by Kris Tualla
Stevie gasped. “He was serious.”
“Apparently.” Hollis looked inside the cardboard folder and pulled out a handwritten note. Her hands trembled a little as she read it out loud.
Dear Hollis,
As you can see, I took your advice. Suzan was served yesterday and I moved out of the house. I was surprised at how well she took it, which does make me wonder if she was contemplating the same action. Maybe I should have waited. It would have cost me less in the long run if she had filed.
“Men,” Stevie scoffed.
Hollis nodded. “Always about the end game, not how you actually get there.”
“Anything else?”
Hollis refocused on the letter and continued.
Because you are not going to be here for Christmas, I am coming to you. I know you haven’t agreed to give me another chance, but I can’t think of a better way to prove my sincerity.
“Where does he expect to sleep?” Sveyn growled.
Hollis looked at Stevie. “I hope he doesn’t expect to move in with me!”
“Just tell him that when you talk to him,” Stevie said. “Would he be so presumptuous?”
“I hope not.” Hollis returned to the letter.
And while I would love nothing more than to pick up where we left off, I have leased an apartment through January while we take time to reconnect.
“There’s a relief.” Hollis fanned herself with the letter and glanced at Sveyn. His expression eased.
Stevie frowned. “Can he leave his job for that long?”
“Who knows.” Hollis shrugged. “Who cares? That’s his problem, not mine.”
“Is there anything else?”
Please call me when you have a chance.
Love, Matt
“Love, huh?” Stevie gave Hollis the stink-eye. “You know, men never leave a marriage, or even a long-term relationship like you guys had, unless they have someplace else to go.”
Hollis folded the papers and stuffed them back inside the overnight envelope along with the letter. “So you think he had Suzan in his pocket before he left me?”
“Don’t you?”
“I always wondered. Their wedding happened so fast.” Hollis dropped the envelope in the trash. “And now he thinks he has me to run back to.”
“Or so he hopes.” Stevie walked over and retrieved the envelope from the plastic bin. She held it out to Hollis. “Keep this. You never know what you’ll need to know.”
*****
Miranda loved the idea of the children’s book. “Will it be a coloring book as well?”
Hollis shook her head and looked at Stevie. “No, we didn’t plan anything like that.”
Stevie shrugged. “We could think about it.”
“No, we couldn’t,” Hollis stated. “One extra project at a time. Let’s see if we can get this done before we take on anything else.”
“When will it be finished?” Miranda asked.
“As soon as we finish the contest and choose the illustrations.” Stevie grinned at Hollis. “But we’ll have the copy written before that.”
“Good. The sooner the better.” Miranda turned to Hollis. “By the way, I spoke with Mr. Benton yesterday. I don’t think I have to tell you how thrilled he was when he heard that the Ghost Myth guys got footage of the apparition.”
“I can only imagine.”
Sveyn chuckled.
Shut up.
“I’m sorry you couldn’t see him.” Miranda gave her a sympathetic look. “You must have been disappointed, knowing he was there but…”
“I’m fine, Miranda. Really. I am.”
“Anyway, Benton wants to do a big-screen viewing here when the episode airs in January.”
Hollis huffed. “I’m not in the least bit surprised.”
Stevie’s expression turned puckish. “Matt will be here then.”
Miranda’s jaw dropped. “Which Matt?” She looked at Hollis. “Your Matt?”
“Tell her,” Stevie urged.
Hollis folded her arms and gave her boss the abbreviated version. “Yep. He filed for divorce and is coming for Christmas. Staying through January. Not with me.”
Miranda blinked. “Got it. When did this happen?”
“This morning. In fact,” Hollis looked at her watch, “I have to call him and tell him I got his letter.”
“Before you go—” Miranda opened a drawer and pulled out two business-sized envelopes. “Some guy from the Renaissance Faire brought these by yesterday.”
“What are they?” Hollis asked as she accepted one of the envelopes. Stevie took the other one.
Miranda grinned. “Two free tickets for each of you to the Faire on opening day, plus passes for a behind the scenes tour.”
“Wow. Why?”
“Because we’re a museum. And we have the new collection. And you two pulled it together.”
“We can double date!” Stevie gushed. “Me and George, you and Matt!”
“Ugh,” Sveyn grunted.
Hollis opened the envelope and looked at the date—January 9th. “We could, I guess. If I haven’t sent him packing before then.”
Sveyn snorted. “One can always hope.”
Hush.
Stevie smacked Hollis’s arm with her envelope. “Stop it. You need to think positively.”
Hollis flashed a wry smile. “I am positive that I will have more fun with you and George than I would with Matt alone.”
“It’s a start,” Stevie conceded. “Now go call him before he slips out of your life forever.”
*****
“Hello, Hollis.”
“Hi, Matt.” Deep breath. “I got your packet.”
“Yeah.” Pause. “So what are you thinking?”
“I’m sorry she wasn’t more upset.”
“Really?” He sounded confused.
“Yes. For your sake,” Hollis clarified.
“Oh.”
“I mean, aren’t you a little hurt that she didn’t fight for you?” I did. Remember?
“To be honest, Hollis? I’m actually relieved.”
Hollis could understand that; clean breaks were ultimately less unpleasant. “So… you rented an apartment? In Phoenix?”
“Tempe, actually. I figured staying with you might piss off the Captain.”
Who? She glanced at Sveyn.
Oh, right.
“And you weren’t invited to stay with me,” Hollis pointed out. “There’s that.”
“Well, I thought maybe—nope. Never mind.” Matt cleared his throat. “So I’m leaving this Saturday. Driving down. Should get there by Monday afternoon.”
Driving made sense, in spite of the distance. He’d need a car when he got here, not to mention packing along all his clothes and stuff. “Is the apartment furnished?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good.”
Another pause. “What are my chances, Hollis?”
“With me?” she asked, stalling for time.
“Yes.”
Hollis dropped her head onto her hand. “I honestly don't know how to answer that, Matt.”
“Let’s start with a ranking. On a scale of one to ten, how much do you forgive me?”
How much, indeed. “You really hurt me, Matt.”
His voice got very small. “I know.”
“I felt like all those years we were together were a lie. You didn’t follow through on anything you promised me. Not any of it.” Dang. It really felt good to say that. “I wasted an entire decade waiting for you to man up. You know?”
“I was scared, Hollis.”
“That’s not an excuse.” She had no intention of letting him off easy. Why should she? He didn’t deserve it.
“No. It’s not.” Matt sighed heavily, blowing on the receiver. “But I’m manning up now. I promise.”
Stevie’s supposition echoed through her thoughts. Might as well throw everything on the table; there was no point in dancing around any of it now.
“Were you with Suz
an before you left me?”
“Hollis—”
“I need to know, Matt. And I need the truth.” Hollis pounded her fist on her desktop. “And if I find out you lied to me again, I will cause you physical harm.”
“Hollis…”
“I’m not kidding, Matt.”
He sighed again. “I wasn’t dating her before I moved out.”
Aww crap. “But you were talking?”
“Yes.”
Hollis’s hand sagged. She sat back in her chair and stared at her phone. The temptation to hang up on him nearly pushed her to do so.
“Hollis?” his thin voice called through the tiny speaker. “Are you still there?”
“Yes,” she answered from a distance.
“You sound far away.”
“I am far away, Matt. It’s where you put me.”
Silence.
Hollis waited, watching the seconds tick by on her screen; proof that Matt had not hung up.
“I’m sorry, Hollis. I was wrong,” he finally said after more than a minute had gone by. “I was so completely wrong. It was all me. I was one hundred percent at fault.”
Hollis returned the phone to her ear. “I needed to hear that, Matt.” She heaved a sigh. “And I needed to know about Suzan.”
Another long pause passed in a wordless void that was punctuated by Matt’s sniffling. “What now?”
That’s the million dollar question. She would not look at Sveyn, though the Viking was next to her listening to every word of the conversation.
“What do you mean?” she stalled again.
More sniffing, followed by another throat clearing.
“Should I stay in Milwaukee?” he asked at last.
Hollis wiped her own eyes. She knew what she should say. And she knew what she wanted to say. The problem is, they were not compatible answers.
“Hollis?”
Hollis muted her phone and looked at Sveyn. “I have to do this.”
He straightened and walked to the other side of her office, clearly distressed. He nodded slowly and stared at her with pain-filled eyes.
She un-muted her phone. “No.”
“No?” Matt hesitated. “No, what. Exactly. Just to be clear.”
“No. Don’t stay in Milwaukee, Matt.” Hollis drew a slow, steadying breath. “Come to Phoenix. Let me know when you get here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sveyn stared across the office at her, his eyes dark as his mood. “Are you truly convinced about what you are doing?”
“Sveyn—”
“Hollis.” He strode toward her. “From the start of my manifestation here, you have not said one good thing about that man.”
“I know, but—”
“There is no ‘but’ which applies, Hollis.” Sveyn jabbed a stiff finger at her. “Are you absolutely confident that there is good reason for you to encourage this man’s attentions?”
Hollis felt her anger surging to dangerous levels. “There is a reason! And it’s ten years!”
“Ten years wasted, you said,” he threw her own words back at her. “And let us be clear, by inviting him to come you are considering wasting even more.”
“Ten years invested,” she snapped. “When you were living, you never spent that much time with one person. You can’t possibly understand what a big deal that is!”
Sveyn flinched.
Hollis felt a stab of regret at the accusation, but she couldn’t stop now. “Besides, if he’s telling the truth and he’s really sorry for what an ass he’s been, then the pain of his leaving will be worth it!”
The Viking’s gaze narrowed. “How?”
Hollis rolled her eyes; though a good man overall, Sveyn was stubbornly contrary sometimes. “He’s had his fling. The grass wasn’t greener—it was dead. He knows that now.”
“What you do not see, Hollis, is that it will not be different. It cannot be.” Sveyn dragged his hands through his hair—which moved and tumbled across his shoulders this time. “The sad truth is that men do not change.”
“What are you talking about? Of course they do.” She scowled at him and tossed an intentionally belittling spear. “At least modern, civilized men do.”
Sveyn snorted. “I have been watching men—dozens of them—for a thousand years. I do believe I can speak with more authority on that subject than you can.”
Hollis recoiled, unwilling to listen. “You’re saying that because he strayed once, he’ll stray again? You don’t even know him!”
“I know his actions, however, do I not?” Sveyn narrowed the gap between them. “He said he loved you, but he never married you. Why? He thought he might meet someone better than you.”
The Viking ran Hollis through the heart with that sword. “How dare you!”
“You were not good enough for him then.” Sveyn threw his arms wide. “So why is he back?”
Tears stung her eyes. “Why are you being so mean? Can’t you just give him—and me—some credit?”
Sveyn folded his arms. “And if you take up with him again what will you expect? Marriage?”
“Of course.” That was the only logical reason to consider reuniting with Matt.
“How soon?” Sveyn pushed.
She swiped at her eyes. “Well, I’m not going to wait another ten years. I’m not stupid.”
“How soon?” he asked again.
“I can’t answer that yet!” she cried. “Can you please just back off?”
He didn’t. “And what if he leaves you again?”
Hollis would have slapped him if she could. “Stop it!”
“You are inviting this man to hurt you again.”
“Don’t you get it? I want a future!”
“Then you should look elsewhere.” Sveyn stared hard into her eyes. “This man will not give you one.”
“Oh! And you will?”
Hollis clenched her fists and quickly moved away from him. She couldn’t look into his eyes, so filled with pain that it spilled over her and burned in her chest. Everything Sveyn was saying could very well be true. But Hollis couldn’t see another path to follow at this point.
Then without warning a horrible, terrible, devastating thought occurred. Of course. She turned slowly to face the angry apparition.
“You don’t want me to go back to Matt because you don’t want to be stuck with him,” she accused. “That’s what this is all about!”
A shadow passed over Sveyn’s brow. “Of course I do not wish to be stuck, as you say. But that is not why I am giving you this advice!”
Hollis shook her head “I don’t believe you.”
Sveyn closed the gap between them, fury turning his face impossibly red. “I have never lied to you, Hollis! And I never will! You know that!”
“You’re jealous!” she shouted. “Admit it!”
Her office door opened and Stevie stuck her head in. “Are you all—” Her eyes rounded and she stared straight at Sveyn. “Oh my God!”
Stevie slipped through the partially opened door and leaned on it to close it. “Is that him?”
Sveyn fell back, his eyes fixed on Stevie’s. He looked as shocked as she did.
Stunned, Hollis’s anger turned to disbelief. “Do you see him?”
Without waiting for Stevie’s answer, Sveyn whirled around and disappeared through the office wall.
“Oh my God…” Stevie moaned as she sank to the floor with her back still against the door. She literally looked like she had seen a ghost, and the irony of that phrase was not lost on Hollis.
Hollis walked to the door and slid down beside Stevie. “We were arguing.”
“That’s why I came in,” Stevie mumbled. “I heard shouting.”
Oh, no. “Did anyone else?”
She frowned. “I don’t think so. Miranda’s not in her office.”
“What did it sound like?”
“Really weird.” Stevie shuddered. “Your voice was clear. But the other voice was muffled. I couldn’t understand the words.”<
br />
Hollis closed her eyes, feeling drained in the aftermath of their unresolved argument’s adrenaline. “He was really mad.”
“What did you fight about?”
“Matt.”
Stevie shuddered again. “Yeah. That was so, so weird.”
Hollis opened her eyes. “Could you see him clearly?”
“Yes—but he wasn’t solid. I could see through him.” Stevie turned her face to Hollis’s. “But when I looked into his eyes? Oh God, Hollis. I can’t even explain what that felt like.”
Hollis’s brow twitched. “Good or bad?”
Stevie hesitated. “Both, I think.”
Hollis found that answer a little disturbing. “Why bad?”
Her friend’s features twisted. “I could feel how upset he was.”
Interesting. “And good?”
Stevie relaxed for the first time since she entered Hollis’s office. One corner of her mouth lifted. “You couldn’t tell on that camera on Monday, but damn, Hollis. He really is one good looking man.”
*****
Hollis didn’t see Sveyn for the rest of the afternoon. That was probably just as well, considering how angry they both were when he stormed off. While she understood how Sveyn’s existence would be impacted if she renewed her relationship with Matt, she still thought the Viking was unnecessarily heavy-handed in his accusations.
And mean, to be honest. An apology was in order.
She wondered if she was beginning to see his original temperament forged in an ancient and violent time, before it was smoothed by constant contact with increasingly modern men.
Hollis’s cell phone rang. The display said it was George Oswald.
Hi, George,” Hollis greeted the lawyer. “What’s up?”
“Hi, Hollis. I’m calling to let you know we have a court date for your civil suit against Everett Sage.”
Oh, no. Hollis’s already shredded emotions took another hit. “When?”
“January seventh.”
“Will I have to testify?” Do. Not. Cry.
“Maybe,” George admitted. “We have until the trial begins to reach a settlement. And even though he can easily afford it, one point eight million is a lot of dollars.”