Page 6 of Healing Hearts at the Christmas Inn
And suddenly, everything made sense.
Holly had mentioned Trinity acting up around Simon. She’d suddenly started refusing to hug him, giving him the silent treatment, rolling her eyes whenever he spoke, and back-chatting him, which was not like Trinity at all. Holly had told Simon to stop letting her get away with it, but he'd just shrugged it off. "She's going through tweenhood," he'd said. "It'll pass."
But it hadn't been tweenhood at all.
That cheating snake had let Trinity treat him like dirt because she knew his secret. He'd put that burden on a twelve-year-old child to protect himself.
Fury exploded through Charlie's chest, hot and visceral. Her hands gripped the wheel so tight she thought it might crack.
“I’m so sorry, Aunt Charlie,” Trinity’s voice wobbled. “I’m so, so sorry, I should’ve told Gran… or you.”
Charlie’s head shot around, and her anger intensified as she saw the tears in her great-niece’s eyes.
"Trinity," she said carefully, her voice shaking with barely controlled rage. "Listen to me. None of this—none of it—is your fault. Do you understand? Your granddad had no right to put that on you. No right at all."
Trinity's tears spilled over, and Charlie reached across the console to squeeze her hand.
“But… but I’ve let Gran down.” Trinity’s tears spilled onto her lap as her head dipped. “I lied to gran.”
“No!” Charlie shook her head, reaching out with a hand to grab Trinity’s. “No, sweetheart, your grandmother will understand, and she’ll tell you the same thing. This isn’t your fault.”
“I don’t want to lose Gran…” Trinity swallowed. “Or… or you.”
“Oh, honey…” Charlie glanced at the young girl. “You’ll never lose us. We love you so much and nothing, nothing will ever change that.” She gave her a warm smile. "We're going to get through this," she said firmly. "All of us. Together."
Trinity nodded, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Charlie pulled into the parking garage of her building and cut the engine. She looked at her niece. This brave, brilliant girl who'd been carrying a secret no child should have to carry, and made a silent vow.
Simon Bennett was going to pay for this.
Every. Last. Bit.
3
HOLLY
Six Months Later
The office still smelled like Simon.
Holly stood in the doorway, a roll of packing tape in one hand, and tried not to breathe too deeply. Six months had passed since she'd walked out of this house after finding Simon and Terry in a compromising position. Six months since the world had fractured. Six months since her attorney had kicked him out of this house and ensured she’d gotten it in the divorce. Yet his presence lingered in every corner of this room. The faint ghost of his aftershave clung to the leather chair. Old paper and ink saturated the air, mixed with the musty scent of law books that lined the shelves like silent witnesses to a marriage that had crumbled without her noticing.
Holly had cleaned up and packed up everything Simon had asked for that he’d wanted from the house. But she'd avoided this room for weeks. She’d let the movers take the furniture Simon had asked for from the rest of the house. She’d let Charlie help her sort through the kitchen, the bedroom, and the closets. But the office. This used to be Simon's domain, his sanctuary.That was why Holly had waited until the last minute, the last room.
Late November sunlight slanted through the window, catching dust motes that danced in the golden beams. Outside, palm fronds rustled in the breeze, and somewhere down the street, a neighbor's dog barked. Normal sounds. A normal day.
Except nothing felt normal anymore.
Holly took a breath and stepped further inside the room, and surveyed the empty boxes stacked against the walls. Most of the smaller things Simon had taken with him, and some of the boxes he'd come by last week to collect. Terry had come with him but had stayed in the car. Holly had taken her keys back from him to the house the day he moved out, and she’d even changed the locks to make sure he couldn’t get back in. As such, she had to be here when he came to collect his things, and he’d stretched getting them over the past six months.
When he came here, Holly would let him in, give him his stuff, and then let him out, saying as little as she could get away with. Her attorney had warned her not to say too much to him. Holly didn’t mind that. She had nothing to say to Simon or Terry, and Holly wasn’t sure she ever would have anything to say to them ever again. The betrayal on both sides was just too deep and hurt too badly.
Her eyes roamed the room once again. All that remained were a few boxes in the hall and this room that was filled with his old case files. Outdated law journals. A dusty globe on a brass stand that had belonged to his father. She'd put off coming in here to box them up because this was the room that had shattered her life.
Holly grabbed a box and began filling it with books, working methodically to keep her hands busy. The divorce papers had been filed two weeks ago. Marjorie Dawn had been every bit as fierce as Charlie promised, and Simon hadn't fought her on anything. The house, the shop, a fair settlement. He'd signed it all without argument, probably relieved she wasn't asking for more.
Or maybe he just wanted it over with as quickly as Holly did.
