A Holly Brown Christmas

Chapter 1

One

It was a disaster.

A nightmare!

A catastrophe of epic proportions!

Jumping to her feet, Holly Brown rushed out of her office and down the hall to her bestie’s office.

“Did you see it? Did you read it? It’s awful! What are we going to do?” she frantically demanded. “This is the worst possible thing that could happen!”

“Um…what?” Crystal Cassidy—who almost everyone called CeeCee—looked up from her computer screen in total confusion. “What’s happening?”

Groaning loudly, Holly came around the desk and took control of the laptop to pull up the email that had just gone out to everyone in the company. “Here! Read this! Read it and tell me you’re not devastated! Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

“O-kay…”

But before Crystal could finish reading, Holly was already asking, “It’s crazy, right? We have to do something!”

When she was done, Crystal calmly turned in her chair, giving Holly a patient smile.

“I think maybe you pulled up the wrong email. What I just read isn’t devastating.

It’s just a party, Holly. And it’s not like there isn’t going to be one; it’s just going to be on a much smaller scale.

” She shook her head. “Poor Mr. Brooks. You just know he’s got to be a mess right now. ”

“Mr. Brooks? Shouldn’t you feel sorry for Mrs. Brooks? You know she’s probably off somewhere crying right now.”

“You don’t know that for sure. For all you know…”

“How can they be getting divorced?” she cried miserably.

“They were like the perfect couple! They were always laughing and smiling, and those Christmas parties at their gorgeous home were always the highlight of my year! I’ve been Mrs. Brooks’s assistant for most of that event!

I loved working beside her and bringing it all to life! ”

“I don’t remember it being quite like that. You had a few meetings with her, but it’s not like you were hanging out at the house being her right-hand or anything. You made calls and handled the invoices.”

“Why are you ruining this for me?” she wailed. “I have worked with each of them together and apart and I’m telling you that this is just wrong! Maybe if they waited and…you know…focused on each other and their family and the holidays…”

“Holly, you need to calm down. You’re acting like these are your parents getting divorced. They’re our bosses and we don’t know anything about their personal lives. All the laughing and smiling could very well have been a facade, you know?”

She was already shaking her head. “No. I’m telling you, they’ve been married for almost forty years and they were happy. Whatever’s going on can be fixed. I know it.”

“Holly…”

But she wasn’t listening. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks might not be her parents, but she felt like they were all a family around here, so maybe they were like a favorite aunt and uncle. And for them to just throw away all those years of marriage didn’t feel right.

“You need to respect their privacy,” Crystal told her, but it sounded a bit like she was being reprimanded.

“This isn’t any of your business. All you can do is be a team player here, do your job, and whenever they figure out what this year’s party is going to look like, be thankful they’re having a party at all. ”

She made a non-committal sound, but there was no way she was going to allow the company to do anything different this year.

They couldn’t. That party was her one time a year to hang out with Lucas.

She had so few things that she looked forward to, and those parties with Lucas were at the top of the list.

Crushing on the boss’s son was a little clichéd, but she couldn’t help it. He was perfectly dreamy.

Okay, he was also a little stiff and antisocial, but those parties brought out a different side of him that she didn’t see the rest of the year. He worked in their legal department and was always so serious and uptight. But at Christmas he became a different person.

A sexier, friendlier version of his dreamy self.

Ugh…I’ve got it bad.

“CeeCee, there’s so much at stake here, don’t you get it? Our boss is getting divorced; parties are being canceled. I mean…what’s next? Don’t you think we owe it to our coworkers—to ourselves—to keep morale up?”

“No one else is running around like the sky is falling. Just you. If anyone asks for a cheerleading squad, believe me, I’ll nominate you to head it up. But…it’s just a party. Not the end of the world.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Look, I get that you’re disappointed, and I’m sorry. Why don’t we talk about it later? I have to run this payroll report or my boss will have my head.”

“I’m your boss,” Holly murmured. “And I’d forgive you if the report was late if we could talk strategies right now.”

Sighing loudly, Crystal hung her head for a moment. When she looked up, her patient smile was back. “Let’s regroup on the party and strategies tomorrow, okay? I really want to get this report done and I’m leaving early today to take my mom to her cardiologist appointment.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot about that. Yeah, we can talk tomorrow.” She turned and walked toward the door, feeling wildly disappointed. “But be thinking of a plan! A good one!”

“I will!”

Holly wasn’t sure she believed her, but she let it go for now.

With her own sigh, she slowly made her way down the hall to her office. But instead of going in, she continued to walk around to see if anyone was talking about the email.

In the break room? Nothing.

Around the water cooler? Nothing.

As she wandered around, not one person brought it up to her. Was it possible she was honestly the only person distressed by the news?

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Lucas. His dark hair was askew and he was reading something—like a report or contract, she assumed—as he walked down the hall. He never looked up, never acknowledged her. But she saw the deep scowl on his face.

Well…he does work in legal, she thought. She knew she’d be scowling too if she had to spend every day reading boring contracts. She shuddered just thinking about it.

Slowly, she strolled back to her office and plopped down in her chair, completely disheartened.

Christmas was almost six weeks away. Normally, Mrs. Brooks came in and decorated the offices and made everything fun and sparkly.

The entire place usually looked like something out of an interior design magazine.

What was it going to look like this year?

Would they even have decorations? Or would they end up with a sad little Charlie Brown tree?

“Not on my watch,” she whispered.

It didn’t matter if no one was outwardly talking about the email.

The holidays were the one time of year when everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

The atmosphere around the office was lighter, people would bring in treats and goodies to share, and it was impossible to be in a bad mood when you were surrounded by giant red bows and twinkly lights!

At least…that’s how she felt.

But there was still time. If she acted fast, she could come up with a plan so nothing had to change.

“Because I am not a fan of change,” she murmured.

She just had to figure out a way to save the Christmas party and her boss’s marriage. Possibly at the same time!

How hard could it be?

His parents were getting divorced and somehow he was being put in the middle with each of them trying to claim him as their attorney.

Groaning, Lucas Brooks looked at the Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage that his mother had filed, and it gave him a massive headache. The entire situation was unbelievable, and he wished he could just get the two of them to sit down and have a calm and rational conversation.

Although, that was hard to do when his mother was in Palm Springs at some deluxe spa and his father was up in Southampton on a golfing tour of the U.S. They were both doing their best to stay apart and avoid being responsible adults and Lucas refused to chase them down.

And the worst part of it all?

They ruined the holidays for him.

All year long, he worked like a beast for their risk management firm.

He was the head of their legal department; he worked long hours and rarely took time for himself.

But once a year—from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day?

That was his time. He could relax because most of their clients worked less because of the holidays, and Lucas had unofficially made that his personal mental health break.

But what did he have to look forward to now?

Nothing.

He had zero holiday spirit this year and wasn’t sure he was going to get it back.

He’d never been an overly festive person, but at least during the holidays he could be around people who were happy and excited to celebrate.

And now, thanks to the email his father had sent out, any joy that the staff got from the Brooks Management firm was gone.

Thanks, Dad.

“Hey, Lucas. You got a minute?”

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.”