Chapter 22
Of Course
‘How do I look?’ Holly asked that evening as she stood in Rose’s bedroom above The Book Nook.
‘Gorgeous,’ Rose replied without hesitation.
Holly and Rose had raided both their wardrobes and found something for Holly to wear for her date with Seb.
Now she didn’t need to wear the boot, she had so much more freedom with what she could comfortably wear.
So tonight, she was finally wearing her slim black jeans again.
Rose came close and ran the fabric of the buttery soft silk vest, Holly had also chosen, through her fingers.
‘This vest is so soft,’ she murmured, before adding, ‘sorry, that was a bit weird. I can’t stop touching it.’
Holly laughed, ‘If I didn’t know you were into my brother, I’d think you were coming on to me.’
Rose held up her palm in surrender, ‘I’ll stop touching your clothes now.’
To prove her point, Rose moved to the bed and sat on both her hands.
‘Please tell me about his letter,’ she asked for the third time since Holly had arrived an hour ago.
Holly shook her head, firmly. ‘Nope, not sharing. Those words are for me, and me alone.’
‘You’re no fun.’
Holly laughed, but she wouldn’t budge, well not yet anyway.
Holly was so used to keeping her feelings for Seb close to her chest, she wasn’t ready to share his words with anyone else for the time being.
She knew she’d cave eventually though - either Rose would wear her down or she’d want to see her reaction too much to keep his letter to herself forever.
*
At 8pm, on the dot, Holly pushed open the doors to her pub. Seb was standing metres away with a gift wrapped box in his hands.
Holly carefully made her way to him, her ankle still tender, but she was so much more mobile already.
‘Happy belated birthday, Holly.’
‘You’re six months early.’
‘Or twelve years and six months late. Open it.’ He pushed the box towards her.
The last birthday gift he’d given her had been so special, she wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to top that.
Holly peeled off the paper, to find another fortune telling toy - just like the one he’d given her all those years ago.
‘Another one?’ she asked, a little confused.
Seb’s face brightened. ‘I wasn’t sure you’d even opened the first one.’
She reached around him and lifted the hatch to access the shelves beneath the bar, where she pulled out the original gift - a little battered, from years of use, but it still looked good considering how much she’d used it.
‘I’ve used it nearly every day,’ she explained, gently rubbing her hand over the smooth grey plastic. ‘Are you as good as this newer version?’ she asked her trusty cube as she pressed down the button. Grinning at the answer, she turned over the cube to show Seb the words Of Course.
Before Seb could respond to her revelation about her use of his gift from all those years ago, the pub doors clattered open, shattering the quiet within. Long blonde hair caught Holly’s attention, and for a split second, she could have sworn Sloane had managed to gatecrash their night.
‘Lucy, are you OK?’ Seb asked, concern laced his voice.
Lucy, Holly thought. Of course, it was Lucy. Not Sloane.
‘Oh gosh. I am so sorry,’ she spluttered out, taking in the scene in front of her. Understanding dawned on her face when she added, ‘I’m interrupting.’
‘Everything OK?’ Holly was finally able to ask, as her senses returned and her nerves calmed.
She hadn’t seen Sloane since that night.
The thought she would return to the Bay on the day she and Seb had finally connected, was unconscionable.
Holly would have, quite understandably, assumed the universe hated her if that had happened.
‘Yes,’ she said first and then as if the word tasted foul, she changed her mind. ‘No. No, not really. But I’m not in dire enough straits to see I shouldn’t be here right now. I’ll go.’ She backed out of the doors, whispering further apologies as she did.
‘I’m worried about her. You heard about the divorce?’ Holly said when she was sure Lucy was out of earshot.
‘Yeah.’ Seb nodded sadly with pursed lips.
‘She moved back into the cafe to help Tony, but I don’t think it’s going to work.’
‘I know I’m going to sound really insensitive, but can we not talk about Tony and Lucy tonight?’
‘What do you want to talk about?’ Holly asked as she cast a final glance to the door Lucy had left from.
‘Maybe, I don’t know… maybe how you pined over me every day and used the gift I gave you to feel closer to me?’
‘Pined? No - but I missed you and every time I asked that fortune telling cube of plastic a question, I felt like I was talking to you.’
Her frankness didn’t seem to surprise, or unnerve him. Instead, his core fluttering smile from down at the beach appeared on his beautiful face and Holly vowed to do everything in her power to make him smile like that as often as possible.
‘You know, I thought of you every day too.’
‘I said nearly every day,’ she teased, ‘stalker much?’
Seb reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Opening it up, he teased out a strip of booth photos from her 18th birthday.
Holly had forgotten about these photos - but here in black and white she could see her younger self pulling stupid faces at the camera.
In each of the four frames though, Seb wasn’t looking at the camera.
He was looking at her. She ran a finger down the photos, and then without uttering a single word, she pulled him towards her and kissed him.
The action took him by surprise for a couple of seconds, but then his brain caught up and he snaked an arm around her back, pulling her in tight to deepen the kiss.
Holly heard Rose make a ridiculous whooping sound and then Luke’s voice calling out ‘About time.’ She hadn’t even realised Rose had joined them in the pub.
Seb pulled away first. With a focus in his eyes she found captivating, he cupped her face in his hands.
‘I’m done wasting time for us, Holly, and I’m sorry if I scared you with this when you read it in my letter, but I meant every word; I love you. And I love Tally and if you’re right and we had to wait twelve years for us, so you could have her, then it was totally worth–’
She cut him off with another kiss. This time it was her who broke away first.
‘I love you too.’
Seb sat down at one of the tables, and when Holly went to use one of the chairs next to him, she squealed as he pulled her into his lap instead.
She reveled in the closeness. It truly felt like she had always belonged here.
Lucy’s words from earlier settled comfortably in her chest. She’d been thinking about them all day, about making the most of this second chance. Sitting here, with him now, she knew.
‘I love it when you tell me you love me,’ he whispered in her ear.
‘I love you.’
He groaned and then kissed her again, running a hand down her back before pulling her in closer.
‘I know I’m a very understanding older brother, but can you two please tone it down a bit?’ Luke whined from the bar.
‘Oh leave them alone - they’ve got lots of time to make up for,’ Rose swatted Luke with a bar towel, then shrieked as he chased her into the kitchen.
‘So. I’ve been thinking,’ Holly said, pulling away so she could make eye contact.
‘You’ve been thinking?’ Seb asked and paused.
Holly smiled at his confused face.
‘What have you been thinking about, Holly?’ Seb said again to the muffled backdrop of Rose’s giggles.
‘You can say no if you want.’
‘I’ll probably say yes.’
‘Seriously Seb, I want you to say no if this isn’t something you’d like.’ Holly waited for Seb to nod before continuing. ‘How would you feel about moving in with Natalie and me?’
When Seb didn’t answer straight away, Holly went to move back, but he stopped her.
‘Are you sure?’
Holly nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Seb looked at her, still not answering her question. He gently ran a hand down her face, then cupped her chin to draw her closer to him. He kissed her with a reverence that made her breath catch.
‘Is that a yes?’
‘It’s a yes. I’d love that.’
‘And I’ve also been thinking about how my office made a pretty good downstairs bedroom.’
‘You want to move our bedroom downstairs?’
Holly’s heart fluttered at his casual use of the word our.
‘Not for us, for Danny. So he can stay with us when he wants.’
The smile that spread on his face was another one Holly wanted to keep seeing.
‘He will be the envy of his friends for having a bedroom in a pub,’ Seb laughed out.
‘I don’t want to waste any more time, Seb, for us to be the family we should be.’ Holly looped her hands around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss to seal this new chapter in their lives.
For the first time since her 21st birthday, hope blossomed in her chest, and she knew within the walls of her pub was everything she needed for her happily ever after.