Page 37 of A Holly Brown Christmas
Again.
“And I’ve decided to go on a cruise for Christmas! Won’t that be fun?”
“Wait…you’re going to go on a cruise? I thought you were going to?—”
“I know, I know, but I changed my mind. My good friend Barb talked me into one of those adults-only cruises. No children allowed. And honestly, it sounds too good to be true! There’s going to be all kinds of games and contests, and I heard they give away some fabulous prizes! My goal is to win either a trip to Hawaii or something comparable.”
They were really going to be the death of him.
“When did you get so…so…”
He wanted to say greedy, but it just seemed wrong.
And perhaps a little disrespectful. She may frustrate the hell out of him, but she was still his mother.
“So…what?” she asked. “What exactly are you getting at?”
“Why are you trying to win a trip to Hawaii when you can clearly afford to pay for that on your own? I just don’t understand when you and Dad became this obsessed with being…I don’t know…prize chasers! And why are you so against seeing me, Katherine, and Anna for the holidays? You started all these traditions and made a big fuss every year about us keeping them and now you’re just taking off on some singles’ cruise! And you’re not even single!”
“I will be soon. You know, you still haven’t gotten back to me on those papers I sent you. You’re typically not that busy this time of year, so I don’t know why you’re dragging your feet. The sooner I can get the ball rolling, the better. Then maybe I will be single for the cruise!”
“I refuse to help you do that,” he said firmly. “I am not getting involved. If this is something you feel you need to do, then you’re going to have to hire your own lawyer and deal with Dad yourself. I’m tired of being in the middle.”
“Lucas! How could you? You said you’d help!”
“Um…actually, I didn’t. You just started sending me papers and then claimed that I was your attorney. But I’m not a divorce lawyer. I’m a corporate lawyer. They aren’t the same. I don’t deal with divorces or even know the laws about them. So if you are going to go through with this, you have to do it the right way. Honestly, I wish you and Dad would just sit down and stop chasing these silly, pointless prizes and games and be reasonable adults.”
“I’m not the one…”
“And I’m not doing this anymore!” he interrupted. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have plans this afternoon. Enjoy your spa, and good luck finding a lawyer.”
“Lucas, don’t you dare hang up! You need to…”
He hung up.
And turned off his phone.
Hell, he should never have answered it in the first place. The day had been going so freaking great. He and Holly had slept in—mainly because they hadn’t slept much last night—and then they’d taken Shmoop for a long walk. When they got back, Holly told him she was going to make them something to eat, and they had worked together to make Belgian waffles with bacon and fresh fruit on the side. It had been the most fun he’d ever had cooking anything.
When the crew showed up to finish the lights, Lucas had gone outside with everyone just to be knowledgeable about what was going on. Holly was really the one in charge, but he figured he should take an interest in it too. Henry said it would probably take the rest of the day for them to get it all done, but he brought a few extra guys to make sure it was finished today.
So he’d left them all to it and went inside to clean up the dishes. The dog had followed him and he was pretty sure Shmoop was hoping for food to drop on the floor.
“I’m on to you, dog. But you and I both know that Holly would kill me if I let you eat any table food. She’s a little obsessed with you sticking to your diet.”
Shmoop tilted his head, listening intently.
“She must have her reasons, so I’m not going to go against her wishes. So you just have to accept the fact that I’m not an ally, okay?”
The dog actually responded with some sort of language of his own, but to Lucas, it sounded something like, “Come on.”
Which was rather amusing, but it still wasn’t going to work.
After the kitchen was clean, he went upstairs and cleaned up the room they’d slept in last night. Holly already told him she needed to go home tonight because she was going to need clean clothes for work tomorrow, so that meant he needed to strip this bed and wash everything. He could wait for the cleaning crew to come, but he was more than capable of doing it himself.
It didn’t take all that long and then he was left wandering around looking for something to do.
Sadly, he didn’t have to wait long because his boredom got the better of him and he turned his phone back on just as his sister Anna was calling.
