Chapter 7
Seven
Every pillow in the house was fluffed, every carpet was vacuumed, and all the floors were clean and sparkly.
“Can you believe it, Shmoop? Lucas is coming here, to our house!” Holly squealed with delight while her dog simply cocked his head and looked at her like he was amused by her level of excitement.
“You and I both know this has been like a fantasy of mine for years, so…everything has to be perfect. Even if he’s just coming over to talk about the Christmas party, I’m still so freaking happy about it! ”
This time when she let out a squeal, Shmoop howled with her.
“Don’t worry. You’re always going to be the number one boy in my life.” Bending over, she kissed the top of his fluffy little head. “But this is seriously a dream come true!”
She felt like twirling and dancing and singing—none of which she was good at—but that didn’t stop her.
The coffee table, however, did.
“Ouch!” Her shin collided with the edge of the table and she cried out, dropping onto the sofa.
Naturally, her dog jumped up beside her to inspect what was going on, and then gave her a look that clearly said, “What did you expect? You know you can’t dance.”
“I know, I know,” she groaned, rubbing her shin. “I need to remember I’m a klutz.” It was rough being a clumsy girl who desperately wanted to do all the graceful things.
And someday, she’d remember to stop trying.
Maybe.
After a few minutes, Holly got back up and made her way around the house one last time to make sure everything looked nice.
Her house was small—especially compared to Lucas’s family’s home—but she loved it.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow was the perfect size for her.
Although, she could have gone with a two bedroom, but she used the third one as a library and office space.
That room was the only one her father did on his own, building her floor to ceiling bookcases so she could unpack the hundreds of books she owned.
He'd done it as a birthday gift and it was now her favorite room in the house.
Holly had bought an oversized chair and ottoman and placed it in the room, hung a chandelier, and found an antique side table. It’s where she spent a lot of her time when she was home, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.
And sometimes wine.
Her second favorite room was her bedroom.
She didn’t let her father touch this room other than helping her paint.
After that, she wanted everything in there to be done by herself.
She chose the wallpaper for a feature wall and went with all soft colors.
This was a room to unwind in at the end of the day, and it always made her smile.
Holly liked to describe it as a glam and feminine bedroom with neutral furniture, a statement crystal chandelier, botanical artworks, and real flowers.
Well, there were a lot of artificial flowers in there now, but when she remembered, she’d choose fresh flowers to complement the space.
Like she did tonight.
There was no way to know for sure if Lucas was interested in a tour of her little house—not that it would take long—but if he was, she wanted everything to look as appealing as possible.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t put a little extra time and effort into her bedroom.
You know, just in case.
Not that she thought Lucas wanted to jump into bed with her, but…she wouldn’t say no if he wanted to.
Unfortunately, her good-girl conscience chose now to chime in and remind her that he was a coworker and his father was her boss. Would hopping into bed with him really be the smart thing to do?
Her girly parts screamed yes! And they were louder than her conscience, so she was just going to have to wait and see where the night took them. And if all that happened was some pleasant conversation over Chinese food, well…she’d be okay with that too.
Sort of.
“Ugh, I really am a mess.” Walking out to the kitchen, she wiped down the counters for the third time and was almost relieved when the doorbell finally rang. Wiping her hands along her pants, she let out a nervous breath as she made her way to the door.
He was perfection. Standing there on her porch, his dark hair slightly tousled, a little bit of stubble on his jaw, and a relaxed smile on his face. It looked good on him.
“Hey! Come on in.” Holly stepped aside so Lucas could walk in. “Let me take the food so you can take off your coat.”
“Thanks.”
Holly watched as he looked around and she couldn’t tell if he was impressed or indifferent. His expression was completely neutral. Putting their dinner on her little dining room table, she rejoined him in the living room.
“Did you find the house okay?”
“Oh, yeah. No problem.” Pausing, he looked around and finally started to smile again. “After hearing you tell me about all the work you and your dad did to the place, I’m a little fascinated.”
It was the best compliment. “Really? Would you like to see the rest of it?”
He nodded. “I would!”
And just like that, the night was already going as planned.
Every inch of Holly’s house showed her personality.
He knew for a fact that she had touched every wall, every window, every doorway, and he was seriously impressed.
He’d never been taught to do anything like this: never painted, hung wallpaper, installed a light fixture or tile.
Knowing she did all of this along with her dad made him feel a little inadequate.
This was a woman who didn’t need anyone because she could do it all on her own.
And, quite frankly, it was intimidating.
He might live in a bigger, more luxurious house, but this was a home.
“I’ll tell you what, I’m going to feel wildly disappointed when I go home later,” he said as they walked back to the dining room with Shmoop right there beside them.
“Why?”
“It’s just so…sterile,” he said with a small laugh. “My mother had decorators do everything, but there’s no personality to it. Every room in your home tells a story.”
“Aww,” she said softly. “What a lovely thing to say. Thank you.”
“It’s true, you know. You did an incredible job with this house.” He held out a chair for her so she could sit before taking the seat beside her. He smiled down at the dog, who was sitting in the space between their chairs like he was part of the conversation.
Or maybe he was hoping one of them would drop some food on the floor.
Looking back up at Holly, he motioned to the bag with their dinner in it. “I got you the shrimp and broccoli combo, but I also got us a few appetizers too—crab Rangoon, boneless spareribs, wonton soup, and egg rolls. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I kind of picked them all.”
“They’re all great choices. Thank you!”
Together, they took all the food out and set it out on the table. It wasn’t until they exhausted the topic of their food that Lucas felt like he could really talk to her about what was on his mind.
“When you were over at the house the other night and my mother called, you were so gracious and wanted to help me talk about what I was feeling. I really thought I was okay, but…” He stopped himself.
“No, I wasn’t okay. I was angry. The entire situation is wrong and today I had a conversation with my father and he’s just as bad.
The two of them are being selfish and behaving like children. ”
That’s when she reached over and placed her hand on his arm. “Oh, Lucas, I’m so sorry. I know it has to be painful for you.”
“It is, and I thought I should call my sisters, but I don’t even know what to say to them. I feel like maybe I should have some sort of plan or suggestions or…I don’t know, something!” His frustration was mounting and he didn’t want to freak out and look like a crazy person to her.
“I get that. You don’t want to call and spend a whole lot of time beating around the bush or waste time tossing around ideas when you could just go to them with a plan already in place.”
“Exactly!” He paused again because he almost couldn’t believe he was going to say what he was about to say. “And…you seemed really excited at the idea of using the party to get my parents back together. So if you have an actual plan, I’d love to hear it.”
Her soft gasp was her initial response, but then her mouth moved, but no words came out.
“Holly? Are you okay?”
“Um, yes. Sorry. My mind is just spinning with all kinds of scenarios and I couldn’t seem to make any of them come out of my mouth!” She laughed, shaking her head. “I’m usually better at communicating than this.”
“I didn’t mean to just throw that at you and put any pressure on you. I’m just…I’m at a complete loss. I’ve never seen my parents behave this way.”
“So, does your dad want to reconcile?”
“It seems like he does. It’s my mom who’s kind of making things difficult.”
“Well…I’m sure she has her reasons,” she commented, and Lucas was sure she was trying to be impartial. “Even though they’re your parents, it’s not like you’re privy to what goes on behind closed doors and all that.”
“Right now they’re competing to see who can piss the other one off more. Mom’s sending pictures of the hot young guys working at the resort she’s at, and my father’s trying to buy a yacht so he can take pictures of it with a bikini model on it.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s beyond childish.”
“I’ll admit it seems petty. They’re both trying to make the other jealous, but it’s like superficial jealousy.
Neither one is claiming to be seriously involved with anyone else.
Your mom’s sharing pictures of random guys working at the resort.
She’s not dating them. And your dad’s looking to essentially hire a bikini model, not date one. ”
“Okay, but…what’s the point?”
“To me, it seems like they’re trying to provoke the other one into admitting it bothers them and saying that they’re jealous or even that they still care.” She sighed. “I hate that they’re resorting to this after so many years of marriage.”