Page 36 of Whispers from the Past

‘Will you be taking on any more staff once the tourist season gets underway? You were pretty busy tonight and that’s just with the local foot traffic.’

‘Seb keeps offering to help out more, but most of the time I manage just fine.’

‘Will you take him up on the offer then?’

‘When he isn’t working in the kitchen, he’s over at the micro brewery keeping everything under control. I can’t ask him to do any more. He’s already doing too much.’

‘But if he’s offering?’

‘He’s offering because he feels sorry for me. And I don’t want people feeling sorry for me.’ Rose noticed that the more Holly spoke about Seb, the more aggressively she was cashing up the till.

‘You’re getting awfully agitated about Seb’s feelings,’ Rose’s eyebrows rose as she grinned at her friend across the bar.

‘I’m not getting agitated-oh shit,’ Holly cursed, fumbling a bag of pennies that she then dropped on the floor. They cascaded down and rolled in all different directions.

‘Yep, not agitated at all.’

Just as she bent down to start collecting all her pennies, Rose saw the hint of a blush on Holly’s cheeks.

‘There is more to this than you’re telling me. Oh god. Wait. Seb was at your 21st birthday. The one you don’t talk about.’

‘If he wasn’t my brother, I’d be killing Luke right about now. I knew he’d told you more about that than you were letting on!’

‘I swear he didn’t. He just said that history wouldn’t repeat itself when we went out for your birthday because Seb wouldn’t be there. What happened Holly?’

‘You know how you don’t talk about Fight Club? Well we don’t talk about my 21st. Especially not with Seb.’ Holly shoved the pennies she scrabbled off the sticky floor and shut the till drawer with more force than was necessary.

Rose reached across the bar. ‘Sorry. I won’t bring it up again. I promise’. She offered her little finger up, and Holly linked hers. ‘Pinky promise’. And they shook on it.

‘Why did you end up coming over anyway? Not that I didn’t appreciate the help tonight!’

‘Oh, just your brother.’

‘What did he do now?’

‘He was actually quite nice this time. But I’ve realised I find that quite off putting.’ Holly didn’t say anything, but the look in her eyes prompted Rose to give more information. ‘He apologised for dumping me with Mrs Gibson and wished me a good time with Tony.’

‘The bastard. How dare he be nice…’

‘I just can’t work him out, and it’s frustrating’

‘Frustrating is a good word for Luke. He’s been out of his garage more since you arrived than in the years since Hannah died. Just roll with it Rose. He’s a good friend to have in your corner, especially if you need a car fixed.’

Testing the water a little, Rose ventured; ‘Is Seb a good friend to have in your corner too?’ And when Holly moved to punch her in the arm, Rose stepped back with her arms up in surrender, ‘What? I didn’t mention your birthday? Surely I’m allowed to talk about Seb in isolation?’

Holly smiled and scoffed as she gently shook her head. ‘Night Rose.’ As she ducked under the bar, Rose retreated backwards towards the door with her arms still up in surrender.

‘That’s it. No little tidbit of information after all my help tonight?’

Holly reached behind Rose and unlocked the door, gently pushing her out into the crisp evening air. ‘Thanks for your help.’

‘Anytime, Holly. Anytime’.

As the pub door shut behind her, Rose added Seb to the list of potential dates for Holly. It was a short list, only comprising of Seb and Owen so far, but it was a start.

Chapter 13

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