Chapter 15 #2
“Believe it or not, everyone’s really bummed about Mom and Dad and the whole situation.
And when Holly explained that we were doing this not only because it was tradition, but because we were hoping it would help get our parents back together, it was a no-brainer.
” He smiled. “It was actually pretty cool. We have a great staff.”
“Clearly. Wait until Kat gets here. She’s not going to believe it either.” They made their way back up to the main floor and the kitchen where he offered everyone something to drink.
“Have you heard anything from Mom or Dad?” he asked. “I sent the email out yesterday to them both and texted it along with the video just to play it safe. I could see that they both read it, but neither responded to me.”
“I haven’t heard from them either. Maybe Kat has. When is she supposed to be here?”
“They took the red-eye, so they should be here within the hour. I’m having lunch delivered so we wouldn’t have to think about it.”
“Nice! Is Holly joining us?” she asked coyly.
“Yes,” he replied, but his ears suddenly felt hot. “I asked her to join us since most of this is only because she decided to take it on.”
“I can’t wait to…”
“Do not embarrass her or put her on the spot about our relationship,” he quickly interrupted. “I know everyone’s excited that I have a girlfriend—even though I’ve dated plenty in the past—but I don’t want Holly to feel uncomfortable. Understood?”
Anna held up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Jeez. Relax. I was just going to say that I can’t wait to tell her what a great job she did. I don’t think I could have replicated all of this.”
“She’s got a photographic memory. At first, I thought she was exaggerating, but everything in this house other than the tree in the entryway looks exactly like it always has.”
“That video was a great idea and it doesn’t do all of this justice. Did you use a drone?”
He nodded. “Her brother’s a photography enthusiast and he asked if he could do it and I figured, why not? The results were pretty spectacular.”
“Agreed. I hope Mom and Dad thought so and that it piqued their curiosity enough to get their butts on planes to come home.”
“Yeah. You and me both.” He took a long sip of his water. “Why don’t you guys go and get settled upstairs? Kat should be here soon, and so should Holly and our lunch.”
As if on cue, Kat and her family came through the door and it was a chaotic few minutes as everyone hugged and greeted each other.
His nieces and nephews took off to the bunk room that his parents had designed just for them, and he took Kat and her husband on the tour while Anna and her husband got settled.
By the time they were done with the tour—and Kat was just as blown away as Anna was—Holly was coming through the door along with their lunch delivery.
It was all hands on deck as they set up the food in the dining room. Holly had set the table the night before to save time—which he thought was crazy, but right now appreciated. The ten of them got settled and he breathed a sigh of relief when he could finally take a bite of his lunch.
“Holly, the house looks amazing!” Kat praised. “Seriously, you’d never know that someone other than my mother’s decorating team did it. Great job!”
“Thank you. It was a labor of love. This party is one of the highlights of my year and I hated the thought of it being canceled. And when we threw in the potential to…” She paused and looked at the kids, silently questioning if she should finish that thought.
“Oh, they’re fine,” Anna assured her. “We explained the situation to them.”
“Us, too,” Kat said. “But thank you for being sensitive to it.” She grinned at Lucas. “I like her. She’s a keeper!”
He and Holly snickered because that phrase had come up over Thanksgiving, but neither commented on it to his family.
“So what do you need from us?” Anna asked as they continued to eat. “It looks like the house is all set, you’ve got the caterer doing everything, and…oh, wait! There’s going to be a staff coming to serve and handle the parking, right?”
Lucas looked over at Holly before he nodded.
“My cousin Melissa is a caterer and she has a staff coming to handle everything,” Holly assured them.
“We have eight servers and three valets. The guest list is around sixty people. There were a few of our coworkers who were heading out of town and aren’t able to attend, but between all of you and everyone else from the company, we’re around sixty. ”
“Wow! That’s impressive. Mom usually gets only around forty, including us,” Kat said with a wink. “Why do you think that is?”
“I think it’s because everyone’s invested in it now,” Holly replied before he could. “Curiosity is definitely playing a big part and they all want to see how this plays out. Hopefully, they won’t be disappointed.” She paused. “Has anyone heard from your parents?”
“Nothing yet,” Lucas told her. “We have a little over twenty-four hours before the party…”
“Twenty-seven, to be exact,” Kat commented.
“Sure. We have twenty-seven hours until the party starts,” Lucas clarified. “So really, it’s anyone’s guess if and when they’ll show up. I can’t imagine them both not coming home. Out of curiosity, if nothing else.”
“That seems to be the theme of this party,” Anna joked. “The employees are coming out of curiosity, Mom and Dad out of curiosity, I mean…it’s kind of funny. Or sad, really. We should be celebrating Christmas and instead it’s turned into a soap opera!”
“And not even a good one,” Kat said dryly. “And it’s certainly no Hallmark movie, that’s for sure.”
“Ooh, I wish this were like a Hallmark movie,” Anna said wistfully. “That would be much more preferable to this.”
His sisters then started an entire conversation about their favorite Hallmark movies while he and Holly exchanged glances. He knew he was wishing this whole thing was over so the two of them could just focus on themselves rather than this nonsense, but…they had a few more days to get through.
“Remember the one where this couple was getting married, and the maid of honor and best man—who used to date or something—were in charge of setting up the family cottage?” Anna rested her hand over her heart. “I love that one!”
“Me too! I swear I watch it every time it comes on!” Kat agreed. “What about the one where…”
“What on earth have you done? Who gave anyone permission to decorate my house?” came a shrill voice that echoed through the two-story entryway.
“Oh, great. Mom’s here,” Anna murmured.
“And here we go,” Lucas thought.