by Ines Saint
“Hello,” she answered when she was far enough from the noise.
“Hello, may I speak to Holly Bell?”
“This is she.”
“My name is Claire Dodson. I was told by Steve and Debbie Glazer you were interested in a stained-glass window I have in my possession?”
Holly’s heart nearly stopped. The second stained-glass window!
They spoke for a few minutes, Holly’s excitement mounting. Mrs. Dodson had other Spinning Hills memorabilia. They went back and forth for a while, negotiating on the stained-glass window, and agreeing on the day after Thanksgiving for Holly to pick it up. The woman was difficult and wanted everything her way. She spent an inordinate amount of time talking about herself and Holly was itching to hang up.
When they were finally done, she hurried back to the table to tell Dan.
Midway there, she slowed her steps. The window was for his house, not hers. Probably she should’ve let him negotiate the deal. And he’d want to go pick it up. She wanted to go see the memorabilia.
But if she didn’t tell him and surprised him with it, he might take it as a grand gesture on her part. Her mouth twisted. As if she’d go through all that trouble for him.
By the time she reached the table, she had a plan. Dan was a busy man. She’d wait until the last possible moment to tell him about the window and then offer to pick it up for him.
Leo and Emily were hosting a formal Thanksgiving dinner for close friends and family at their house, and Dan welcomed the opportunity to wear a suit. He’d been living in jeans and flannels for far too long. Everyone was to contribute a homemade dish. Dan made trail mix.
He walked up the cobbled path of the steeply pitched, stone and wood-shingled cottage and took a moment to admire the arched, single-panel oak door. Sam did good work in bringing out the fantasy element in each house he restored. When the door swung open, he half-expected a tiny gingerbread man to come running out.
Instead, a wild-eyed Leo greeted him with a stinging back slap before leading him into the large main living area. Emily said a quick hi before gutting Leo with a stack of plates. “It’s our first time hosting,” he explained before rushing away.
“You’re doing great,” Dan called after them. The fireplace had a nice fire going, and a rustic, two-tier chandelier bathed the room and its ginger and tan Thanksgiving decorations in a soft light. The dining room table had been moved to the front of the room and was full of Thanksgiving favorites, while the built-in sideboard contained a variety of glasses and drinks. Folding tables and chairs lined the perimeter of the room.
People were milling around, chatting, and enjoying themselves. Dan knew almost everyone there and it was a welcome change. Whenever he was invited anywhere, he usually only knew the hosts and a few other people. He guessed it was the difference between home and everywhere else.
Sam and Heather were chatting with Holly, Ruby, and Sherry in one corner of the room.
The moment he caught sight of Holly, he knew he’d tell her his news, only because it was the perfect excuse to talk to her. He took a page from her book and blamed his nose for wanting to be near her. It knew what she smelled like and was half-addicted to the memory. Her scent always drifted to him when they were at the same table, but not from across a room.
His eyes were playing a number on him, too. How could he not want to stand a little closer when she wore a sparkly, silver dress that set off everything about her that glowed?
Her short, throaty laugh, the one that ended with a small snort, reached him, and he set off in her direction. It wasn’t a musical sound, but it was cute and he’d missed it.
It was a wicked trick, to claim his senses that way.
When Holly saw him, she turned toward Leo and Emily, who were coming to her from the opposite direction. “We always seem to gravitate to each other,” she said to Emily.
“You’re right. You’d think you’d be gravitating toward some of the single men here instead of standing around with couples,” Emily answered, stepping into the group Holly had just left.
“I’m a single man, I’ll take her away for a few minutes,” Dan spoke up.
Everyone looked at him. It had been a joke, but they were all serious. He cleared his throat. “I’m just kidding. I have some news for her, that’s all.”
When neither he nor Holly budged, Sherry shook her head as if she was looking at a lost cause. “We’ll leave you two alone then. Let’s all take five steps to the side.” Everyone laughed.
Holly’s belly got fluttery and her palms became moist. She dearly wanted to know how she could put an end to her physical reactions. The chaste berry and primrose oil Grandma Ruby recommended hadn’t worked, and seeing him in a suit had her in uncomfortable tingles. “You have some news for me?” she prompted. His hair had grown since he’d rolled into town, and it now curled under the collar of his dress shirt. Her hands itched to pull it out. And touch it. Run her fingers through it. Pull it.
She closed her eyes for a beat, wishing someone would slap her.
“I found some original paperwork buried in the corner of the attic. I thought you’d want to know Owen Amador didn’t finish building the Craftsman. A man named Milton Davis put the finishing touches on it.”
She glanced up. “Really? Poor Owen! He must’ve been suffering from too much unrequited love to finish it.”
Dan glanced down at her, a smile in his eyes. “Or he was fired before he got to finish it.”
“Fired? No way.” Holly shook her head. “The house was being beautifully and lovingly built. I’ve always felt it. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to live in it. Besides, I looked Owen up in Dayton Metro Library’s archives and he was a sought-after builder in the region. Why would anyone fire a great builder?”
Dan shot her a mischievous grin that sent the butterflies in her stomach into a tizzy. “Maybe Nathaniel McDowell caught him making eyes at Miranda. We Amadors have a history of falling for the wrong woman, you know. It’s why we’re cursed.”
“Owen wouldn’t have done that. He was careful.”
He smiled and held her gaze. “Really? How do you figure that?”
“Because he hid that letter so well. He was careful about it.”
“A careful person wouldn’t have written the letter in the first place. If it’s dangerous to let your feelings be known, you don’t.”
“But the more powerful a feeling becomes, the more that feeling needs a vent, or it becomes dangerous to your well-being. The letter was a much-needed vent, but he was careful about it.”
Dan shook his head, and Holly wondered how they had gone from avoiding each other to having a meaningful discussion so fast. She leaned against the window and looked out. A few neighbors were putting lights up. The truth was, she and Dan had become unlikely friends at some point, and she’d been missing her new friend.
“What are you thinking?”
She shrugged. “Nothing much. People are beginning to put lights up and I love seeing Christmas lights twinkling outside, Christmas trees through windows, and smoke coming out of chimneys. It suits the town.”
Dan looked outside, too, and they were silent for a while. She caught his reflection in the window, and it seemed as if he’d been staring at her reflection the whole time. “Anything new in Holly-world?” he asked, turning to her again with a devastating grin.
She blinked and gave her head a quick shake. “I have news, too. Remember Debbie from Charleston?”
Dan nodded and took a sip of his drink.
“Well, she found the old owner’s e-mail address and sent her my information. She called and offered to sell the stained-glass window to me, plus she said she had other Spinning Hills memorabilia.”
“How much does she want?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
“Did you negotiate it down?”
Holly nodded. “She lives near Toledo and she was very firm about only being able to meet with me tomorrow at noon. Apparently, her husband has been s
ick, but it’s been tougher on her than him. Ella and I are driving up. I’ll pick it up for you.”
“I’m not buying sight unseen and tomorrow’s no good for me.”
“I’ll text you a picture of a close-up.”
“I need to take a good look at it. If you switch it to Saturday, I’ll go with you guys.”
“No. You should trust me to know what I’m about by now. I’ll make sure it’s the real deal before buying it, but you can’t come. Ella and I are leaving at six so we can stop at Imagination Station for an hour or two.”
“Fine, then. I’ll ask Johnny to supervise a few things for me tomorrow and I’ll drive my car up and meet you there at three.”
“That’s stupid, both of us driving up in separate cars,” she said without thinking.
“Then we agree, we’ll take my car.” Dan took a sip of his drink to hide his smile, his eyes never leaving hers. He must’ve seen the worry there, though, because his expression turned serious. “I promise I’ll go my own way when we get to Imagination Station. I won’t intrude on your family time.” He then leaned in and spoke low, “And don’t worry. With Ella there, you’ll behave.”
“Like I’m the one who needs to behave.” Holly scratched the ear he’d tickled with his breath and smiled despite herself. With Ella there, they’d definitely keep their hands and lips to themselves. And it would be nice to go with someone who’d enjoy picking through old stuff as much as she would. “All right. But only if Ella and I pick the music the whole way there and back.”
Dan hesitated. “As long as you don’t choose anything by Toto, any power ballads, or any bubblegum rock.”
“Deal. That reminds me. You mentioned you like Thriller?”
“I do,” he answered, eyes narrowing. “I don’t mind if you play that on the way.”
“That’s not why I ask. I just wondered if you were aware that four of the six members of Toto worked on that album.”
Dan laughed at her triumphant expression. “No, I wasn’t aware of that. How long have you been sitting on that?”
“About a week.” She grinned. “I’ve been dying to tell you.”
He searched her eyes, wondering if she’d missed his company as much as he’d missed hers. “You know, a good marathon make-out session could’ve cured you of past regrets. We never did get very far.”
“That would instill a whole new set of regrets in me, and we agreed not to go there.”
“A whole set? I’m not even going to ask why.”
“A whole set of what?” Johnny asked, joining them.
“Er, a whole set of... deviled eggs. I brought a set of deviled eggs. That was my dish,” Holly said.
A bell clanged, and they turned to see Leo and Emily standing in the middle of the room. They instructed everyone to hold hands and Ella came running up to Holly. She held one hand up to her mother and one up to Dan. Surprised, Dan turned to look at Johnny, only to catch him biting back a grin. Dan held Ella’s and Johnny’s hands, closed his eyes, and didn’t hear a word.
When he opened his eyes, he caught Holly staring at his and Ella’s hands, a faraway look clouding her eyes.
How could the feelings of someone he had once so thoroughly dismissed now matter to him?
“Uncle Dan!” A small voice came from across the room. He looked up to see his nephew, Jake, running toward him. With one leap, he catapulted into Dan’s arms, and scowled at Ella. Dan laughed. So, Jake was jealous. For some reason, it warmed his heart. His nephew loved him.
The next day, Dan struggled to get Ella’s car seat strapped into his car. She was too short for a booster seat, but the car seat had a five point system he couldn’t make sense of. Holly ended up doing it for him.
Dan had to tamp down the need to laugh, hard, when they were on their way and a song Ella liked came on the radio. Ella only knew three words to the chorus, but she sang them in earnest, as if she were headlining at Madison Square Garden with tens of thousands of fans at her feet. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her little fists bunched up, and her head swung from side to side. He stole a look at Holly, who bit her bottom lip as she watched him. They shared a look.
Three hours, too many girl power songs to count, and a made-up scavenger game later, they were at Imagination Station. He’d had as much fun with Ella and Holly as he had hanging out with his brothers.
As soon as they paid for admission to the interactive science museum, Dan turned to Holly, panicked. “I think I’m the only one here without a kid. I’m going to look like a weirdo walking around alone.”
Holly bit her lip. “You can hang out with us, Dan.”
They went around to the Sesame Street “The Body” exhibit first, and Dan had a great time watching Ella and other kids have some good, pure fun as they learned about their insides and their outsides.
Ella lifted her little arms up to Dan when they got to Oscar’s sneeze machine, so she could look inside his nose, and Dan hesitated. Holly noticed, and quickly held her arms out to Ella, but Dan said, “It’s fine. I’ll lift her. You’re not tall enough, shrimp.” He lifted Ella into his arms. A warm, protective feeling shot through him, like the one he got whenever his nephew hugged him.
They ended the trip at a yo-yo-like attraction that propelled a rider thirteen feet into the air. Ella was too short to ride it, but she begged her mom to.
Holly got on and tried to propel herself up the full thirteen feet, but she fell short. Dan and Ella laughed until they were holding their sides. Holly came down, pouting and rubbing her back. “I can’t believe I didn’t make it! And I hurt my back trying.”
Dan wanted to pull her into a hug. But he couldn’t. So he showed her up instead. He propelled himself the full thirteen feet and was rewarded with Holly’s and Ella’s hearty laughter.
Holly guided them to the Dodsons’ home by again repeating everything the GPS said. It annoyed Dan, but she couldn’t help it. What if they missed a street or an exit? In her experience, men were at their worst when they were lost.
By the time they pulled up to the address Mrs. Dodson had given her, Ella had fallen asleep. Holly groaned when she bent to get her out of her car seat. Her back still hurt. “I’ll get her,” Dan offered, and she reluctantly stepped aside. Ella was fast asleep, but they couldn’t leave her in the car. Dan carried her as if he knew Ella was precious cargo and Holly softened. He looked even manlier, if that was possible.
They walked up to the front porch and Dan reached out to ring the doorbell, but Holly stopped him. “Mrs. Dodson asked that I knock. Her husband naps at this hour and she doesn’t want anything waking him up.” Whispering, she added, “She went on and on about it, as if she was this great martyr for making sure no one interrupted his naps.”
Holly knocked and, seconds later, a woman who looked to be in her early fifties opened the door. The woman took one look at Dan and gasped.
“Oh my God.” The woman covered her mouth with both hands.
Holly frowned and looked at Dan, who had turned so pale the sides of his mouth were almost blue. It had happened in one instant. The woman stepped out and Dan took a step back, his face tight, his body tense.
“Daniel, is it really you?” The woman looked at Ella. “Is this my grandchild?”
Grandchild? Holly looked from the woman to Dan again, feeling light-headed.
Eyes wide, the woman nodded and reached out to Ella.
Dan became rigid. “She’s not your grandchild, Claire. Even if she were my child, she would not be your grandchild.” With those words, he turned, walked down the steps, opened the car door, and put Ella back into her car seat.
Holly was paralyzed. Dan called to her, “You don’t want to buy anything from her, Holly. Let’s go.” She rushed down the stairs, but almost stumbled. How could Dan be so calm?
Holly reached the car, and Claire Dodson flew down the steps. Tears were flowing, and she looked frightened. “Is that all, son? You won’t even come in to talk?”
Dan shut the door. “Don’t call
me son.” His lips disappeared into a thin line, and his eyes looked cold and hard.
“You won’t even yell at me,” Claire Dodson said, wringing her hands.
“To make you feel better? You don’t deserve to feel better. Go take care of that husband of yours. It’s time you took care of somebody.”
Dan was about to open his door to get into the car, but he turned to look at the woman one more time. “Two things. I want to know two things.” Holly’s heart broke a little listening to him. As hard as he’d tried to be strong and leave, the little boy inside had questions. From what she knew of Dan, he’d probably consider it a weakness. “Do I have brothers or sisters I don’t know about?”
“No! I wouldn’t have had it in me to raise a child when I left another behind!” she said, as if she were offended he’d think that. Holly looked at the woman as if she were mad.
Dan shook his head and his jaw worked. His body was so wound up, Holly was afraid to touch him. “Why did you do it?”
“Do—do what?” Claire asked, her voice barely audible.
“Leave,” Dan ground out.
Claire dropped her hands from her mouth and stared into the distance. “You kept talking about Sam and Johnny’s new puppy. I went to buy one, but when they started rattling off how to care for it, I—I knew I couldn’t do it. Any of it. I went back after I read about Jacob’s funeral and tried to find you, to explain it to you, but you were gone.” Holly couldn’t help staring. She’d gone back after twenty years and had the nerve to say it as if it counted for something?
Holly didn’t know how Dan managed to get into the car, stiff as he was, but he did. She did the same. His demeanor was controlled, but he began to drive aimlessly around the neighborhood. “Let me drive,” she offered.
