Page 57 of Five Minute Man
Chapter 27
Holly’s brother-in-law, Zach, a corporate lawyer based outside of Philadelphia, set the papers down and removed his reading glasses. “Civil suits aren’t really my area of expertise,” he said carefully, “but I have to call bullshit on this.”
As annoying as her loud-mouthed, older sister Vicki was, Holly often wondered what the handsome, soft-spoken attorney had seen in her. Zach was nothing like Vicki. He was so laidback, always seeming to take everything her odd family threw at him in stride. Plus, he was one of the few who didn’t seem to think Holly’s life and career choices were causes for an intervention.
Holly was fond of Zach. Fond of all her sibling’s spouses, as a matter of fact. It was only her blood relatives that she had problems with.
“It’s all fluff and bluster,” Zach continued as the rest of the family listened in.
The moment David had read the letter, he had called everyone in for a family meeting. Now there were McTierneys all over Holly’s modest living room, standing, sitting, and leaning against every available surface. The space had never seemed quite so small.
“What exactly does that mean?” Holly’s mother asked.
“It means, they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. From what you’ve told me, Holly, this cottage and the land it sits on were divested from the original Penn estate a long time ago. It’s been privately-owned and maintained for well over a century, and the Covendale Valley Historical Society has never felt the need to intervene before. I don’t think there’s any question that this is a personal attack on you. Who did you manage to piss off, anyway?”
It was impossible to take offense when Zach’s eyes were filled with amusement and his mouth tilted up in that boyish half-grin. He knew about her fierce independent streak and, unlike the rest of her family, actually seemed to think it was a good thing, which pissed Vicki off to no end, so it was especially appealing.
“Swedish Barbie,” Holly muttered, remembering Eve’s thinly veiled threats that day.
“Excuse me?” That came from Vicki.
“She means Eve Sanderson,” Liz said, breezing into the room with a bag of comfort goodies—ice cream, chocolate, and DVDs—for their planned two-person “fuck-the-world” fest later.
An FTW, as Holly and Liz called it, was a necessary response to a really big WTF moment in one of their lives. It was also a not-so-subtle hint for Holly’s family to be on their way.
“Who?” Holly’s younger sister Shelly asked, her head snapping up guiltily as she pretended shewasn’treading Holly’s latest manuscript. Holly recognized the look immediately. It was the same look Shelly would get when they were teenagers and she had tried to sneak-read Holly’s secret collection of romantic erotica.
When Holly narrowed her eyes in warning, Shelly’s cheeks went pink, and if anyone was really listening, they would have heard the drawer of Holly’s roll-top desk closing softly.
“Eve Sanderson. Holly’s boyfriend’s ex,” Liz answered. Her mouth had grimaced as if saying the other woman’s name left a bad taste in her mouth.
Several sets of eyes locked on Holly like heat-seeking missiles.
“Boyfriend?” Holly’s mother said, her interest immediate and absolute due to that one, ill-chosen word.
Holly shot Liz a scathing glance as she squirmed under the pressure. She might just have to smack her BFF upside the head with that half-gallon of Rocky Road later, accompanied by repeated warnings to never,evermake any mention of male interest around her mother.
“He was just a guy I saw a couple times, Mom. No big deal.” The lie burned on her lips, accompanied by an ache in her chest that was still too fresh, too deep. She forced it down, schooling her features into a mask of feigned indifference. She simply could not—wouldnot—discuss Adam with her family, not yet. Maybe never.
“You didn’t mention him.”
“Because, like I just said, it was no big deal. We went out once or twice.”Most of the time, we stayed in and had wild hot monkey sex.Holly almost let the words fly, just for the pure shock factor. It wasn’t worth the inevitable fallout afterward, though.
“But—”
“Drop it, Mom,” Holly warned sharply.
Eyes widened around the room while her mother openly gaped. Then, Colleen McTierney’s eyes began to narrow, andeveryoneknew that mother and daughter were both gearing up for one of their epic battles.
“Right, then,” Holly’s dad said, standing before his wife could dig her heels in. “I think that’s our cue. It’s getting late and most of us have work in the morning.”
Holly gave her father a look of grateful appreciation. Her father was a great, great man. And so wise.
“But Jack, Holly needs—”
“Peace and quiet,” Jack McTierney finished firmly for his wife, his tone not allowing argument. “Liz is here to take care of anything else, right, Liz?” he asked, shooting a pointed glance Liz’s way.
“Right, Mr. McTierney.”
