Down To You (The Love On Edge Series) (2 page)

“Get the door, Sloane!”

Holly rushed about upstairs, getting the rest of the kids’ clothes into their respective suitcases as her sanity hung on by a thread.

“Tressa! Where is your jumper? Randy! Where on earth are your hiking boots?! Belle! Please don’t make a mess of yourself!” Already frazzled, Holly needed a moment to herself. Calgon was not equipped to take this meltdown away. Holly went into the bathroom, closed the door and came face to face with her mirror. She took one look and wanted to die.

How the hell am I supposed to face Brant like this?! Hair a mess. No make up. I didn’t even brush my teeth yet. How much do you want to bet that he is downstairs looking perfect? Button down shirt primly pressed, khakis with not a wrinkle on them, and his hair just messy enough to look like he didn’t care… But he cares. Men shouldn’t take a full hour to get ready in the morning. Let’s not even mention that cologne that he always wore. Ugh! If only he knew how much I still loved him. But I have to stay firm. He’s the one that messed this up.

Holly let out a meaningful sigh. In an effort to look somewhat decent, she pulled a comb through her long hair, brushed her teeth and blotted some lip gloss on her chapped lips before heading downstairs to face the one person she dreaded seeing most.

*****

“Holly!” Sloane yelled from the front door. “Are you coming down, or what? Brant is here.”

Brant. The one guy who had the ability to break her heart a million times over again. Funny enough, he might be the only one with the power to heal it again too. He had never treated her wrong, if you wanted to get technical. He had been an excellent husband and father. His only flaw was walking out on them when their luck ran low.

Holly rushed down the stairs and went to the front door with a miserable look on her face. There she was, face to face with the one guy she loved to hate and hated to love. Brant Edgemont.

She took in the sight of him, and was surprised by what she saw. She expected to see his usual dapper and charming self, but instead she saw a ghost of his former self. His hair was disheveled. He had traded in his usual button down shirt for a navy blue Drexel hoodie and a pair of blue jeans. He looked exhausted. Holly recalled how his slate blue eyes once sparkled. Now they were dull and stormy.

“Oh, it’s you…” said Holly awkwardly.

Brant chuckled, but only slightly.

“Who else would it be?” he asked with a hint of jealousy to his voice.

“That’s not what I meant. No one, of course.”

“Can we talk?”
Brant pleaded with a tortured look in his eyes.

“That depends…”

“Holly, there are things that we need to discuss. I am not sure that you completely understand the reason I left…”

The tears began to well in Holly’s eyes before she could even begin to speak. Rage quaked just under the surface of her skin.

Do we really need to argue at the holidays?

“No Brant. I get it. I wasn’t enough for you. We weren’t enough for you. So you hit the road. That’s fine… I get it. It’s a lot taking care of a family.”

Brant shook his head.

“Holly, you don’t understand
at all
.”

“No, Brant. I understand perfectly. It’s okay.”

Holly whipped her body around, leaving Brant staring at her golden strands of wavy hair. She cut off the conversation as she opened the door so that the kids to come out. He just wanted to reach out to her. But she was so closed off. There had to be a way.

“Kids!” Holly yelled in the house, “Kids! Daddy’s here!”

Suddenly, all three children were trudging over the threshold with their suitcases dragging behind them. As soon as Belle saw her father she dropped her suitcase and squealed with delight.

“Daddy!” Belle yelled in her squeaky, high pitched voice. “Oh Daddy, I’ve missed you!”

“At least someone is happy to see me!” said Brant as he gave Holly a sidewards glance. The comment nearly made her break out into tears. Holly nudged Randy and Tressa to say hello to their father. Randy gave his dad a fist bump and a nod while Tressa gave Brant an awkward hug. They quickly made a beeline towards his truck.

“Can you have them back by New Year’s Day?”

“I can do that… I can have them back sooner if you wanted to… You know… Have Christmas as a family.”

Holly sighed. There is nothing more that she wanted in the whole world than to spend the holidays with Brant and the children, as a family… But not like this. Too much had transpired. She had to know that she could trust him.

“I wouldn’t want to spoil your plans. Now go before you catch your death out here. It’s getting chilly.”

Against his better wishes, Brant climbed into the cab of his F-150, but not without glancing back at her. He could tell how hard it was becoming for her to push him away. As the truck climbed up Wallace Road, Brant hit his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.

“She just doesn’t get it.”

“What? What doesn’t Mommy get?” asked the always curious Belle.

“There are just some things that Mommy doesn’t understand.”

“Like what? I’m smart. Mrs. Noonan says I’m very smart for a four-year old. I know my ABC’s and numbers, and shapes… Daddy, please tell me.”

“I am not a perfect man but…”

“But you are a good one! You always buy me milkshakes when I ask.” Belle interrupted, causing Brant to laugh.

“Kids, I love your mother, whether she realizes it or not.”

While Randy and Tressa looked out the window trying to avoid the conversation, the always talkative Belle seemed to clam up too. Finally, Tressa broke her silence.

“She loves you too… She just has a funny way of showing it.”

The expression on Brant’s face turned from sadness to shock. A small sliver of hope remained in his big slate blue eyes, causing his youngest daughter to smile.

*****

Holly closed the front door as tears flowed from her eyes. She slumped back on the door. It took forcible measures to keep from running back outside; to tell him to come home. To stay. Quietly, she said aloud, “If only you knew how hard it is to say goodbye to you.”

Chapter Three

              Party Hearty?             

December 23, 2013

Edgemont Residence

“Come on, girl! Aren’t you ready yet?” yelled Sloane from the other end of the phone. Holly looked down at her appearance and laughed.
She had on a pair of black sweat pants, a grey t-shirt, white bedroom slippers, and her frizzy hair was tossed up into a messy bun.

“Uh… not really…” said Holly honestly.

“Get dressed! The hottest party of the year is tonight, and we’re going!” Sloane was insistent.

“The hottest party, huh?” replied Holly unethusiastically.

“Yes! Jenny Turnbull’s father is throwing a huge Christmas party at Rogue and everyone who is anyone is coming!” Sloane gushed dramatically.

“Not me! I’m sitting here watching Jeopardy and eating cheese puffs!”

“Cheese puffs! Get dressed! I’m coming over!”

“What?!”

Before Holly could stop her friend from barging into her peaceful evening, Sloane had hung up the phone and was running out her front door.

Within ten minutes, Sloane barged through Holly’s front door, kicking fresh snow off of her three-inch red stiletto pumps in a most animated fashion. She took one look at Holly, and her jolly tone of voice went murderous.

“You’re still not dressed?!”

Holly looked up at her friend with a most matter of fact expression. She eyed her up and down, admiring her very festive attire. Sloane knew how to dress to impress. Her red mini-dress sparkled and glinted in the low light of the foyer. Her black hair charmed in her usual sassy bob. Sloane’s makeup was gorgeous. She looked perfect and Holly was utterly depressed.

“I have nothing to wear.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“Not kidding. Go look for yourself.”

Sloane gave Holly a look of total disbelief as she walked across the hardwood floor sounding like a horse trotting slowly through downtown. Holly looked amused as she helped herself to yet another cheese puff.

Sloane hiked up the steep wooden staircase that led to the second floor. At the top of the staircase was little Belle’s room. Then, as Sloane curved around the bannister, she bypassed the bathroom, Tressa’s room, Randy’s room and finally, she had arrived at the door to Holly’s bedroom. Sloane paused for a moment before entering as she did not know what to expect on the other side.

She allowed the door to creak open ever so slowly. Inside, she found a perfectly tidy bedroom. The bed linens were neatly made. There was not a single sock on the floor. There wasn’t even a bit of clutter on top of her bureau. All that rested on there were her jewelry box with her wedding ring nestled inside, a tube of half-used deodorant, and a nearly spent bottle of perfume that Brant had given Holly for Christmas over three years ago.

Getting frustrated by the lack of excitement in Holly’s bedroom, Sloane sashayed over to the closet. She was greeted by an overwhelming array of business suits, mom jeans, and a colorful assortment of wool sweaters.

“Oh my God, I’m in fashion hell!” yelled Sloane as she jumped back in shock as if the off-brand clothing were about to gobble her whole.

Holly, hearing her friend’s outburst, called up the steps with a tone of alarm.

“Is everything alright?”

Sloane, still deciding whether to laugh or cry at the dilemma before her, called out, “No! All your clothes have been stolen and replaced with that of an 80-year old spinster’s!”

“Very funny! I told you I had nothing to wear…”

Sloane started to rummage through the closet. She pushed shirts aside, held up trousers, and shook off dresses that look like they hadn’t been worn since their days at Drexel University. She was starting to get desperate. Surely there had to be a pair of shoes to get started with. Sloane began sifting through a few of the shoe boxes that sat on the top shelf of the closet, but she got more than she bargained for. Sloane came across a shoe box that was labeled hastily with a magic marker that said simply “Brant.” In a moment of pure clumsiness, the box toppled off of the shelf as a swarm of photographs, letters and cards came raining down upon Sloane’s head. Finally the box thudded to the ground.

From downstairs Holly called up the steps again, “What was that?”

Sloane, freaking out, made something up to keep Holly downstairs while she cleaned up the mess, “Nothing! Stubbed my toe. I’m fine.”

Sloane looked at the floor around her and saw Brant’s signature everywhere. Holly had kept every photograph, every love letter, and every single Valentine’s Day card… Maybe you never do stop loving someone after they’ve gone. But it was time for Holly to make a decision. Sloane was determined to make Holly choose between reuniting with Brant and a fresh new start with someone else. She’d get to the bottom of this if it killed her.

Quickly, she gathered up all of the letters, photos and cards off of the floor and put them back in the box. She swiftly closed the closet door, hoping to put the memory of Holly’s low budget closet behind her. Holly’s closet was a lost cause. Fortunately for her, Sloane always had a back-up plan.