Darcy sat at his lonely corner office desk trying to work. He had been staying at a new apartment in the city since his return. He’d tried one night at Bing’s house, alone, but every room reminded him so strongly of his interactions with Eliot that he’d abandoned it in less than twenty-four hours. He’d spent the next night at a hotel. It had taken Will forty-eight hours to find, rent, and furnish an apartment for him.

He’d tried vacationing. That had been a miserable failure. Bing claimed it was because Darcy didn’t understand that a vacation meant no work. So after the first week, Darcy locked the computer in a safe, and kept his phone on loud, in case Will needed him. That left no escape from Bing’s moping, let alone Darcy’s constant mental merry-go-round of Eliot memories.

Darcy had left the Lee siblings to the rest of their vacation, planning on losing himself in work on his return.

During Darcy’s absence, Will had run things well. In fact, the sheer lack of issues contributed to Darcy’s ongoing emotional churn. Unaccustomed to not being needed to solve everyone else’s problems, Darcy found himself facing his own. That and the news trickling out from Gina about the fiasco that was their mother’s upcoming engagement party did nothing to help Darcy’s state of mind.

Will walked into Darcy's office with a cursory knock of warning. "Have you finished looking over the proposal I gave you?”

Darcy set down his phone. "Yes. Most of it seems to be in order. I have a few questions that I emailed you about twenty minutes ago."

“Excellent.” Will nodded, and silence stretched between them. “So a little less than two weeks now, isn't it?"

He was clearly referring to Darcy’s mother’s engagement party. Darcy wrinkled his nose. "Please don't remind me."

“Okay, I’m going to take a minute off the clock and talk to you as family, not as an employee to his boss.” Will sat and Darcy raised his eyebrows. "You know you’re just making things more difficult for yourself, right? Your mom is getting married again, no matter how much you dislike it."

Darcy leveled a stare at his cousin. "I fail to see why I should have to like it."

Will shook his head. "Darcy, it's your mother’s life, not yours. She doesn't need your approval. She’s an adult."

"I know that,” Darcy said through clenched teeth.

"I know you know that. I think it's time you started acting like it."

Darcy’s eyebrows rose in shock. Not even his parents spoke to him like that. In fact, the only person who had spoken to him so forthrightly in nearly a decade was… he refused to let his mind say his name. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean, get over it already. Allowing yourself to be negatively affected by an event that might bring your mother happiness is childish. Quit acting like a little boy who’s upset he’s not getting his way. Get on with your own life."

“I am. I have been getting on with my life for years."

Will leaned forward, bracing his hands on the armrests of his chair. "No. You. Are. Not. You’ve been running everyone else’s because it’s easier for you than to try and fail. We all fail, Darcy. Whether we try or not."

Even though the words were not spoken harshly or loudly, Darcy felt as if he’d been shoved backwards.

Will leaned back. “When’s the last time you even got laid?”

Darcy jumped at the question. “What relevance does that have?”

"You run a company. You have everything going for you. Yet you get totally bent out of shape about little things like who your mom is marrying or who Bing is dating. They don’t need your help. I’m just saying, if you paid more attention to your own love life, you might be a little less uptight."

Darcy’s back stiffened even further, if that were possible. "I'll have you know that I personally saved Bing from a terrible relationship."

Will rolled his eyes at his cousin. "And what makes you think you were responsible for this?"

"Because I told him the truth—“

“You told him the truth? Or you told him what you thought?"

That wasn't the response Darcy anticipated and his surprise showed on his face.

Will continued remorselessly. “Just because you have an opinion about something does not make it truth."

“I never said my opinion was the truth,” Darcy replied. Still, Will’s words hurt. Darcy had never been accused of such a thing. In all the years they had known each other, Will never questioned Darcy's decisions. Had he been giving opinions and treating them as fact? Darcy stared at his cousin as if he’d never seen him before.

Will sighed. "Darcy, I’ve been working with you for a long time. We’ve been more like brothers than cousins. Most of the time? You are right. In fact, you're probably right about Bing’s relationship. I mean, I don't know any of the details, but if you thought the girl wasn't good enough for him, you were probably right. But you could be wrong. And the truth is, if you don’t fight your arrogant tendencies, you’ll never realize when you are wrong."

My arrogant tendencies? Darcy wanted to laugh at his cousin and yet felt that he couldn't. Arrogant was not a nice word, and it bit harshly. The fact that it hurt, when so many insults simply rolled off him, made him think there might be something to Will’s accusation. "I don't think the man my mother is about to marry will last more than a couple of months.”

Will shrugged. “That's her mistake to make."

“Not if it impacts the company.”

But the look on Will’s face said what they both already knew—Ms. de Bourgh’s upcoming marriage would have no impact on the financials of the company. Ms. de Bourgh might be flighty, but she controlled her money with an iron fist, spending it where and how she wanted. She wouldn’t let anyone take that control from her.

“Why should I pretend to support the marriage? Because it sounds like you’re suggesting that."

Will smiled at Darcy, a look of sympathy filling his eyes. It was that look that made Darcy pause to wonder if perhaps those who loved him actually pitied and even patronized him at times.

“You pretend to support her because she's your mother. Because it doesn’t help to oppose it, and it makes her happy to support it. That's the only reason. You do you love your mother, don't you?”

Darcy scowled. Of course he loved his mother but, had Will asked, he would admit to not liking her very much.

Darcy’s phone buzzed, and his eyes cut to the lit up screen. The text from his sister captured his full attention. Darcy picked up the phone to read the text in its entirety.

“What is it?”

Darcy had to clear his throat of shock before speaking. "Gina is asking if the Eliot planning Mom's wedding is the same Eliot who planned the Pritchard’s wedding." Darcy’s fingers flew over the keyboard, asking for more details.

“Why would that matter?"

Darcy refused to trust his cousin with a truth he couldn’t yet admit to himself. “His sister is the girl Bing was dating.”

“The one you didn’t approve of?”

His phone binged with another text from Gina. There’s a Charlie and an Eliot and a lot of yelling. It almost makes me want to go back to Paris.

Darcy swallowed past a dry throat. Who was yelling? His mother, or Eliot? Past experience would indicate his mother. “Yes.” That little bit of news was enough to distract Will. Darcy stood, pocketing his cell phone. “You know, I think it might be time for me to go see my mother.”

Will laughed. “And make sure the wedding planner’s sister isn't causing problems?"

Darcy shrugged with a smile. “Something like that.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Will stood, clapping a hand on Darcy’s shoulder as they exited his office. “But, honestly Darcy, let Bing pick his own romantic issues. You don't need to get involved in that drama.”

“I’ll keep your advice in mind.” To admit that his advice to Bing might have been misplaced stirred a deep fear in Darcy. He’d always prided himself on being an emotional support to Bing. But what if he wasn’t?

At least he had a course of action. He would check on his mother and see if Eliot was the one handling his mother’s wedding. If the opportunity arose, he’d assess Jane’s reaction to him. Perhaps he would be able to confirm his initial impression, and assuage his guilt.

Darcy stepped into the elevator, tapping his fingers impatiently against his thigh during its slow, steady descent. It was possible there was another wedding planner named Eliot that worked in Virginia and the DC area, but it was unlikely.

Will’s admonition that he hadn’t been living his own life echoed in his ears. Excitement tingled in his fingertips. Was this what Will had meant? It was terrifying. He could lie to himself, and say he was just going to support his mother, but he wouldn’t. He wanted to see Eliot again. Was in turns curious and dreading discovering how he felt about him, and if that opinion had been in any way influenced by being at the sharp end of his mother’s tongue.