Page 15 of A Holly Brown Christmas
She nervously played with her food and wouldn’t look at him.
“Holly?”
“Ugh, fine. A twenty-foot tree, fully lit, runs around fifteen thousand,” she murmured.
“Dollars? For a tree? Surely that can’t be right,” he argued. “I mean, that’s insane! Who would spend that kind of money?”
“Someone who lives in a sixteen thousand square foot house, obviously,” she retorted with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“Okay, I guess I deserve that,” he quietly replied. “Apparently, I just never thought about that sort of thing.”
She sighed, and when she looked at him, her expression was a little sad. “I know, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been snarky about it. I was just as surprised as you were. I never imagined a tree costing that much, but trust me, I searched on every site that offered ones that tall and the prices were competitive.” Pausing, she sighed again. “Although, you mom might see this as us doing her a favor.”
“How do you figure that?”
“She’ll never have to pay to rent one again.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to impress her. I have a feeling she didn’t want that big of a monstrosity sitting in storage anywhere. I don’t even know where we’d put it.”
“It comes apart,” she explained. There’s a whole cage that has to be assembled and then all the branches have to be attached. It’s not a quick and easy assembly from what I saw, either. We’d have to have a team of volunteers to help.”
He groaned. “Holly, again, maybe this just isn’t meant to be. Maybe…” His phone rang and by the ringtone, he knew it was his mother.
Great.
“Do you need to take that?” Holly asked.
“I do. I’m sorry. Please finish eating and hopefully this won’t take too long.” Lucas got to his feet and waited until he was in his father’s study before answering the phone. “Hey, Mom. How are you?”
“Hello, sweetheart! Am I interrupting anything? It took you a while to pick up.”
“Oh, no. Sorry. I was eating dinner and just wanted to finish what was in my mouth before answering.”
“I didn’t even think about the possibility of you eating right now,” she said with a small laugh. “With the time difference, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It’s fine. Really. What’s up?”
“Have you looked over the contract I sent you? You never got back to me. I want to get everything filed as soon as possible. The sooner I can get the ball rolling and get rid of your father, the better.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lucas took a moment before responding.
“Mom, I think you’re acting a bit rashly. I don’t understand how we went from everything being fine two weeks ago for Anna’s birthday to you filing a Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage. I’m going to need to understand what’s going on.”
“Your father is a selfish jackass! That’s what’s going on! I’m tired of never being a priority! I’m tired of doing all the work to make his company look good and getting none of the credit!”
“Okay, that’s not totally true. Everyone knows you are the heart and soul of the parties. As a matter of fact, everyone’s very upset that we’re not hosting our usual Christmas party this year. Maybe you could…”
“You have no idea how relieved I am to not have to do it anymore! Do you have any idea how much work that party is to plan and put together? Even with the party planners, caterers, decorators, and a very detailed itinerary, it’s exhausting! You can’t possibly know what it’s like!”
“I have an idea,” he murmured, but she didn’t hear him. She was on a roll, ranting about all the things she would do to make their lives better and how no one appreciated it.
“I’m planning on staying away through the holidays. I know you’re probably very disappointed, but you have to understand. Your father simply can’t get his way all the time. Let him see what it’s like to have that big empty house with no holiday decorations! He always loved the way I made everything look.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “Well, let him suffer this year. Maybe that will wake him up.”
Lucas had a feeling his father wasn’t even going to notice.
“Mom, have you even tried to talk to Dad? I think if the two of you would just sit down and have a conversation, things can work out and we can salvage Christmas.”
“Oh, Christmas is ruined, Lucas,” she said wearily. “Even if things worked out with your father—which they won’t—it’s too late to do all of my usual holiday hoopla. It’s a shame, really. I do love the way the house looks when it’s all decorated.” She paused. “And I’m going to get the house in the divorce. You can be sure of that! I refuse to let that man have the house that I designed, decorated, and cared for! He can move into some condo somewhere!”
