Double Trouble: Twenty Six; Christmas Eve Day
 by Cariad
 
 

Double Trouble
~Twenty Six~
By the time the sun appeared in the sky, Holly had fallen asleep in the front seat of Reese’s Bronco II, having missed a wonderful sunrise. She was snoring softly under her breath, and Reese did not have the heart to wake her up. He was very glad that the two had come to Harmony. He drove back to the mansion, every so often looking at the sleeping form in the seat next to him. He hoped the noise from his truck did not wake everyone in the mansion. He did not know much about the Cranes, other than the local history, of course, but he did know that they would probably be upset if they found her asleep in his car.

“Holly, wake up,” he said, shaking her shoulder.

Holly smiled in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. Yawning and stretching, she said, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t fit company.”

“On the contrary, you were very good company, if a bit quiet.”

Holly smiled shyly. “Thank you again for the book.”

Reese hopped out of the truck and ran around to open Holly’s door for her. Gallantly, he helped her down. Holly clutched the book to her chest as Reese drove off again. Happily, she ran inside the back way. Shutting the door behind her, her cheeks red with exhilaration and cold, she leaned against the door and let a wide smile grow on her face.

“I’d wager Father would like to know that you’re sneaking out to see a local boy,” Aidan’s voice drawled from the shadows.

Holly’s smile faded. “I’ve done nothing wrong!” she insisted.

“I’m not sure Father would see it that way. And it’s my duty as a child of this family to make it known to Father that you are shirking your responsibilities and dating a local of obviously a lesser-class background.”

“It’s not like that, Aidan. Just because you’re a pig doesn’t mean everyone else in the world is.”

Aidan took her by her forearms and slammed her into the wall, his deep-set eyes flashing in anger, the book clattering to the floor. “Don’t you dare insult me,” he hissed. “You will pay when I’m in charge of the Crane fortune—you will be out on your ass.”

“Let her go, Aidan,” Julia said from the stairway.

Holly breathed a sigh of relief, but caught it again as her brother squeezed her arms tighter.

“I don’t need to remind you that Chief Bennett has already seen the bruises you’ve left on my neck. He would not be happy to learn that you’ve marked up another sister of yours. And I would be more than happy to press charges against you—regardless of the scandal it would create for the family.”

Ever so slowly, the grip on Holly’s arms lessened.

“I’ve still got my eye on you both,” Aidan said through narrowed eyes. “One day you won’t be the favored children anymore.” He pushed past Julia on the stairs.

Julia rushed to Holly’s side. “Did he hurt you?” she asked.

“Just scared me,” Holly replied. “He was there when I came in.” She bent down to retrieve her present, finding to her dismay that the pages had been bent and the book stepped on. She closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind.

Julia helped Holly back up the stairs and into her room. When was their brother going to be leaving, Julia thought on a sigh. And if he was staying forever, where could they go? And if they left would they be doing exactly what he wanted? And was his interest in Theresa only to cause trouble?

It was too early in the morning to think like that. A nice morning nap would do both herself and Holly some good. And then, just after lunchtime, she would go to Noah’s house and help them decorate a tree. The designer always decorated the tree in the Crane mansion. She smiled at the apoplexy Grandfather Crane would have if the tree in the foyer looked like a common-person’s tree. Quaint little traditions were always worth a try. Besides, Noah was fun to be around and he would like to know how well the web worked.

She settled Holly on Holly’s bed and sought her own. It seemed no sooner than her head touched her pillow than Rebecca’s shrill voice once again filled the Mansion. The staff ran by in a panic as they hustled to see what was causing the commotion. Julia poked her head out her door the same time as her sister. Both wandered down the hallway and to the scene of the crime.

Rebecca sat in her room, clad in a thick robe, a towel on her head, her hands folded over one another. Gwen, her staunch supporter and confidant, knelt before her. “Nail polish remover would help,” Gwen was saying.

Julian Crane kept his face in an impassive mask. Maybe he would not have to get rid of Rebecca himself if the little gremlins that inhabited his house kept up their pranks.

“How can you just sit there and not help!” Rebecca nagged at Julian.

“I am appalled, dear. Appalled,” he murmured.

“This is all because of your brats!” Rebecca shrieked.

“Be that as it may, Rebecca, there is truly no harm done.”

“No harm done? My hands are stuck together, and a lost a clump of hair this morning in my shower!”

“Didn’t you get suspicious, darling?” Julian asked.

“Don’t just stand there talking! Do something to get me out of this!” she pouted. “I swear, someone in this house does not want me here!”

Holly turned to Julia in the hallway. “Thus speaks the woman who took a lamp to my head,” she muttered. Quietly, they both snuck back to their rooms, ready to face the day with a smile on their faces.
 

* * *

Julia hoped the holiday cookies she purchased at the local bakery would be well received at Noah’s house. She felt a twinge of regret as she parked the Audi TT Roadster next to the police cruiser and the old VW Jetta with the mismatched hood. Nervously, she approached the door and used the knocker. The door opened almost immediately as Noah drew her into a breath-stealing, bone-crushing bear hug.
“Fair Juliet!” he said smiling. “You’re just in time! We’ve just found the boxes with the tree decorations in them!”

“You should know that I’ve never done this before,” Julia warned him.

“You’ll pick it up quickly.” He took her by the hand and dragged her into the fray. “Look who arrived!” he said. Kay and Jessica looked up from the boxes they were unpacking.

“Hey Julie,” Kay said, up to her elbows in colored tree lights.

“Dad will be in with the cocoa soon,” Jessica added.

Noah took Julia’s coat and whisked it over the coat tree. “Don’t be a stranger, dive right in!”

Julia gravitated towards Kay, knowing she could at least help untangle things. Her untangling skills were in good order from the previous day’s excursions with the web.

“I wish Miguel were here,” Kay whispered. “He always used to come over. Even before Charity came. But now, I suppose he’s over at the B&B with my cousin.”

Julia gave a sympathetic smile.

“Speaking of the B&B,” Jessica said, changing the subject from her sister’s constant whining, “do you know if Mom’s going to drop by?”

All conversation stopped as they looked to the kitchen door as Sam backed through, carrying a tray of mugs. Setting it down on the table, he moved towards the door. “I’ve just finished talking to your mother,” he said. “She said she’d see you all on Christmas morning, but she’s not going to come over tonight.”

Julia noted their crestfallen attitude.

“I was going to go over and see if Ethan wanted to join us,” Sam continued.

The Bennett girls could not quite contain their groans of displeasure.

“He is your brother,” Sam reminded them, donned his winter outerwear and left.

Noah was the first to find a working set of lights. A cheer went up as they wrestled it onto the evergreen tree. “You know that thing that you helped me with yesterday?” Julia asked Noah as they stood shoulder to shoulder staring at the half-lit tree.

“Yes,” Noah said with a glimmer of mischief.

“It worked,” Julia said smugly. “Perfectly.”

Noah laughed. “I’m always glad to help a damsel in distress with a little proactive assault.”

“The best defense is a good offense,” Julia quoted.

“Would you two love-birds get out from behind the tree?” Jessica complained. “Noah has to help with the tall parts!”

“He’s not my love-bird,” Julia retorted, “he’s my brother. I have another one in mind for being a love-bird.”

“If you’re thinking about your Johnny Hotchkiss,” Noah said quietly, “I think you should change your mind. He’s quite taken with your sister.”

Julia raised her chin. “We’ll see who he’s dancing with come midnight at the New Year’s Eve Ball.”

“Save one for me, Juliet,” Noah said.

“Just one,” Julia replied with a smirk.

“Noah!” Kay said, exasperated. “Would you get out her and get these lights up at the top!”

Noah reached up and tweaked Julia’s nose, before he backed out, leaving the trailing scent of pine in his wake.

After the tree was twinkling brightly in the living room, the decorators took a break. Their father would want to be there as they put on all the memorial bulbs—Noah’s first Christmas, Kay’s first Christmas, Jessica’s first Christmas, and all the other meaningful ornaments which brought a wave of nostalgia.
 

* * *

Holly gathered all the clothes she had borrowed from her mother, folding them neatly, figuring she could drop them off and bring her mother some holiday cheer. She placed them all in a shopping bag and took off down the hall. Aidan, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen and the halls were achingly quiet on this supposedly festive day. Not even her parent’s bickering broke the mournful silence. The rustle of the shopping bag seemed out of place and far too cheerful for the atmosphere. If Julia were with her, she would have made some noise. Julia would have made her laugh, and would have laughed herself, dispelling the shadows of despair.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, the first sounds drifted to her ears. They were the sounds of an argument, but unlike the arguments she heard in her childhood, the voices were wrong. It was Rebecca’s grating voice instead of her mother’s soothing lilt.

“If anything crosses my path, Julian,” Rebecca’s voice was saying, “I will tell the world that you killed your sister!”

Holly nearly dropped the bag in shock. She crept closer to hear what they were saying behind the closed door to the study.

“Not so loud,” her father’s voice cautioned. “Besides, who would believe you coming forward after all this time.”

“They will believe me, Julian. Mark my words. Whatever surprise is going to happen at the Ball—for whatever reason your daughters are playing with that Lopez-Fitzgerald tramp, I will find out, and I will take steps if it crosses me. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” Julian replied, his voice speaking volumes.

Holly scrambled away from the door. Her father was a murderer? She knew he was a drunken lecherous pig, but a murderer? Did he kill Aunt Sher? Or was that a threat that Rebecca was holding over his head to keep him in line?

She dashed into the garage, grabbing some vehicle in her panic. Jules would help her through it, she thought. But Jules was unavailable. Instead, Holly thought of the next best thing—her mother. She pulled out of the driveway, nearly causing an accident, but Holly was oblivious.

She paid no attention to the vehicle parked in front of her mother’s house. Blindly, she ran in.

Pilar was finishing up a few last minor tasks before she went home to her own family and Midnight Mass. “Holly!” she said as Ivy’s daughter burst through the door. “What brings you here?”

Holly snapped out of the fog she was in enough to acknowledge Pilar. “I’m returning those things of Mama’s I borrowed.”

“If you leave them here, I’ll put them back in the attic.”

“Isn’t Mama here?” Holly asked.

“Yes,” Pilar said, “but…”

Holly was already headed up the stairs to her mother’s bedroom. She knocked briskly on the door and opened it, calling, “Mama!” Looking in, her face turned white and then red and she dropped the shopping bag of her mother’s old clothes. Turning around, she crashed down the stairs, past Pilar and out the door, unable to clear her mind of vision of her mother and Sam Bennett locked in a passionate embrace.