Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
I want to reach out, to bridge the gap between us. “How long are you staying? Maybe we could get together for a drink.”
Immediately, I see the abhorrence on her face but she’s too polite to tell me to go to hell. “I won’t be here long. Only until I can figure out the business for my mom. It’s a bit of a mess. The shop needs repairs. I inspected it yesterday and we’ll have to close until we can get some stuff fixed.”
“What kind of repairs?” I ask, my interest piqued because of how flustered she looks.
She huffs out a big sigh, rakes her manicured fingers through her hair. “Wood rot around the windows and the flooring is damaged from a leak in the water heater. It extends out into the customer area and has warped the floors.”
“Let me help,” I offer without thought. “I’ve got tools and can be there tomorrow.”
“Someone’s already scheduled to come look at it. I’ve got it handled.”
“Let me guess… Petey Byers?”
Holland lifts her chin. “He comes highly recommended.”
“That’s because he’s the only decent handyman in town and he’s got a dozen jobs he works all at the same time. I’m betting he won’t show up, claiming he got busy on another project.”
Eyes flat with disinterest and words clipped, she says, “I’m sure it’ll be fine. But thank you.”
She turns away but I reach out, my fingers encircling her wrist. She twists to look at me. “We used to be friends, Holland,” I remind her, hoping to appeal to our shared past.
“We used to be more,” she says, pulling her wrist free. “And then we weren’t. It was nice seeing you, Trey, and thank you for coming. Take care.”
Frustration bubbles inside me as she melts into the crowd, leaving a storm of emotions brewing within. I want to run after her, to explain everything, to make her see that I never meant to hurt her. I want to apologize until she forgives me, then I want to hold her.
Kiss her.
Keep her.
Jesus, I’m not prepared for this avalanche of feelings but seeing her again has caused eleven years of regret to cascade down upon me and I can’t even begin to understand how to process that.
A hand drops onto my shoulder and I turn to see Kat there with Gabe at her side. “Saw you talking to Holland for a bit. Did she have anything interesting to say?”
“Interesting like what?” I hedge.
Kat rolls her eyes. “Like why she’s been gone so long with no visits? What she’s been doing with her life? I mean… is she married, kids?”
Christ… is she married? I didn’t even look for a ring. “She didn’t say much. Just that she was trying to get her dad’s shop in order and then she’ll be heading back.”
Kat slides closer to Gabe, who puts his arm around her waist. They’ve been solidly together for almost a month now and it’s still a hard pill to swallow. “It’s so weird to see her here after all this time,” Kat muses. “Don’t you think?”
I nod, my eyes sliding over the crowd, looking for Holland. “Yeah. She’s changed a lot.”
“A little standoffish, right?” Kat concurs.
I don’t get a chance to respond because Gabe looks genuinely confused. “What’s the deal with her? I mean, I know she was close with the family, but there’s clearly more to it. That didn’t look like an overly warm reunion at all. Did she leave on bad terms?”
“No,” Kat exclaims, and I don’t bother to correct her. “She just left and never said why. We’ve loosely connected through Facebook, but she’s hardly on there. Once in a blue moon she’ll post pictures of some of her travels through Europe and I’ll comment. But she never responds. After a while, I just gave up.”
“But why stay away if her parents are here?” Gabe asks.
“She didn’t have a good relationship with them,” I say. I can remember keenly how sad Holland would be at the end of a day at Blackburn Farms when her mom would pick her up. She never wanted to go home.
Gabe looks between me and my sister. “So, this is the first time you’ve seen her in years?”
“Yup,” I say, hoping my terse response will make it clear I don’t want to talk about Holland and I really don’t want to talk to him.
Kat sighs wistfully. “It broke my heart when she left. She was like a sister to all of us. But maybe this is a chance to reconnect.”
I love Kat’s idealism but from what I just witnessed, Holland doesn’t want anything to do with Shelbyville and that probably includes the Blackburns. Take away her bitterness against me, her time with my family seems like eons ago. She has a new life in a new country. She’s moved on.