NINETEEN

“ W here are you off to?” Mom said as I suddenly jumped to my feet.

“I have to go find him, Mom. I’ve made a terrible mistake, and I have to find him and let him know.”

“Where do you think you’ll find him? He could be anywhere. Surely, he’ll come back soon. Why don’t you wait for him here?”

I shook my head, eager to see him. “I think I know where he might be. I’ll let you know how things go when I get back.”

I hurried out of my room, flew down the stairs, found the keys to Jai’s jeep and headed out to the parking lot.

His jeep was there. Could I be mistaken? Wouldn’t he have taken his jeep to go out there? After all, the employee who’d seen him had thought he’d gone into town. But I was almost positive he had not. I had to take the chance.

I got in his jeep and took the rutted dirt road out to the lake. It had rained only a few days earlier, leaving the ruts filled with chocolate colored water. Each rut left my teeth rattled and I felt certain a wheel would fall off, but I finally made it to the smoother portion of the road and sped up to reach the lake.

“Jai,” I whispered as I spotted him on the bridge. He was where I knew he would be. I just knew it, like a fact.

I killed the engine and hopped out.

For a long moment I stood there, watching him. He was looking out over Moon Manor and seemed so deep in thought.

About what?

Was I in his thoughts?

I reached the first board of the bridge and hesitated. Was he angry with me? Disappointed? Or did he not care at all about me and had simply come out to the lake to get away from the cacophony of the wrap party?

Taking a few gentle steps, I got on the bridge that immediately creaked, announcing my presence. He turned to me, his eyes dark for a moment.

“Ayra,” he said softly as I approached him.

I swallowed the lump of uncertainty in my throat. “Is this where you come when you want to be alone?”

He offered me a tentative smile. “Sometimes.” He stepped closer, his smile broadening. “But there are times when I’d like to share the view with someone.”

Smiling, I wiped hot tears away. “Oh, Jai. I’ve been so stupid. I’ve been so childish.”

He shrugged. “A big fancy movie star,” he said with a hint of bitterness. “I can see why you’d... you know... you’d prefer him.”

“But that’s just it,” I argued. “I don’t think I ever did. I think I was just dazzled by the idea of him. He was playing my childhood love, Mr. Darcy, and I let that blur what was right in front of me.”

“And what was that?” he said with a knowing grin.

“You,” I said as I stepped closer to him. “You’ve been there all the time and I... I was blinded by my love for a fictional character in a book.”

He smiled but still seemed unsure.

“My mother fixed me up with Barnaby and I thought he was meant to be my Mr. Darcy. In those moments when I had doubts about a relationship with him, I thought of my mother and knew that I had to put some effort into it... I had to at least try. But you. Jai Doshi. Doshi that does sound so like Darcy.”

“What are you saying, Ayra?” he said, waiting for me to confirm what he suspected. “Are you... Are you choosing me... me over that movie star? Over that male stud that every woman is salivating over?”

I giggled and reached out to pat his chest. “You’re quite a stud yourself, and... yes. Yes, I choose you, Jai. Not only because I trust my mother’s judgment, as well as your mother’s. After all, they have been friends since childhood. But the real reason I choose you, Jai, is how I feel when I’m around you. Truth is, I don’t even think about Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is the childhood fantasy that I tried to bring to life through Barnaby. All he managed to do was to leave me confused and hurt and embarrassed. But you... Jai Doshi, you’re the man who makes me feel warm and secure and amused and comfortable and... all the things that I want to feel all the time.

“As it turns out,” I went on. “Our mothers were right. They were right to want to arrange a marriage between their kids.” I looked at him, suddenly curious. “Did you know? Did you know that your mother wanted to set you up with me?”

He nodded then shook his head. “I knew she wanted to set me up. I didn’t know it was with you. I told her I wasn’t really keen on the idea. I’d rather choose my own mate. She did insist that the girl she wanted me to meet was quite special. By the time I started to suspect that the special girl was you, Barnaby had already claimed you for his own.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged and looked down at the planks of the bridge. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt that sort of pain.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “The moment I saw you out there in the garden... the moment I saw your face, and the pain I’d caused you. It broke my heart.”

I stepped closer to him, so close that our chests almost touched. Reaching up, I stroked his stubbled cheek. “I was touched by what I saw in your face, your eyes. There’s something about you that’s so genuine and real, nothing like Barnaby who only knows how to act pained and hurt.”

“He is an actor, after all,” Jai said.

“I should have realized that his affections for me was fake. Everything about him was a show. Everything he did was an act.”

He slipped his hand around the small of my back and simply held me there.

“I think it’s time I grew up and leave my fantasy world behind. It’s time that I look at you, Mr. Doshi, and realize that life is sometimes even better than fiction.”

He leaned in closer as his hand at my back brought me up against him. “Perhaps not, Ayra,” he said with a playful grin. “After all, I am Doshi, pronounced just like your adored Darcy. And like Mr. Darcy, I’m the owner of a far too big manor with acres of land. It may not be Mr. Darcy’s Pemberley, but it is quite large so it can get lonely.”

I shook my head, smiling. “I can’t believe Moon Manor is yours. Such a beautiful, magical place. It is Pemberley. At least in Keely’s film version of Pride and Prejudice . And your name Doshi. I like it even more because it suits you. It’s your name.”

Jai leaned in close. “It might not be the name I typically use, but perhaps I can start to use it now. And if you’ll have me and come stay at Moon Manor, I’ll be your very own real-life Mr. Darcy... and that, forever and ever.”

I looked into his dreamy eyes. It was so easy to imagine my life with him, here at Moon Manor. So easy. Who knew an arrangement to a marriage by well-meaning moms can lead to something so right? What began as an arrangement has led to love.

“What do you say?”

“Yes, Mr. Doshi. Absolutely, yes.”