Page 20 of Not Another Beach Read
Ben chuckled. "Well, I'll give it to you guys... you are nothing if not an unpredictable group," said Ben, "but you have all impacted my life as well."
"Oh yeah? How's that?" I asked.
"It was pretty boring before you all came along, that is for sure."
I laughed for the first time since he walked in. "Thanksagain for your help today, Ben, and hopefully someday we can repay the favor."
"No repayment necessary," said Ben. "You're doing a good thing. And if you need any more support, I'm here for you. You take care."
With that, he turned and made his way out the door. A moment later, he popped back in.
"And tell Holly I said bye. I don't want her thinking that I am judging her in any way. I know she's had a tough road, and behavior like this is to be expected."
"Will do," I said. "Thanks, Ben. Have a great day."
"See you soon," he said.
I headed back to the stockroom where Holly was sitting on a stack of boxes.
"Go ahead," she said, without looking up from the floor by her feet. "I know you are going to lecture me."
I dragged a chair over and sat in front of her, reaching out to lift her chin until she was looking me in the eye.
"I think you know we can't have another day like today," I said.
When she tried to look back down, I bent in half to catch her gaze again.
"I am not going to yell or lecture you. I already know that you know better. Just please remember that my friends and I all live and work in this town, so you are going to be under a microscope while you're here. If there's anything that you need, just ask me and we can either get it for you or find a way for you to earn the money yourself."
"Okay," she said.
"What we're going to do now is finish up for the day, and then we're going to go over to the gift shop so you can apologize."
"But—"
I put my hand up. "I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Youare going to go and apologize to the gift shop owner. She's a friend of mine, and she now knows you're my niece."
Holly's face flamed red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Elyse," she said.
"I know you're sorry, and I forgive you," I said. "Now, let's finish up so we can get out of here and enjoy the rest of our day."
An hour later, we were pulling into my driveway and I saw Drew's vehicle in the garage when the door opened.
"Uncle Drew is home," she said, excitement in her voice.
Holly and Drew had always had a great relationship. One which I was grateful for at a time when I might need a little backup.
"Are you going to tell him what happened?" she asked.
I paused for a moment, thinking. "Why don't we keep today just between us, with the understanding that it will never happen again?"
Holly looked visibly relieved. Her shoulders dropped back into place and her face relaxed.
"I promise, Aunt Elyse. I promise it will never happen again. I don't know what came over me. And the earrings I took, I didn't even really want. I woke up angry this morning and wanted to hurt someone. But I immediately regretted it. And I didn't realize that the person I was hurting most was you. Right after I put them in my bag, I regretted it."
"Why didn't you just put them back?" I asked in a tone that was more curious than accusatory or judgmental.
