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Chapter Twenty
The two ofthem headed away from the family inn. Holly wanted to put some distance between it and herself for this conversation. If she stayed too close, she was afraid some minor problems might crop up and try to pull her attention away once again.
Besides, Gabby had only been to Islamorada a handful of times over the years. Since she was there, Holly figured she might as well let her daughter see some of the town where her mother had grown up.
They headed toward Founders Park. Holly had taken Gabby there when she was a baby or a toddler, but judging by the way Gabby was trying to take it all in, she didn't remember much, if any, of it.
It was a gorgeous place and one of the first sites tourists flock to when they came to town. Maybe once the summer was over and the place settled down, Holly would have her come back, so they could really enjoy it together.
That thought made Holly's breath catch in her throat. She hadn't made any formal plans to stay for any certain length of time, but there she was, thinking as if she would be around for the long haul.
"I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls that day. Grandma... Grandma isn't doing well. I was at the hospital with her when you tried to call, and I just couldn't talk at the moment. But I should have called you back the moment I was able to."
Gabby nodded absently. She listened quietly as Holly filled her in on everything regarding Nelly's incident. Her daughter's anger dissipated and was replaced by concern for the grandmother she had only met a handful of times.
"I'm glad she's doing better," Gabby said, the edge in her voice gone now. Just like Holly, she didn't stay angry for very long. She had a quick fuse, but it was thankfully a short one, a fact that would probably save her from a lot of headaches in the future.
She had known too many people who didn't know when to give up, and they were almost always miserable. That was certainly not a fate she would ever want to wish on her daughter.
They walked in silence for a bit longer, Gabby taking in the sights like a tourist. But then, she was a tourist, wasn't she? Neither she nor Sean had gotten to grow up on the island, and Holly regretted not bringing them back here more often.
The inn would pass to Holly and her siblings. And then, after that, it would go on to Gabby, Sean, and their cousins. It didn't seem right for them not to have grown up around the Archer Inn, learning it from the ground up like she had.
Just another regret she would have to live with, Holly thought to herself.
"Mom," Gabby said suddenly, breaking the silence. "What's really going on with you and Dad? Your lawyers keep calling us and showing up at the houses trying to find you. Sean and I aren't stupid, you know. So stop lying and just tell me the truth, please."
Holly muttered curses under her breath. She had told Will to handle the IRS, but if the lawyers were still hounding for her, that meant he hadn't done it yet. If he didn't do something soon, Holly was likely to end up in prison for something she had nothing to do with.
But how was she supposed to explain that to her daughter? Wouldn't that just freak her out? Worse, wouldn't that just make her angrier with her father? But she couldn't keep lying to her and Sean forever. If the worst-case scenario really did come to pass, then she wouldn't want them to be blindsided by it.
"Your father... You know he was involved in some shady real estate deals. Well, as it turned out, he had been falsifying all the tax records, too, trying to cover his tracks. But once the shady deals came to light, so did the stuff with his taxes..." Holly took a deep breath. How much more did she need to tell Gabby?
Before she could decide that question, Gabby cut in. She stopped walking and grabbed Holly's wrist, forcing her mother to turn and look into her eyes. "Mom. I'm pregnant."
"Wha... what?" Holly stammered out. Her eyes went wide as her mind went into overdrive. Gabby was... pregnant? Was that what she had wanted to tell her in person when they had talked last? Her heart pounded faster and faster with each passing moment.
Tourists wandered around them, not paying them any attention. Holly didn't notice any of them, though. In her mind, it was just the two of them standing there together, as Holly tried to fully comprehend the bombshell her daughter had just dropped on her.
She was going to have another grandbaby? She had known this would probably happen at some point, but it had always seemed like some far off time. But then, it had felt like that when Sean had told her his girlfriend had been pregnant.
Though in his case, they hadn't even been engaged, so it had been a bit more of a shock. But Gabby and Lucas were set to be married within the next year. They had to be over the moon about the news.
And yet, as Holly stared into her daughter's eyes, she knew that wasn't the truth. She didn't see the excitement and joy she expected from a mother-to-be. Instead, she just saw fear and panic. Her baby girl looked ready to burst into tears at any moment, and Holly's heart broke as she pulled Gabby into a hug.
"I don't know if I can do it," Gabby said as she fought back the tears. "I... I always thought I would be overjoyed to have a baby with Lucas. I mean, I love him to death and I can't wait to start a family, but after everything with you and Dad... I just... I don't know anymore."
Holly's chest's tightened. She had to fight just to breathe as her daughter shook against her. It was no wonder Gabby had seemed so urgent about the two of them talking in person. She was even more of a mess than Holly had thought, and Holly cursed herself once again for having let things get away from her.
"You and Dad... You guys always seemed so happy together. I never, ever, thought he could be capable of something like this. But if he was able to lie to you and keep secrets from you and then try to run off and hide instead of taking responsibility... What's to say, Lucas won't do the same thing in the future?"
Holly's heart continued to break. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find the words that might ease her daughter's mind. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't figure out what it was she was supposed to say.
What had happened with Will had absolutely shattered her when she had first found out. It was only now that she was beginning to put those pieces of herself back together. It was no wonder Gabby would be terrified of the same thing happening to her.
"I don't want to look back in twenty-six years and feel like my entire life was a disaster. I just... I don't know what to do, Mom. I haven't told Lucas about the baby yet."
Holly had been right, back at the inn. This was a train she needed to get in front of before it sped out of control, assuming she wasn't already too late to stop it. But this was her only daughter, her baby girl. She had to find some way to fix everything for her, to give her the shot at a better life than Holly had.
She squeezed her daughter tight. Holly may not have known exactly what she needed to say to make things right, but she would figure it out. She wasn't Superwoman or even Supermom. But dang it, she was not going to let her daughter go through this alone. One way or another, she would figure this out.
But she didn't have to do it alone, she realized. None of them had to go through all these problems by themselves. Heck, maybe that was the whole reason the universe had sent her back here, back to Islamorada after so many years.
Here, she still had family. She still had friends. Here, she had help. Just as much as Nelly and Randy needed her help, she realized she needed their help too. None of them could shoulder their burdens alone. But, together, just maybe they could all figure it out.
