his friend, Brandon, a near twin of himself: tall and lanky with brown hair, but he had green eyes while Rick had brown.
"Mr. Bingley," Rick continued, "is going to sing your praises for the next month and totally forget you work under me."
Brandon smiled but it didn't reach his green eyes. Then again, it rarely did. "I got lucky. That's all."
Rick shook his head. "You need to take more pride in your work Brandon. Be bold. Assertive. That's how you move up the ranks."
The smile grew rueful. "And I need to move up the ranks...why?"
Rick laughed. Between the two, Brandon earned more in a year than Rick had earned in his lifetime. Retired early from the navy, Brandon had stumbled into a startup that sold for over four times its value. Now, he worked solely to give himself a reason to get up in the morning and tended to dress like the country bumpkin he once was: in faded jeans and years-old shoes, though he did add a nice polo shirt for the occasion. Rick, on the other hand, wore dark dress pants and a light blue dress shirt under a dark blue blazer.
"To help me move up the ranks," Rick shot back with a grin. "I'm the one that got you this comfy job so you owe me."
Brandon waved him off. "You're doing fine. Bingley knows your name--"
"He knows everyone." Bingley was the nicest fellow Rick had ever come across. The man knew practically everyone in the company despite being the best friend of one of the big bosses and having a very hefty workload. To not be known would be an insult.
"And you're on a first-name business with Miss Woodhouse," Brandon countered, naming Rick's other boss.
"That's nothing. She's a noisy busybody and knows I'm single--"
"So am I," Brandon said, the sadness in his eyes deepening. "But she doesn't get excited to see me."
"You don't humor her like I do."
"And that's why you don't need me to move up the ranks," Brandon finished, leaning back in his own chair as if he'd solved the world's problems. "Give it another year and I'd bet you'll be promoted to a boss."
"Nah, that will require me to have a desk job and stay in one spot. You know I can't stand that."
Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Still not happy, then?"
Rick focused on twirling his fork. It was an old topic between the two, one they'd hint at but avoid bringing up fully. Both had too much emotion for th
e topic.
"You said you had a reason to meet me today?" Rick asked.
That sadness in Brandon's eyes deepened and he pushed aside his half uneaten plate and leaned on the table, suddenly looking more like forty than his twenty-eight years. "As an acquisition manager, it makes you travel a lot, meet with a lot of different inventors, right?"
"Yes."
He pulled out a somewhat crumpled, folded piece of paper from his back pocket and slid it over to Rick. "I've been looking for something with this name."
Rick unfolded the paper. "Elisheba? Is that a person's name?"
"Maybe. Or perhaps a name of a now-defunct company. Or an invention."
Ricked eyed it for a long second. "This has to do with Lisa?"
Brandon clasped his hands, that sadness deepening in his eyes. "I believe it has to do with her invention. She was trying to get it patented before she..." he let the sentence die. Rick didn't need him to finish it, anyway. He knew the history. The love of his life had been an engineer with lofty plans of changing the world. But money was needed to turn those dreams into a reality and she, unfortunately, had been born with certain defects that made it difficult to hold a job. He'd volunteered for the navy and had been sending funds to her for several years until he suddenly heard she'd committed suicide. Rick knew it ate at his friend, being unable to know why she took her own life. She had always struggled with depression and her defects, but her letters hadn't hinted of any despair. Quite the opposite for she had believed she finally had an invention worth patenting. But she never gave the details, reserving them for when he came home. Unfortunately, she was dead by the time he arrived. To add salt to the wound, the sole reason he was away from her side, he now had beyond abundance. But he knew Brandon would give up every penny if it meant he could have Lisa again.
Rick folded the paper and slipped it into his wallet. "I'm not sure what I can do but I'll keep an eye out for it."
Brandon smiled. It still didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you. I know it's not much, but all my leads have gone nowhere. I figured with your luck--"
"I'm not that lucky--"
"You seem to get everything you want without much attempt."
Now it was Rick's turn for his smile to grow cold as the face of a chocolate eyed girl swam into view. He shook his head. He was over that. Far over it. "I'll try my best, but I'm sure it will be your perseverance that will ensure the success."
"Let's hope." Brandon stood up. "I have to get going."
"To what? Your limousine?"
Brandon chuckled. "You can have it if you want. It's too hard to park."
Rick laughed at the old comeback. "Send it over, then. I'll ride it in style when I meet my sister." He dropped a few dollars on the table for a tip and stood up as well.
"That's right," Brandon said, adding a few dollars himself. "Your sister is moving back to the States. Have you heard where she decided to live?"
"She said she'd call when they finally have a place. She wants me to visit."
"Are you going to?"
"I should. We haven't seen each other in years. And, well, she's the only family I got."
Brandon nodded, an orphan as well, entering the foster program as a teen like Rick. They'd bonded over their similar background during their military days, pretending to be the brothers they never had. And since they looked so similar, people even believed they were real brothers.
They exited the restaurant and Rick waved Brandon off as he headed down the street, probably to take public transportation. The man was too humble, the complete opposite of Rick. When he could no longer see Brandon, Rick pulled out his phone. It had dinged during their conversation, but he respected Brandon too much to check it. Luckily, it wasn't an urgent message. Just an email from Caroline, Bingley's secretary. Another pile of leads he needed to research. He opened the attachment and loaded the first applicant--then caught his breath. The proposed invention was in Rhode Island.
The memory of that chocolate eyed girl swam into view. Rick crushed it. She'd given up on him so he refused to waste a single second on her. He swiped the application out of view. He'd only investigate that one if he had absolutely nothing else to do.
He meandered down the busy street, eyes on his phone as he browsed through the other applicants, trying to decide which one would most likely produce results his bosses would approve, when his phone abruptly vibrated and a feminine version of his face popped up onto his screen: his sister. He grinned and put the phone to his ear.
"Sophy!"
"You ready for a vacation?" She teased. "Or did you forget to ask your boss?"
"I asked. Bingley said I could take a week off whenever I wanted."
"Good! Schedule it for next month, then."
"And where is this vacation to be held? Did you get that grand home you were hoping for?"
"Yes," she gushed. "It's so beautiful! I can't believe we snagged such a good deal. But it's, uh..." she hesitated, apparently unsure of something. "It's in Rhode Island."
He bit back a groan. Out of all the fifty states, she could pick, she had to pick that one. Then again, she had good memories of the state. The friend who constantly had harbored them during their father's tumultuous times had kept her once their father died. They didn't force her into the foster system but had let her grow up in one home while he had been handed around like a yucky present no one wanted.
"And where, exactly, in Rhode Island is this fancy home of yours?" He hoped it wasn't near her semi-adopted family. He had no desire to deal with them again.
To his shock, it wasn't anywhere near close and he stopped dead in his tracks as she listed the address. "Where?!"
Buy Persuading Her today!
And don't forget to leave a review!
Persuading Him: A Modern Persuasion Retelling (Pemberley Estates Book 1) Page 26
