Chapter Twenty-Six #2
Everything inside him froze. He didn’t want to argue. Part of him wanted to turn around and get right back in his truck. What he wished most was that he could go back in time and undo what felt like irreparable damage.
“Come in,” Sandy said, ushering him inside.
Hollis cautiously stepped forward, hearing the front door close behind him. He kept his hands clasped, and his head tipped low. He was ready for whatever Matt wanted to say to him. He’d take every word.
“Have a seat,” Sandy urged, gesturing to the sofa.
They settled in the living room, an uncomfortable silence stretching between them.
Hollis took a deep breath and steeled himself. When Matt didn’t immediately start yelling at him, he led the conversation himself. “Listen. I’m sorry,” he began, his voice shaky.
To his surprise, Matt leaned forward and placed a hand on Hollis’s knee. “I don’t accept your apology.”
Every muscle in Hollis’s body tensed.
“No, Hollis. You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who needs to apologize. My behavior last night was… inexcusable. I don’t even recognize the man who walked into this house last night. That wasn’t me.”
Hollis blinked as he looked up to meet Matt’s gaze.
Matt’s words rushed out. “Jealousy turns a man into a boy, Hollis. I guess I was jealous of your relationship with Pop, of the way he wants to hand over the tree farm to you.”
“You told me that you never wanted the farm,” Hollis said quietly.
“I don’t. But selfishly, I still felt entitled to the land, which just makes me, well, it makes me a jerk. Instead of being proud of and supporting you, I lashed out. I asked you to leave, and I’m so ashamed.” Matt’s voice broke.
“Matt,” Hollis said, but Matt held up a hand.
“Lemme finish. I let my insecurities cloud what Pop tried to do for you, and I’m sorry. You were nearly grown when you came to live with us, but you are our son, Hollis. In every way that matters. And I know Pop thinks of you as his grandson. You deserve the farm.”
A lump formed in Hollis’s throat. He’d spent so long feeling like an outsider, never quite believing he truly belonged. To hear Matt say these words…
Sandy reached out and took Hollis’s hand. “We love you, sweetie. We always have, and we always will. There is nothing you can ever do or say to change that. Ever. We are your forever family.”
Hollis tried to speak, but his throat was too tight. He took a breath and nodded, managing a quiet “Thank you.”
Matt cleared his throat, obviously trying to regain his composure. “Now, about the farm. If you want it, I encourage you to accept the offer.”
Hollis felt his eyes widen. “Really?”
Matt nodded. “Really. The construction crew won’t be the same without you, but it’ll survive. Hollis,” Matt said, “you’re fired.”
Hollis sat upright.
Matt broke into a wide grin. “You need to follow your heart. Pop is giving you the land, and I’m offering the crew’s help to build whatever you need for those plans of yours. We’ll set up kennels, fix the barn, build a little store. Whatever you want.”
Hollis was overwhelmed, and humbled. After days of feeling like his world was falling apart, everything seemed to be falling into place. Well, almost everything.
“I don’t know what to say.” Hollis thought of Duke, fighting for his life at the vet’s office. Of Buster, who had saved his friend despite everyone’s initial assumptions. He thought of the tree farm, of the dogs he could help, of the family surrounding him now.
And Mallory. Savannah had advised him to give Mallory time, but he didn’t want her to spend that time thinking he didn’t want her in his life. That he wasn’t going to fight for her and try to make things right.
That he didn’t love her.
“I appreciate everything,” he finally said, his voice steady and sure.
“I appreciate your support and welcoming me into your home. Your family.” He leaned forward and gave them both a hug that lasted at least a minute.
Then he pulled back and looked at them. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I need to find someone.”
“Mallory,” Sandy said, knowingly. “I know exactly where she is.”
The Fathers Ornament
The Fathers Ornament is in the box labeled 15. Inside you’ll find a clear ball-shaped ornament with a handful of items inside. Hang it on the lower part of the tree, fifteen down from the Santa Hat Tree Topper.
Here’s the story behind it.
Daisy stayed just long enough for us all to believe that things had shifted, and she was finding her roots. She seemed comfortable and happy. The restlessness she’d always shown seemingly had gone.
Daisy even got a job at the local diner and read bedtime stories to Maddie at night, revealing her upbringing in the theater as she read in varied voices and used animated gestures.
She attended Mallory’s school events too.
At first, Mallory was guarded, always waiting for her mom to leave.
But then her walls slowly slipped away. If I had any inkling that Mallory’s heart would be broken, I would have stepped in.
I would have made sure she was protected.
I didn’t though. I was just as wrapped up in this new life and the promise of that broken compass.
Things started to derail about five months later.
It was early summer, following that Christmas reunion.
I found myself standing in the doorway of Mallory’s bedroom one night, watching Daisy braid Mallory’s long, dark hair.
They giggled like schoolgirls. I recall thinking they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.
Inwardly, I scolded myself and told myself I was being jealous.
I had been raising Mallory and Maddie as my own.
The two didn’t see me, so it felt like I was spying. Daisy leaned in and whispered something in Mallory’s ear the way I’d seen Mallory do to Maddie many times, and they laughed harder. Hysterically, even.
Daisy snorted at whatever Mallory had told her. “Don’t let Mom hear you say that,” she warned.
Mallory’s brow wrinkled softly.
“My mom,” Daisy corrected, gesturing at herself. “Your grandma.”
It was an awkward moment made worse when they realized I was standing there watching.
“Are you spying on us?” Daisy hissed, jumping to her feet.
“Spying?” I repeated. “The door was open and…” I looked between them. “What are you doing?”
Mallory looked pale. She sat up straighter, looking as if she’d just been caught in a crime.
“We’re hanging out, Mom. And you aren’t invited.” With that, Daisy slammed the door in my face, leaving me with my mouth gaping and my heart aching.
“You know that you’re her mother,” I told Daisy the next day.
Daisy seemed taken aback. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You two were acting like schoolgirls yesterday. I’m guessing Mallory told you about a boy and that’s why you were giggling and whispering.”
Daisy’s expression transformed from carefree to defensive. “So?”
“Did Mallory tell you that I’ve told her to stay away from that exact boy? Hollis Franklin, right? He’s not good for her, Daisy. But instead of acting like a parent, you encouraged your teenage daughter to sneak out.”
“It’s no biggie. I snuck off with boys at her age,” Daisy said with a shrug of her shoulder.
“And you think Mallory should follow in your shoes?” I asked, working to keep my tone as gentle as I could muster.
Fury lit inside her eyes, and I felt myself wanting to shrink away. “Hollis has a troubled past. He’s a good boy, but he has healing to do, Daisy. He’s nowhere near ready to handle Mallory’s heart. And Mallory has healing to do too.”
Daisy shot up from the bar stool she was seated on, nearly knocking it down. “Healing because of me? Because of her crappy mom, right? You’re judging this boy in the same way you’ve always judged me!”
Zero to one-eighty right before my eyes. Proof that Daisy wasn’t ready either. She was acting irrationally. Irresponsibly.
“Being a parent means sometimes you can’t be your child’s friend.
” I was no longer talking to Daisy about how she interacted with Mallory.
I was also talking about myself and how I had interacted with my child.
I wasn’t a perfect parent. I could have been there for Daisy more.
Could have been softer. Stricter. A better mix of both.
I didn’t think any of her shortcomings were her fault.
No, I knew for a fact that they were mine.
More than anything, I wanted to help her, but at the moment, I needed to protect my grandchildren.
Hollis Franklin wasn’t the biggest threat in Mallory’s life. Not by a landslide.
Daisy’s eyes burned with tears. Her bottom lip trembled. “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have told her to sneak out.”
“Mallory has never snuck out before. She’s never broken a rule as far as I can tell,” I said quietly.
“She came home with her jacket smelling of cigarette smoke and beer.” I held up my hand.
“I don’t think she was smoking or drinking, but she will if she continues hanging out with the wrong crowd and heading down the wrong path. ”
“Like me,” Daisy said, the defensiveness gone. She looked more defeated than anything.
“Are you sober?” I’d been reluctant to ask before, but I needed to know. Daisy was an addict. She got hooked on anything that made her feel a tiny bit better in her own skin. Drugs and alcohol. Men.
“No.” She didn’t meet my gaze.
I swallowed hard. If I allowed myself to cry, I might not be strong enough to hold my ground. There were times when parents had to be the villain in order to be the hero. “Then you understand what I have to do.”
“Yeah.” Sniffling, she said, “They won’t understand why I’m doing this to them again. But… I do. I get it. And you’re right.” She rolled her eyes. “Wow. Never thought I’d utter those words.” She looked down at her hand, weaving her fingers together. “Mallory will take this the hardest.”
“She’s strong. Like you.” I was so proud of Daisy in that moment. She was putting her children first. And maybe that meant one day she’d be ready to be a full-time mother.
“I’m not so sure.” Reaching into her pocket, Daisy pulled out a handful of items and laid them on the table.
A piece of gum, a business card, a picture of herself with some guy I didn’t recognize, and a ring.
“This is all I have of their fathers. They’ll ask and I wish I could tell them more.
Mallory’s father was an actor.” Her gaze flicked to meet mine. “We had feelings. He gave me the ring.”
I noticed now that it was an engagement ring.
“Anyway, he had an accident and, well…”
The pain that struck my heart was immediate. All in a second, I understood that Daisy had fallen in love with a man. She’d been pregnant and she’d faced the same path that I had so long ago.
Picking up the ring, Daisy seemed to admire it one last time.
“I said yes, and I was ready to give everything up for him. It didn’t even feel like I was giving up anything.
It felt like I was taking on the role of a lifetime.
” She looked up at me, my sweet baby girl.
“Tell Mallory, one day when she asks, that I loved her father and he was destined to be a star. Tell her that her father was kind and creative. That he was a good man.” She placed the ring in my palm.
“And give her this. It’s all I have of his. She should have it.”
I gave her a moment, waiting because there were more items on the table.
“Maddie’s dad was a stagehand. He was witty and strong.
I never told him about her. Something told me he was the type of guy who’d do the “honorable thing.” I didn’t want to fall in love.
I’d already been there, done that, had the broken heart to show for it.
This is his business card, should she ever want to find him. ”
“The gum?” I asked.
Daisy surprised me with a smile. “Leo traded me a stick of gum for a kiss.” The way her eyes sparkled, I didn’t need to ask which of the two men was Leo. The look of love is unmistakable.
“The penny?” I asked.
“Maddie’s father. Heads we have sushi. Tails we go back to his place.” Daisy shrugged and stood. “Tails it was. Maddie came nine months later.”
“Better than sushi.”
“I wish I had more to give them.”
I reached out and held Daisy’s hand, finding her skin cold and clammy.
“You have given them everything you can. The best thing you can do for them is to take care of yourself.” I dipped my head to meet her eyes and hold her gaze.
“I am your mother first. I’ll always be here, and if you should want help getting sober, I will find the best professional help that you need. ”
Daisy was right. Mallory took it the hardest. She was inconsolable for months after Daisy left.
I was at a loss for what to do, and then an idea struck me.
Santa, Baby was coming up on its nineteenth run, backed by the community’s insistence for an encore year after year.
As the screenwriter and director, I decided to write a new role into the story.
What if Santa and Mrs. Claus adopted a young girl? I tailor-wrote the role for Mallory.
When I told her about it, she shied away until I revealed I’d also written a part in for Hollis, who I knew she had a crush on. Suddenly, Mallory was fifteen again, straddling the line between childhood and adulthood. There was a skip in her step again.
I knew Hollis was troubled. I knew that “hurt people hurt people.” Especially when they’re young. I knew that Hollis Franklin was still a threat to Mallory’s fragile heart, but he was the only solution to her sadness. A temporary solution. And, in hindsight, a big mistake.
But that is a different story. And a different ornament.