The Perfect Match

By Deirdre B and Meghan B

Editor's Note: This story has been picked up by two new authors, with the original author's permission.

Posted on Tuesday, 8 August 2000

"Road trip!"

"Hey, ya think you could be a little quieter? It's too early- the sun isn't up yet! Why are we up Lizzy?"

"Because Charles, if we leave later, we won't get to Florida in time."

"Yea! Florida, watch out! Here we come!"

Charles O'Brien groaned as Rick Fitzwilliam shouted in his ear and got into the SUV, and Charlotte offered him a coffee.

"I take that as a yes?"

"Please. I don't see how you guys can get up this early. And why do we have to drive? Can't we fly like normal people?"

"Chuckie dear, go to sleep and we'll wake you up when it's your turn to drive. And we are driving because don't have the money or the time to waste with flying. We'd probably spend the whole time in the airport waiting because of delays. And it's more fun." Elizabeth Bennett, the youngest of the group, was starting off driving from their hometown in Massachusetts to Florida, for what they felt was a well-earned vacation.

"I'm so excited." Rick had already had too much coffee. "Remind me again, how come we never did this during college?"

"Um, because we decided to work really hard and get out of college so we could start working and make as much money as soon as possible so we can be the next Bill Gates?"

"Char, I do not want to be Bill Gates. He is a dork. Computer geek. Look up the definition of nerd in the dictionary, and you'll see a picture of Bill Gates. We, on the other hand, are-"

"Um, hey, Chuck, when are you supposed to drive? Not for a while. Go to sleep. Ricky and I will wake you guys up once our caffeine has worn off. Besides, you don't want to miss the parties tonight, do you?"

"Okay, Lizzy. But I can't sleep; I'm way too excited. Gosh, you'd think we were like 3 year old going to Disney land."

"Hey, lets go to Disney. Screw the parties and the drinking and the dancing on tables and all that other stuff that no one mentions because it's too rebellious and-"

"Liz, we should have taken you away before. You've suffered."

Needless to say, it was a very long ride to Florida, with way too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

That evening, after checking in to their hotel, and freshening up, the four friends hit the party scene. Best friends all through college, they had finished their credits early and gotten jobs in the computer industry and were now taking a vacation- the Spring break type of trip that they never took during school break but had saved all their partying for two weeks in Florida. Some thought that the four made an odd group. Charlotte Lucas was the eldest, and though she and Lizzy had been friends for ages, they were entirely different-especially in looks. Charlotte was an average looking dirty blonde, while Lizzy was gorgeous, with dark brown curly hair and fair skin and dancing green eyes. Rick Fitzwilliam, who preferred the shortened version of his name, though his friends sometimes teasingly called him Paddy, or Colonel (for reasons unknown), was tall, with red hair and freckles and surprisingly very good looking. (Authoresses' note-have you ever met a guy with red hair and freckles that was good looking? We haven't-but the Colonel is gorgeous! - As always) Charles O'Brien was tall and blond and though he looked shy, lurking underneath was a big joker and at the same time, the "sweetest dear ever," as Lizzy stated.

The next two weeks were full of parties and relaxing on the beach and other, fun activities. On the last night, they planned on going to a big all-night party on the beach. It was about 45 minutes away, so everybody stayed at the beach and camped out. Lizzy and Charlotte decided to go all out and dress in some really crazy outfits they had gotten at a really trashy store as a joke. Both Charlie and Rick said that they looked totally different and no one would recognize them.

"Oh, that's good, so now we can go totally crazy and make fools of ourselves and no one will know its us!"

"Lizzy, you can be as wild and crazy as you want, just don't go too far. And I mean that in many different ways."

"Oh, thanks Colonel. Glad to know you're concerned about me."

When they got to the beach, the party was just starting, but it was already in full swing.

"Wow. Look at all these people. This place is crazy. People everywhere. On the beach, in the water, hiding in the dunes. Okay, I don't want to know what's going on in there."

"Little naďve Lizzy. Hey, if you want, you and me can go check out the dunes and see what's going on in there."

"No thanks Colonel. I think I'll go get a drink and catch up with you later. Oh my, is that guy for real? He looks like a god. Look at that body. Ooh!"

"Lizzy, calm down. Why don't we get drunk and you can go meet this Greek god, maybe dance a little with him. Unless you aren't interested in just dancing..."

"Rick, shut up. And don't spike the punch."

As it was, it was too late for Rick to spike the punch. But Lizzy did get to meet her Greek god, though she didn't catch his name or anything about him. All she could tell, since she was so drunk was that he was unimaginable handsome and that he spoke with an accent, though that might have been because he was so drunk.

"Hey, Colonel, we should probably keep an eye on those two. Lizzy is really drunk, and so is he, and we don't know exactly what's on his mind." Charlotte was getting very concerned as the night wore on, not drunk.

"Relax, Char. Nothing's going to happen that will lead to any disaster. I know that guy, he's not bad. Actually, he's probably perfect for Lizzy. He's not after her for what you're thinking. I don't expect to find them anywhere near the dunes, if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay," she sounded a little better as she looked at the two dancing very close together to Next's Too Close. "Hey, wait, how do you know him?" She turned back the Colonel, but he was gone. When she looked back to Lizzy and the guy, they were gone. Oh well, she thought, might as well go join the masses and get drunk.

The next day, on the ride home, Charlotte probed Lizzy about what happened at the party. She didn't say anything to Lizzy, but talked to Charles later about it.

"I'm really worried. She doesn't remember anything really, except that he was gorgeous and that they made out a bit- she thinks. She doesn't really know what he looks like, just that she thought he was amazing and she's never going to forget him. She thinks she's in love with him and she's never going to love anyone else. I think she's worried about that."

"Charlotte, I don't think you should worry. She'll get over him, and realize that it was just a fling and it will just be a happy memory. She's fine now, so I think we should leave her to her day dreams and forget about it."

"Yea, I guess you're right."

Charlotte decided to leave it at that and not discuss it with Rick. He would just tell her she was paranoid.

Lizzy put down the photos of the trip and leaned back in her office chair. They had been back for a week and were back at work, and she was getting nothing done. Her thoughts drifted as she remembered the hot sun, the music, and her mysterious guy. She wondered who he was, if he thought about her or, if like her, he was too drunk and only had a vague recollection of her. It did bother her that she couldn't even remember what he looked like. A small sigh escaped her as she remembered what had happened, at least, what she remembered. She could still feel the sparks from when they touched, the taste of his kiss, the-

"Lizzy, you look like you were about to groan with desire. You weren't thinking about Collins, were you?" Rick interrupted her thoughts and she nearly lost her lunch with the image of what he said.

"Fitzpatrick Fitzwilliam, do not do that to me."

"Don't call me that." He tried to look stern, then smiled in a patronizing way. "Were you thinking about your mysterious guy? Again? Lizzy, we need to do something about this. Maybe I should set you up with my cousin, Liam. He'll take your mind off this guy any day" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Thanks, but no thanks." She pretended to get back to her work, but he interrupted again.

"Don't get back to the work you weren't doing. Come on, the boss has called a meeting."

"What for?" Lizzy was surprised. The boss never spoke to anyone unless they were being hired or fired. No one was ever promoted. "Gee, do you think he heard about our behavior? That wouldn't be good."

"I hope not, because the only one who would be in trouble is you."

"Oh stuff it Colonel, you're the one who is my partner in crime. If I'm going down, I'm dragging you with me."

They got to the conference room and went in. Already in there was Charles and Charlotte, and some other people Lizzy was not familiar with. Except Collins. He made her skin crawl and was always hitting on her. Rick and Lizzy sat down with their friends and soon the boss began talking.

"Well", he started unceremoniously, "I assume most of you do not know why you are here." Obviously, otherwise we wouldn't come, Lizzy thought. "Our company has just been bought by another..." Here Lizzy tuned out as the man went on about all the advantages and benefits of this. Her thoughts soon turned yet again to her vacation, and more importantly, him. Whoever he was-she knew she would never forget him. Suddenly, Rick elbowed her, whispering, "this is the part that's important."

"Now, I'm sure you are all very curious about where you come into this wonderful merger. Based on reports of your work and behavior that I gave to the new supervisor, a lot of people are being moved around. I have your new assignments. You current assignments end today and your new assignments will beginning as of....hmm...they didn't tell me...oh, well, depending what it says on your papers. Anyway, thank you for your good work and keep it up."

And with that, the boss was gone, leaving a room full of confused people.

"Wait, I missed something. He didn't just fire us, did he. Hmm, but he couldn't have hired us again, could he?"

"Lizzy, get over him. You're not going to see him again. Now, read your papers. You too Rick and Charles."

Lizzy still wasn't looking at her papers. "Okay, but, how did you know I was thinking of him?"

"It's obvious Liz dear. Now, what are you doing? What do your papers say?"

Well Colonel, I am..." She drifted off as she looked at the papers, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Being promoted and transferred to Dublin. Ireland. Wow. That's nice. But, why Ireland?"

"That's where the headquarters are. The Colonel and I are going there too. What are you doing Charlotte?"

"Actually, I'm staying here. Which is good, because I don't want to go to Ireland."

Three confused people looked at her strangely. "Oh, come on you guys, I'm English."

"Oh yea, right." They understood. Lizzy for one, was excited. She was Irish, having been born there but moved before she was one. She hadn't been back, but her cousins had come over to visit America a few times and she was really good friends with Jane, who was her age and they kept in touch. Rick was excited too, because he was also Irish and had lived there till he was about five, and was good friends with his cousin Liam, who was their age. And Charles, well, Charles was always happy about everything(except car rides that start in the middle of the night).

Later that night, Rick, Charles and Lizzy (Charlotte lived with her parents) sat around their kitchen table, discussing everything.

"I'm so excited. I can't wait. We have so much to do. We have to clean out our apartment, get a new one in Dublin and- oh! I just had a great idea. My cousin Jane is graduating soon and needs an apartment. She could room with us, since 4 is easier than 3. Or maybe we shouldn't room together. Maybe just me and Jane should room together and you guys should get your own flat.

"It all depends Liz." Rick interrupted her. "Me and Charlie might move in with my cousin Liam. I was talking to him about it the other day. Maybe you and Jane could move in with the three of us. At lease, you can at first while you're looking. His house is pretty big just for him."

"That could work-wait. You were talking to him the other day about this? We just found out about this today. I don't get it. I really wasn't paying attention."

"You must have been thinking about something, or rather, someone else." Charles said but he was also confused.

"Actually, Liam, well, his dad, my uncle, owns the company that bought ours. So I've known about this for awhile. A couple of weeks."

"Oh." Lizzy got it, glad to know that it wasn't because she wasn't listening that she didn't get it.

Charles was still confused. "I didn't know Liam was in the computer business."

"Well, not the computer part of it. I don't think he knows more than how to turn on a computer-and screw it up really bad."

"Okay, well, you guys, we've got a lot to do. I'm going to bed now, and I'm getting you guys up early tomorrow to clean your rooms and pack." Though she was the youngest by over a year, Lizzy was always the one in charge. Charles and Rick teased her mercilessly about it.

"Yes mum!" They headed off to their room, leaving her to clean up their dishes.

"Hey, Lizzy, you know what's great? Now I can set you up with Liam."

"Colonel, you do and you die. I absolutely refuse to go out with anyone even remotely related to you. He probably has red hair and freckles like you."

"Just you wait Lizzy."

Chapter 2

Posted on Monday, 7 August 2000

The next week flew by almost too quickly. They packed up their apartment, tied up all the loose ends and said goodbye to their friends. Rick spent a lot of time talking to his cousin and it was arranged that he and Charles would live with him. Since Jane still had her apartment for a few months, Lizzy and Jane would stay there and either get a new flat or move in with the guys. Both Lizzy and Jane decided that they didn't want to impose on Liam, Rick's cousin, since they didn't know him, even though he had personally invited them to move in with them.

As it go closer to moving day, they got more and more excited. Lizzy was so happy that she was going to get to live in Ireland, she really didn't care about leaving Boston, aside from Charlotte being there.

"Char, I wish you were coming. It will be so fun. I think me and Jane will likely move in with the guys once the lease on her flat is up. As long as Rick doesn't spend the whole time trying to set me up with his cousin, I'll be fine."

"You know, his cousin might not be that bad. What's his name? Liam?"

"Well, I guess it's William, but it might be Fitzwilliam, because he's the one who gave Rick his nickname Fitzpatrick. And I guess Rick calls him Liam. Actually, I like that. But it might be his middle name too, because I think he's a junior or a third. Rick! What's your cousin's name?"

Rick walked in with a couple boxes and dumped them on the floor. "Huh? Oh, George Fitzwilliam Darcy the Third. But it might be Fourth. I don't know. I just know that I am a nothing. Hi Charlotte."

"Hi Colonel. So, your cousin gave you the nickname Fitzpatrick?"

"Yea, when we were little. He thought it wasn't right that I didn't have a Fitz in front of my name and he did, so he called me Fitzpatrick. He also nicknamed me Colonel, but, I, ah, forget the story behind that one."

"That wasn't from when you had just gotten out of high school and wanted to join the IRA was it?"

"Lizzy, you know I never planned on doing that. Besides, there's more to it that the military part. I could have joined. I still could. I just, I don't feel the need to."

"Okay, we'll let it go. Char, when you get a vacation, you should come and visit us. I wish you were coming."

"Well, I like it here Liz. Don't you? Aren't you going to miss it here?"

"You know, I was never really attached to anyplace here. I moved a lot, I was away at boarding school, and then my parents- well, after they spilt up, I never really saw my mom. I think I've seen her two or three times in about 8 or 9 years. And my dad's been in Ireland for the past 6, and he's good about coming to visit, he usually comes about twice a year. So, the only things that I leaving behind here are some friends. I'm horrible about keeping in touch, I'll warn you now."

"Well, I'm not much better. But I will try to visit. I did get a pretty nice raise."

"Yea? Maybe you'll think about getting your own place."

"Doubtful. I might go away on a vacation, take my parents with me, maybe I'll get a new car."

"I got a pretty good raise too. And I've got a whole week before I need to go to work, so Jane and I are going on vacation. She got us a nice little house south of Dublin for a few days, so I'll get to see that part of the country. I invited Rick and Charlie but they're going to meet up with Liam on a business trip. But I think its going to have Guinness than business, from what I've heard from Rick."

"So, we'll learn a lot about how the Irish do business. And, more importantly, how Liam runs his business." Rick stuck his head in as he passed by with more boxes.

The girls laughed, and continued packing boxes.

"Ricky!!! Wake up!!"

"Go back to sleep, woman, I'm trying to sleep."

"But you have to get up, its Saturday."

"Right, i.e. why I am sleeping in. It's Saturday."

Lizzy gave up and went to wake up Charles. "Charlie, time to wake up," she said in a sing-song voice. "We have to leave today!"

Unlike Rick, Charles got up and looked around, squinting in the bright sunlight. "You got the Colonel up yet? No. Am I right?"

"Yea. Would you help me with him? I don't think a cold face cloth will do the trick. We might have to drag him into the shower."

"Well, let's try ice first." A few minutes later, Rick woke to Lizzy sitting on his bed with Charles at the foot and ice all over him. "You guys. What's with the ice?" He groaned and rolled over, but only succeeded in landing on a pile of ice.

"Okay Rick, but you asked for it." Liz helped Charles pull a half asleep Rick out of bed and towards the shower.

"Why are we going to the bath room?"

"We're bringing you to the shower. Would you like a nice shower?"

"With you Liz? Any day. But I don't think there's room for Charlie. He'll have to wait till we're done."

Liz decided not to respond to that and just turned on the shower-really cold. Then she left, ignoring Rick's cries. A few minutes later, Rick came into the kitchen, looking very awake and wet.

"I just wanted to say, thanks. I really needed that." He said sarcastically.

"Rick, your getting water all over the floor. Besides, do you realize how hard it is to wake you up? Nothing else works. I suppose you don't know, since you've never had to wake yourself up, but it's very hard."

"I've had to wake Liam up- just you wait, I'm sure you'll have a chance to. He could sleep through an earthquake. Or even Charlie's snoring. But of course, it could be different with you in his bed."

"I do not snore, you do. And you wake yourself up."

"And I do not appreciate your comments. Hurry up and get dressed so you can clean up this mess you made."

A few hours later, they got to the airport (definitely not an adventure worth repeating) and got checked in and to their gate with time to spare. All was going well until the passed through the gates and Collins ran up to Lizzy, nearly knocking her down. Oh yuck, she thought, does any one have a barf bag or do I have to wait till we board?

"Oh, Eliza, I am so glad you are here. I was beginning to think you would miss our flight. Here, let me take your bag for you. Let me just say, I am so eager to be moving to Ireland. My good friend, Catherine De Burgh is English, you know. She has a magnificent estate in Kent!"

"Touching story, but its really none of my business. And fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, we're moving to Ireland, not England. I refuse to see a connection." Lizzy started to walk away.

Collins dismissed that, rather, he didn't hear, because he was thinking about something else. "Eliza, where are you sitting? I assume we are sitting near each other, since the company booked our flight."

"That is a possibility." Liz hadn't thought of that and thought desperately about what she could do. "Where are you sitting?" He told her, it was a middle seat in the very back, the smoking section. "Oh, that's too bad. I'm sitting up front. Actually, it looks like I'm in first class. Oh how nice." She walked away.

"Oh Eliza, we could not be farther apart. Fate is trying to make this hard for us..."

Rick and Charles had sat down with their coffee and looked at Liz with amused faces.

"That's enough you guys. Lately, when I see him, I really just want to vomit all over him. But I need to know who I am willing to give my first born too, since somebody got me a seat as far away as possible from him."

"Well, that would be my cousin. You know, I can arrange a date with him for you, if you really want to give him you first born. It'd be appropriate if it was his." He ducked to avoid being pummeled by Lizzy. "Really, I just told him to get us seats far way from Collins."

"Well, that was nice of him. I just wished you stop trying to set me up with him. I still need time to get over my last relationship."

"You mean your first relationship."

"No, it was not my first. Maybe it will be my last though. That guy was everything I ever wanted in a guy and I didn't even get his number. Or his name." Liz looked despondent. "Oh well. Maybe it was just an infatuation. Who knows."

" Well, you'll get over him. Besides, Liam is a very nice guy, He's a great guy and he's single. Hint, hint." Rick smiled at Liz.

"I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you trying to set him up with a stranger. I'm going to get in line to board."

"I'm going to come too. Hey, Rick, maybe you should lay off it. Lizzy really doesn't want to go out with Liam."

"yea, but that's just because she doesn't know him yet. All the girls love him, but he doesn't give them the time of day. They fall in love with him, but he knows that they're not right for him, so he ignores them. And they go crazy."

"Lizzy wouldn't go crazy over him or any guy. But she hasn't been mentioning her Adonis lately, so maybe she's forgetting about him."

"Yea, I think so. But you know how she is, never had a fling or a real boyfriend, other than the two dates with me when we first met. What was that nickname the guys gave her in high school?"

"One look Lizzy or something like it. The idea being that she just looked at a guy and knew he wasn't right for her and she wouldn't waste her time dating him."

"Liam is just like that. He might go out for coffee with a girl, at the most, but he knows she's not the right one, so he doesn't waste his time in a meaning less(to him) relationship. That is my big problem. They're so perfect for each other, that is going to be next to impossible to get them to go out."

"Well, if we're all living together, it might not be that bad."

"True, true, Charlie. We're going to have to team up for this. You in?"

"Yes sir, Colonel." The mock saluted each other and shook hands.

"What are you two boys doing? We've got to get on the plane now. Come on!"

"Yes mom." "Coming mom."

"And stop calling me mom. I'm way to young to be a mother."

The plane ride was fairly uneventful, though Rick took full advantage of the free drinks and Collins twice tried to come and talk to Lizzy, until the stewardess got mad at him. They got off the plane, they got their bags, and they got through customs without seeing Collins again. Lizzy had arranged for Jane to pick them up, since Liam was away. As they cam through the doors, Lizzy scanned the crowd for her cousin but didn't see her.

"Oh my G--. Look at that woman. No, she's not a woman. She's an angel. She looks to perfect and heavenly to be human." Charles looked like he was going to swoon. Rick and Liz looked at each other and tried not to laugh. "Oh my, she's coming over here."

"Lizzy! It's so good to see you." The angle hugged Lizzy. "And you guys must be Rick and Charles. I'm Jane. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh yes. A pleasure indeed." Charles shook her hand and smiled widely, even wider when she smiled back.

After dropping off Rick and Charles at Liam's house by St. Stephen's Green (It is noted that neither Jane nor Charles wanted to leave each other.), Jane and Lizzy went to Jane's flat.

"Well Jane, you certainly made a good impression on Charles. He was about to swoon over you. And I think you were going to also."

"Oh, Lizzy, you exaggerate. But he is very nice."

"Admit it Jane, you like him."

"Yes, I do. I wasn't going to swoon though, you know that only happens in romance novels. It's too bad that he and Rick can't come on vacation with us. I do think that we'll have to get along with Liam though, so we can move in with him. Lizzy, promise me you will like him? Or at least pretend to?"

"Of course Janie. Anything for you. I did tell them where we're staying, so if they finish up their business, then they'll come see us."

"Oh that would be nice. Have I shown you a picture of the house? It's so cute. It's got a garden surrounding it, there's flowers everywhere. It has a wild, untamed look to it. It'd would be so romantic if Charles could come."

"Jane, you never told me where you found this house. And I have to give you money for the rent."

"Oh, right. Well, actually, I don't need any money. There is no rent."

"I don't understand Jane. Whose house is this?"

"Well, it's your dad's vacation home. But he doesn't go there much. He lets me go there often though."

"I didn't know my dad had a vacation home. I certainly didn't know he had the money for a vacation home that he didn't use."

"Yea, well, on our way home, we can stop in and visit him, OK?"

"That's a good idea. But right now, I'm hungry. Then I want to leave."

The ride to the cottage wasn't that long enough, but it was long enough for Lizzy to get a good look at the countryside and know that she never wanted to leave Ireland again. And the cottage was better than Jane had described it. Wild flowers along the walk and vines creeping up the sides created a perfect sanctuary from the city, and yes, it would be incredibly romantic with a nice guy there. Lizzy sighed. She was unsure of how she felt about that guy. She just couldn't explain it. She had told Jane the night before about it and Jane comforted her, which she needed but she didn't know what to do for the time being. She decided to try not to think about it and just enjoy her vacation.

Jane and Lizzy spent the next few days roaming about the countryside, going in to the small town and just relaxing at home.

Saturday morning, Lizzy woke up and looked out her window. It was a cloudy, but it looked like the clouds would either go away or rain. She decided to take her chance and go for a walk. After telling Jane, she left and headed towards a path through the fields. It was still early and there was no one else out , and thus it was very quiet and peaceful. She had been out for about 45 minutes when it began to rain. Turning back, she realized that she hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going and couldn't exactly remember her way. Oh well, she thought, maybe when I see it I'll remember.

An hour and a half later, a thoroughly soaked Lizzy made it back to the road and to the house. As she walked by the drive, she noticed two cars, both quite nice, in the driveway. She frowned, since she didn't know that they were having visitors and that Jane would have mentioned it to her. The door flew open as she came up the walk.

"Elizabeth, you are going to catch your death out there. Don't you have someone mothering you all the time about stuff like that?"

"Rick! What are you doing here? It's so nice to see you. Is that your car? Who else is here?"

"Well, Jane and Charles are off in a little corner together, so I've been trying to entertain Liam and your father for the past hour. Not unsuccessfully, I might add."

Lizzy wasn't listening. "My father is here? Let me in!"

"Elizabeth dear, you are soaked to the bone. You know, its not good for you old man to have to see you catch a cold when I don't get to see you much anyway."

"Daddy! I've missed you so much. I had no idea you were coming today. Nor did I have any idea that you had another house- and one so lovely. Oh, there's so much I have to tell you."

"Liz dear, before you do anything else, go get some dry clothes on, I don't want you getting sick. "

"OK, I'll be quick. Rick, be a dear and make me a cup of tea, would you? Thanks."

"Well, I better go make that tea."

After a hot shower and she put on some comfy clothes, Liz went back downstairs. She got her tea and some scones from the kitchen and went into the living room where everyone was.

"Much better. Now, give me a hug Daddy, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. I've wondered what you've gotten up to in these past few years, but your friends here have assured me that you haven't gotten into too much trouble."

"No, of course not. I don't get in to trouble. I do get them out of trouble though, often enough."

"Hmm. So I thought. But they kept me reasonably entertained. Especially Rick here."

"Yea, sorry about him." At Rick's cries, she turned and looked at the others. And saw a stranger. Albeit a gorgeous stranger. Rick stood up and so did the stranger. He was tall, and well-built, and wearing a suit that made Lizzy think; suits were made for a body like his. She knew she was staring ,but she saw that he was too.

"Lizzy, I want you to meet my cousin Liam."

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