| |
Punching the doorbell, Derek waited on somebody to answer the door. He suspected it would be Anne sent to open the door since they normally sent her to do things like this.
“Will, I believe my dad and Elizabeth already told you to come in” she answered the door distractedly. “You don’t have to ring the doorbell anymore.”
“I’m not Will,” Derek replied.
Looking up, she took a step backward, “Derek,” she barely breathed. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” he answered, holding up the bag he had packed the sketchbooks and things he had brought down from Charles. “Charles and Mary told me that you needed your sketchbooks and a few other things. They thought, since I was already heading down here with Sophy and Bob, that they’d save some money and have me drop this off.”
“They did?” Anne asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember asking Charles and Mary to ship her anything. “I didn’t ask them to ship me anything, but I am thankful that you brought my sketchbook. I went out yesterday intending on...”
Her name sounded from the living room. “Who’s at the door?”
“A friend of mine,” she called back. “Oh! Come inside. There’s no reason for you to still be standing outside. Not with your cold. We can...”
“Anne!” her sister called out this time. “Bring your friend in here and introduce us.” Not as loud, but loud enough that they could hear her. “I didn’t think Anne had been out enough to make any friends. We know it can’t be that widow friend of hers. Will said that Robin Smith never leaves the house. Although I don’t know why he would know that.”
“Maybe Anne’s friend isn’t that bad after all if Will knows her,” came Penelope’s response.
“Oh please,” Elizabeth dismissed, “Any friend of Anne’s isn’t worth our time. She’s probably Will’s patient and Anne never thought to ask whatever-her-name-is.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Anne closed her eyes. “They know we can hear them,” she whispered. “Penelope might care, but Elizabeth doesn’t.”
“I guess they are in for a rude awakening,” Derek mumbled, a grin on his face as he gestured for her to lead the way into the figurative lion’s den.
“Are you certain?”
“Positive.” Leaning forward, he whispered, “I’m not about to let you out of my life again.”
“You say that now, but you haven’t experienced the tenacity of my father and Elizabeth,” she warned him. “Father, inexplicitly, wants one of us to marry Will. I think he wants access to Will’s inheritance.”
“And what does Will want?”
“I don’t have a clue,” she answered him. “They won’t tell me and I haven’t had the chance to ask him. Truthfully,” she whispered, “I don’t care to get close enough to ask him.”
“Anne!” her father called from the other room.
“Coming!” she called back. “Let’s see if they remember you from...” she trailed off.
“Probably not,” Derek predicted. “Elizabeth didn’t stick around long enough to meet me and your father was too busy trying to impress people.”
Drawing in a deep breath, she led Derek into the living room. For a moment she saw the room through his eyes. Yoga mats were tossed haphazardly next to the sofa Elizabeth was reclining on lazily, even though she knew Anne had a friend in the house. On occasion, she would flip to another page in her magazine.
Penelope was on the floor painting her toenails. Bottles of nail polish and nail polish remover, cotton balls and toe separators, were scattered around her.
Her father was sitting in his chair, the daily newspaper scattered around him as he pretended to look over the financial section. He refused to consider reading his newspapers online.
Sitting upright, Elizabeth’s eyes widened as Derek fully entered the room. She gave Penelope a nudge that nearly had the other girl spilling the nail polish bottle she had in her hands. “Where has Anne been hiding him,” she hissed.
“College,” Anne retorted. Making things simple, she added, “Derek was Charles’ history tutor.”
Standing up, Walter Elliot drew their attention to his direction.
Clearing her throat, Anne began the introductions. “Derek, this is my father, Walter Elliot,” she gestured in his direction. “My sister, Elizabeth, and her friend, Penelope.”
Derek said nothing, merely nodding his head at each of them.
“Father,” Anne began to conclude the introductions that she had once already given years before, “This is Derek Worth.”
Slowing, Walter narrowed his brows, something beginning to resurface. “Derek Worth,” he mumbled. “I remember you. You are that kid that Anne had dated in high school. The Navy kid.” Sitting down in dismissal, Walter went back to pretending to read his newspaper.
“Actually,” Derek slowly let out, ignoring Anne shaking her head in warning. He knew she was right, but he had to say it. “My father is in the Navy. I enlisted because he wanted one of his sons to follow in his footsteps, but a knee injury caused me to be medically discharged. You might also know my brother, Edward. He is in real estate and property management.”
“Worth Real Estate,” Elizabeth breathed, the name clicking instantly.
Continuing on as if she hadn’t interrupted him, Derek finished, “And I’m to join him once I get my masters in accounting and get my real estate license.”
“But...” Walter Elliot began to stammer, “You are a history tutor.”
“That was my minor. I majored in accounting.”
“Do you have any other siblings?” Elizabeth asked, being nosy. Anne stood behind them with her face in her hands.
“A sister. Sophy Croft.
“That name sounds familiar,” Walter couldn’t help but say.
“She and her husband rented Kellynch Place for the year. They came down here for a short vacation before Bob starts his last teaching semester.”
“Teacher? I thought he was a law professor.”
“He is,” Derek corrected. “Bob’s taking a break from his law firm for a year.”
“Bob,” Walter mused. “I thought I rented to a Robert Croft.”
“They are one and the same. Only his friends, family, and brothers-in-law call him Bob.”
“Wait,” Elizabeth breathed. “Robert Croft. Isn’t he some celebrity lawyer or something like that? How did your sister meet him?”
“He is. He comes from a long line of lawyers. As for my sister, she met her husband in law school. Bob was in a boating accident last summer and they decided to take some time off. Edward told them about Kellynch Place being for rent as soon as he found out that Bob had been offered a position to teach some pre-law courses. Of course, Sophy being Sophy, thought it would be a good opportunity to get me out of the dorms and away from a drunken roommate.”
Anne held back a giggle at the memory of Derek telling them he’d already been looking for a roommate to get an off-campus apartment with when Sophy’s offer happened.
Elizabeth, not one to miss an opportunity, sidled up to Derek. “What are you doing visiting Anne?” she asked, resting her arm on his bicep and subtly feeling his arm muscles.
Cutting his eyes to Anne, he broke Elizabeth’s grasp as he held up a bag with the sketchbooks. “I came to bring Anne her sketchbooks. Mary and Charles said that she had left them behind and was asking for them.”
“Anne?” Walter asked.
“I thought they would just ship it to me and I’d pay them back,” Anne shrugged. At this point, both Derek and Anne were aware that she had not asked her sister and brother-in-law to ship out the sketchbooks.
Derek was beginning to suspect that somebody – not Mary – was plotting.
“Well, thank you for bringing them to my daughter,” Walter nodded his head.
“Thank you,” Anne grinned at Derek.
The doorbell interrupted their conversation, but Elizabeth continued with what she was going to say. “Anne, go answer the door,” she commanded, returning her hand to Derek’s upper arm. “Derek, you must join us for dinner tonight.”
Eyeing the unwelcome flirtation as Elizabeth rubbed her hand up and down his arm. “I really wish I could but...”
“Good afternoon!” Will greeted the room as he entered it. Freezing in place, he noticed the new addition to the company. “Will Elliot,” he held out a hand as he eyed Elizabeth’s failing attempts at flirting – and trying to get Will jealous – and dismissed it. However, the way Derek was looking at Anne was a threat.
“Derek Worth,” he replied, holding out his own hand and breaking the contact Elizabeth had made. “I’m a friend of Anne’s. We met yesterday.”
“He’s her ex-boyfriend,” Elizabeth giggled.
Anne, rolling her eyes, broke between the two males. “Derek,” she smiled at him. “How long are you planning on staying?”
“Just a week,” he answered her.
Grinning, she took his arm and tugged him out of the room. “Let’s get these books up to my room. They look heavy.”
“They are,” he lied.
“Leave the door open!” Elizabeth called up to them as they started up their stairs.
Whispering, Anne commented, “I think Father would rather I closed the door. He isn’t stupid.” When she caught the look Derek gave, she explained. “Who do you think gave Mary the idea of hooking up with Charles? He knew I wouldn’t do it and he wanted somebody connected to the Musgraves Furniture empire.”
“Did he really?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.
“When I returned home, he constantly complained that I wasn’t seizing my chance with Charles. You were right back then, he did have a crush on me, but I was so broken-hearted over losing you that I wasn’t interested in dating anybody. And you know the rest of the story about Mary and Charles.”
“That I do,” Derek grinned.
Smiling back at him, Anne closed the door.
