Two drinks, some food, and the most amazing dinner rolls I'd ever eaten, and I was having a wonderful evening. It was the most surprising thing to me.Georgiana never stopped talking, it seemed. She always had something sweet and funny to say, and I was glad. It filled in the awkward silences whenever Mr. Darcy and I didn't know what to say. She kept the conversation smooth and flowing.He kept watching me, those blue eyes taking in my every movement. To be fair, I kept watching him from the corner of my eye. He looked so handsome sitting with us. His dark hair was combed back, and his suit displayed the strength of his shoulders and trim of his waist.It helped that I knew exactly what was under that suit, but I knew I would never have that again. Still, every time he glanced over at me, my heart did flipflops. I had slept with the man, so there was no reason to be nervous around him, yet there I was. I felt like a schoolgirl next to the captain of the football team.I laughed too h

Thirty-some-odd hours later, I was no closer to finding my sister.“Any word on Lydia?” Jane asked, coming into the kitchen. I sat at the table, searching my phone.I shook my head. "I called the police, but she's an adult, and she isn't really missing," I told her. "And California is a big place."“I'm so sorry, Lizzie.” Jane put her hands on my shoulders and gave me a reassuring squeeze.“My uncle is driving down from Sacramento today, but I'm not sure how much help it's going to be,” I continued. “Mom and Dad are in the middle of the ocean on their cruise. They can't do anything.”I looked down at my cereal and realized I hadn't eaten a bite of it. It was now just soggy mush.“How are you doing?” Jane asked. I could tell she was worried about me."I didn't sleep the night of the party, and I didn't sleep much last night. I just kept looking up and calling hotels," I told her. I played with the soggy cereal with my spoon. I wasn't hungry anyway. "She's been in California for forty-e

A few days later, I sat behind the nurses' station filling out paperwork. Despite going to a paperless system years ago, I still somehow managed to have mountains of paperwork for my patients. I just wanted to finish and head home. I'd already reported to the night nurses, so once I finished putting in the last few sets of vitals and notes, I could leave.A shower and bed sounded like the best thing in the world.“Hey, Lizzie,” the charge nurse called to me. “There's someone here to see you.”Lydia and Jane rarely visited me at work, and if they did, it was always at lunchtime so I could buy them cafeteria food. I knew it wasn't them, and despite my dreams, I knew that Mr. Darcy would never show up here.I sighed, hit save, closed my screens, and went to see who wanted me. Maybe it was a former patient. Those always made my day.It was not a patient.I came to the entrance of the unit to find a woman in an expensive pantsuit and a mean look on her face waiting for me. She looked like