Double Trouble: Nineteen; Crane's in a jam...
 by Cariad
 
 

Double Trouble
~Nineteen~
Holly’s eyes were throbbing as Theresa tried on gown after gown, and somehow none of them gave the appearance that Holly was looking for. She just always seemed like a five-year-old playing dress-up with Mommy’s fancy dresses.

“I wasn’t aware that Cranes shopped in the local stores,” a deep voice said behind her. Holly whirled to be face-to-face with Jonathan Hotchkiss. As if her day could not get any worse! She rolled her eyes and turned back to the racks hoping something would be appropriate for her stepmother to wear on New Year’s Eve. “And how are you feeling today, Holly?” Jonathan continued.

“How?” she began, but Jonathan’s smug grin cut her off.

“Clogs,” he said, pointing at her shoes. “After those blisters you got last night,” he said, “shoes with backs would be far too painful.”

“Well,” Holly said with frost on her voice, “the column of your good qualities has doubled to two. You are related to Gwen, and you are observant.” She held out a dress, pointedly ignoring him. “And that leaves everything else about you in the list of reasons to avoid you.”

Jonathan edged his way around the rack. “The fire-eyed sock-footed she-devil is back,” he said with a grin. “But at least I am improving.” His overtures met only stony silence from the object of his pursuit. He made a show of flipping hangars. “This dress,” he said, holding a hangar of snowy-white fabric before Holly’s eyes. “This is the dress you’ve been looking for.”

Holly examined the gown, acknowledging in the back of her mind that it resembled something she would have worn to a winter function. It was all white with a satin bodice in an empire waist and satin sleeves that would extend just over her shoulders. Cascading from the edges of the satin, white crinoline fell in gossamer folds, with snowflakes in sparkly silver. Matching fabric fell from the sleeves. Holly had glanced over the dress as she was perusing the racks, knowing it would be completely inappropriate for Theresa. Holly put the dress back. “No,” she said.

Jonathan picked it up. “Yes, Holly, you would look magnificent in this, the perfect Ice Queen.”

“That is my mother,” Holly replied primly. “Or so says Father.”

“Then you are the snow princess,” he said huskily, “But I will find a way to your fiery heart.”

“You will find the contents of my stomach on your designer shoes,” Holly said, ripping the hangar from his hands. At that moment, destiny had crueler plans for Holly. Theresa stepped out from the dressing room, and pirouetted in her dress.

“I like this one, Holly,” Theresa said, oblivious to Jonathan Hotckiss at the moment. “But it costs almost a thousand dollars!”

Holly nearly crumpled in a heap and she desperately wanted to crawl beneath one of the circular racks and hide. But Cranes do not hide. “That color is all wrong for you, Theresa,” Holly said. “It makes your skin look pasty and yellow.”

Jonathan gave her a cold look. “And why are you here with the homewrecker?” he demanded.

“Holly was just t…” Theresa began, but Holly interrupted.

“It was a favor for Ethan,” Holly said quickly.

“Gwen told me Ethan was quite put out with Miss Lopez-Fitzgerald, and you lie terribly, Holly” Jonathan countered, glancing between the two young women. Holly noticed Theresa looked remarkably guilty, and was starting to tremble. The secret would be coming out on New Year’s Eve, and not a moment more. Holly pushed Jonathan to a point out of immediate earshot from Theresa.

“Look,” she said in a hushed whisper, “Mama asked me to find something for Theresa to wear for the New Year’s Eve Ball. Rumor has it that she has some dirt on Theresa and is going to expose her at the Ball, thus ruining Theresa’s life like she ruined Gwen’s, Mama’s and Ethan’s. But you can’t breathe a word of it to anyone,” she added as bait, making sure Rebecca would finagle it from Jonathan’s lips. Perhaps it could be a red herring. “But Mama wants her to think she’s a princess, so her downfall will be twice as sweet.”

Jonathan nodded. “My lips will be sealed,” he said. “If…”

“If?” Holly asked.

“If I can see you in that dress,” he concluded.

Holly turned crimson in anger. “Fine!” she hissed, and stormed off to the dressing room. As she pulled the folds over her body, she noticed how easily it was to get on—for all that it looked complicated. And just one person could handle the zipper. A plan formed in her mind. Oh, Jonathan would see her in the dress today, but in little more than a week, there was no telling who would show up wearing it. If Jonathan liked the dress, Julia would love wearing it. Holly grinned as she opened the door.

“Holly!” Theresa squealed. “That’s gorgeous! And it fits perfectly!”

Jonathan took a little longer to recover his voice. “The perfect Snow Princess,” he said finally. “And will I see you in this on New Year’s Eve?” he asked, flicking an importing glance at Theresa.

“Yes,” Holly said, swinging her hips to make the dress rustle. “I do believe I shall purchase this dress.”

Jonathan took her hand and kissed her palm, curling her fingers inward to “keep” the kiss. “You don’t know how pleased that makes me,” he said, turning to leave. He did, however, see out of the corner of his eye Holly taking the hand he kissed and wiping it on the wall as if to rid it of some horrible essence. She was definitely a challenge.

Holly turned back to her charge, and another idea struck her. The dress was modest enough for Theresa’s position, and tailors could make it hang so it covered Theresa’s expanding stomach, if only it wasn’t white. And satin. But in a holiday color of deep forest green and velvet. “Get dressed,” she demanded of Theresa. “We’ll have your dress made.” Holly glanced at her watch. “Besides, it’s almost time for you to meet up with Jules.”
 

*~*~*~*~*

Julia sat in the police station, waiting for the chief to come in. Aidan and Noah had been separated and were sitting at opposite ends of the holding cell. Noah’s eye was blackening and swelling shut while Aidan looked positively rumpled. All of Noah’s punches landed in soft spots well hidden under clothing. Aidan had no such restraint when hitting back. Jessica, having been pushed to the back, did not see the marks around Julia’s throat, and only saw her brother attacking the enigmatic stranger. She had leapt into the fray to stop it, but not before the police arrived on the scene. In the escalating confusion, no one could say for certain who started the brawl. Beth Wallace and Jessica, ignorant of Aidan’s earlier assault on Julia, insisted Noah had just jumped up and punched the Crane Scion. The police had taken them both for questioning, and hauled in all the teens to try to sort to the bottom of the brawl. Then, seeing as three of the people involved were the Chief’s three children, Sam Bennett was called back to the station.
“I suppose this is a bad time to say this,” Julia said to the kids, wishing she could avoid inviting the soulless Charity and her lap-dog, “but you and your parents have been invited to the New Year’s Eve Ball. Hollis and I wanted some people our age at what is going to be our eighteenth birthday party.” Julia turned to Kay. “Your friend. The one I saw you with yesterday,”

“Simone?” Kay asked.

“If that’s her name,” Juila said. “She’s invited too—and her parents of course.”

Jessica brightened. “I can’t wait!” she said, but further conversation was stifled as the door to the Police Station crashed open.

“What does this mean, Noah?” Sam yelled as he entered. “You’re not even back in Harmony for twenty-four hours, and I have to come and pick you out of holding?”

“Under the circumstances, Dad,” Noah spat back, “I would do it again.”

Aidan stood up to the front of the cell. “Sir, he attacked me first,” he said in false supplication. “And I will be pressing assault charges.”

An officer pressed a pad of the statements into Sam’s hand. As he took the documents, he glared at Aidan, forcing the Crane away from the bars. “Noah, I’m afraid he’s right,” Sam said quietly to his son after reviewing all the statements. “I never thought the day would come when I would have to arrest my own son.”

“I will be pressing charges,” Aidan reminded from the back of the cell.

Julia snapped. She stalked up to the Police Chief and the holding cell. “Sir, I would like to file a complaint,” she said.

Sam turned from his son to Ivy’s daughter. “Not now,” he said, “or deal with another of the officers.”

Julia was not deterred. “Aidan,” she said to her brother. “You press charges against Noah Bennett, she declared, and I will press charges against you for assault and domestic violence.”

“What?” Sam said, looking over Ivy’s daughter once more.

Julia once again untied her scarf, revealing the bruises Aidan’s hands left on her pale throat.

“Who did that to you?” Sam said, paling, seeing those marks on Ivy’s skin more than twenty years past.

“My brother,” Julia said matter-of-factly. Sam heard an echo of that voice saying in the same tone, “my father.” Sam clenched his hands into fists to fight off the ghosts of the past. When Grace wanted to reconcile, he reminded himself, he would be there for her.
 

*~*~*~*~*

“Have you seen my sister?” Holly asked at the counter of the Book Café. “She looks just like me.”
“Yeah,” said the man behind the counter, “Girl that looked like you went down to the Police station with the rest.”

Holly paled. “Thank you,” she choked and whirled out the door, Theresa in tow.
 

*~*~*~*~*

“You both will be arraigned for disturbing the peace,” Sam said, handing out paperwork, “and a $500 fine, not including court fees. December 28th.”
“Yes sir,” Noah said. Aidan merely grabbed his paperwork and stalked off. Julia could imagine him plotting on how to get the charges reduced. She decided to have Holly photograph her wounds just in case.

Sam took his son aside. “I will not be paying this for you, Noah, and you better be grateful that Miss Crane decided to speak up for you.”

“I know that, Dad,” Noah said. “Julie is like that.”

“Julie,” Sam repeated. “I didn’t know which it was. She seems like a nice girl, but I’m giving you a head’s up. Her father is Julian Crane, and he doesn’t take kindly to having ‘local’ interest in his children.”

“I know that, Dad,” Noah said. “Julie doesn’t have interest in ‘locals’ either.” He blushed. “That came out wrong. She’s like a sister, Dad. She’s like Kay and Jess. And she already has her eye on someone. I don’t steal.”

“Just so long as you’re warned,” Sam said. He didn’t want his son to end up like him in thirty years, torn between a wife and an old flame.

“I’m warned, Dad,” Noah said, but shut up quickly as Julia approached.

“I’ll pay for your son, Chief Bennett,” she said, reaching in her purse for her checkbook. “After all, it was my fault. How much is the fine?”

“You’re twice as lucky, Noah,” Sam said to his son, then turned to Julia. “The fines are paid at the court,” he told her. “But I would appreciate if you allowed my son to face the consequences of his actions.”

Julia gave the police chief a shy smile. “But I would like to atone for my part in all of this. I think your son paid enough at the humiliation of being behind bars in his father’s precinct, and that public reaming got to him too. However, he was defending my honor, and Great Aunt Juniper always said one should be grateful to a man who defends your honor—especially in this day and age. So let this be my gratitude.”

Sam threw up his hands, and watched the kids leave the station.

Noah kept staring at Julia as they left. “Great Aunt Juniper?” he asked, unable to hide his grin.

“Actually, she was my mother’s Great Aunt Juniper. The old biddy keeps on kicking around. She’s great. Ninety years old and still full of life. She says that she’s holding on until Alistair Crane is dead—just so she knows all her family is out from under his control. Her very existence is dedicated to undoing all the harm Grandfather Crane had upon his grandchildren. She never got very far with Aidan.”

“Great Aunt Juniper!” Noah said, starting to laugh.