by Sara Marks
“Well, he didn’t come home until late on the nights I was there. He had his books with him so I assumed he was studying somewhere on his own. Charlie and I weren’t paying much attention. Charlie did mention that he hasn’t seen Wil much this semester. Something kept Wil away most weekends. I guess, if Caroline thinks you’re dating him, that it would be a logical explanation. Do you want me to ask Charlie? He is picking me up at the airport.”
“No, I don’t want to distract you from kisses. I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s not like it’s true.”
“I hope not, because if you have been sneaking around getting laid on weekends then we have bigger issues.”
Lizbeth ignored this.
“Have fun with Charlie and bring me back some beads!” Lizbeth said before hugging Jane and heading toward her gate.
***
Lizbeth was exhausted by the time she got into Boston. She crawled into bed as soon as she got home and slept for twelve hours. She woke up to the smell of bacon and found her father in the kitchen making brunch with Josh, who was also home for spring break.
“What are your plans?” Jack asked Lizbeth.
“Gardner. I’m going to spend the night, do you mind?”
“Nope, I’m sure you want to go for a ride and see Charlotte. Beware of Katherine though. I finally shut her down by saying I was concerned about conflicts of interest.”
“What conflicts?”
“The way you and Wil acted over the break--it seemed like positive changes were happening. I felt your relationship with him didn’t need the pressure of his aunt being invested in our restaurant.”
“Did you mention Wil and me to her specifically?”
“I did; she pressed.”
***
Lizbeth drove out to Gardner and promptly went to Charlotte’s. She had dinner plans with her grandparents, but wanted to have some time with her friend. She was excited to find some changes to the cottage. More of Charlotte was present in the house decor. Colin greeted her at the door with a hug. Lizbeth let him prattle about his amazing internship with Ms. de Bourgh and the business plan they were developing for him.
“The idea is that people of limited means should be able to enjoy an evening out with a fancy car to get them around. I’d have a fleet of high-end luxury cars and the more exciting sports cars for people to rent by the hour. They get the experience without the high price tag. It’s kind of like Zip Cars, but we drop it off or pick them up. I’m not sure about the logistics yet. Still, the whole thing will work like renting a car, but we put this in a community that has a strong middle class to entice people who have the means to rent a car, but not to buy something so expensive. I know they have car clubs in cities, especially in New York City. That’s why I want to push this in suburban communities.”
“That is a great idea, Colin,” Lizbeth said.
“The idea came to me because I wanted to rent something very expensive to take Charlotte out for New Year’s, but rental cars are meant to be practical. Ms. de Bourgh is going to help me set it up, finance it, and get it rolling. We have discussed running a Kickstarter campaign and giving donors a certain number of hours or type of car or upgrade.”
“That would be a great way to get some early customers too. Crowdsourcing is very lucrative for these types of projects.”
“Charlotte asked Jane to help with the graphic design. She is giving us a very competitive rate and her work is better than I expected. Considering everything that has gone on this year, I’m shocked she agreed.”
“Never underestimate Jane’s ability to forgive. How is your mother?”
“Not very well. I think we didn’t really recognize how my father’s death affected her. It appears that my father moderated medications that we had no idea my mother was on. Without him, she stopped taking them once they ran out. She has depression and anxiety issues. She may be bipolar. The doctors are still trying to get a clearer diagnosis. When she was first being treated years ago, they didn’t really talk about these things the same way. We have her in the hospital. The sorority national offices are allowing her health insurance to continue until the end of the year to keep our expenses lower. She said she had taken out the money to keep it safe. She admits she gave some to Jorge and Lydia. Both promised to pay her back. She’s still very angry at you for refusing my proposal and she thought Lydia wanted to marry Jorge. She believed she was helping Lydia and getting back at you. I guess she has always known how wealthy your family is. She might have taken the job at the sorority specifically to play matchmaker for us. She won’t say where she went, but when she got Lydia’s message she panicked and ran away. We are still pulling information out of her.”
“I’m sorry it all happened, but I am glad she is getting the help she needs and that the sorority was so supportive. If you are comfortable with it, I think a few of the sisters would like to send cards to her. I can have them sent here, that is if you and Charlotte don’t mind getting them to her.”
“I think she would appreciate that. Maybe if she felt less guilt and knew people forgave her, she would open up a bit more. Also, I want to say, personally, that I’m very glad you said no when I proposed. I trusted my mother more than I should have. Charlotte pointed out how we never would have worked and I realized she was right.”
Charlotte came up from the basement. She was dressed in the clothes Lizbeth knew were for painting. The sweatshirt had years of old paint splattered on it. Her faded black skinny jeans had holes that increased in number and size each time Lizbeth saw them. Charlotte was wiping her hands on an old dish towel and greeted Lizbeth with a hug.
“I’m so glad to see you. Come on, let’s go outside. We put heat lamps outside so we can enjoy it out there when it’s cooler.”
Colin went into the kitchen and started making tea. Charlotte led Lizbeth outside.
“Colin seems... calm,” Lizbeth said.
“Once he was away from his mother, he started changing. The past few months have been tough and he’s taken a lot of the blame on himself, but it has matured him a lot.”
“Do his siblings place the blame on him?”
“No, it’s self-blame, and I try to help. I think he also worries that he will get sick like her. Guilt is, by far, his greatest emotion these days. Our relationship has changed too. Wait, tell me about Paris.”
Colin brought out the tea and Lizbeth told them some of the things that had happened in Paris. She focused on the places they went and the things they saw instead of the Caroline drama, at least while Colin sat with them.
“Someday I’ll take you to Paris and you will see all these things,” Colin told Charlotte when Lizbeth was done.
The three of them sat there in silence drinking tea.
“Lizbeth, I have a further confession to make,” Colin said.
“My mother’s behavior to you in the fall was disgraceful. I didn’t realize what she had been doing until recently.”
“It really wasn’t that bad, Colin.”
“No, I don’t think you understand. It was more than I already explained. She claims she knew your mother in college and wanted me to be part of your family. When my father died, she saw an opportunity to make this happen. She was constantly working to make sure we spent time together. It was her idea for me to take Dr. Bennett’s class, to ask you to tutor me, and for me to come over for dinner.”
“Colin, it probably wasn’t malicious,” Lizbeth said.
“No, but it was disgraceful. She was angry that I enjoyed Charlotte’s company more than yours. She was angry that I gave up on you so easily after you rejected me. I believe that was when her mental health started breaking down. I know I made the right choice and it’s helped me see things differently, but she isn’t able to see her actions clearly yet.”
Lizbeth thought about this.
“Colin, I may not think we could ever be a couple,
but you clearly made the right choice for the right reasons. I don’t blame you for any harm that your mother may have done. I know she wasn’t trying to be malicious or hurtful. You are both forgiven.”
Colin smiled and sighed, some tension left his body. He stood up, kissed the top of Charlotte’s head and went back inside.
“He has been dealing with that guilt since January. It has caused him a lot of stress. I told him he could say that to you,” Charlotte said when Colin was gone.
“His mother is very good at hiding things,” Lizbeth said.
“You have no idea. This may help him focus on his classes again. He’s been struggling to keep up with classes, assignments, and the internship. Katherine demands a lot of his time and he has to report back to his professors on what he has been doing with her.”
“From what he told me, it seems like it is working really well for him. What about your promised internship?”
“Colin, as it turns out, is my internship in her opinion. I have used it to my advantage and created a ton of paintings. When she complains about the art, he reminds her that this is why I agreed to marry him. The longer we’re together, the more he sides with me in conflicts. Even better, sometimes he feels comfortable inserting his own ideas.”
“You really seem to be bringing out the best in him.”
Charlotte’s face flushed a little.
“What?” Lizbeth asked.
“He’s very different than he was on campus. Mrs. C’s crisis has caused him to be self-reflective. He understands why you would never have married him. He won’t tell you, because he’s embarrassed, but he told me his reflections on your gender class presentation last semester and he thinks he was the very type of douchebag you were talking about.”
Lizbeth raised an eyebrow and was impressed that Colin had been able to recognize this about himself.
“What about you and Wil?” Charlotte asked changing the conversation.
Lizbeth sighed.
“There is nothing between us, even though everyone seems to think there is.”
“We’ve heard. I’ve had accusations hurled at me about it.”
“By Katherine?”
“Who else?”
“My father thought what he saw over the break progressed in a certain direction and spoke before he knew exactly what had happened. He was trying to find a new way to shut her down. I think Katherine said something to Caroline, who accosted me in Paris.”
“What?”
Lizbeth told Charlotte what she had left out of the earlier story of the Paris adventure.
“Can we back up a second?” Charlotte said when she was done.
“Um, yeah?”
“You were fantasizing about Wil being there with you?”
“Yeah...” Lizbeth said with a chuckle.
Charlotte laughed with Lizbeth.
“Who are you and what has happened to Lizbeth?” Charlotte asked when she stopped laughing.
“Things changed over winter break.”
“Obviously, and I’m devastated that I missed it. He was here for a few days earlier in the week. We saw him when we had dinner up at the big house.”
“Has he been here on weekends during this semester?”
“No, not that I know of, at least.”
“Can I tell you something I haven’t told anyone else? Promise you won’t say anything, but I think I need your advice on it.”
“Okay.”
“Lydia told me hes the one who paid to free her and found Jorge.”
Charlotte was shocked at the revelation, but Lizbeth felt better having told her.
“Wow, why?” Charlotte said.
“I’m not sure. He specifically made her promise not to tell me.”
“Why did she?”
“She decided I needed to know because she thought I, well, all of us, have misjudged him.”
“But he didn’t want you to know.”
“He doesn’t want me to think I owe him. I’m not sure if he did this for me or if he just doesn’t want me to think he did.”
“Have you talked to him?”
Lizbeth blushed.
“No.”
“Everyone here seems to know what happened at Thanksgiving.”
Lizbeth sighed, again.
“I regret what happened over Thanksgiving.”
“Does he know that?”
“I have no idea, but I thought he had an idea that my feelings have changed. Then I was a bitch when I left New York and I’ve been busy all semester.”
“I don’t think he knows your feelings have changed. I overheard something between him and Katherine that I get now, but didn’t at the time. They were arguing about you and she said something about Caroline finding out. He insisted there was nothing for Caroline to find out since you had made your feelings clear at Thanksgiving.”
Lizbeth looked down, feeling ashamed for finding excuses to not speak to him all semester.
“Lizbeth, you need to stop playing games with him,” Charlotte said. “You need to tell him how you feel. Go to the townhouse, wait for him, sit on his bed, maybe naked. Make it clear, but stop fighting your feelings. I know it was hard enough for you to admit you love him, but it means nothing if you don’t tell him and act on it. You have to accept that sometimes you fall in love with the one person you never believed you would fall in love with.”
Lizbeth watched Charlotte’s head turn to check on Colin, who was in the kitchen starting dinner.
***
Lizbeth got back to campus Saturday afternoon. The house was busier than she had expected. A few of the sisters had returned at the same time. Since the house staff didn’t get back until the next day, they all made a quiet dinner together and watched movies. Lizbeth found a string of Mardi Gras beads on her bed and knew that Jane was back in town, just not at the house. The cheap plastic beads were in the shape of coins. Lizbeth had gone to Mardi Gras with Jane the previous year and, while neither had done anything they would regret, she had a small collection of beads. Lizbeth smiled that Jane had remembered her request at the airport.
Lizbeth got up Sunday morning and ran some errands. She spotted a Starbucks on her way home and went in to get something with a lot of caffeine. She had a lot to do that day and needed the energy. She walked into the cafe thinking about her plan for the rest of the day. She needed to finish reading a book for class on Monday, she had two research papers to finish for the next week, and her thesis needed to be written. Her mind went blank when she spotted Wil staring at his laptop screen. He hadn’t noticed her and had a small scowl on his face. Lizbeth took her drink and sat down next to him.
“Hello, Wil.”
“Lizbeth,” Wil said without looking up.
Lizbeth sat there, but Wil didn’t say anything.
“How was your spring break?” Lizbeth asked when the silence got uncomfortable.
“Ah, not as relaxing as I had hoped. How was Paris?”
Wil still didn’t look at her.
“Lovely. I got to visit Gardner before coming back to campus. I heard you spent some time with your aunt.”
“Yes, I spent a few days there taking care of family stuff.”
“Did your entire break turn into family stuff?”
“Unfortunately.”
“That’s too bad. I’m sorry I haven’t seen you all semester. I’ve been really busy, but I saw some art in Paris that made me think of you.
Wil didn’t respond, but kept staring at his computer screen.
“I think I owe you an apology and a thank you,” She said, trying to take Charlotte’s advice.
“For what?”
“An apology for my behavior at Thanksgiving. I was unfair and wrongly prejudiced against you. My reaction to the things you said was inappropriate. I deeply regret how I treated you
last semester. Then there was the way I behaved when I left New York City. I let my anxiety take over and I was rude.”
Wil continued to silently look at the computer screen, so Lizbeth continued.
“The thank you is for what you did for Jane and Charlie. I didn’t think you would change your mind about Jane, but whatever persuaded you to do so... well, thank you. She is happier than I thought she could be.”
Lizbeth paused for a moment to see if he would react, but Wil still didn’t look up from his computer.
“Also, and please don’t be angry with her for telling me, thank you for what you did for Lydia. That was completely unnecessary and unexpected. I think you saved her life.”
Wil finally looked up from his computer. His scowl was gone, but now he looked panicked.
“I only did what I should have done after what happened with Ginny. If I had told people the truth about Jorge, it might have been avoidable.”
Lizbeth hoped her smile showed gratitude and not annoyance.
“Regardless, the length you went to help her was above and beyond,” she said.
Wil looked at her for another moment before turning back to his computer. Lizbeth decided she needed to walk away at this point, if only to give him time to process what she said. She got up, grabbed her things, and pushed her chair in.
“I wish I could have spent more time with you this semester,” Lizbeth said before leaning in and putting a soft kiss on his cheek.
April
Lizbeth focused on school work. She was almost done with her thesis. She had submitted the final paper after spring break and her defense was scheduled for the beginning of April. Dr. Bennett, anticipating Lizbeth’s successful defense, had promised to take her out to lunch as a reward. Charlie invited the officers over for dinner that weekend to celebrate Lizbeth’s success. He promised to cook some Cajun dishes from family recipes. Jane assured her Charlie was a good cook, even if he wasn’t as good as Jack. Lizbeth allowed herself to get excited, especially after being told Caroline would be absent.
“She and Wil haven’t been getting along,” Jane said when Lizbeth saw her one evening.
