Page 8 of Miss Humbug
Talk to Marlowe Holly? One did not simply walk up to Marlowe Holly andtalk. She was no longer the girl next door to the tree farm (literally). She was a full-grown woman.
I felt like a middle schooler all over again. Around age eleven, something had shifted and Marlowe wasn’t just the neighbor kid, but had become a girl…of interest.
Before I could clear my head fog, a large body in plaid invaded my view. “Sawyer boys. What’s up?” Ashe Holly held out his fist for a bump.
Rob responded like a normal, functioning human. I stared past Ashe to the figure behind him.
Shawn laughed. “Yeah. She’s here. Can you believe it?” He nudged Marlowe forward.
She eyerolled at her brother and pasted on a smile. A fake one. “Hey, guys. How…have you been?”
Since my brain didn’t work, Rob did the talking. Whatever he said was fine. Why was I such a mess? Marlowe was just a person.
Just a person I’d spent ninety percent of my teenage years dreaming about. About fifty percent of my childhood actually spending time with. And still had zero idea how to ever tell her how I felt.
Teenage Marlowe Holly had been untouchable. A mystery. I’d had all-access backstage passes to the famed Holly family growing up, but things shifted over time. We all used to be close. Me, her brothers, her cousins. Long summers tearing through the Holly property bordering my family’s tree farm. Running around in the big Hollybrooke House. Being there always felt fun and exciting. A little like magic.
“Glad to see you back,” Rob said to Marlowe. When had he developed social skills? Usually his headphones were glued to his head. “How are you?”
“I’m great!” Marlowe spoke loudly to be heard over the crowd and music.
“A table’s clearing out.” Ashe gestured ahead. “Let’s grab it.”
The Holly brothers herded us into the dim depths of Checkers. Marlowe hesitated. I shook sense into myself. Something must have happened with the family. Why else would she be here?
“Are you okay?” I asked Marlowe.
Her gaze refocused. “Ethan.” She said my name slowly, like it was coming back to her from a distant memory. She smiled again—still a little plastic, but not as artificial as before. “It’s been a long day. I can’t believe they convinced me to come out tonight.”
We slowly made our way to the table, which didn’t have enough chairs for all of us. “You live in California now, right?”
A spark emerged in her eyes. “How did you—of course you know. Our family business is everybody’s business in this town. How could I forget?”
This town was all I knew, so I didn’t have much of a response.
Rob gestured toward us. “Mar, take my chair. You look tired.”
Marlowe winced.
Dude. Never tell a woman she looks tired.I’d learned that one the hard way too. “He’s young and green,” I told Marlowe. “Also dumb.”
“I heard that.” Rob pulled the chair out for Marlowe.
Another extra chair miraculously appeared from a table nearby. Everyone sat and talked at once. The novelty of seeing Marlowe still struck me dumb. Here. In our town. If she’d returned home at all since college, she’d kept close to the family house, because I hadn’t seen her.
“Maybe she’s gone off the deep end,” Ashe was saying to the table. “But we need to keep this focused. The house should be ours.”
Shawn folded his arms. “Your wife doesn’t seem on board with your plan.”
“She doesn’t want to clean all those bathrooms.” Ashe leaned back in his seat. “I’ll clean them.”
Marlowe laughed. “No, you won’t.”
Ashe pretended to look offended. “Hey. I’m your elder here. I’ve been a homeowner for longer than you’ve been an adult.”
I needed to backtrack. “What’s this about the house? Is Mrs. Holly…she isn’t…”
The Hollys had lost so much. If Emmaline was losing her health—I couldn’t even say it.
