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Chapter Seventeen
Holly staredat the half-empty glass of wine. Even after going back to the office and looking over the books again, she still hadn't been able to make heads or tails of any of it. The doctor had called to discharge her mother, and Holly had picked her up.
He had given Holly a stern lecture about making sure her mother kept eating and drinking before she'd been able to leave. Her mother was awake and lucid, but it was obvious just how weak she still was. As much as Holly wanted to start questioning her about the inn's finances and Randy's use of the boathouse, she bit her tongue.
Nelly needed to rest. Once she had recovered a bit more, they could sit down and go over everything together. Until then, Holly would just have to be patient and wait. The inn had gotten by this far; it wasn't going to suddenly implode just because Holly waited a couple of days to untangle that particular knot.
Her phone rang, startling her enough she almost dropped her glass. Taking a deep breath, she set the glass on the table and then fished out the phone. She frowned when she saw the name on the screen. It was almost ten o'clock at night. Why in the world was Jake calling her that late?
"Hello?" Holly answered cautiously. After how things had gone the last time she had seen Jake, she wasn't too eager to talk to him again. It was going to take a while before she truly lived down the embarrassment.
"Hey, Holly. You got a minute?" Jake asked.
For you, always, Holly thought, but she bit her tongue to keep those words from coming out of her mouth. "Yeah, I'm just sitting around thinking. Why? What's up?"
Jake let out a sigh, and Holly knew immediately this wasn't about to be a social call. "I'm on night shift tonight. And, well... There's someone here you need to come and get." He tried to be as gentle as possible, but Holly's heart rate skyrocketed almost instantly.
He didn't need to clarify for Holly to know he was talking about her brother. It was the only person Jake would be calling her for.
"I'll be there as quickly as I can," she said before hanging up and stuffing the phone into her pocket. She glanced at the half-empty glass of wine and then let out a sigh. Something told her she was going to need more than just that by the time the night was over.
She stopped by her mom's room first, checking to make sure she was doing okay. Nelly was sound asleep, though, and Holly decided not to wake her. There wasn't anything she could do but worry, and there would be plenty of time for that when Holly got back.
First, she had to go pick up her younger brother and figure out what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into this time. Knowing it had been Jake who had called gave her hope that he hadn't stepped in it too badly.
She made the drive to the police station in record time. Not that it was far away, since the island wasn't massive. Holly was just thankful she hadn't gotten pulled over for speeding. Because wouldn't that be just like her life? Get pulled over by a cop on the way to the police station?
When she got there, Jake was sitting at the front desk. The island's police station and police force weren't massive, but she was surprised to find him there alone. Part of her wanted to rush over and demand to see her brother; those sisterly instincts had kicked in after so many years dormant.
Instead, she forced herself to stay calm as she walked over to the man who had once stolen her heart. "Long time no see," she said.
Jake laughed and his eyes lit up. "You know, it's been a long time since I've seen you or your siblings and now I've had two of you in my car in the same week. I'm hoping Amy and Rina aren't planning on catching a ride anytime soon."
"At least I got to sit in the front seat?" she offered with a slight smirk. She didn't have to be a mind reader to know Randy's ride hadn't been nearly as pleasant.
"You've got that right. Your brother's just lucky it was me who nabbed him and not one of the other cops. They'd have locked him up and thrown away the key." Jake sighed and shook his head. He gave Holly a sympathetic look. "He was drunk off his ass, driving down the highway toward Islamorada, like he was heading home."
Holly bit back a string of curses. It sounded like what Dean had told her really was true. Part of her hadn't wanted to believe it, but she didn't doubt Jake for even a moment. The idiot was lucky he hadn't killed anyone with a stunt like that.
Any other cop really would've locked him up without a second thought. It was a miracle Jake hadn't decided to do just that. Not yet, anyway.
"Look, I know you've all been through a lot over the last couple of years. He didn't hurt anyone, but this is going to be his only freebie. If you don't get him to straighten out, I can't make any promises next time."
"Thank you," Holly said, fighting against the emotions whirling around inside her. The look Jake gave her told Holly he hadn't done this for Randy's sake. He had done it for her. Just like when they'd been younger, Jake was still looking out for her. She was going to owe him big time for this.
When she looked into his eyes again, something inside her snapped. She couldn't keep it all buried inside her anymore. After everything Jake had done for her, she couldn't keep lying to him.
"You were right," she said suddenly. Jake's brow furrowed, and Holly continued. "Will and I are divorced. I'm sorry for lying to you, for not telling you right away. But it's just been the life from hell lately, and I just wasn't sure how to tell anyone."
Jake offered her a sympathetic smile, then reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. That simple gesture of reassurance was just what Holly needed to keep herself together. "I guess this is what adulthood is all about, huh?" Jake said with a smirk. When she looked into his eyes, though, Holly knew he understood exactly how she felt.
She returned his smirk as her heart skipped a beat. Holly had the urge to lean into Jake, to want his arms wrapped around her again, just like when they'd been young. Holly held her breath and fought against those urges, refusing to give in.
With everything going on, a relationship was not something she needed right then. Right then, she needed to find her brother and slap some sense into him. Whatever issues he was dealing with, she was going to have to help him find a new way to cope.
Thankfully, Jake must have had the same thought. He took a step back and then nodded toward one of the doors. "Come on. He's back here in the drunk tank, no doubt trying to sleep off some of the alcohol. He's gonna have one hell of a hangover in the morning."
Jake wasn't kidding either. When he opened one of the cell doors, there was her younger brother, curled up on a metal bench, snoring away. For a long moment, Holly just stood there, hands-on-hips, staring at him and wondering how she was going to deal with him.
