Page 55 of A Holly Brown Christmas
Anna shuddered. “Ew, please. I can’t even think about Mom bringing home some shiny young guy. That’s just…” Another shudder.
“And Dad showing up with someone younger than us who teaches Pilates is just gross,” Kat added. “I mean…he needs to act his age.”
“Right. Because you never see rich older guys with younger women,” Anna said sarcastically. “Be real.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lucas forced himself to stay calm. “And when we get them home and we sit down to dinner, then what? And if they don’t change their minds?”
“Oh, um…we can try guilting them,” Anna suggested. “You know, use the grandkids and we can say how sad they’ll be.”
“No. They’ll counter with how the kids will be even more spoiled because they’ll have two houses to go to for the holidays. Double the gifts.” Kat looked at Lucas. “Although I don’t know what you’re going to bring to the discussion, except maybe telling them they won’t be invited to your wedding because you don’t want their new young playthings to come.”
“I’m not getting married anytime soon, so that’s not going to help anything,” he said wearily. “And can you please be serious?”
“I am! We’ve all been waiting for you to get serious with someone, and now you are. I say let’s use it to our advantage! And obviously Holly’s emotionally invested in this whole thing, so she could totally play it up like the two of you are eager to get married or something!”
“I’m not asking Holly to do anything like that. She knows Mom and Dad and she likes them; there’s no way she’s going to lie to them.”
“Well that’s a bummer,” Anna murmured. “Okay, so…what if we just send them each an invitation—like a big formal one—and you attach some pictures of the house all done up, and we take it from there? We can’t force either of them to get on a plane, but I can’t imagine them staying away if they know their annual party is happening without them.”
It wasn’t the worst idea.
He let out a long breath. “I think that’s the most logical solution. Obviously there’s no way of predicting how it’s going to go, but we’re just going to have to make sure we’re all on the same page when the time comes and do our best to get them to talk like logical adults.”
“And if they don’t?” Kat asked.
“Then at least know we tried,” he said. “And we gave them one last holiday party where they remembered who they were before everything got hard.”
Anna slowly nodded, the fight leaving her shoulders. “Alright. Let’s make it happen. One more party. One more family dinner. What weekend are you doing it?”
“It’s Saturday the twentieth. If you can both get in on Friday, that would be great. Holly and I will have everything set and ready to go. Just pretend it’s exactly like Mom would have done it.”
They both grinned. “Yeah, but it won’t be because you couldn’t get Mom’s people,” Kat reminded him.
“I know, but it will be close. Trust me. Things are coming along better than I thought, even without Mom’s people. Holly making sure of it.”
“Whatever it is, it’s going to be great. Even if Mom and Dad don’t appreciate it, we all know how much work you put into it, Lucas. So…thank you,” Anna quietly said.
They all looked at each other, a quiet understanding settling between them.
It wouldn’t be perfect. It might not even work. But it was worth it. For them. For the family.
For Christmas.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you both soon,” he said. “And thanks for this.” When they hung up a few minutes later, he felt mentally drained.
And thirsty.
Standing, he stretched and headed out of his office to the break room. No one was in there, but there was a Christmas tree set up in the corner, making him smile. Clearly the ones he ordered arrived and Holly made sure they got set up.
Grabbing a bottle of water, he walked over and studied the tree. It wasn’t awful, but it was a far cry from the ones they usually had. But then he reminded himself of how depressing it would have been if nothing had been done around here to commemorate the holidays. So, whether it was a designer tree or bought online, something was here to make people smile a little.
Like me.
“Hey, you’re done with your call!”
Turning, he saw Holly walking toward him, and for some reason, he felt compelled to go and wrap her in his arms and simply hold her.
So he did.
