Page 4 of A Holly Brown Christmas
“Dude, you know my mom. If she wants it canceled, she’ll do it.”
“She also loves everyone’s approval,” Lennon reasoned. “And you and I have been friends since middle school, so I can say that with confidence. There is no way she’ll want to come off as the villain. Trust me. This could be the answer to your mood. Put yourself in the middle of the entire production. There’s no way it won’t make you feel more connected to the holidays!”
“I don’t know…”
“Blast holiday music! Get involved! And before you know it, you’ll be fa-la-la-la-la-ing with the holiday spirit!”
It seemed ridiculous to him and, honestly, he had no idea how he would even pull it off, which is what he said.
“Didn’t she work with someone here in the office? Maybe you can ask around and find out?”
Ugh…why wouldn’t he just let it go?
Lennon got to his feet. “Just…think about it, okay? For all you know, planning this party will not only get you out of your funk, but it can also be the thing to bring your parents together.”
Standing, he shook his head. “I wish I had your enthusiasm. Maybe you should be in charge of planning the whole thing. I’d gladly give you full access to the house and the party and everything that goes with it.”
That made his buddy laugh. “Um, no. This is about you and doing something good for you, the company, and your family. But I can ask around and see if anyone was working with your mom on the party planning.”
Lucas still didn’t see the point, but he figured it couldn’t hurt. “Yeah. Sure. That would be great. Thanks.”
“Okay, then. I’ll let you get back to work and I’ll see what I can find out.”
Once Lennon was gone, Lucas sat back down and tried to focus on the contract he had started on earlier, before he got his mother’s Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage. Putting that little nightmare aside, he went back to his actual work.
He read and re-read it multiple times when a knock on his door had him looking up.
Holly Brown was standing in his doorway. With her long, wavy hair up in a bouncy ponytail, her wide blue eyes looking expectantly at him as she smiled her usual dazzling smile. She was the sunny to his gloom, and Lucas had to force himself not to do something crazy like jump up and smile. That would be very uncharacteristic of him, so he gently cleared his throat and motioned for her to come in.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked nervously.
I did?
He racked his brain for a moment and for the life of him, he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Um…”
“I saw Lennon—Mr. Van Horn—in the break room, and he said you needed to talk to me,” she prompted.
He still wasn’t connecting the dots.
“The Christmas party?” she said slowly, clearly picking up on the fact that he was confused. “He said you needed my help planning it. And I just want you to know that I would be honored and thrilled to help you!”
Oh.
That.
Unsure of what to do or say, he simply asked her to take a seat and hoped she’d take over the conversation from there.
Two
Holly’s heart was racing like wild as she sat down in Lucas’s office. It was crazy how just a few hours ago, she felt nothing but despair, and now she had hope!
Hope and the chance to work closely with her secret crush! It was like an early Christmas present!
Yay, me!
Forcing herself to take a moment to breathe and calm down, she smiled at Lucas. “I’m really glad that you decided not to let our beloved Christmas party go. Your father’s email earlier was very sad. I know everyone was broken up about it.”
