Chapter 2 #2
‘My lips are sealed.’ At her hard stare, he added, ‘I mean it, Holly. Rose caught me off guard when I mentioned it before. Won’t happen again.’
‘Make sure it doesn’t.’ She pointed a finger at him. ‘Now take my friend home, I’ve had enough sickly sweet, loving glances for one night.’ She smiled warmly at Rose though, to make sure she knew she wasn’t actually cross. She loved Rose for her brother.
‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’ He grinned at his sister before tugging Rose away towards the door.
‘Text me in the morning? We need to go shopping for swimsuits.’ At Luke’s confused face, she whispered, ‘I’ll tell you later.’
And then they were gone, and Holly was left alone at the bar, the only other customers still in the pub were Tony and Lucy who were still in a deep, hushed conversation by the window.
Without Rose to chat with, Holly could now make out the excited tone of her daughter as she continued to natter away to Seb. Her heart ached.
The sound of glass hitting the floor and a ‘Shit!’ from Lucy, snapped Holly’s attention away from the kitchen. Holly looked to the ground, to see Lucy’s wine glass in pieces on the stone floor. She had jumped up, moving away from the table.
‘Leave it, Lucy. I’ll sort it,’ Holly called over.
‘I’m so sorry, Holly. I’ll pay for the damage.’ Lucy rushed the words out, her left hand shaking a little as she cradled it in her right.
‘Don’t be silly! Happens all the time.’ Holly dismissed Lucy’s offer with a wave of her hand.
‘It was my fault,’ Tony added from where he sat at the table, ‘I forget how much I move my hands when I talk.’
‘Really, guys, it’s no big deal,’ Holly tried again to reassure them. She couldn’t help but notice how strangely they were behaving. It was pretty common for people to break glasses in the pub, and they often didn’t apologise, let alone offer to pay for breakages.
‘Can I get you another round?’ Holly asked, in an attempt to get things back to normal.
Tony looked hopeful, but Lucy cut in by saying, ‘I think we should call it a night.’ Holly noticed she was still rubbing her left hand, but at least it had stopped shaking.
‘Yeah, probably for the best,’ Tony added, but it didn’t look to Holly like he meant it.
Without another word, they left the pub and Holly dismissed the odd encounter as she went to look for the dustpan so she could sweep away the broken shards that were scattered across the floor.
*
A couple of hours later, with Natalie now thankfully in bed, Holly found herself completely alone in the bar.
Seb had closed down the kitchen and had left for the night too.
The quiet was too much. Linking her phone to the Sonos system, Holly was bringing up her Spotify account when a gentle knock at the door pulled her attention away from her phone.
Assuming Seb had forgotten something, she put down her phone and went to unlock the door. But it wasn’t Seb outside.
‘Sorry, Holly, I know it’s late, but I–’ before she could finish whatever she was going to say, Lucy burst into tears.
‘Come here,’ Holly said, pulling Lucy in through the doors and in for a hug, ‘what’s wrong?’
‘I don’t think I can do it anymore,’ Lucy’s words were muffled as her face was nestled into Holly’s neck.
‘Do what?’ Holly asked, gently easing out of the hug so she could hear Lucy’s answer better.
‘Be with Tony.’
Holly moved them both to the chairs by the window where Lucy and Tony had sat not long ago.
‘Lucy, you don’t have to be with Tony.’
‘I know. I know that. But he wants it to work so hard. And I feel so cruel for even thinking we’re over.’
Holly’s eyes locked in on Lucy’s left hand, and a horrible thought filtered through her mind and settled there.
‘Lucy, has Tony hurt you?’
‘What?’ The question took Lucy by surprise. ‘No. Why would you think that?’
‘It’s just you keep holding that hand, and then earlier he broke the glass?’
Lucy breathed out a slow breath. ‘No Tony would never do anything like that. I keep digging my thumb into my hand when I’m stressed, and,’ she blew out a breath, ‘I’m pretty much stressed all the time these days.
What with leaving my job in Bristol and then things now not working out with Tony back here.
Tonight he reached across to hold my hand, and I jumped back; knocking the glass off. He was trying to help.’
Holly was so relieved. She liked Tony, everyone liked Tony, and a little part of her had dreaded she’d read him wrong all these years. But just because he was the good guy he seemed to be, didn’t mean Lucy had to be with him.
‘That’s good to know, Lucy. But my point still stands - if you don’t want to be with Tony, you don’t have to.’
‘Thanks Holly,’ Lucy breathed out, her shoulders relaxing with the exhale. ‘I needed to hear that. My mum hasn’t been the most supportive lately. I phoned her this morning and explained how I was feeling, and she told me marriages take work and they aren’t something you quit.’
‘Marriages do take work Lucy, but sometimes, they run their course. I’m guessing things weren’t right before you left for Bristol so it’s not like you’re throwing your hat in at the first hurdle.
Your happiness is as important as Tony’s.
And he’ll find someone else - hell he nearly found someone else with Rose,’ at Lucy’s guilty expression Holly added, ‘No don’t feel guilty about that.
You returning to the Bay not only stopped Tony’s pursuit of Rose, but it meant my oaf of brother finally admitted his feelings for her.
So it was a win-win, all round in my book. ’
Lucy laughed at that, ‘I guess so.’
‘I know so. Tony is a lovely guy, he’s just not your guy anymore.’
Once Lucy composed herself, she hugged Holly goodnight, this time much less tearful, and made her way home.
With the silence of the pub still too close, Holly went back to her phone.
She needed the music more than ever tonight, and she let her playlist shuffle through her favourite songs.
A couple of seconds later, Skater Boi trickled out through the speakers, and Holly’s mind was transported back to 2007.