Honeymoon Postponed Read online

  Honeymoon Postponed: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Adventure

  A Meryton Matchmaker Short

  Kristi Rose

  Vintage Housewife Books

  Contents

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Have you started at the beginning?

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Books also by Kristi Rose

  About the Author

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  Copyright © 2016 by Kristi Rose

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  Vintage Housewife Books

  PO BOX 841

  Farmington, Mo 63640

  www.kristirose.net

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Book Layout © 2016 Vellum

  Cover Design © 2016 Paper and Sage Designs

  Edited by: Gilly Wright’s Red Pen

  Honeymoon Postponed: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Adventure. A Meryton Matchmakers Short and A Modern Variation of Pride and Prejudice/ Kristi Rose. -- 1st ed.

  ISBN: 978-1-944513-14-6

  Created with Vellum

  For DHM. All our adventures are amazing. I laugh every time.

  Chapter 1

  “Let no man put asunder.” Bill had said to the bride and groom. “You may now kiss the bride.”

  And the groom, William Darcy, had, but not at first.

  William stared into Elizabeth’s eyes, smiled, and then put his lips close to her ear.

  “Hello, Mrs. Darcy,” he’d whispered. She’d felt his smile on her cheek. “I’ll love you forever, Elizabeth.”

  He then kissed the sensitive spot right below her ear, his nose brushing lightly against her face. Goosebumps had travelled down her body.

  “You are my everything,” he’d said before kissing her dimple. Rendering her a nitwit who couldn’t do anything other than hold onto his lapels.

  Pulling back, he’d stared deep into her eyes and murmured, “I am yours for eternity,” That’s when he’d kissed her properly.

  Touching William was grounding and thrilling at the same time. With him, she felt safe and exhilarated.

  Kissing William catapulted her to the stratosphere; each time was new and fresh and took her to heights that could only be possible when a person married The One.

  This was more than lust or the newness of love. This was it. This was what she’d known existed and had wanted for everyone seeking love. This was what she had hoped to find but thought she never would.

  How had she’d gotten so lucky?

  Their wedding, the start of their life together, was as beautiful an event as could be had.

  Their honeymoon, well… Her luck was gone. Wiped out. Extinguished like a light.

  They were going to die. They would never get a proper honeymoon, or even a honeymoon at all, and like his parents, they would die young and from a plane crash.

  The plane hit another pocket of turbulence, dropped what felt like stories, and Elizabeth gasped. She clutched William’s hand. “We’re going to die.” She moaned and buried her face in his shoulder.

  “We are not going to die. I have highly skilled pilots.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “I have no doubts about your pilots, but they can’t stop the plane from breaking into pieces in the air. It’s what turbulence does to planes. I’ve seen in on several documentaries.”

  “He’s looking to land now. We’ll wait out this storm before we press on.”

  “I don’t care where we honeymoon. We don’t have to go anywhere. I only want to be with you. Alive. Intact.”

  The plane dipped low again and jerked back up, Elizabeth groaned into William’s shoulder.

  The flight attendant came to stand next to William. How she managed it was baffling. Shouldn’t see be strapped safely to her seat?

  Elizabeth was certain that, should the flight attendant decide she no longer wanted to be tossed around in the sky, a successful life walking a tightrope awaited her.

  “Mr. Darcy, the pilot informed me that we will be landing in Lincoln, Nebraska, and are starting our descent. Please make sure your seat belts are fastened.”

  As if they had ever unfastened them.

  Elizabeth sat up and tugged her seat belt end so it tightened to the point of restricting air movement.

  William fed it some slack. “Elizabeth, there’s nothing to worry about.” He chuckled.

  They hit another air pocket, and this time the oxygen masks dropped from their overhead cabinet.

  Elizabeth couldn’t contain that small whimper-scream.

  The pilot came on over the speaker. “I apologize for that, Mr. and Mr. Darcy. There’s no need for the masks, and you can rest assured we are through the worst. We will be touching down in fifteen minutes.”

  William took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “How can I entertain you, my love, in Lincoln, Nebraska?”

  The original plan was to fly to Dallas and then onward to Africa where they were going to partake in a safari, some gorilla trekking, and kayaking, but a large weather system had diverted their plane. It was the same weather system that had forced them into the air immediately following their brief reception. Otherwise they’d have been forced to honeymoon at William’s residence, Pemberley House. Elizabeth had no objections to that, only to all the houseguests it was currently accommodating, including her mother. So when forced to make a decision to stay and spend extended time cooped up with her family or leave early for Africa—it was a no-brainer. William hadn’t hesitated either. Too bad they were unable to outrun the weather system.

  “I think once my feet touch terra firma I might be interested in some food. Now that I know we’re going to live.”

  “Food sounds like an excellent celebration of life.” He pulled out his phone and searched for restaurants.

  “Maybe we could have some alone time as well?” she suggested. They were honeymooning after all. Eating would give her a change to strategize. Elizabeth was determined to have the perfect honeymoon, believing it would help set the tone of the marriage. Silly? Maybe. But she and William had overcome several obstacles to get together, and she wasn’t taking any chances. If making sure their honeymoon was what dreams were made of, so they’d earn a little good juju, Elizabeth didn’t see any problem with it.

  “Alone time sounds amazing.”

  She loved his half smile. It spoke of so many traits. A hidden mischievous streak and a naughty one at that.

  They touched down, and Elizabeth wanted to cheer. She stood as soon as they came to a stop and pulled William up.

  “Let’s get out of here. I don’t care if we have to eat at the airport. I need some separation from this plane.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Darcy.” The flight attendant again.

  “Yes, Pamela.” He shifted so Elizabeth could come around him.

  “The weather system is large, and it’s going to ground us here. We just got word from the tower.”

  William squeezed Elizabeth’s hand. “I suppose there is little to do then but to find a hotel and wait it out.”

  Pamela’s smile boded of not great things, and Elizabeth knew the attendant was about to lower another boom. Elizabeth was certain whatever it was would be fine as long as she didn’t have to go back into those men
acingly dark storm clouds.

  “I’ve been trying to make reservations for you, but it would seem, with the all the flights being cancelled and a convention in town, I was unable to find any rooms within a hundred-mile radius.”

  Elizabeth dropped her purse onto the couch that ran along the far side of William’s private plane.

  “Not one room? You tried them all?” He sounded incredulous.

  “Not all, sir. I did a search on some of the…well, those with lower star ratings and many of them did not pass the bed bug test. I have your assistant working on it as well, and he’s not come up with anything either.”

  Elizabeth grimaced. She’d been expecting lions and elephants, not a bloodsucking parasite.

  Darcy frowned. Elizabeth had come to know him well enough that she could guess what he was thinking. The apology was written on his face.

  “Then you should stay here, Pamela. I’ll find something for those two.” He indicated to the cockpit where the pilot and copilot were shutting down the plane.

  “I have a cousin here. I’ve already called her,” Pamela said.

  Darcy stepped to the cockpit and rapped on the door. “Are there any rental cars?” He waited for the door to open. When it did, both the pilot and copilot came out.

  “I did mange to land you a very nice rental, Mr. Darcy.”

  Darcy turned to the two men. “It would seem there are no rooms. Are you both okay with staying on the plane?”

  Once in the hanger, Elizabeth knew they’d have electricity for the plane. The back cabin of the private jet was a bedroom, and the couch folded out.

  “You should stay here with Mrs. Darcy,” the pilot, Scott, said.

  Elizabeth wanted to preen every time someone called her Mrs. Darcy, especially William.

  Her husband caught her eye and winked. “I think, since it’s our honeymoon, that we’d like to try our hand at something a little more adventurous. I’ll call you when we get to the next city, and once you’re cleared to fly, you can meet us there.” He faced Elizabeth. “You game, my love?” He held out his hand, and she came to him. He slid his arm around her waist and tucked her along his side.

  “I’m game,” she said. Mainly because she wanted privacy that the jet didn’t allowed for. When she pictured her honeymoon, the backdrop wasn’t this plane’s interior. Granted, it wasn’t a shady hotel room with bed bugs either. Elizabeth shivered with heebie-jeebies. It didn’t matter where they were, she could have her perfect honeymoon in any city. She only needed William, right? She tried not to give in to her disappointment and rallied her creative energies to make wherever they landed a perfect honeymoon.

  The purr of a car brought their attention back to the issue.

  Pamela stuck her head out the stairwell of the plane. “It’s your car, sir.”

  “Can we give you a lift, Pamela?” William opened a closet door where he’d stowed their luggage earlier.

  “No, my cousin is on her way. Please be careful out there. It’s a long-lasting, powerful storm. A few tornadoes in nearby areas.” She handed them their coats.

  William and Scott carried the bags to their rental car, Elizabeth trailing behind.

  “Where shall we set off for?” William asked her.

  “The first decent restaurant we see. We’ll make a plan and go from there.” They only had to travel a hundred miles, and they’d be golden. Two hours max, and she would have him alone.

  “Our first adventure together as husband and wife,” he said with a wink.

  Once in the car, Elizabeth used the in-dash GPS to search for a restaurant while William navigated out of hanger, over the small tarmac and out of the regional airport.

  “This looks decent.” She pointed to a well-known, high-end chain restaurant, if such a thing existed for Darcy, a man used to someone in the kitchen with the magical ability to cook whatever his highness fancied. One of them was going to have a hard time adjusting to their new-married state. Hopefully, it would be an equally dispersed adjustment.

  “I’ll give it a try.” He rested his hand on her knee.

  They were married. It was unreal. She’d gone from hating him to loving him in a breath of a moment. Though, hate might not be the best choice of words for how she had felt, because when she tried to separate it out, the hate-days and the love-days blended together.

  Once, they’d gone into New York City with the intention to land a coveted venue for her matchmaker business. Oh, how he’d driven her mad that weekend. She’s wanted to club him with her book, but she’d also been thankful he was around. Protecting her when she was too stupid to protect herself.

  Oh, that Wickham. He’d sure pulled a fast one on her.

  “They have big knives with which to cut the steak. Make you feel manly.” She clasped her hand over his, squeezing.

  ‘“You make me feel manly, Mrs. Darcy.” He leaned across the console and kissed her, thrilling her to her toes.

  “I was thinking that maybe I could be Elizabeth Bennet Darcy. What do you think about that?” Teasing was something William needed to work on, and it was exceedingly fun to teach him. For as modern a man he was, having a wife with a hyphenated name would likely rub him poorly. He was the possessive sort.

  “I ah…” He waffled between watching her and the road.

  “Our children could be Bennet hyphen Darcy as well. If we have children.” She leaned toward the window squinting to see through the rain. The tempo had increased and the view-what she could see-looked unusually dark and eerie.

  “If I wasn’t focused on the current conditions around us I’d have quite a few words on the subject of you and our children being hyphenated.” He’d slowed the SUV to a crawl.

  “Why is it so dark?” She looked out her side window and then the back. Pitch-black night surrounded them, and it was barely past seven in the evening.

  “Power is out.”

  Even with the brights on, she could barely see three feet in front of the car.

  Elizabeth flicked through the apps on her phone until she found a weather one. “I think we should turn around. There’s no point going this way to eat if the power is out. We should go back to the hanger and make a plan there.” She plugged in the location information and waited.

  Even the internet was moving at a snail’s pace.

  “I agree. Let’s turn around.” He slid his hand from her knee, dimmed the interior screen illumination, and swerved to the side of the road. “I’m going to do a three-point turn here. Keep looking for anything out there. I might miss it.”

  Elizabeth widened her eyes hoping that would improve her skills. Another quick glance at her phone screen told her something disturbing. “They had a tornado come through here. Recently too.” She glanced at William.

  “It’s okay, babe. We’ll be fine.”

  He was backing up and didn’t reassure her with eye contact. Elizabeth began to chew her lip.

  He had them turned back in the direction they wanted and was once again moving forward but this time at a faster click.

  “You should slow down.” She cautioned.

  “We just came this way. There’s nothing.” He was holding the steering wheel at three and nine.

  “How are we going to find the airport in this? What if the power is off there as well?” She put thoughts of her dream honeymoon aside; this night was coming off as if it was a bad omen. Now, she had the overwhelming urge to seek shelter and safety.

  “I’m not going back to the airport. What’s the point? We need to get out of this system. I want you to get on the weather app and see where this storm is not headed. That’s where we’ll go.”

  Elizabeth did as he asked, grateful for something to occupy her mind. “Holy Lord, it’s huge. We’re at the bottom half of the heaviest bands. Keep going south. If we can get to Kansas City, we should be all right.”

  “How long?”

  “Three hours.” Her stomach growled obnoxiously.

  He cut his eyes to her and grinned. “I’ll stop
first place I can find that’s open.”

  “We should have taken food from the plane.” She went through her purse looking for something, anything, and came up with a pack of gum. “Want some?”

  He took one piece from the package. Elizabeth took two then looked at him puzzled.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you chew gum.”

  “Tonight is a first for many things,” Darcy said and winked.

  Elizabeth turned away to hide her face. She didn’t want him to know her mind went there. Maybe he was saying this was a night of firsts because they’d never been through bad weather like this or looked for a place to sleep and eat like they were. Never mind it would be that first other thing, too. It was their honeymoon, after all.

  The road stretched out before them, or so she thought since she couldn’t really see anything. Elizabeth tucked her legs underneath her and faced Darcy, watching him. Marveling that this amazing, gentle man was her husband, and how she almost lost him. He was her soul mate. The only one for her. Unequivocally. And she stupidly let him go. Thankfully, he’s stuck around to fight for her.

  William leaned across the counsel and dropped a quick kiss to her nose. “Get some rest, Mrs. Darcy. Nothing you can do now until I find food.”

  “I’m not tired,” she said and then yawned. “All right, I’m tired. But I feel awful resting when you can’t.”

  “I’ll wake you when we get to a place with lights and other people. Sleep. One of us should be rested.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Just a short nap.” She tucked her gum into a napkin she’d found in her purse.

  “I’ll be right here when you wake. For the rest of our lives.”

  Chapter 2

  When Elizabeth woke William was nowhere to be found. She rubbed her eyes, hoping to wipe away her disorientation. Her nap, though needed, had been a heavier sleep than she’d expected, and she was left with that drugged, foggy feeling.