Page 3 of A Holly Brown Christmas
Looking up, he saw Lennon Van Horn—his best friend and a fellow lawyer for the firm. “Sure. What’s up?”
Hands in his trouser pockets, Lennon casually strolled in. “I just saw the email from your dad. Are you okay?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Sure. Why?”
All his buddy did was look at him.
Sighing, Lucas leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped behind his head. “The timing just sucks, you know? And this whole divorce thing came out of nowhere and now…” Another sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe there’s something wrong with me. Even before the divorce announcement, I’ve been feeling off. Christmas is coming—my big break and time off and all that—but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I usually feel.”
Lennon sat down in one of the chairs facing Lucas’s desk. “The holidays are hard for a lot of people. Hell, I usually get a little depressed this time of year. It’s a lot of pressure and running around and it can be exhausting.”
But Lucas shook his head. “That part I never quite understood…all the pressure people put on themselves.”
“That’s because you’ve always had people who handle most of the chaos that goes with the holidays for you.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning you were born into a wealthy family. You had people come and decorate your house, people who did your shopping and wrapping gifts for you. All you had to do was show up!”
“Thanks,” Lucas murmured. “You make me sound like an entitled jerk.”
“That’s not what I meant. I just meant that you don’t get why people get stressed because you can’t relate.” He paused. “But you get to celebrate all the perks of other people’s hard work.”
“Yikes. Now I sound even worse.” Lucas let out a long breath, lowering his arms. “I enjoy getting presents and sending cards and all that good stuff. I love celebrating with our annual Christmas party for everyone who works here and then seeing all my relatives and spending time with them, but I’m still not happy. I kind of always end up feeling let down. Like something’s missing.”
Lennon studied him for a moment. “I can relate—the let-down feeling and all that. Hell, that’s how I usually feel by the time the holidays are over. I never really get what I want.” He laughed softly. “It’s not nearly as exciting when you’re an adult. As a kid, we got all the cool toys and games. Now I get a bunch of stupid sweaters or practical stuff.” He shuddered dramatically. “I’m grateful, but…” He shrugged.
“What do you usually want?”
He grinned. “Real estate.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Dude, no one is going to buy you real estate for Christmas. And what would you even do with it?”
“I want to flip houses! I want to tear down walls and take something ugly and make it look fantastic!”
“Len, you once hired someone to assemble a coffee table for you,” he said with amusement. “I don’t see you walking around with a sledgehammer knocking down walls.”
“I didn’t say that I was personally going to do it. I just want to get into that. Flipping houses and making money!” Another grin. “But back to you. Are you going to be okay? Really?”
“What choice do I have? The holidays are going to suck this year, everyone’s going to be disappointed about the party, my parents are going to make me crazy, and it is what it is.”
“Or…”
“Or…?”
“Why don’t you do the party?”
The bark of laughter was out before he could stop it. “Um…you’re joking, right?”
Leaning forward, Lennon nodded enthusiastically. “I mean, think about it! Why can’t you? You can hire the people to decorate the house, hire the catering crew, and do it all exactly the way it’s been for years. You’d be the hero!”
“There’s just one problem with that.”
“What?”
“I don’t know anything about any of that. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. And if I call and ask my mother, you know she’s just going to freak out and come home and put a stop to it.”
“So you don’t ask her. You just do it. Get it all planned and put everything in place so it’s too late for her to come in and cancel it.”
