She swiveled to face me. “Are you sure?”
“At least someone gets a happily ever after.” I motioned to Jane and Charles, who were accepting their scripts amid smiles and laughter.
Lizzy sighed and looked at her script, which had a large heart drawn across the front page and a miniature cherub magically animated to shoot an arrow through it. “I have no idea how this is supposed to bring us together.”
She didn’t want to do it. Not that it wouldn’t be awkward for me, too. I gripped the script and studied her carefully. “We’ve had a few good times.”
Lizzy glanced at her father sitting at the table, a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. “This is the first time in days that myfather has been able to sit up and come out of his room.” She gave a little sigh. “When we were kids, Lydia liked to put on little plays for our parents. I think this reminds him of that.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Lydia took Lizzy by the arm. “Come on. We can practice in the living room.”
Taking the open moment, I flipped through the script to find out what Lydia had included.
“Come on, Darcy.” Charles slapped me on the shoulder before I could get very far. “Are you going to come practice?”
“You know Lizzy and I have had… struggles between us in the past. I don’t think this play is going to do anything but make that worse.”
“Yeah, Jane was worried about that. But Lydia insisted the struggles would only highlight the depth of your relationship when you finally got together at the end of the play, or something like that.”
I pressed my hand into my hair. “Or it could ruin our tentative friendship.”
“You want to be with her, don’t you?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“Well, come and try.” Charles smiled at me with his ever-optimistic attitude. “Who knows what might happen? It could turn out better than you anticipated.”
Reluctantly, I followed everyone through the kitchen and into the Bennets’ main sitting room. The chairs had decorated pillows with different quotes about love from famous people stitched on them. Candles dotted the space, and a wreath full of hearts, berries, and a witch’s wand hung above a sign that read “You’re a wand-erful match.”
“All right, let’s get started.” Lydia threw herself into a nearby chair. “Darcy, you and Charles are at Club Meryton, and five super hot sisters and their mom have just arrived. Darcy and Charles, go stand over to the right and hold this prop.” Shehanded me a small disco ball on a string. “That will be club Meryton. Lizzy and Jane will enter from the left.”
We moved into our positions.
“Okay, Lizzy and Jane, read your lines,” Lydia directed.
Jane looked at Lizzy before glancing down at her script. “I’m so glad you came with me to Club Meryton tonight, Lizzy. I hope to find a nice, sensible man who is kind and treats me well.”
Lizzy squinted down at her lines. “You will do better than that, Jane. I’d be surprised if half the room isn’t madly in love with you by the end of the night. As for me, nothing but the deepest love will ever induce me to get married.” She cast Lydia a skeptical look and said, “I donottalk like that.”
Lydia shrugged. “Are all retellings entirely accurate? We need to set the emotional mood, and it’s not like I know what you said that night.”
The door from the kitchen opened, and Kitty poked her head in. “Hey guys! Can we grab Lizzy and Darcy for a moment?”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “We’re practicing the skit, Kitty. Can’t it wait?”
“It’s their story, isn’t it? Aren’t they already aware of it? You don’t need much preparation. Just be yourselves. We’ll only be a moment. Oh and Jane, can you come and take the pictures?”
Lizzy and I exchanged a surprised glance, but we followed Kitty into the kitchen, where her boyfriend Riley was using his fire magic to light some floating candles. He worked with Lizzy at the local newspaper, and for a moment when we first met, I’d thought that he possessed feelings for Lizzy, but I’d been wrong. They were just work friends. Riley and Kitty were together now.
In the middle of the kitchen was a Valentine’s backdrop of layers of sheer blush and deep red fabric draped from the top, interspersed with strands of soft, suspended paper petals that fluttered. The effect was like stepping into a slow-motion rain of roses.
“Here, put these on.” Kitty wrapped a scarf around Lizzy’s neck and handed me a beanie.
“What is this, Kitty?” Lizzy asked, her voice exasperated.
“We have to take a picture to remember the occasion.”
“Don’t you think this is going a tad far?”
