Checking Holly Twice, page 13
The way she said “you two” made me wonder exactly what the kids had told her about the nature of our relationship. Had they figured out their uncle had stayed in my room two nights in a row?
“Speaking of which, I won’t need you tonight,” Forest said. “Holly’s going to stay with the kids. I thought you might need a night to yourself after staying with these hooligans all day.”
“It’ll be nice to have a Friday night off,” Mrs. Knight said. “But, Holly, you let me know if you need anything.” She gestured toward the window. “I’m just a five-minute walk away.”
“Thank you. I’m a bit nervous to be alone with them if you want to know the truth,” I said.
“They’ve taken to you,” Mrs. Knight said. “If your ears were burning earlier it’s because they couldn’t stop chattering away about you.”
“That’s sweet.” As it had earlier, worry niggled at me. Taken to me? Chattering away? I glanced out at the snow family. Were they manifesting me joining the family? If only I could. But I didn’t belong here. Not with them or Forest or this small town. They were only a respite from my life.
My mother’s voice echoed through my mind. The last time we’d spoken, she’d called me a “selfish little pig.”
Was I being selfish, taking from them, filling my well with them only to leave them high and dry when I left? Was I as bad a person as my mother thought I was? Had she been right all along? Was I a selfish little pig?
“Come to my room with me,” Forest whispered in my ear when we reached the top of the stairs.
“I thought we were napping?”
“We can nap if you’d like.”
“What if they see us?” I asked.
“We’ll be sneaky.”
I let him take me into his bedroom, praying the kids didn’t come upstairs. He locked the door behind him, then crossed over to lock the bathroom door to the Jack-and-Jill he shared with the kids.
I took in his room. Decorated in dark, masculine colors, it suited him. A four-poster bed painted dark blue was covered with a white quilt, the only light thing in the room. Even the wainscoting was black. Not unattractive, but different from my room here.
“This was supposed to be one of the guest rooms,” Forest said. “My sister had them decorated in various way to try to match guests’ preferences.”
“That was a great idea.” I yawned again. “I’m sorry. Our late-night antics are catching up to me.”
He switched on the fireplace and drew the shades. A lamp by the bed put out a soft light. “I’ll tell you what—I’ll keep my hands off you and let you nap first.” He pulled back his neatly made bed. “In you go.”
I obeyed, grateful. “I’m like Ruby was last night. Hardly able to keep my eyes open.” I snuggled under the warmth of the blankets and rolled onto my side. “This feels like heaven.” The pillow was featherlike under my head.
He got in beside me, shifted onto his back and closed his eyes. I’d noticed he often slept that way. I reached over to his side of the bed with my feet until I found his solid leg. I rested my toes near his ankle and drifted off to sleep.
I dreamed of a fox in the henhouse, eating all the girls, blood smeared on his mouth.
I woke with a start. It was dark behind the shades, which meant it was after four. Forest wasn’t in bed. I could hear the shower from his bathroom. As I became more alert, I remembered what the rest of the day would hold. He had to work tonight. I would be alone with Ruby and Dane. No television. What would we do? The same things we’d done with Forest, I supposed. Play games, read, and get them to bed by eight. I’d need to make dinner for us. I smiled as I leaned over to turn on the bedside lamp. The thought of the evening before me was like this bed, warm and cozy.
I swung my feet to the floor and shivered until I pulled my sweater over my T-shirt. I’d have to wait until tonight to be ravished. Another thing to look forward to.
Forest came out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. Shoot, he looked good. With his wide, strong shoulders and tapered waist, I’d put him up against any of the movie stars I knew.
“Hey there,” he said. “Did you have a good rest?”
“Very good. You?”
“I feel like a new man. I feel bad about Horace, though. I’ll have to stay until we can find a replacement for me.”
“Will he be able to find someone else?”
“Sure. There’s tons of guys or ladies around who would want my shifts. Friday and Saturday evenings at the Twisted Tinsel are lucrative.” He pulled me close and kissed me.
I shivered, this time from wanting him. “I’ll look forward to later tonight.”
“As will I.” He nipped at my bottom lip with his soft mouth. Waves of pleasure and longing coursed through me. He smelled of aftershave and soap. My new favorite smells.
I ran my hands over his shoulders and past his chest to his navel. He was still damp and warm from the shower. I wanted to wrap myself around him and beg him to call in sick, but I knew he was a man of his word. Horace expected him. Forest wouldn’t let him down.
I pushed him away. “Don’t start or I’ll have you back in bed and you’ll be late for work.”
He placed his chin on top of my head. “I’ll be late. Probably after midnight.”
“I’ll leave the door unlocked.” A creeping dread crawled into my stomach and coiled there as if it were a poisonous snake waiting to strike. Next week at this time, I’d be in Italy alone with only the memories of these days to keep me company. I must savor every moment.
I kissed him lightly on the mouth. “Go. I have dinner to make.”
I’d just tucked the children in and come downstairs to make a cup of tea when a knock on the back door made me jump. I grabbed a knife and peered through the mudroom at the window. It was Mrs. Knight with a small scruffy dog in her arms and a headlamp strapped to her forehead. Thank goodness. When I appeared at the door, she shut the blinding headlamp off.
“You scared me,” I said as I opened the door. “I’m not used to being here without Forest.”
“I’m sorry.” Her plump cheeks were flushed from the cold and presumably from the hike through the snow to get here. “I left my book and wanted to grab it before bedtime.” She indicated the dog with a tip of her chin. “This here is Liza.”
I scratched the top of Liza’s head. She looked at me with slightly bulging and suspicious-seeming eyes. “Come on in.”
“Don’t mind if I do. Just to get warm for a moment before walking back home.” She placed her headlamp in the pocket of her jacket and then took it off to hang on one of the posts in the mudroom.
“Aren’t you scared to walk in the dark?” I asked as I followed her into the kitchen.
“Nah, I know these woods like the back of my own hand.” She looked over at Moxie’s bed. “Where’s the pup?”
“She’s sleeping in the kids’ room.”
“They played that trick on you, huh?”
“Trick?” I asked.
“Moxie’s not allowed to sleep in their room.”
I grimaced and hugged myself. It was cold in here at this time in the evening. “Oh well. Forest hadn’t mentioned that.” Would he be angry?
“He won’t care too much, love. Don’t be worried. Forest’s a softy under all that gruff. “
“Would you like a cup of tea or anything?”
“I wouldn’t turn down some tea with a little whiskey in it.” She headed over to one of the cupboards and pulled down a small bottle of Jim Beam. “Forest keeps it in here for me. He knows I like a tuck or two after I put the kids to bed.”
Whiskey? I hadn’t predicted that. I put water in the kettle and placed it on one of the cooktop burners turned to high.
Mrs. Knight put Liza on one of the benches at the island. The dog placed her chin on the granite top and watched me with her doleful eyes. Her fluffy fur wasn’t exactly white or black, but not exactly gray, either.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” I said.
“Liza usually joins me for our visits with the kids, but today she had to go to the vet. Mr. Knight took her in for me since Forest needed me.”
“Is something wrong with Liza?” From the look of Liza’s sausage-shaped frame, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn of a diet in the dog’s future.
“No, no. She just needed her annual checkup. She’s very spoiled. That’s what happens to women like me after their kids leave the nest. We still need something to love.” She poured a slug of whiskey no bigger than a thimble into a cup and set it near the stovetop. How long had she had that bottle? Given the dose, I’d have to guess years.
Steam escaped from the spout of the teakettle but wasn’t yet whistling, so I let it be. Mrs. Knight seemed as though she’d be a stickler when it came to how she liked her tea brewed.
She went to the pantry and came out with a basket of tea packets. “You strike me as an herbal tea drinker, am I right?”
“This time of day, yes. I took such a long nap, I’ll be up all night as it is.” I chose a chamomile from the bunch. Mrs. Knight asked for Earl Grey. I set both bags into the cups. The teakettle whistled. I turned off the burner. “Earl Grey with whiskey?” I asked as I poured water over the tea bag.
Mrs. Knight settled her plump frame onto the stool next to Liza. “Delicious combination. Sometimes I have regular old Lipton, but usually I go for the fancy stuff. I have to buy this myself because Forest is on a budget.”
“He told me you won’t take any pay from him.” I put her cup in front of her and stayed standing.
“Of course not. His mother was like my sister. Forest and these kids are family. I have two twin boys and neither of them seems keen on marrying. They’re too busy making money and buying fancy cars. They’re in Vancouver now. The country’s no longer for them. Someday I hope they’ll come back, but I don’t have high expectations.”
“Are they the same age as Forest?”
“That’s right. The boys all grew up together. Wild, all three of them. Played on the high school hockey team and were quite popular with the young ladies.”
“I can imagine Forest had as many dates as he wanted,” I said. “Were any of them serious?”
Mrs. Knight pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling as if trying to remember. “No, nothing serious. He was like my boys and focused on getting out of here. That’s what all the kids talk about here. Getting out and escaping the fate of their parents of working at the garland factory like so many of us did back in the day.”
“Was it terrible?”
“Oh, my, no. The owners have always been good people. We were happy for the work, boring as it was. My husband was eventually promoted up to general manager, and we’ve had a good life. Good retirement, too.”
“Do you think Forest hates being back here?” I asked.
She blew on her tea. Steam bounced and curled above the cup. “I don’t think he thinks one way or the other about what he wants these days. His focus is on the kids.” She traced her finger over the rim of her mug. “He told me what you did for him.”
“Yeah?” I focused on stirring honey into my tea, embarrassed.
“You changed his life. I could see how light he was today. A burden is lifted from his shoulders. I haven’t seen him that way since his sister died.”
“I’m glad to have been able to do that for him. And for the kids.”
“I can’t imagine how you talked him into it. He’s proud.”
I smiled into my cup, thinking of his initial reaction. “It was insensitive of me to present it the way I did. I can be kind of blunt. It comes from having to protect myself in the business. I’m tough and to the point. I have to be, or the men will walk all over me. Anyway, he did it for the kids. He would do anything for them, including swallowing his pride.”
“That’s what our children will do to us.” She sipped from her tea. “You have to go after New Year’s, I take it?”
I nodded. “It’s weird. I feel like I’ve been here longer than just a few days. If I’d grown up here, I would not have wanted to go.”
“Maybe you would have. It’s hard to say, when your life is so different from the one here.”
“True.” I thought about my mother, how controlling she’d been. What would a woman like that have done in a place like this where choices are so limited? Would she have been more content or less?
Liza whined and cocked her head to the right. “Are you hungry, baby?” Mrs. Knight asked Liza.
Another whine confirmed her suspicion.
“I usually give her a snack around now. She gets hungry this time of evening.” Mrs. Knight went to the pantry and returned with a doggy biscuit, which she placed in front of Liza.
Liza barked her thanks and wagged her tail before scooping up the treat with one quick lap of her pink tongue. At which point she returned her gaze to me.
“I don’t think Liza likes me,” I said.
“She’s wary of you.”
“Why?”
“You’re a stranger. And she senses there’s something going on with you and Forest.”
“She does?” I stared at Mrs. Knight and then the dog. How would this mangy mutt know about Forest and me?
“Sure.” Mrs. Knight lifted her cup to her mouth for another drink. “We’re both wondering what will happen next.”
“Forest and I are having a nice time together, that’s all.” I changed the subject abruptly. Mrs. Knight made me nervous, as did her dog. “What were Forest’s parents like?”
“Ah, well, they were fine folks. Yes indeed. Forest takes after James. Good with his hands and athletic. A family man. He’d have done anything for his wife and kids. Winona was quiet, kind of a bookworm. Dane reminds me of her. We used to have some laughs, I can tell you.” Her expression darkened. “They went too soon.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Then we lost Laney and Marc. That one was hard to understand. They were the most beautiful couple and so young. I don’t know how we would’ve continued on if not for the kids. They’ve been the focus for all of us.”
“They’re such good children,” I said. “You and Forest should be proud.”
“We are, of course. How were they today? Did they behave themselves?”
“They were very good. Neither wanted to go to bed, but I read to them a chapter from James and the Giant Peach. They said you’ve been reading that one to them.”
“Yes, they love books. It’s because Forest doesn’t have a television. Mr. Knight doesn’t read a thing anymore. Just watches his shows. Speaking of which, he likes the one you were on when you were younger. I do too, if you want to know the truth. We laugh our silly heads off to that one. It’s hard to find good family shows these days. Maybe you could tell your Hollywood friends to make more shows for people who aren’t interested in a sex scene every other minute.”
I chuckled, imagining sharing that message with the producers I knew. “I’ll do my best.”
“You could stay, you know.” Mrs. Knight watched me over the brim of her cup as she brought it closer to her mouth.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I have a job right after New Year’s. A good one. One I’m contracted to do.”
“But you like it here. There are such things as cars and airplanes,” Mrs. Knight said. “Especially if money’s no object.”
“This thing between Forest and me—it’s just for fun. Nothing serious.”
“You kids and your obsession with fun. My boys say that same thing about the women they date. ‘It’s just casual, Mom.’ And there’s always another one if they swipe left. It’s like the buffet we used to take them to when they were little. Too many options.”
I chuckled at her reference to a dating app. “It’s the norm now. I don’t use them, obviously, but a lot of my friends do.”
“Because you’re famous. You can’t trust people’s motivations.”
“Right.”
“You and Forest have similarities.”
“How so?”
“You’re both trapped.”
Trapped? Is that how she saw me? Was that true?
Our teacups were empty by now. Mrs. Knight excused herself to get her book from the living room. Liza followed at her heels. I put our cups in the sink and stared out the kitchen window into the dark night. What would it be like to live here? Would I be able to deal with the quiet? The snow? Everyone in town knowing my business? Who was I kidding? The whole world knew my business. I could take that one off the list.
Mrs. Knight returned with her paperback. I’d noticed it earlier, surprised that Mrs. Knight would be reading a thriller. I would have taken her for a cozy mystery type. But I wouldn’t have guessed the whiskey, either. This woman who smelled of kettle corn had a wild streak.
“Are you sure you’re all right to walk home in the dark?” I asked.
She nodded before putting on her headlamp. “I’ll be home in a jiffy.” In a swift and obviously practiced movement, she stuck her headlamp on and gave me a hard look. “You know, that man you were engaged to?”
“Yeah?” I bristled, waiting for whatever was coming. I’d gone all day without thinking much about him. She’d want to know all about him, most likely. He was very popular with women Mrs. Knight’s age.
“He isn’t half the man Forest Sully is. Actually, he’s no man at all. A silly little boy.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “I agree.”
“You’re not hung up on him?”
“No. He hurt me, but I’m glad he did it before we married. I’d have been in a lot bigger mess then.” Like if I’d had a baby with him. I’d be forever tied to him.
“Plus, despite his immature ways, he’s too old for you.”
“He is?” Rhett was ten years older than me.
“And mark my words, the reason he went after such a young thing is because he knew deep down that he was no match for you. You’re a star. Talented and gifted. He looks good with his shirt off and that’s about it.”
I had to laugh. “Mrs. Knight, that’s not true.”
