“Tell him you’d have done the same thing if it was someone you loved. Honoring their wishes is an act of love.”Holly’s advice sounded far wiser than anything I could come up with.
I didn’t hesitate to repeat her words. “I’d have done the same thing if I were you. They say honoring the wishes of someone is an act of love. You must have loved her very much to let her go.”
Holden refilled his glass and gave me a glossy-eyed grin. “My little sister was unbelievable. She was fearless and spoke her mind, much to her own detriment most of the time. She didn’t flinch. I used to send her money now and again. She didn’t always get the jobs she auditioned for, and I knew it was expensive living in New York. Holly always said she was doing okay, but I knew she wouldn’t admit things weren’t going perfectly for fear that we’d demand she come home.”
Happy giggled.“Please don’t tell them I was an exotic dancer. That’s something they don’t need to know.”
I subtly nodded. “Did you ever get to see her perform?”
Holden gave me a crooked smile. “Lots when she was taking dance classes as a kid and had recitals. One time, I went to New York with my business partner, Steve, to work on an asphalt paver with a broken track. We went to Manhattan for an overnight, and Holly got us tickets to see her in an awful, off-Broadway musical. She was in the chorus and she shined, but the rest of it was absolutely terrible.”
Holly giggled.“It was a re-imagined play about a singing vampire. It was awful and never made it past the first month, but I made good money while it lasted.”
“Did you tell her it was awful?”
He smiled as he looked into the distance. “Nope. In my eyes, she was always perfect, and she had such a big heart. She used to bring home stray dogs and cats all the time.”
Oscar, his dog, ambled into the kitchen and sniffed around. “Is that why you have Oscar?”
Holden reached down and picked up the sweet pooch, placing him on his lap. Oscar immediately turned and put his paws on Holden’s broad chest, trying to lick his face while his tail wagged speedily.
“I just got him a couple of years ago. I won’t lie and say Hollywasn’ton my mind when I went to the shelter.”
I smiled at the two of them. Holden was so sweet with the dog. It was easy to see Oscar loved him unconditionally.
That kind of love was hard to find. I had to hope I’d find it for myself someday.
Chapter Thirteen
Holden
“Do you have siblings?”
The desire to know all about Avery Langhorn couldn’t be suppressed. He had my attention, and I wanted to know more.
Avery was smart, funny, and sweet. He was young, though. How much of a fool would I be to ask him for a date?
“No. My parents tried for more, but all they got was me. Mom had a few miscarriages before I came along, so they always said they’re lucky they got me. Of course, that makes both of them overly protective and drives me up the wall. They have brothers and sisters who have kids, but they all live in Seattle. Just Mom, Dad, and I live here, so all their attention is on me all the time…all the damn time.” Avery shook his head.
“There were eight years between Holly and me. I damn well didn’t want my parents to bring home a crying poop machine back then. When Dad sat me down and explained I had no choice in the matter, I decided not to have anything to do with her. The fact she was a girl didn’t help my lack of interest in her either. That lasted for two weeks.
“One day, Holly was in her bassinette in the living room asleep. There was a loud bang on a cartoon I was watching, and Holly started to cry. Mom had just gone up to take a nap. I didn’t want her to yell at me because the TV was too loud, so I tried to get my sister to stop crying by giving her a pacifier. That didn’t work, so I picked her up to rock her in Mom’s rocker.
“Her little fist wrapped around my thumb and from that moment forward I was putty in her hands. When she was a little older, I took her with me everywhere when my mom would allow it, and even my high school friends treated her like a little sister.
“It was hard to leave home when Steve and I decided to start our own business and base it out of Baltimore as a more central home base. Then, Holly decided to move to New York to pursue dance, and she was so damn happy…” Tears stung my eyes as I glanced at the vodka in front of me.
It was unlike me to cry over anything, especially with anyone else in the room, so I coughed and cleared my throat, swallowing down the tears and the pain. I glanced at Avery to see his gaze fixed on the cabinets by the sink, though I had the feeling he’d noticed that I’d teared up.
“Don’t mind me. Anyway, Holly lived in New York for three years. She shared a dinky apartment with three other dancers and she was thrilled with the fast pace of the city. She left me a message before Christmas that year, telling me she had something exciting to tell the whole family. One of the roommates later told Mom that Holly had gotten a role with a speaking part in a revival ofMy Fair Lady. That was her big news for us. Mom went to bed for a week after hearing the news. I watched the movie to see what it was about. Holly would have been great in any part she would have played.”
Avery’s cheeks were glistening with rolling tears. I never wanted to make him cry, but I appreciated that he could show the kind of emotion I refused to allow to surface. It was beautiful.
“Ugh. Should we order some food?” I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I didn’t want to take him home yet. I needed to sober up a little to ask him more questions.
“Sure. Whatever you want.”
I handed him my phone. “I have a delivery service on there. Pick a restaurant and order something. I’ll be right back. I need to… uh, go.” I pointed toward the hall.
