HOME.
Holly had rung ahead to say she’d be late and just before seven she exited the motorway and saw the lights of her village in the distance.
There was no sense of relief at being at her parents’, though. In truth, it had been ages since she’d had a full weekend off and it would have been nice to catch up with some friends. Or rather, given the turn of events, it would have been nice to spend a night in alone and watch a movie and dwell on what had happened with Daniel. Still, her mum wanted some help getting things ready for Christmas and so instead of being morose Holly waved to her mum as she got out of the car and smiled brightly as she headed up the path.
Inside, the tree was up and the decorations were all out, so her father had clearly been busy. Her mother went back into the kitchen to finish off making dinner and Holly went in to give her a hand.
‘We waited for you,’ Esther said.
‘I told you not to,’ Holly replied, because she’d told them to go ahead and eat.
The sound of the electric knife filled the room for a moment but when it went silent Holly knew that she ought to give her mother fair warning so she spoke. ‘Mum, there might be a change to the off duty over Christmas.’
‘I thought it had all been done.’ Esther turned and then looked at the calendar on the fridge. ‘You’re off from the twenty-third till the twenty-eighth.’
‘I was supposed to be but a couple of people have gone off sick and...’ Holly didn’t really want to tell her mum about Paul. Everything seemed to upset Esther these days and they all tended to tiptoe a little around her. ‘Well, Kay’s just not able to cover the department.’
‘Your brother’s going to be in Mongolia next year,’ Esther said. ‘I’ve got everyone coming...’
‘I know all that,’ Holly said. ‘And I’ll do all I can to be here but I had last Christmas and New Year off and we have to take turns. There are mums with little children and—’
‘Holly, I’m a mother and I want my family together this Christmas. Surely, given the year we’ve all had, that’s not too much to ask?’
‘I don’t do the off duty, Mum,’ Holly pointed out, but she could see that her mother was upset. So too was Holly. It had been a difficult enough day, without having to justify that she was needed at work, but Esther wouldn’t let it go.
‘Holly, they can’t just expect you to change your plans at the last minute...’
You do, Holly was tempted to point out, but she didn’t want to row.
Actually, she did.
Once they had been able to bicker, once Holly had been able to have a proper conversation with her mum, and she missed those times. ‘I’m going to take my bag upstairs.’
She did just that and back in her old bedroom Holly sat for a moment on her old bed and took in a deep breath.
Pollyanna indeed!
She wanted to go back down and speak her mind, which was that she was tired of walking on eggshells around her mother.
Holly was, in fact, tired.
Not just from a late night and long drive but from a very difficult year. Right now she had problems of her own. Okay, not major ones, but she was wrestling with last night and wondering if she might never even see Daniel again, but there just wasn’t a place for that now. Her mother had no idea what was going on in Holly’s life and lately never thought to ask.
She looked up as there was a knock on the door and saw that it was her father. ‘Your mum said that you might not be able to get Christmas off.’
‘It looks that way.’
‘Holly, I know they were good to last year but you know what Christmas means to your mum. Is there any way—?’
‘Dad, the charge nurse who was supposed to be working over Christmas had her husband go into cardiac arrest in front of her last night.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes, “oh”. I want to be with my family at Christmas but so too does everyone else and Mum sending you up here to talk to me doesn’t change that. Everyone’s Christmas is important.’
* * *
Apart from the rather jumpy start it was a nice weekend. Holly went shopping with her mum and actually got rather a lot done, including ordering the turkey, but as pleasant as it had been, Holly arrived back at work more tired for her days off than when she had left.
There was no word from Daniel.
She hadn’t expected flowers or a phone call, or a follow-up date.
But she had hoped.
And those hopes had been dashed.
What part of ‘one-night stand’ don’t you get, Holly? she asked herself.
The ‘one night’ part.
How could something that had been so good simply end?