Holly was tired, stressed and needed to relax. She got dressed and took out a pair of boots out of her closet and pulled them on over her leggings. That is when she noticed something sticking out from underneath her bureau.
She bent down and picked the photograph off of the floor and looked at it as nostalgia waxed.
It was a picture taken on the night Holly and Brant had their first date. They both looked so happy. Maybe they could be again. As little girls, we are raised to believe that our prince will come, and we will live happily ever after. But that’s not life, is it? No. There are interruptions and mishaps, miscommunications and set backs. Just because things don’t work out the first time, doesn’t mean things aren’t meant to be.
In a moment of bravery, Holly grabbed her cell phone from her purse. She caught her breath and closed her eyes as she dialed Brant’s number.
Please pick up.
After two rings Brant’s voicemail picked up causing Holly’s heart to sink.
“It’s just me. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
*****
“Sloane?” Brant asked with a perplexed tone of voice.
“Yeah, who else?” said Sloane as if Brant was supposed to assume it would be her calling. She never called him.
“I can think of a number of other people who I would expect to hear from other than you,” Brant admitted.
“No one as fabulous as me! Now listen up!” Sloane demanded.
Brant listened as Sloane went on a rampage about what he needed to say and do to get Holly back.
“You need to say it exactly like that!”
“I’ll give it a shot.”
“Mess this up and I’ll kill you myself,” said Sloane in her best menacing voice.
“No worries, Sloane. You’re a good friend.”
With that, Sloane hung up, and Brant hit the end button on his phone. That is when he saw it.
“One missed call… Who would be calling me at this hour, other than Ms. Jet-Setter herself?”
Holly.
Chapter Eight
One Missed Call
December 23, 2013
Denver, Colorado
Brant’s heart began to quicken as he listened to Holly’s voicemail. He was so excited to hear her voice, but also worried at how upset she sounded. He knew what Beckman had pulled, and she sounded distraught. He put the phone down on the restaurant table as a nervous look crept across his handsome face.
“Who was that, Brant?” asked Doris, Brant’s mother, who was sitting at the table across from him.
Brant’s parents Doris and Harry had met Brant and the kids at the airport and had taken them out to dinner at Harry’s favorite restaurant, The Beef Barn.
“Holly’s friend Sloane,” said Brant.
Doris raised an eyebrow, “Is that really a good idea?”
“Trust me, it’s not what you think,” explained Brant with a chuckle. He continued, “I’ll be back. I have to make a call.”
Brant dialed Holly’s cell phone number but no one was picking up. He dialed the house phone, but again, no answer. An awful sense of déjà vu crept over Brant.
She just called. Why isn’t she picking up?
As he walked into the restaurant, Brant had a million things going through his mind at once, but he knew his course of action.
“Hey Pop…” Brant said to his father. Harry raised his eyebrow at his son.
“What?”
“Slight change of plans…”
*****
“Shit…” complained Holly as her cell phone shut off due to a dead battery.
She ran for her charger.
“Where the hell did I put it?!”
Holly ran downstairs looking for her phone charger. It wasn’t in the kitchen, or the living room. Frantically, she ran back upstairs and checked her bedroom. That is when she remembered that she had forgotten her charger at work.
Great.
She scrambled into Randy’s room hoping that he had left his extra charger. Of course not. Suddenly the house phone began to ring. She scrambled out of Randy’s room and began looking for the cordless phone that Tressa had failed to put back on the charger. Holly rushed into Tressa’s bedroom.
“Oh, my God, this room!” yelled Holly as she encountered her daughter’s room. There were clothes everywhere. It looked as if a pink and purple hurricane had twisted through the room. Holly assumed that when Tressa was packing her suitcase, she didn’t know what to pack so she just left the undesirables strewn all over the floor. Her bed was unmade, and her closet and bureau appeared as if they had thrown up all over the room.
Holly could hear the phone ringing from somewhere within the hovel.
Oh, what the hell…
Holly dug through the piles of clothing, trying to find the source of the ringing, but it was to no avail. Finally, when the phone stopped ringing, she ended her searched, but not before allowing herself to flop on the pile of clothes in frustration.
She just couldn’t believe she had been so stupid. Her mind still reeled from what Sloane had divulged. She had always seen Brant as such a strong guy with all the answers. She wasn’t the only one who was hurting. In the few days after she had returned from the hospital, he had been quiet, but attentive. He was too quiet. She should have known that there was a storm brewing just beneath the surface.
He was gone for a week and she was so angry and hurt that she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Nobody could really blame her for being angry and upset. But shouldn’t she have at least listened to his side of the story? The uncertainty of where he was, especially at a time like that was what chilled her heart the most.
Where could he have been that was so important that he had to leave his wife and children, when his wife was recuperating from emergency surgery? She immediately thought that there must have been another woman. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Brant broke down, and he didn’t want to let Holly or the kids see him so low. He was physically incapable of handling any more stress. He blamed himself entirely for her miscarriage. Brant believed that if he hadn’t gone to Hong Kong, and left Holly with the burden of taking care of everything at home, that the baby and Holly would have been okay. He sat in the dark of that hotel room in a state of self-loathing as he cried and thought and tried to figure out what to do next.
The stress of any life can get the best of a man. Between bills, stress at work, the heavy weight of raising children, and seeing your best friend and love of your life in danger. It’s amazing he didn’t crack earlier. He thought it was better to break down away from home so that his family didn’t see him at his weakest point. He never realized how drastically his actions would affect his family, especially Holly. The truth of the matter is physical strength is easy to come by, but it was the inner strength is much harder to attain. Holly took her strength for granted. Not everyone was so lucky.
Chapter Nine
Midnight Encounter
The lights from the Christmas tree shone brightly in the dark living room of the Edgemont house as the sound of Frank Sinatra’s “White Christmas” crooned from the radio. Holly was sitting next to the Christmas tree on the floor opening up Christmas cards that had come in the mail. Unsure of what to do with her time. She was no longer tired. In fact, she didn’t think she’d be able to fall asleep if she tried. She tried calling Brant’s cell phone from the house phone but no one picked up.
Somberly, she sat opening up holiday cards from relatives and friends, local businesses and fellow church members.
First, she opened a brightly hued card that read “Season’s Greetings” on the front. Inside it was signed by Sloane. Next, Holly opened a red envelope that had a card with Santa Claus depicted on the front. When she opened the card, it sung to her “Santa Claus is coming to Town.” It was signed by Marv.
Such a big kid, Holly thought as she laughed.
There were cards from Brant’s parents, Tressa and Randy’s school teachers,
the Home and School Association, their pastor at church, and even a card from the garage where Holly gets her car tuned up. There was just one envelope left, and Holly immediately recognized the scrawl.
Holly’s hands fumbled to get the envelope open; she just couldn’t get it opened fast enough. Rather than a card, it was a letter. She unfolded the letter to reveal Brant’s handwriting on plain white copy paper.
Holly’s heart sped as she read it:
Holly,
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from afar since I will be out of town on Christmas Day. There is a lot that I need to say to you, but I think it’s better if I write to you. I love you. I love you more than you know. For the longest time, I have wanted to apologize for my carelessness. I know it’s not enough. You have to be able to trust that I wouldn’t walk again when the going get’s tough.
Well here it is. Here is all that I have to give. Everything in my life comes down to you. If you love me and will have me, everything else is just a bonus. I know I’ve let you down, and I’ve paid for that everyday since we’ve been apart. There has never been anyone else. My heart is too consumed by you. You walk around with a big piece of me wherever you go. I know you’re hurting. I was too. I never expected to feel so out of control with our lives. I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to take care of you. I left because I didn’t want my family to see me so weak. Your dad told me to take the time I needed, and he would hold down the fort. He saw how close to the edge I was. I was about to snap. I blamed myself entirely. I still do. Then, when your dad tried to explain what happened, you took it personally. See, Holly, you have an inner strength that I’ve never quite mastered. You can take the hits and keep on rolling. I might be physically strong, but you are the strongest out of the two of us. You are, and forever were my rock.
I was wrong. Families are supposed to work through things together, and I was gone when you needed me most. I don’t know if I can ever make up for that. But I can promise you that I will never leave your side again. I want our family back. I need us to be a family again.
Merry Christmas Holly. I hope you will consider what I’ve said. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of you, or love you more than the day before. I think you still love me, too.
Still Yours,
Brant
Tears flooded Holly’s eyes as she read and re-read the letter from her ex-husband. She did still love him, and she wanted nothing more than to welcome him back into her life. She just had to trust that he wouldn’t crack under the pressure of day-to-day life again. She certainly had much to consider as she sat smiling under the lights of the Christmas tree.
*****
A car door slammed outside of 56 Wallace Road as Holly jumped in reaction. She had fallen asleep under the lights of the Christmas tree, with Brant’s letter still hanging in her grasp. She looked up at the clock that hung on the wall through raw, tired eyes.
3:17 A.M.
Who the hell would be showing up here at this time of night?!
Learily, Holly walked to the front window and pulled aside the sheer curtain as her heart threatened to leap out of her chest. Standing in the white glow of the moonlight was Brant. Holly’s heart leapt when she saw him. He was leaning against his pick-up truck with bouquet of Casablanca lilies in his right hand and a determined look in his eyes.
Brant had always chosen Casablanca lilies for Holly. They are a classically beautiful flower with surprising strength and resilience. That was his Holly, alright.
Maybe it was the alcohol…
Maybe it was the Christmas music…
Or maybe Holly’s heart was finally doing exactly what it had wanted to do for so long.
Holly raced to the front door and swung it open. She ran off the porch into the still falling snow. Her boots trudged loudly through the snow, going faster and faster.
Brant watched with a shocked smile at the vision before him. He never thought he’d see the day that Holly would come back to him.
Now there they were, two lost souls in the night. Two wounded hearts running towards the only person on earth who could make them whole again.
Finally, Brant was within arm’s reach. Holly leapt into his arms wrapping her long legs around Brant’s strong frame.
It was like whiplash! Her blonde hair smelled like vanilla as Holly came crashing into him. She kissed him passionately and furiously on his lips as if he was a soldier who had just come home from the war. She sucked the words straight from his brain. All he could do was kiss her back.
Brant walked through the snow with Holly still wrapped around him. He climbed the porch steps, their lips still locked in a kiss. Under the dim light of the porch, Holly stood on her own two feet still wrapped in Brant’s embrace.
“I can’t believe you’re here…”
“I took the first available flight.”
“I just can’t believe it.”
“I got your message and then I couldn’t get a hold of you on the phone. I was so worried.”
Holly looked up at Brant, her eyes full of emotion, and said, “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
Holly reached back and opened the door as Brant continued to kiss her, she fumbled and finally the door crashed open causing them to fall inside. Brant slammed the door shut with his foot, his lips still on hers. Holly looked at Brant with a passion she had never felt before. She ripped his coat off, slid her hands up his shirt against his bare, muscular chest, and pulled it over his head. Brant lifted her, wrapping her legs around him. He took her upstairs and reclaimed the only woman he ever loved as his own.
Chapter Ten
Never Let Me Go…
December 24, 2013
Edgemont Residence
Holly awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon, her thoughts still aglow from the previous evening. Brant cracked the door open and smiled at Holly.
“There she is…” said Brant as he brought a plate with pancakes, eggs, bacon and rye toast to Holly in bed.
Holly smiled broadly at Brant, “That smells amazing… What time is it?”
Brant looked at his wrist watch.
“It is 10:17,” you must’ve been tired.”
“I was...” said Holly sleepily as she sat up in bed, beginning to dig in to the breakfast Brant had made her.
“Eat up, because I have a busy day planned for us,” said Brant with a wink.
“Oh, really?”
“Really. Now meet me downstairs in an hour. Wear hiking boots.”
*****
Brant sat at the breakfast bar with his cell phone in his hand. He gave a wary glance to the stairs to make sure that Holly wasn’t in ear shot. He dialed a series of numbers and put the phone to his ear.
“Did ya get it?!” asked Brant in a whisper.
Marv, who was running up Jeweler’s Row with his arms full of bags, yelled into his receiver.
“Yes! Yes! Did I ever tell you that you’re the biggest pain in the ass?!”
“You love this pain in the ass…”
“Fix my daughter’s heart, and I will.”
“That’s the plan, Marv. You know what to do, right?”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?!”
“Right. Sorry. Why do you sound out of breath?”
Marv rolled his eyes as he tried to flag a taxi as his bags from a variety of stores and boutiques weighed down his arms.
“Because I’m Christmas shopping, too! Hey taxi!”
Brant laughed at Marv.
Forever the procrastinator.
“I gotta go. I’m getting in a cab now.”
“Thanks again.”
Brant hung up the phone and went back to reading the morning paper, as he tapped his leg nervously against the bar stool.
*****
Sloane had a look of determination on her face as she stood in line at the Pour House coffee shop. Her arms were loaded down with shopping bags, and she desperately needed her caramel macchiato to get through this day. There
was still so much to do. Sloane was fifth in line and her patience was hanging by a very thin thread. Suddenly, someone had tapped her on her right shoulder. Sloane turned to see who it was with an agitated look on her face.
Ugh! Not Beckman again! I cannot deal with his nonsense right now!
“Yo, Sloane! What’s going on?” said Chris is his thick South Philly accent.
Down To You (The Love On Edge Series) Page 5
