Holly gives a short laugh. “Understatement of the year.”
“I know you two don’t always see eye to eye, so it probably won’t surprise you that she and I don’t always agree either.”
“I haven’t fainted from the shock yet,” Holly assures him. “Go on.”
“Hol, she just isn’t happy up here. She’s got her yoga and the gym, and sometimes she goes out with girlfriends, but she says something is missing in her life.”
Pucci nudges her calf with his cold, wet nose to remind her that she’s got a job to do, so Holly bends over and picks up the tennis ball. She throws it into the sand this time.
“She has everything. I can’t imagine what’s missing.” Holly watches Pucci trot off after the ball again.
“Well, you’re missing, for one thing.”
“Me?” Holly squints into the setting sun. “I’m right here—where I’ve always been.”
“Yeah, but you’re not in her life. Not the way she wants you to be.”
Holly snorts. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Now, just listen.” Her stepfather’s voice is smooth and calm, and she knows that—as always—he’ll aim to be the voice of reason between Holly and Coco. “Your history is between the two of you, but I know most of the details, and I think she’s always regretted the way she acted as a young mother.”
“As a young mother? How about the way she acts now, Alan?” Holly ignores the ball this time when Pucci drops it at her feet. He pants and waits for his mistress to chuck it into the water again. “Her single solitary goal in life is to remind me that I’m a complete burden to her and that she will never support anything I say or do.”
“Hol, you know that’s not—”
“I know that’s not what, Alan? True? I’m supposed to know that’s not true?” Holly’s voice skips octaves as she climbs the ladder towards hysteria. “And her being here—that can’t happen. You two need to make up or go on a cruise to rekindle your romance or something—whatever it takes. Because she’s down here trying to turn my island into a floating Golden Nugget. Next thing I know she’ll be trying to convince me that no casino is complete without strippers.”
Alan says nothing for a moment after Holly finishes her rant. “I think you’re overreacting. She just wants to be involved,” he finally says.
Holly folds one arm across her chest and holds the phone to her ear with the other. The beauty of her surroundings fades away as she seethes about her mother intruding in her life on a long-term basis.
“How about you give her a chance?” Alan goes on. “It would be a personal favor to me, Holly.”
Holly isn’t sure she owes Alan any personal favors, but he has kept her mom occupied and up North for the past fifteen years or so. He probably does deserve a medal or something for that. She sighs.
“Fine. I’ll give her a chance. But the second she starts meddling in my personal life or trying to sell off chunks of this island to NBA stars who want to build McMansions, she’s packed and on the next boat.”
“Fair enough,” Alan says. There’s a tinge of sadness to his words. “I want her to be happy, you know.” Holly nods, though of course Alan can’t see this. “And if what she needs to do right now is be there with you and find some purpose to her life, then so be it.”
“Yeah, so be it,” Holly agrees, but with far less enthusiasm. They end the call with the agreement to stay in touch, and Holly’s gaze refocuses on her surroundings. It wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped to come home to, but what would her life on Christmas Key be without a few hurdles to clear?
“Pucci!” Holly calls, whistling to call him back from the sand dunes. “We’ve got our house back, boy—let’s go home!”
27
“Mayor! Mayor, I’d like to speak with you!”
Holly slows to a stop on Main Street on Thursday morning and turns to see who’s calling for her. Mistletoe Morning Brew is just ahead, holding its promise of coffee and happiness just out of her reach. Idora Blaine-Guy bustles across the street after a golf cart passes, waving her hand impatiently to hurry Maggie Sutter along and out of her way.
“I need a word with you, Mayor Baxter,” she says commandingly.
Holly hasn’t spent much time—none at all, really—with Vance Guy’s mother since returning from Europe, but she’s exchanged a pleasantry or two and she made sure to officially welcome her to Christmas Key the first day she got back.
“Good morning,” Holly says, waiting for Idora to catch up. “I’m just headed in for coffee. Want to join me?”
“Love to,” Idora says, her breath coming in little puffs as she pauses in front of Holly. She’s short and round, but there’s a layer of steel behind her eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor about her that reminds Holly of a strict school teacher who’s seen it all and isn’t afraid to march a child down to the principal’s office.
Inside the coffee shop, Carrie-Anne and Ellen are having a heated debate while they work, their words ringing through the shop.
“We did that theme in 2014,” Carrie-Anne says. She’s on her hands and knees next to the front counter, picking up the ceramic shards of a broken coffee mug. “People will know that we’re recycling ideas.”
Ellen rolls her eyes as she rings up Cap and Heddie’s coffee order. “No one will care. Plus we already have all the nets and beach glass in the storage shed.”
“Morning, Holly,” Heddie says, taking her steaming mug of coffee over to the counter on the side of the shop to doctor it up with cream and sugar. “And to you, Idora.”
“Good morning,” Idora says, nodding and holding her small purse in front of her stomach with both hands.
“Just coffee?” Holly asks Idora, stepping up to the counter. Idora nods.
“Two with room, please.” Holly takes out her wallet and pays for the coffees. The women follow Heddie’s lead at the cream and sugar station and then pick a bistro table by the front window.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you, but I know you’ve only been back on the island for a couple of days,” Idora says, pulling herself up onto the tall chair and moving around until she’s comfortable.
Holly puts the mug of coffee to her lips and closes her eyes for a moment, anticipating the first hit of caffeine. “Is everything going okay so far? I know Vance and Calista really appreciate you coming here to help out with the boys.”
“Of course they do,” Idora says. “They needed me. Lord help us all if that doctor hadn’t found my grandson in the swimming pool when she did.” She shakes her head back and forth, her eyes turned to the ceiling like she’s sending thoughts of gratitude up to heaven. It had been a stroke of pure luck the night that Fiona had decided to take a swim and discovered one of Idora’s six-year-old twin grandsons in the B&B’s swimming pool, and the impishness of the boys had ultimately driven the Guys to call Idora into action.
Holly smiles behind the mug. She knows that, while grateful that her mother-in-law is willing to help, Calista is less than thrilled at the prospect of sharing her house with her husband’s mom.
“What I really want to talk to you about is my son.” Idora picks up her own mug of coffee and blows on the steam.
“Oh?”
“Now, I know Vance has spoken to you about the empty space here on Main Street, and told you that he wants to open a bookshop.” This much was definitely true; Vance and Holly had spoken at length and had even looked at the empty space together before her trip to Europe. “Anyhow, I hate to see my son down here on this island just drifting like he’s lost at sea—he’s a brilliant writer, but I’ve seen the novel he’s working on, and honey, it isn’t much. At least not yet.”
Holly nods diplomatically, though she really wants to smile at Idora’s plain assessment of her grown son’s life and pursuits. “Yes,” she says, wrapping her hands around the warm coffee mug. “We did talk about it a while back.”
“Well, I’d like to go ahead on it. Where do I sign for the lease?”
Holly takes
a deep breath. It’s still early, and the first few sips of her coffee haven’t entirely woken her up yet. “Oh, I had no idea we were talking business here.”
“Somebody has to,” Idora says, her mouth turning up on one side in a wry smile. “Otherwise these kids are just going to hang around here talking about yoga and giving massages,” she waves a hand in the direction of Scissors & Ribbons, “and letting their kids run wild while a bunch of retirees try to pitch in and teach the boys the things they should be learning in a school.”
Holly pauses as she digests what Idora is saying. She’s actually been really proud of her neighbors as they’ve come together to help guide the rambunctious boys and to fill their days with fun things that double as educational activities. Having two children on the island has been a huge change for everyone to adjust to, and Holly’s personal opinion is that they’re doing an amazing job of integrating the kids into their island lifestyle.
“So,” Idora continues, “I want to see my son pursuing something worthy, and if he’s not going to pull the trigger on this bookshop, then I will. I’ll pay the monthly rent, and you and I can handle all the business dealings. I just want him out of the house and away from that computer. He stares at the same words on the screen all day long, and frankly, I’m tired of it.”
“Huh.” Holly stalls for a second by reaching for a stir stick in a cup on the center of the table. She sticks it into her coffee and drags the liquid around slowly. “So Vance doesn’t know that you’re taking the lead on this?”
“Not yet,” Idora confirms. “But he’ll be grateful. Men always think they know what’s best, but let me tell you something: my late husband would’ve put his socks on his hands instead of his feet every day if I hadn’t been there to tell him what to do.”
Holly can’t help herself—she actually laughs out loud at this vision.
“That’s true, Mayor. I don’t know if you’ve ever been married, and Lord knows I’m not asking, but if I know one thing about men it’s that they’re pigheaded and they’ll follow a bad idea all the way to the bottom of a well.”
“More coffee for you two?” Ellen appears at the table with a pot of coffee in one hand, ready to top them off.
“Not yet—thanks, Ellen,” Holly says, putting one hand over her cup. Ellen nods and moves over to the next table.
“Anyhow, I’m ready to sign the papers and start getting that space ready for business.” Idora tugs at the sides of her short sleeved shirt, pulling it down over her midsection firmly.
“Okayyyyy,” Holly says, dragging the word out. “But I still think it’s a good idea to sit down with Vance and talk about the terms and what his vision is. You know, just to make sure he’s still on board with the whole thing.”
“He will be.” Idora squares her shoulders and lifts her chin. “I know my son.”
Holly is hesitant to set up the terms of renting the space without more discussion with Vance, but in an effort to move things forward, she holds up her coffee cup like it’s a mug of beer. “Then cheers to going into business, Idora.”
Idora lifts her own mug and clinks it against Holly’s. “Just tell me where to sign and where to send the check every month.”
If only it were as simple as an autograph and a check each month. Going into business on Christmas Key is a lot of work, and the fluctuation of visitors definitely plays into a shop’s success or failure. Something like a bookstore will probably do just fine with the locals, but there are a ton of details that will need to be figured out. However, rather than bringing all of it up now, Holly simply smiles at Idora and takes a sip of her coffee.
There are still plenty of emails to sort through from Holly’s absence, so she spends most of the day behind her desk with Pucci resting at her feet, his soft fur pressed against her leg reassuringly. He’s refused to let her out of his sight since her return, and having Pucci follow her everywhere doesn’t bother Holly at all.
“We’ve got a wedding party to set up for October,” Bonnie says. She’s standing at the filing cabinet in the corner, dropping hard copies of vendor receipts into a standing file. “The bride has some really specific requests. Seems like kind of a bridezilla, if you ask me.”
Holly smiles and wiggles her toes so that they rub Pucci’s side. “Is this the one who had her assistant call you while I was gone?”
“That’s the one.” Bonnie shuts the drawer with a click. “Gave me some runaround about how this wedding has to be top secret.”
Holly rests her hand on her chin and looks over at the big calendar on their whiteboard. “Have you written the dates down yet?”
Bonnie walks over to the whiteboard and flips a few pages on the calendar. “We’re only at the end of May now, so we still have all of June, July, August, and September.” She picks up a pen and writes something across a block of squares in October. “I can only imagine dealing with this gal for the next four months while she plans her top secret island wedding.”
“We can do this, Bon. If it’s going to be this big of a deal, then think of the money she might be willing to spend to make it exactly what she wants it to be.”
“And think of the extra trips to Scissors & Ribbons that I’ll have to make in order to get my gray hairs covered.” Bonnie pats her red hair protectively.
“Oh! How is Millie doing?” Holly’s been home for just a few days and has already completely immersed herself in the island and in work. A guilty flush creeps up her neck as she remembers that Millie needs her now just as much as some wedding in October requires her attention.
“Fiona and Calista are still taking turns keeping her busy, and last I heard, the triplets are managing the flow of food that’s being dropped off. One of them is always around at mealtime to make sure she eats something.”
Holly’s heart seizes again as she thinks of Ray. “When is the memorial? Did she decide on a date?”
“This Sunday,” Bonnie says, sitting down in her desk chair again. “Cap and Wyatt are planning the whole service, and I didn’t think you’d mind, so I offered up the B&B’s dining room for the gathering after. It’s a potluck.”
“Of course I don’t mind!” Holly closes her laptop and puts her elbows on her desk, letting her face fall into her hands. “I can’t believe how quickly I got sucked back into Coco and work. How come no one’s looped me in and asked me to help plan?”
Bonnie smiles at her from across the white desk. “Well, sugar, you came back like a whirling dervish, ready to take on the world. I think we all just figured you should do what you do best, and that we’d handle the rest.”
Holly lifts her head and her light brown hair falls around her shoulders. She hasn’t stopped since setting foot on Christmas Key on Monday night, and by not stopping, she hasn’t had to spend much time dealing with the stew of emotions inside of her. Now, as Bonnie looks into her eyes, she finally feels it all come to a slow boil.
“It’s always like this, isn’t it?” she asks hoarsely. “I mean, me—I’m always like this, right?”
Bonnie smiles at her patiently. “You’re a wonder, sugar. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
“But I can never see past the end of my own nose!” Holly argues, standing. She paces the length of the window that looks out onto Main Street. “It’s always island business or B&B stuff. I can’t come back and just put it all aside while I help Millie.” She turns at the end of the office and walks the other direction, arms folded. “And I obviously can’t give a man what he wants. Look how hard it was for Jake to deal with me. I wouldn’t even consider a life away from Christmas Key. I knew it would make him happy, and I still couldn’t do it.”
“Well,” Bonnie says, holding a blue pen up in the air for emphasis, “the two of you are both stubborn as mules, so maybe that was never going to work. But the babies would have been beautiful…”
Holly ignores Bonnie’s comment about the babies she and Jake might have had together. “And River. All he wanted was to give me an adventure and show me the wor
ld, and all I could think about was getting back home.” Bonnie tips her head from side-to-side, weighing this piece of information. She doesn’t deny its validity. “Why do I get so lost inside my own head and my own dramas that I can’t see what’s happening right in front of my face?”
Bonnie is about to answer when there’s a light knock on the open door of the office.
“Hi,” Logan Pillory says. He clears his throat. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“Hi, honey,” Bonnie says cheerfully. “Come on in. You need something?” She stands up and straightens her emerald green shirt as she waves Logan in. As the mother of three boys, Bonnie has a soft spot for them in all shapes and sizes.
“I just wanted to talk to Holly,” he says shyly, tapping the doorframe with his long fingers.
“What’s up, Logan?” Holly waves him in and motions for him to sit in Bonnie’s chair. “Have a seat.”
“That’s okay,” he says, still standing by the door. “I just wanted to know if you had any work for me to do around here, or if you knew whether anyone was hiring.”
Bonnie hoots. “I doubt anyone’s hiring, doll. We don’t have many people looking for work on Christmas Key. In fact, most of them are trying to avoid it!”
Something about Logan’s crestfallen face makes Holly want to soften Bonnie’s teasing tone with kind words. “The demand isn’t super-high around here for new employees, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we could come up with something for you to do. Are you just looking to make a few bucks?”
Logan lifts one shoulder and lets it fall again. “Yeah. My mom said my friend Owen could come down to visit, but that I had to help him pay for it. And I don’t have any money.”
“Gotcha.” Holly picks up a pencil and a notepad. “Let’s brainstorm a little. What are you good at?”
“Uhhhh, I’m not sure. I’ve never had a job.”
“How about hobbies? Or things you did back home?”
“I like computers. And my mom used to make me mow the lawn every week.”
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Holly scribbles on the notepad. “You could offer some unique services on the island, and I bet people would be willing to pay you.”
More Than This Page 18