by Molly O'Hare
Picking up his hammer he started getting back to work on the task at hand.
* * *
Holly threw her car into park once she made it to her father’s house. She quickly removed her seatbelt and exited the vehicle ready to run up the porch steps to find her dad. Once she looked towards the house, she came to a complete halt after seeing Ben. He was on his hands and knees with a toolbox to his right.
She was momentarily taken aback by his appearance. She couldn’t help but stare at him. He wore dark jeans, that clearly had seen better days. Even with most of his lower half blocked by his position on the porch, she could see the jeans were ripped and well worn. He also had on a light blue tee-shirt, that stretched across his chest. It had dark patches where his sweat had seeped through. The sleeves on his arms were taut as his muscles threatened to rip through the material.
When he flexed his upper arm, her breath hitched.
Ben looked like someone she’d read about in a blue-collar romance novel that dripped with sexy men. The only thing he was missing was a utility belt around his waist.
“Pumpkin, aren’t you supposed to still be at work?” Her dad’s voice broke her trance.
She looked from her father back to Ben, who now stood and was giving her a grin that could melt ice.
Don’t think like that.
Shaking her head, she looked at her father. “After your phone call, I knew I needed to get here right away.” She moved towards the porch. “Why are you here, Ben?”
Ben’s face brightened. “I wanted to help your dad around the house.” He wiped his hands on his jeans. He was a true Adonis standing above her.
For the first time in her life, she felt honest to god real heartbreak. Here in front of her stood the man that made her feel like she’d never felt before. His gaze held a passion she knew she’d never come close to seeing in another man’s eyes again.
Knowing she was about to let go of that, made her heart break that much more. She knew she had a choice. A choice to save her father from going to a nursing home, and after the text message she’d received not long after she hung up with her dad, she knew she had no other option.
Closing her eyes, her heart shattered the impossible bit more as she recalled the message.
Just so we are clear. Unfortunately, I would hate for Ben’s clients to find out he’s lost his license. The Board of Veterinary Medicine has been so busy lately. I know how paperwork can easily be misplaced. I would hate for him to have to close up shop.
Looking at Ben, she realized she’d never jeopardize his career or happiness. No matter what her feelings were.
She looked between both men. To her left, stood Ben. The man she felt completed her, like no other would or could. To her right, stood her father. The man who raised her and was always there for her.
In her heart, she knew her next actions would hurt them both. She just hoped in time they’d grow to forgive her.
With any luck, a day many years from now, when she so happened to run into Ben, probably with his wife and family by his side, the heartbreak would have faded. Even if only a little. She’d know the second she saw him happy, she’d done the right thing.
Clenching her eyes closed she drew in a deep breath, preparing for what needed to happen. “You need to leave, Ben.”
At her unexpected words, Ben quickly descended the stairs and stood right in front of her. The worry on his face was almost too much for her to handle. “What’s wrong, Holly?”
Make him hate you. Give him no other choice, but to leave.
“The only thing that’s wrong, is you thinking you can come over to my father’s house and shove the fact he can’t fix anything in his face. Just because your dad’s dead doesn’t mean you can hone in on mine.”
“Excuse me?” Ben took a step back as if her words slapped him.
“Young lady,” her father scolded.
“I mean it, Ben, get your shit and leave. You’re not welcome here.” Ben took another step back this time holding his gut like he’d been punched.
“Holly Flanagan, what has gotten into you?” Her dad started making his way down the porch steps.
Holly’s eyes burned with unshed tears. Put the nail in the coffin. She tore her eyes from Ben and looked at her father. “Go inside, I’ll be there in a second, and we can discuss the issues. But first, I need to make sure Ben takes his mutt of a dog and leaves.”
“Holly!”
“Get inside now, Dad!”
Henry looked from his daughter to Ben. Her gut clenched when he looked as though he’d still been sucker punched.
Her world was falling apart. Everything she felt inside of her, broke. Now he’d hate her and although that’s exactly what she wanted from him, seeing the pain in his eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life.
“I’m only going inside because this is not how you normally act Holly. I’m utterly disappointed in you. I’m gonna let you two talk, but listen here, little girl. I’m not sure about the honing in on your father part, but the only one who shoved my disability and inadequacy in my face, is you.” He turned on his heel and stormed inside.
Closing her eyes again as the hurt washed over her, Holly died inside. Hearing she’s now a disappointment to her father broke her beyond repair.
This is why you don’t fall in love. It only leads to heartbreak and destruction for all.
“Holly?” Ben whispered.
She couldn’t open her eyes. She knew if she did, the pain in Ben’s eyes would take the last bit of control she held.
The tears fell down her cheeks with no stop in sight.
Ben placed his hand under her chin forcing her to look towards him. “Open your eyes, baby.”
She wouldn’t.
She couldn’t.
“I can fix whatever is going on,” he pleaded with her. “Let me fix it.”
How could he still want to help her? How could he still be standing here trying to fix her?
Holly’s control snapped. Her eyes shot open as her fists pounded into his chest pushing him backwards. “You can’t fix this. You can’t fix any of this. It’s all your fault to begin with. Before you, I had a normal life. I never had to worry about anyone other than my dad, and now you’ve come in here and screwed up everything! I wish I never went to that dumb dog park that day. I wish I never met you.” The realness of the situation was too much for her to bare. She crumbled to the ground, her body shaking with sobs.
Ben instantly followed her, holding her in his arms while she openly sobbed. Her shoulders shook as she let the events of the morning finally took its toll on her.
Ben pulled her into his lap encasing her in his arms, as he used his body to shield her from the outside world. “It’s okay, baby, I’m here. Everything is going to be all right.” He rocked her gently.
She wanted to pull away. She wanted to stand strong, but as she tried to grab at the courage, she found herself clinging to Ben’s shirt, pulling him closer instead.
How could being in Ben’s arms make her feel safe? And why was he still willing to hold her, especially after what she’d said?
Pushing those thoughts away she cried.
She cried for her father and pain she’d caused him.
She cried for Ben, and all of the hurtful things she’d said.
She cried for the love she knew she’d lost.
She cried for all of the pain she put everyone through.
She cried for her one real chance of happiness being ripped away.
Chapter Fifteen
Ben rocked Holly in his arms as he tried to wrap his head around the last few minutes. From the shocked look on Henry’s face, which he was sure mirrored his own, to the pain in Holly’s eyes as she spoke. He knew something was very wrong. Although her comments about his father stung, he knew every word out of her mouth was not really her.
Even as Holly’s words echoed through his head, he knew he couldn’t believe them.
He wouldn’t.
Ripley s
at beside them, looking from Holly to him. Even she was at a loss for what to do.
Squeezing Holly tighter he waited for her gut-wrenching sobs start to slowly subside. Once he knew they were under a manageable control, he lifted her chin so he could look at her. “Talk to me, Holly, Please.”
She shook her head, as he saw more tears pool in her eyes.
“Please, Holly.” He rested his forehead on hers. “Let me know what’s going on. I can’t fix it unless you tell me what the problem is.”
She pulled back from his embrace to stare at him. The sadness in her eyes felt like a knife right through his chest.
“I-I…” Her voice hitched. “Ben, I don’t know what to do!”
He placed his hand behind her head and brought her onto his chest as another sob escaped her. “Shh, it’s okay baby, we can work through anything.”
She kept her head on his chest as she spoke, “When my dad couldn’t go back to work, I took on all his bills.” She held onto his shirt.
As she spoke, the pain and concern in her voice broke him.
“Then all of a sudden his medical bills started coming in. I realized I couldn’t do it all, no matter how hard I tried or how much money I brought in. Before I knew it, the bills started falling behind. I never wanted to burden my dad about it, so I never told him how bad off it really is. I planned on getting a second job, so I could at least get his mortgage up-to-date. When I met you, I guess I got distracted and it slipped my mind. Then today when I was at work, I received a wake-up call.”
He rubbed her back. If money were her only worry, he’d gladly take care of whatever she needed. Even if that meant tapping into the money his father left him. “Baby, if you’re worried about money I can help you.”
She shook her head pulling away from him. “It’s not about the money or you helping. First, I’d never allow you to help with that. It’s everything else, including the behind payments.”
Ignoring her brush off of his offered financial help, he gently spoke, “Okay, explain it to me, Holly. Explain what ‘everything’ is, what was this wake-up call?”
He saw her eyes widen as she looked away.
“Holly. Talk,” he used his deeper voice, he’d found out made her do whatever he asked without hesitation.
“I can’t lose my job, okay! It’s the only income I have to help my dad. He means the world to me, and if that means I have to let you go in the process than I have to. No matter how much it hurts me to do so, I have to take care of him.”
Ben’s eyebrows knitted together. “I don’t understand.” Why would being with him make her lose his job? Nothing Holly said made any sense.
She looked towards the trees in the yard. Her shoulders slumped as she took a deep breath. “Your mother has more pull than I ever thought possible.”
He was taken aback. His mother had something to do with this? There was a part of him that wasn’t all that surprised, though. His mother would find anything that made him happy and would try and destroy it. Holly included.
Knowing his mother was behind Holly’s distress, had every muscle in his body tighten. He needed to know more. He was only a few seconds from snapping. “Explain,” he demanded.
Holly’s body tensed at his hard words. He knew he needed to be gentler, especially after her breakdown, but he wanted to know exactly what his bitch of a mother had done.
Holly firmed her jaw and looked him in the eyes. The determination he admired about her was back. “She showed up at the library this morning and told me if I wanted to keep my job I had to stop seeing you.”
“What?!” This had to be a fucking joke.
Holly sat in his lap a little straighter as she continued. “She tried to pay me off, knowing I’m so far behind on my dad’s bills. This house…” She gestured behind him. “…is about to be foreclosed on. I’ve been trying to work out a payment plan with the medical companies, so I can rearrange more money to the mortgage, but no one wants to budge.” Tears pooled in her eyes once more with defeat. “She thought she could give me money to fix my problems, but I’d have to stop seeing you. No one bosses me around, Ben. No one. When she offered me the money I told her to shove it. When I thought she finally got the picture, she casually mentioned, she knows four of the five library board members and she’d have me fired in one phone call. I thought she might be bluffing, but I still panicked. Obviously, her threats have merit. Not five minutes later, my dad called asking when I’m coming over next because the bank called him.” She started breathing heavy as her shoulders slumped into the defeated posture she previously had. “She said I had a choice. Pick my father, and I wouldn’t lose my job or pick you, and I lose everything.” She pulled out her phone and shoved it in his face. “And, so do you.”
Ben read the screen, as he did his best to digest everything Holly had said. His anger towards his mother was at an all-time high. Once the words on her phone registered, he saw red. “That fucking bitch,” he growled.
He took Holly’s phone and swiped through the message. Sure enough, it came from his mother’s business phone. The same phone that used to belong to his father. “I’ll fucking end her.”
“You can’t!” Holly pleaded. “She’ll destroy you. She has the means to do it. She made it clear she owns this town.”
He quickly pulled Holly into his arms. “She can’t do anything.”
“She already has.”
In his mind, his mother was as good as dead at this point. She’d crossed one too many lines this time. “Do you trust me?”
When he looked into her eyes, he saw her trust in him. With her quick nod, he kissed her forehead.
“Good. First, let’s take care of this one step at a time. I want you to go inside with your dad and call the bank. Find out how much is owed on the house. Then round up his medical bills. I have the funds to take care of it.”
“No!” Holly yelled. “I would never let you do that.”
She tried to pull out of his embrace, but he wouldn’t allow it. “You’re not letting me do anything.”
“You don’t get it, Ben. Even if I won enough money in some lottery and paid everything off, if we stay together you lose everything. If she can easily manipulate a board of directors for the library, or even a bank official, she could definitely follow through on her threats. I can’t do that to you. I can’t be the cause of you losing everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
The concern for him and his happiness, overwhelmed him. “Holly, I promise you, she can’t do anything to my career.”
“Yes, she can.” He heard the desperation in her voice, causing him to reach out and hold her chin. “No baby, she can’t. Even if she went to the state’s veterinarian board and demanded my license be removed, she’d get nowhere.”
“How can you be so sure?”
He smiled at her. “Seeing as I’m personal friends with half of the members, and one of my dad’s oldest friends is on the board, I’m safe.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I can say we’re not the only ones that are not fond of Barbra Richman. She wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.”
“Fine, so you know the board, that doesn’t mean she can’t file complaints, or like she said, make paperwork disappear. If she can ruin me, a measly librarian, with no sweat, if she put in a little effort, she’d destroy you.”
“Baby, don’t you think if she had the power to revoke my license, she would have already done it? She’s been trying to force me to work at Richman Industries since my dad died.”
Holly stared at him blankly.
“The woman that birthed me is a manipulative bitch. She stops at nothing to get what she wants. If she had any chance of taking away my license she would have done so already. She can’t do anything to jeopardize my practice. I promise you.”
She sighed. “I don’t understand why she’d go through all this trouble.”
“I wish I could tell you, Holly, I really wish I could.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now,
I want you to go inside and talk to your dad. Call the bank and get all his bills in order.”
When she opened her mouth to protest, he stopped her. “Now. Holly.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. Her stubbornness back in full force. “And what makes you think I’ll listen to you?”
He raised his brow. “Go inside, Holly.” He lifted her off his lap righting her. “By the time I get back, I want to know everything that’s owed.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And where the hell do you think you’re going?” she asked.
“I’m going to see my mother.”
Chapter Sixteen
Holly made her way into the house. However, when she rounded the corner to the kitchen, the look on her father’s face stopped her dead in her tracks.
The confusion and hurt in his eyes caused her stomach to bottom out.
“Are you going to explain to me what happened out there?” her father’s harsh tone echoed through the room.
“I’m sorry.” She resigned herself. What more could she say?
“You’re sorry?” His right brow rose.
“It’s been a terrible morning.”
“That is no excuse, young lady.” He stood from the kitchen table then made his way over to her. He pulled her into his arms. “Hearing those cries broke me in two. Sweetheart, I never want to hear that pain come from you again.”
Holly pulled herself deeper into her father’s embrace. How did she end up so lucky to have both the men in her life care so deeply about her? Sure, her father might be disappointed in the situation, but he’d never turned his back on her. Instead, he pulled her closer, rubbing a small circle on her back, letting her know everything would be okay. “I’m sorry, Dad,” she whispered.
Giving her shoulder a quick squeeze, he motioned to the table. “Come, sit. Let’s go over what happened.”
“Okay.” Blindly, Holly reached down to her side and pat Ripley on the head, who had followed her inside. She hoped the dog would give her strength. “I don’t really know where to start, other than this morning.”