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Chapter Four
Twenty minutes later,a large pickup truck pulled up behind her tiny Jag. Holly's breath caught in her throat as she watched as the driver's side door opened and a figure hopped out. When the door closed, her chest tightened as her brother made his way toward her car. Even in the mirror, she could see that annoyed look on his face as he shook his head.
Holly risked the slightest smirk, knowing her imagination had been right about the sour look. When she stepped out of her car, Randy stopped a few feet away, and the two of them stared awkwardly at each other. Holly had no idea what to say to her little brother, and it looked like he was equally lost for words.
At least they had that in common.
After a few moments, Randy let out a sigh and then turned his attention toward the car. Holly may have been mistaken, but she was pretty sure he looked at the car with more admiration than he did his older sister. Finally, his gaze zeroed in on the flat tire on the rear passenger side.
He walked over to it and squatted down in front of it for a moment, looking at it intently. When he looked back up at Holly, he raised an eyebrow. "All that money and you still can't change a tire?" he asked dryly.
Holly shrugged as heat rushed to her cheeks. What else could she do? He wasn't wrong. She didn't think she would ever have to change a tire since the day her father had shown her how. She'd always either had Will or someone else to do it for her in the rare event she did have a flat.
"Spare in the trunk?" Randy asked next. Holly nodded. Before he could ask, she went back over to the driver's side door and pressed the little button to pop it open.
Randy hefted her suitcase out of the trunk with ease and then lifted the carpet liner to reveal the hidden compartment hiding her spare tire. Holly had known it was in there, but she had never actually laid eyes on the thing. She hoped it was still in good condition, but considering her car was only about a year and a half old she figured it was a pretty safe bet. Though, with everything else going wrong, it really wouldn't have surprised her if Randy had pulled out a spare tire that was shredded to pieces.
But her luck held this time, and after a few more minutes, the normal tire was off and the small spare was on in its place. Randy stood and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and looked at her.
Holly had the urge to offer to pay him for helping her out, but she knew it would be a futile offer. He'd had the same upbringing she had. You didn't take money from family. You helped them out just because they were family.
"It won't last forever," Randy said, still all business-like. In all the time since he had gotten there, he hadn't said anything to her that wasn't related to the job at hand. "But it'll get you to town where you can either get this one fixed or get a new one." He gently kicked the offending tire, then lifted it and brought it over to his pickup truck, tossing it in the back. "I can drop this off at the shop later for you. Doubt you wanna try to squeeze it in the back of the Jag."
Silently, Holly nodded as she stared into the brown eyes of her brother. God, he looked so much like their father that it sent a chill down her spine. Then she thought the tire might fit in there, barely, but that meant she would have to put her suitcase in the passenger seat. The Jag wasn't exactly designed with storage in mind. But that had been one of the reasons she had gotten it. With the kids grown and off on their own, she didn't need a big SUV that could hold a half dozen kids and their sports gear anymore.
When Randy went to get back into his truck, though, Holly took a step forward. "Wait," she called out, her voice cracking as her heart thundered. Randy froze, one hand on the truck's door, and looked at her. "Why don't we get a cup of coffee or something? Get caught up with each other?"
Holly chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for Randy to respond. For what felt like an eternity, he stared at her, frowning. Would he outright reject her olive branch? Or would he at least give her a shot? Finally, he let out a sigh and a half nod. "How about a beer instead?" he asked.
Holly raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment. It was after lunchtime, at least, so hitting a bar wouldn't be that bad of an option. Besides, if she was going to try to patch things up with her younger brother, she thought a glass of wine might be in order. At the very least, it might help the two of them loosen up enough to get past the awkward silence.
"Sure, that's fine," Holly said, forcing a smile.
After all, if they were going to sit and talk, did it really matter if it was a coffee shop or a bar?
Just as Holly suspected, as they sat in the old beach sidebar that had been there since before either of them was born, things were tense and quiet. Both of them sipped their drinks and watched each other, only making the briefest of small talk.
God, how had things gotten to this point? As kids, they had always been able to talk about anything and everything. They'd had each other's back and trusted each other implicitly. And now, each time Holly opened her mouth to tell Randy about what a mess her life had become, the words stuck in her throat.
Randy was the first one to broach anything remotely personal. "How are the kids doing?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.
Holly nodded and looked at her little brother. That was a safe question, at least. "They're doing fantastic. Both are engaged now, and Sean's baby girl has to be the cutest three-year-old in the world!" Her life may have been a wreck, but she could gush about her kids and grandbaby all day long.
Randy nodded and smiled. "I don't know, Sarah and Emma were pretty cute at that age too," Randy said with a slight laugh, and Holly laughed alongside him. He had two teenagers, Holly remembered.
She also remembered he had gotten divorced a while back as well. So it wasn't like she was the only one in the family with a failed marriage. And yet, she still couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. She could see in his eyes he still had this vision of her as the woman who could conquer the world.
She didn't want to shatter that illusion, not for him and not for herself either. Deep down, she knew her dream life was over, but she still didn't want to admit it. To her, if she did, that was like finalizing it once and for all.
They talked about their kids a bit longer, the atmosphere lightening up bit by bit. Now that they had found a safe topic of conversation, and the alcohol had started to loosen them both up a bit, they were both more comfortable sitting at a table together. Even though it had been years since they had done anything like this, it wasn't long before they were smiling.
Finally, Holly had to broach the elephant in the room. "What's going on with Mom and the inn?" she asked. Roger hadn't given her many details, and she really didn't want to go into the situation blind if she didn't have to.
But Randy shrugged and took another long sip of his beer. "Don't know. I haven't been to the place in ages. I've got my own business to run and don't have the time to be worrying about the inn."
Holly peered at him. She may not have been close with her brother anymore, but she could still see right through his lie. She had no doubt he hadn't paid much attention to the family business, but she knew it had nothing to do with worrying about his own business. Holly could see it in his eyes.
He still hadn't recovered from their father's death. He still harbored his resentment toward their mother since he had always claimed she favored the girls over him. Holly knew that wasn't true, though. But either way, losing their father had been a massive blow to Randy. Even back then, when she'd still had her perfect life and her own things to worry about, she had seen the sunken and hollow look on his face at the funeral.
