Chapter Twenty-Four
Holly glanced into one of her many mirrors and smoothed her hand over her hair as she waited for her family to arrive. It was time for the big reveal. And she was terrified.
They’d all gathered at the house first, and Brian had just texted her to let her know they were heading her way. No one knew what she planned to show them, but to hear him say it, they were all excited to find out.
Kyndall had been out to the studio before, so she had an idea. She’d seen the mirrors in the living room. She would suspect today would involve those. Also, everyone knew Holly sold pieces at the consignment store. It had been referred to as her “little hobby” for years.
But her hobby was so much more than that, and today she intended to make them see it.
She glanced in the mirror once more. Her hair was twisted into a sophisticated knot, and she had on a lovely summer dress of turquoise eyelet with a white shrug and matching jewelry. She even had on strappy sandals that were color coordinated. She looked quite presentable.
Not that it really mattered to her family, but after finishing here, she would head off to meet with Jane, the real estate agent, to sign a lease for the empty storefront. So yeah, this was important. She wanted to come across as professional. Serious. This was the start of her career.
No more being the breezy little sister who had no purpose in life.
She dabbed on a fresh application of lipstick and rubbed her lips together, then nodded in the mirror. Win or lose, she was ready to go. Ready to show who she was.
Gravel crunched and doors slammed, and Holly stepped to the front door of the cabin.
Her mother was first up the stairs. She stopped at the sight of Holly standing in the doorway. Her eyes took in her daughter from head to toe. Without a word, Holly could tell that her mother got it. This wasn’t some stunt or “another wild hair” like they thought running off to Chicago had been. Holly had something important to share with them today.
“Everything okay?” her mother asked carefully. She’d been tiptoeing around Holly since Zack had left. They hadn’t talked about it yet, mostly because Holly had made up excuses and found something else to do if she thought Zack so much as ran through her mother’s mind. But Holly was aware that her heartbreak was showing. How could it not?
She nodded. Everything was great.
And really it was. She was a new woman today. Missing Zack had been put on the back burner.
Erika, Jillian, and Kyndall all reached the porch behind Holly’s mother. Excitement burned in their eyes to find out what Holly had to show them. The men hadn’t made it out of the yard. Patrick and the boys had come from church, and were still in their slacks and dress shirts. They reminded her of Zack when he’d first shown up.
“You look so pretty, Aunt Holly,” Kyndall gushed. She and her parents were also dressed for church.
Jillian had gotten stuck manning the tour office that morning so Patrick had taken the boys without her, and Holly’s parents had been busy overseeing departing guests. Brian had probably just come from some woman’s bed.
Yet they’d all made time for her when she’d asked them for it. That meant a lot.
“Thank you, Kyndall.” She smiled at the girl. “I’m trying to look professional.”
The women all nodded. “You do,” her mother assured her.
Brian was at the bottom of the steps looking up, but he didn’t say anything. He simply eyed her carefully. Holly got the impression he didn’t approve of her new, improved look. All grown up and everything.
“So what’s this about, kid?” Patrick was the one to finally ask.
Holly wet her lips, and Brian gave her an encouraging nod.
It was about her new life.
“I’ve been doing something for a few years now,” she began, “and I thought it was time to show you. I also intend to take it to the next level. I wanted to talk to you all about that today.”
Brian was not yet aware of her store plans. She caught a raised brow at her words.
With little fanfare, she stepped back and invited her family in.
She’d moved several of her best pieces from the bedroom to display in the front of the house.
“Oh my,” she heard her mother whisper as she made her way in. The words were spoken in awe.
Everyone else crowded in behind her mother, and Holly stepped in last. She twisted her hands together with nerves. It wasn’t a large room, and with eleven additional people inside, it was hard to really take everything in. But Holly saw that they were doing just that. She had the lights on and shining bright. The whole room glowed.
“When did you . . .” Patrick began, but then shook his head in confusion. He turned to take in another piece. And then another. “This is . . .”
“Art,” Jillian supplied. She looked at Holly. “This is incredible work. I had no idea.”
“Me either,” Holly’s mother whispered.
“Oh my gawd, Aunt Holly,” Kyndall whispered in tween marvel. “This is what I want to do instead of the flowerpots.”
Holly laughed softly, moved at the girl’s words. “You stick with your flowerpots, hon. You’ll make them just as terrific.”
Kyndall continued looking around, her face mesmerized by the work.
“There’s more in the bedroom,” Holly stated. “And the even bigger announcement I have is that I’ll be opening my own store soon.”
Her mother’s eyes rounded.
“I’m signing a lease today. That empty property on the square. I tried to sell these in Chicago, but no one wanted them.”
“They’re idiots,” Patrick supplied without pause.
“Yeah.” Holly nodded. “That’s what I’ve decided. Plus, these belong here. I’m a Sugar Springs girl. My mirrors should be too.”
Holly’s dad wasn’t a man of many words, and that moment was no different. He stepped to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m proud of you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She was a daddy’s girl. Always had been. To have him proud meant a lot.
“Thanks, Dad.” Her voice barely registered as she snuggled into his side. “That also means I won’t be working at any of the family businesses anymore,” she whispered. Those words elicited as much anxiety as showing them her art had to begin with.
“Of course you won’t,” her dad stated firmly.
No one else spoke. They were all too busy staring at the pieces surrounding them.
After several more minutes, everyone moving throughout the room and in and out of her bedroom, Erika stood before Holly. “I need the price of that one, please.” She pointed to one of Holly’s favorites. It was currently showcased on an easel sitting in front of the TV.
“I wanted that one!” Jillian hustled back into the room. “I planned to ask for it myself, but I was being polite. Not begging immediately. No fair. You jumped the gun.”
“I saw something I wanted.” Erika pasted on a superior look. “If I wait, I may not get it.”
“I want it,” Jillian demanded.
Holly watched her sisters-in-law argue over her work, and her heart grew a couple sizes larger. They were not doing this simply to make her feel better. They wanted that mirror.
“I can make a second,” Holly snuck in through a tiny opening in their words.
Two heads swiveled in her direction.
“Not exactly the same,” she added. “I don’t do the same design more than once. But I can work with whichever of you doesn’t take this one, and we can come up with something similar.”
“Then I want the new piece,” both women said at once.
Holly gaped, mouth open in shock, and saw Brian’s wide, proud smile pointed her way. Then she laughed. There had been nothing at all to worry about with this bunch. Probably not with the public either. Her store would be a success.
Erika and Jillian fought for a few minutes longer, good-naturedly of course, and Holly’s mother came over to take her hand.
“I had no idea,” she said.
Holly nodded. The lump in her throat made it hard to speak.
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t know what you’d think. If I was good enough.”
“Baby.” Her mom shook her head. “I should have known you were out here creating something special. You’ve always been my unique one. The one I always knew would find her way.”
The words poked at a vulnerable spot inside Holly’s heart. The last few days had been hard. The additional rejection from Chicago, realizing she was in love with Zack. Zack leaving.
Her deciding to open herself up to the world.
She was barely hanging on.
Her mom cupped Holly’s cheek. “Are you okay, sweetheart? With everything? I know you cared a lot about Zack.”
Tears threatened to return. The back of her nose burned.
Then she shook her head and her eyes began to leak. “I’m fine,” she lied, her voice cracking on the words.
“Oh, baby.” Her mother pulled her into her arms and stroked Holly’s back.
“Mom,” Holly whispered. She wished she wasn’t in the middle of her whole family, crying over Zack. But then, where was there a better place to do it? “It hurts.”
“I’m know, sweetie,” her mother cooed.
“I’m going to kick his ass,” Brian pronounced.
Holly peeked up through the blur of tears and saw Patrick and Rodney step up beside Brian. The sight of her three gorgeous, angry brothers made her laugh. They would kick his ass. If she’d let them. They would do anything for her.
“He did nothing wrong,” she told them. “Never promised a thing. I just wanted more.”
“He shouldn’t have—”
“It was both of us,” she interrupted Brian. “You will not kick his ass.”
All three of her brothers’ jaws tensed, identically, and Holly almost laughed again. It was nice that they had her back.
“I’d rather you save your strength for helping me move all these mirrors to my store. It’ll be a better use of your time and efforts.”
Because Zack was gone. And she had to move on.
“I could do both,” Brian suggested.
“You’re the best, Brian. But no.” There would be no kicking of Zack’s anything.
Brian gave her a wink. “Of course I am, kiddo. But you’re pretty tough to top yourself.”
A smile spread wide. She was. And she knew it. She may not be perfect, but she had a lot going for her. A lot that Zack should have been able to see. He was missing out.
Or so she kept telling herself.
In actuality, she felt like she was the one missing out. She’d considered calling him more than once over the last few days. Just to see how he was doing. If he was thinking of her. At all.
But then she’d reminded herself that he could have called too.
It wasn’t like they’d left things in a heated argument. They’d hooked up, and she’d let him go without stifling him with clinginess. The moment had been a little tense, yeah, but no reason two reasonable adults couldn’t still talk to each other if they wanted to.
Only, she doubted he wanted to. He also probably already had this week’s date lined up, and if Holly knew about it, she would want to drive to Atlanta and kick his butt herself.
She shoved thoughts of Zack from her mind and motioned to the door. “My appointment with Jane is in fifteen minutes. You all stay as long as you want, but I need to run.”
Excitement washed through her. This was it.
But before she could get to the door, her phone rang. And with unfailing hope that it was Zack, she pulled it from her pocket. It was a number with the same area code as his. Her heart thudded.
“Is it him?” Her mom asked. Nerves tensed her mother’s face at the same time they gouged a path through Holly’s insides.
“I’ll still go kick his ass,” Brian mumbled.
Holly put her hand on his arm as if to stop him from leaving, as she continued to stare at the phone. “It’s an Atlanta number.”
They all gave her a tight smile. Her brothers’ were more of a grimace, but it was their way of being supportive. “We’ll give you some privacy.”
“Thanks.”
Everyone stepped onto her tiny porch, and she headed to the windows overlooking the river. She brought the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Marshall?” a smart, Southern voice said in her ear. “I’m so glad I caught you today. I’m Ashley Summers.” The woman paused a moment before adding, “Mr. Winston’s friend.”
Mr. Winston’s friend?
Jealousy took hold, but just as quickly let go. Zack’s friend? From Atlanta? The friend he’d e-mailed her portfolio to.
“Yes,” Holly stumbled over the word. “This is Ms. Marshall. What can I do for you?”
“Oh my, Ms. Marshall . . . is it okay if I call you Holly?”
“Sure.” Holly nodded as if the woman could see her. “Yeah.”
“Great. And please, call me Ashley. I just wanted to call and let you know how much my manager and I love your work. Really, we love it. It’s unique and original, and the talent is clear. You’re a brilliant artist, Holly. Brilliant.”
Holly dropped to a seat.
She had someone on the phone who loved her work.
“We’d love to sell your pieces if you’d allow us. We want to give you your own room. Seriously, the work is stupendous.”
Holly’s mouth opened but no words came out.
Someone wanted to showcase her work.
Because of Zack. He’d done this.
Then a tear slipped onto her cheek. She wanted to call and tell him, but she knew she wouldn’t. They may have pretended to part as friends, but they weren’t. She loved him. He didn’t love her.
She couldn’t share the best day of her life with him.
And then she remembered her appointment. She glanced at the time. She had to go.
“Holly?” Ashley spoke in her ear. “Did you hear me? Oh, please tell me we aren’t too late.”
“I . . .” They were too late. “Actually, Ms. . . . Ashley. I’m on my way right now to sign a lease for my own store.”
“Then let us be your Atlanta outlet.”
The woman didn’t miss a beat. Holly appreciated that.
“May I think about it?” she asked. She could see that happening. She could have her store here, but also sell pieces in Atlanta. Why not? It would be the best of both worlds.
And just because it was in Atlanta, that didn’t mean she’d ever run into Zack.
“Absolutely,” Ashley replied. “Let me give you our contact info and website. Please take a look. Come down and see us in person, if you’d like. We’d love to have you. But please, keep us in mind. I think we could work well together.”
They finished up, Holly jotting down the pertinent information and Ashley promising to call back in a couple days, then she got off the phone. She sat there for a moment, her heart in her throat, wanting desperately to call Zack.
She even punched in a text.
But then she deleted it.
He couldn’t be that kind of friend right now. Maybe someday. After she’d figured out how to get over him. Right now she had to keep her distance.
Brian poked his head into the house. He looked at her cautiously. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. Then tears pooled in her eyes and she explained about the call.
When she finished, her brother picked her up in a bear hug. Everyone else had come back in and gathered around, hearing all the details. There wasn’t a dry eye in the bunch.
“I’m so proud of you, sis,” Brian muttered. “We all are.”
She buried her face in his chest and let the tears flow. She was proud of herself too. She may show up for her appointment with puffy eyes and streaked makeup, but she was currently filled to the brim with pride.
Her dreams were coming true.
The vibration of the Roadmaster felt good under Zack’s sturdy hands as he took the exit off the interstate and turned toward his mother’s house. She didn’t know he was coming to see her.
He shouldn’t be coming to see her. It was the middle of a workday.
But he’d been unable to concentrate.
It was Thursday. Movie night. And the only thing that had run through his head the entire day was that the last three Thursday nights had been spent with Holly. The first was when he’d started getting to know her. They’d become friends that night. She’d called him lonely.
The second they’d skipped the movie together and she’d kissed him senseless.
Last week she’d made love to him.
This week she could very well be with another man.
There was no way he could stay at the office when all he could think about was Holly in another man’s arms.
So he’d decided to take the car out for a ride, and his mother along with it. She loved this car almost as much as he did. Only, for different reasons.
Cars had been his dad’s passion. He’d taken Zack’s mom out on their first date in one identical to this. That’s the reason his dad picked this car to restore. He’d wanted to rebuild a bond with his son, but he’d also wanted to romance his wife.
And Zack had been too busy to help see that dream come true. He held heavy regrets about that. But he’d done what he could to correct it in the years since. He’d finished the car, and he was taking care of his mother. Exactly like his dad would have wanted.
Zack pulled into the driveway, and he’d no sooner turned the car off than his mother stepped from the house. It was as if she’d been expecting him.
The expression on her face was one he remembered from childhood. He’d come home—too many days—upset because some kid had picked on him. She’d hug him tight and give him ice cream. But that expression was always the first thing he’d seen.
His mother loved him to the bottom of her soul.
She would do anything for him.
And today, when he was hurting so bad over the loss of Holly, he’d just wanted his mom.
“You okay, Zackie?” She’d come out to the car without making him come to her.
He nodded and gave her a sad smile. He loved it when she called him Zackie. “I miss her, Mom.”
“I know, baby.” She opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Because you love her.”
He wanted to deny it again. But he couldn’t. “She doesn’t love me.”
“I think you might be wrong about that. This one is different.”
He’d like to believe her. He’d also like to think it wasn’t too late. “Why do you say that?”
She reached over and patted his hand. “Because this girl is special. She’s not afraid to be herself. And she’s not afraid to do things her own way.”
He wasn’t sure he knew what she meant.
“Zack, honey.” She shook her head as if talking to a child who just didn’t get it. “Barb wasn’t the woman for you. She needed a perfect life. She couldn’t trust in anything else.” His mom squeezed his hand. “If it hadn’t been your birth mother, it would have eventually been something else.” She peered up at him through her glasses. “Holly just needs to be loved.”
He wanted to love her.
But she didn’t want him.
“She showed me her mirrors,” his mom said. That shocked him.
“When?”
“Saturday night. She gave me a ride back to the house after the festival, and she asked if I wanted to see them.” She shook her head in awe. “What a gift that young lady has.”
He nodded. “I know. She showed them to me too.”
“She showed them to you first,” his mom stressed.
“How do you know that?”
“Because you told me about them.”
He shook his head. “I told you about the other ones. The ones in her living room.”
“I knew there was more to the story, I just didn’t know what. But when she took me out there . . .” She shrugged. “I knew that was what you’d seen. And then I understood.”
“You understood what?”
“That it wasn’t just the mirrors you had fallen for.” She let that soak in for a second before adding, “Same for her.”
“Mom.” The word came out sad. It sounded lonely. Which reminded him of Holly calling him lonely that first night. And he was. He wanted more than work. More than an empty house and what felt like an even emptier penthouse. He wanted what his parents had had. “She pushed me away. She doesn’t want me.”
“Are you willing to bet the rest of your life on that?” she asked.
When he didn’t immediately respond, she added, “I asked her about Bobby before I left. Asked if it was something that could get serious.”
Zack’s throat closed. He did not want to hear that she was moving on.
“She looked shocked, baby. Floored. As if the thought of getting serious with another man was outside the realm of her possibility.”
Zack turned to look at his mother.
“Because we both saw that she’s already serious about you,” she said.
He started to argue, but he found he couldn’t. He had meant something to Holly. He knew that. He couldn’t have called that one so completely wrong.
“You’re special to her,” his mom said. “And I’m pretty sure as much more than a friend.”
“Was I good enough for you, Mom?” he asked suddenly. “For Dad? I always worried that I wasn’t.”
Shocked eyes greeted his. “Why would you ever question that?”
“Because you chose me,” he said. “I always worried that I wouldn’t live up to your expectations. And then I met Pam, and my worries doubled. What if I had too much of her in me? What if I turned into her?”
“Oh, Zackie.” She scooted across the seat and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Of course you would never turn into her. You have more of your father and me running through you than that woman. And yes, you were good enough. Of course. You were the best son a mother could ever want. Or a father. He loved you more than you know.”
“I let him down.”
“No,” she said. “Never.”
“I should have been around more. Should have made sure he got this car finished.”
“But you did. Otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting in it right now.”
He chuckled a little. Because that’s all they were doing. Sitting in it. They were still in her driveway, and no doubt her neighbors were wondering what was going on.
“I never wanted you to regret choosing me,” he confessed. That fear had been in him for as long as he could remember. Maybe it was ridiculous, but he’d never been able to shake it.
“The only thing I’ve ever regretted was that I couldn’t fight your demons for you. The kids at school when you were little. Heartbreak in law school. And then what that witch Pam put in your head. I tried, but there are some things a mother just has to be on the sidelines for. I was there waiting to hold you up when you needed me, but I couldn’t protect you from the bad.” She hugged him tight. “I’ve never regretted a single thing about you, though. And you shouldn’t either. Don’t live with regrets, son. Be willing to take a risk. Go for what you want.”
He eyed her carefully, trying to decide if he should tell her what he wanted.
“What is it?” she prodded. “I know you want Holly. What else?”
He loved his mother so much. She always knew when he needed something. Especially when he needed her.
“I want to move to Sugar Springs, Mom. I want to be close to my brothers. I want to be there for Holly.” If she would have him. And he was starting to hope that she might. “I want to work with people who deserve to be helped.”
Like Mr. Martin. He’d done nothing wrong, and hadn’t deserved to be bullied by his neighbor. Zack had gotten more satisfaction out of that single act than he’d had at his job in years. Most of his clients were guilty. He was just good enough to get them off.
Joy crossed his mother’s face. “As long as you take me with you,” she stated. “I want to be there for those boys too. And their kids. And wives. I always did want a bigger family. Now I can have a houseful.” She paused and patted his cheek. “But you’ll always be my favorite.”
He smiled. He knew he would.
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, Zackie.”
“It would mean I don’t make partner.”
That had been bothering him a lot. He was ready to walk away from the career he’d worked so hard for. Just to be with the woman he loved.
And to be with his family.
“Would you be disappointed in me?” he asked.
“Would you be happy?”
He nodded. “I would.”
He could always open his own practice in Sugar Springs. There wasn’t a lot of need so it may not pay the bills, but he could also join a firm in Knoxville. Maybe with his buddy. A couple days a week in Sugar Springs and the rest working with a larger firm, less than an hour’s drive away. He could see that working.
“Then I’m not sure what we’re waiting for,” his mother said. “Isn’t there a movie playing tonight?”
There was. And he happened to know that big things happened on movie nights. He wanted to make sure Holly was with the right man when those things happened.
“Want to take a ride with me, Mom?”
He’d left the top off the car again. Partly because he knew his mother liked riding with the top down, and partly because it made him think of Holly.
Total contentment settled over his mother’s face. “You couldn’t get me out if you tried.”
He laughed with a relief he hadn’t felt in a week. “We’re going to need some clothes.”
“We can buy clothes; we’d better hurry. Beatrice called earlier. Rumor is that Holly has a date tonight. You can’t let her spend the evening with the wrong man.”
His thoughts exactly.