Page 72 of The Christmas Keepsake
On a shaky breath, Hollis turned from the mirror and headed toward the front of the house. Grabbing his car keys, he left to havea meal with Matt and Sandy—and the talk Hollis was dreading. Both Evan and Mallory had convinced Hollis that it wouldn’t hurt to at least broach the subject of not being the one to take over the construction crew for Matt. It wasn’t that Hollis was ungrateful. Or that he wasn’t honored that Matt thought so much of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t think highly of the business that Matt had spent the last three decades building. Matt had achieved so much, just like Pop had in opening Bloom’s first tree farm.
Driving slowly down the dirt path from his home, Hollis rehearsed what he was going to say. Hollis wanted to follow his heart, but doing so felt like he was infringing on Matt’s birthright—even if Matt didn’t care about maintaining what Pop had built.
Hollis let his gaze roam over the lot of trees as he approached the end of the dirt road where the large wooden sign for Popadine’s Christmas Tree Farm was posted in the ground. Evan had insisted that Matt would understand. After all, Matt had been a young, ambitious guy at one time, and Matt hadn’t wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he’d stepped out and followed his own dream. The old saying that a person should follow their heart was all well and good until it conflicted with the next person’s heart.
“Your heart will never lead you wrong,” Mallory had told Hollis just this morning. He wondered if she knew his heart was tugging him toward her as well.
Just the thought of Mal sent his blood coursing through his veins.Don’t get your hopes up, Hol. Yes, they’d kissed, more than once, and yes, those kisses had short-circuited and then rewired his entire nervous system. He liked what was happening between them, but he wasn’t a fool. She had the potential to break his heart. He’d already explored that possibility in his mind and decided that, whatever happened, it’d be worth it.
It was the alternate what-ifs that scared him most. What if Mallory didn’t break his heart? What if she stuck around? What if she actuallyliked him for who he was as much as he liked her? He’d attended enough therapy and group sessions while he was in juvenile detention to know that he was the ultimate self-saboteur. What ifhewas the heartbreaker in this situation? Not because he didn’t want to be with Mallory. No, if he ended things, it would be because he let his fear and insecurities spur him to do something idiotic—which wasn’t too far-fetched.
As Hollis turned his truck into Matt and Sandy’s neighborhood, he lifted his foot off the gas pedal and slowed.
Worst-case scenario tonight: Matt got angry and asked Hollis to leave. Matt could be a hothead, but he always cooled down eventually. Matt was a rational man. A good man. And Hollis wasn’t trying to steal Matt’s inheritance. The proposition that Hollis was coming in with was that the land would remain legally Matt’s one day. Hollis just wanted to strike a deal where he ran Pop’s tree farm and also upstarted his own dog-training business on the property.
Best-case scenario tonight: Matt immediately saw the good in the situation and gave him his blessing.
The evening sun blinded him momentarily as he cut the truck’s engine and stepped out in Matt and Sandy’s driveway.
“Hollis!” Sandy called, opening her arms wide to give him a hug as soon as he climbed the porch steps. Sandy was a small-framed woman, barely five feet tall, and yet, when he had been a rebellious seventeen-year-old, she could put the fear of God in him when she was angry. These days, Hollis didn’t give her much reason to get that heated. Instead, she was more of the grandmotherly type. Since she and Matt didn’t have any biological children, they had recently started to nudge Hollis about settling down and giving them some grandchildren.
“Come on in.” Sandy closed the door behind him and walked past, talking as she led him toward the kitchen, where he could smell something delicious cooking.
“Where’s Matt?” he asked, glancing around.
“Oh, you know him. Always working late, especially during theholidays when you’re at the tree farm.” Her tone was a little pointed. “He says he’s going to retire next year, but I’ll believe it when I see it.” She shook her head and laughed quietly. “But he’ll be here soon. He promised. He just wanted to wrap up whatever he was doing at the new site and then drop by to see Pop on the way home.”
Matt didn’t visit his dad nearly as much as Hollis. Matt had a lot on his plate. He always had. “That’s great.” Hollis rubbed his hands together as he breathed in the yummy aroma in the air. “I’m sure Pop will appreciate the visit.”
Sandy nodded knowingly. “I need to get over there and see him myself.” There was a slight hint of guilt playing in her facial expression as she glanced over her shoulder at Hollis. “He loves my chocolate chip cookies. Maybe I’ll whip up a batch and carry them over this weekend.”
“I’m sure he’d like that.”
Hollis heard the front door open.
“Oh, that must be Matt now,” Sandy said excitedly. She patted Hollis’s shoulder as she hurried out of the kitchen to greet her husband.
Hollis remained in the kitchen, stepping over to the stove to see what she was creating that had such a delicious aroma. Sandy was an amazing cook, and her meals didn’t disappoint. He’d grown up eating fast-food and packaged junk. Home-cooked meals were rare until Matt and Sandy had taken him in.
Guilt flared in the pit of his stomach, suppressing his appetite. He wasn’t looking forward to tonight’s conversation. Matt is a reasonable man though, he reminded himself.
“There you are!”
Hollis turned toward Matt’s raised voice. His angry voice. At first, he thought Matt was playing, because Matt rarely showed his temper. When Hollis saw Matt’s flushed cheeks, however, he knew this was serious.
“Matt,” Sandy said, her expression dropping along with her jaw in surprise, “what’s going on?”
Matt pointed in Hollis’s direction, his finger shaking. “He knows.”
Hollis was at a loss, his brain on overdrive as it worked to put the pieces of the puzzle in place. Matt had stopped at Memory Oaks tonight.
Oh no.
Pop must have told Matt about the offer. Hollis hadn’t accepted, although he’d been strongly considering doing so. But Pop didn’t know that.
Hollis lifted both hands with his open palms turned out in surrender. “Let me explain.”
Sandy continued to look between them, her brow line softly pinching. She stomped and put her hands on her hips. “Somebody tell me what’s going on right this minute.”
