Page 60 of Chasing Cheer
ChapterForty-Seven
Ash’s phone wouldn’t stop beeping. Sofia wanted to know why he had asked her to call and pull out of the Hallmark competition. She would see the warehouse soon enough. They wouldn’t get a second chance with Hallmark after pulling out at the last moment.
But the Christmas faire wasn’t the only thing causing his stomach to feel heavy with dread. He couldn’t stop thinking about Holly.Where did things go wrong?Maybe he shouldn’t have shown his dismay in the warehouse. Did that scare her off? Why did she blame herself?She had been as invested in the Christmas faire as he had. He could never blame her.
But there was someone he could blame. He gripped the steering wheel more tightly. All those thoughts ran through his head as he cruised down the dirt road at greater speed than he’d intended. He hadn’t been to the house since shortly after Lucas and Kara got married, not long before their business partnership dissolved.
The cabin came into view and was exactly as Ash remembered it. He took a calming breath and slowly parked, aware in spite of his hurt and anger that Lucas’s son could be playing outside somewhere. The front door opened, and Lucas emerged in a hoodie and sweatpants. He looked as bad as Ash felt.
“Did you do it?” Ash asked, slamming the truck door behind him.
Lucas closed the front door and stepped outside. The wind had died down considerably. While the storm system had passed, the storm between Ash and Lucas was just beginning. In fact, it was long overdue.
“Do what?” Lucas asked.
“Don’t play dumb. Are you trying to tell me this isn’t exactly what you wanted? What the hell, Lucas? What did I ever do to you that you would break in and sabotage my workshop like that?”
Lucas inhaled deeply, averting his eyes from Ash’s face. “I just went in there looking for those old woodland figurines we’d carved as kids. I wanted to send one to my—well, it doesn’t matter. What do you mean? What happened?” Lucas seemed genuinely confused, furrowing his brow, but Ash didn’t buy the act.
“You broke in and left the place unlocked and the doors wide open. All night. During the biggest storm of the year.” Ash was fuming. Holly’s disappointment at seeing all her hard work gone down the drain still wrenched his heart. Then a look of pure devastation had crossed over her face, and she’d run away. Lucas hadn’t just burned Ash or the town. He’d hurt Holly.
A dawning expression broke over Lucas’s face. “How bad is it?” Lucas asked, coming down the steps slowly.
“Well, all the materials and decorations for the Christmas faire have been destroyed. Some of my tools are gonna be rusted too. Santa’s sleigh got lived in by a raccoon, and you know how they are. So I’d say it’s pretty bad, Lucas.” The words tumbled out of him like hot magma, thick and dangerous.
Lucas cursed. “Ash. Man, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe… I just swung in. I must have forgotten to lock it behind me.”
Ash narrowed his eyes, not wanting to believe that all the destruction had been because of a stupid mistake—a forgotten lock. Holly was gone because of it. “You just swung in? How did you even get in there? That was trespassing, Lucas.”
“I know. It was wrong. I should have just asked you. I’d had a little bit to drink, and I wasn’t in a good place. I thought your old lock combination might be the same one you always used to use, and I was right. The doors were closed when I left. I swear. The storm must have blown them open.”
Lucas looked miserable, and Ash blew out a deep breath. He sank onto a step on the porch and gripped his thighs. He almost had to laugh. Of course Lucas knew his old combination code. He’d used the same one since high school gym class.
“So this is really where our relationship has ended up? You having to sneak into buildings at the house and me having to assume the worst of you at all times? Why were you looking through my papers at the front desk?” Ash felt hollow. Lucas had been his best friend as a kid.
After taking a seat on the steps on the opposite side from Ash, Lucas kicked at the mud, casting his face toward the sky. “I don’t know, man. Our differences were fine as kids. That’s probably why we had so much fun together. But that didn’t work when we tried to run the house together. You were always too independent for a business partner. I didn’t dream as big as you, and you came up with all the good ideas. But you didn’t let anyone help you. It was like you wanted to do it on your own. Like you had something to prove.”
Ash’s mind was swirling.That’s what Lucas thinks of me?In his memory, things had gone down completely differently, with Lucas shooting down idea after idea until Ash had shouted in frustration that maybe he should just buy him out. On the spot, Lucas had agreed.
That had been the end of their business partnership and their friendship. Lucas stopped by a couple of times a year, seeming satisfied when something went wrong and trying to downplay successes when things went well.
“For a few years, I thought I had landed on top,” Lucas continued, gripping tightly to a porch post. “Sure, the house was doing well, but you were alone, while I had my wife and kid. But now we’re split up, and she’s taken our son to live with her parents in Ohio.” His face crumpled.
Ash felt frozen in place, shocked at this display of emotion. “Ah, Luc. When did that happen?” He dragged his hand through his hair uncomfortably as the anger drained out of him. All he felt was loss, and that was so much worse.
“About a month ago.” It seemed like all the wind had gone out of Lucas’s sails, and he slumped. “I’d just been fishing around the house lately, looking to see you struggling with something. I thought it would make me feel better about my situation. You were closing in on a deal with the vineyard.”
At Ash’s look of surprise, Lucas continued, “I’ve been doing some sales for them. I tried to drag that out, but I knew you’d get the deal eventually. Your plans were spot on, as usual. Then I saw that beautiful woman leaving your place, and I thought, ‘Damn. He has it all now. And I’ve got nothing.’” Lucas put his head in his hands.
A deep knot of pain made itself more prominent in Ash’s chest at the mention of Holly. “Yeah, well. I don’t have her. Never did, and now she’s gone.” Ash stared at the forest surrounding Lucas’s home.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Luc. The Christmas faire’s not going to be what everyone is expecting. Not even close. It was my one big chance at reviving this town. So if you were hoping to see me struggling, you got your wish.”
Lucas cursed under his breath again. “Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better. And wishing anything bad on you was horrible of me.” Lucas looked truly miserable, slouched inward, as if he wanted to disappear.
Ash shook his head. “What would our dads say if they could see us now?” He was still in disbelief at how the past few hours had played out. Holly, with her sparkling presence, glowing smile, and knack for knowing exactly how to help him, had disappeared, just like his mom had.
He remembered the snowy night when she had left just days before Christmas. He couldn’t imagine how his dad had felt then or how Lucas was feeling. “Is there anything you can do to make things up with Kara?”
