Havoc for the Holidays (Home for the Holidays)

1. Ollie

Chapter one

Ollie

T he love of my life was mad at me, so my day was pretty much ruined. Utterly ruined. A complete and absolute mess all around. A catastrophe the likes I wouldn't soon recover from. The time on my watch had me wincing as the desk phone rang yet again. The need to answer it forced me to put down my messenger bag and garnered me another scathing glare from my disappointed darling.

“Law Office of St James and Associates, this is Oliver speaking. How can I help you?” I peeked toward my daughter and mouthed an apology that resulted in an eye roll. The ire of a child cut so deeply sometimes.

“Yes, Mr. St James was supposed to return my call today. I've yet to hear from him.” Alas, I wasn't a mind reader, so I had no clue who the disappointed party on the other end of the line was.

“Could I have your name, ma’am?” I searched my chaotic desk for a scrap of paper and pen.

“Lucinda Stiles. We're supposed to be closing this week. This. Week.” She stressed the words more pointedly. “Please put him on.”

“Mr. St James is unavailable at the moment, but I'll let him know you called. The paperwork is all in order and the closing is scheduled this week, like you said. There's no need to worry, ma’am.” I scribbled the name on my scrap paper and tried to keep the waver from my voice. Agitated clients were the worst to deal with.

“Ugh! See that he returns my call!” Muttering faded away before the click of the phone disconnecting filled my ears with dead air.

The phone dropped into the cradle with a rattle. Without even a moment to breathe, Becs pounced.

“Dad! We have to leave now. You don't understand how important this is!” She stomped her ballet slipper-clad foot with a huff, just to make me feel even worse for ruining everything. Her words, not mine.

“I know, love. I'm sorry. You know I have to work. We’ll get there on time, I promise.” I snatched my bag from the chair and held out a hand toward her. “It's all going to be fine.”

“It's not! Nothing's fine. We’re already late and today is the day they decide the show!” She grabbed my hand despite her scornful glare and followed along as we left my office. Technically, it was more of a reclaimed dining room in my employer's home, but it had been my office for years now.

“Richard! We’re headed out now! Lucinda called again!” I paused long enough to shout up the stairs of Richard St James’ private home turned private practice.

“Of course she did. Have a nice night, Ollie. See you tomorrow, Becs!” Richard’s head poked over the railing to peer down from the second floor. “Remember to send the settlement proposal to Jenkins tomorrow, Olls.”

“Yessir. First thing.”

“Daaaad!” Becs somehow turned a monosyllabic word into one of the longest I'd ever heard in a pitch I could never imagine hitting.

“Yes, yes. We’re going now.” Flustered and frazzled, I let her drag me to the door as I double-checked my pockets and bag. The last thing I needed was to forget something.

Once we made it to the car, she grumbled and groaned the entire time she climbed into the backseat and secured the seatbelt. My worries made me check that it was secure and earned me another dour glare. She relaxed her tense posture as soon as I was in the driver's seat and the car was in motion. My feisty little redhead was fickle in that way—one moment, spitting mad. The next, her angelic smile would return in full force.

“What show do you think they'll pick this year, my darling?” I peeked in the rearview mirror and smiled at the crinkle in the greenish-grey eyes that matched my own.

“Miss Judy said maybe Nutcracker. I hope it's that. I wanna be a sugarplum!”

“You're already my sugarplum.” I blew a kiss as she giggled and pushed the curls from her face.

“Miss Judy says her baby is coming today too. He’s gonna be our teacher now.”

“Baby? I didn't realize she had children.” My gut sank as I pulled into the small parking lot behind Little Stars Dance Studio. Every single spot was taken save for the space in front of the back door. I'd completely forgotten that today was a mandatory meeting for all the students and parents. Windhaven might have been an exceptionally small town, but the residents, part and full time both, took their dance studio very seriously. Unfortunately, we were painfully late.

As soon as the engine clicked off, Becs was flying from the backseat. It took all my effort to get my gangly legs to keep up as I chased after her, nearly catching the door with my face as it bounced off the stopper with a loud bang. My dress shoes slipped on the smooth surface of the lacquered dance floor and I barely remained upright after a mortifyingly comical floundering of my limbs.

“Laney! Miss Judy! Hi!” Rebecca clamored through the packed studio and plopped beside her best friend where her classmates sat criss cross style around the center of the room. “Dad made me late. Sorry, Miss Judy.”

Every eye in the room snapped toward me as I tried to recover some sense of decorum. No one appeared all that surprised that I was a hot mess disaster. To be fair, it was sort of a running joke around town. My face radiated the heat of a thousand suns as I crept around the periphery of the room in an attempt to disappear into the woodwork. My embarrassment subsided only a few degrees as Laney’s father Lincoln, my best friend, waved me over.

“Good to see you, Ollie.” He inched to the side to make space for me, keeping his voice low.

“Sorry I'm late. Work.” I pushed the chaotic curls from my eyes and exhaled the first full breath since I'd left the office.

“It happens. You missed the introductions.” He gave a little jerk of his chin toward the front of the room. “That’s Ezechiel. Did you know she had a kid?”

“No—oh,” I stammered as soon as my gaze landed on the subject of our conversation. Whatever my preconceived notions had been about the unknown child of our beloved dance instructor, they evaporated in an instant. As did all the moisture in my mouth.

Ezechiel Billings, the prodigal son, was a stunning man. If you looked up the word gorgeous in the Oxford Dictionary, it would be a full-page spread featuring this man's photo. Lean, lithe, dressed in dancer’s tights and a sumptuous tunic-style shirt in a shade of emerald that made his skin look like porcelain—he belonged on a runway in Paris, not some minuscule dance studio in the middle of nowhere. His dark, ebony hair fell over his brow and he flicked his head to shift it to the side before staring into the depths of my soul with the darkest brown eyes I'd ever seen.

“Okay there, bud.” Lincoln reached over and gently lifted my chin to close my mouth. “Oh is right, though.”

The heat rose even higher in my face. I'd been caught staring. How horrifying. “Oh.”

“Oh.” Snickering, Lincoln nudged my side with his elbow. “Is baby Ollie ready to get back in the saddle?”

“Shhh. Hush. No. God,” I scoffed, trying to keep my voice barely a whisper. “Never. Goodness.”

“Methinks the boy doth protest too much.”

“You're being unfair. I was just… taken by surprise.” I smoothed my shirt with anxious, clammy hands.

“Because he’s gorgeous. You're allowed to look, Olls.”

“Shhh!” I froze once the realization over how loud I was hit. For the second time since arriving, every eye turned toward me as Lincoln tried to smother his cackling. “Uh… so sorry. Do carry on.”

I waved my hand and tried to force my lips into something resembling an apologetic smile. It likely looked more like a pained cringe, which was far more accurate.

“Now, I know this is a lot of change, my little stars, but I promise you that I'll still be here as much as I can.” Judy, seated on a stool beside her son, leaned forward to prop her elbows on her knees with a warm smile. “But in happier news, are we all ready to hear what our Holiday Showcase will be?”

The children erupted with exuberant cheers from all around the studio, so loud I swore the large windows facing Main Street rattled in their casings. There were toddlers, young children, and quite a few adolescents and teenagers in the mix. Even the handful of adult students I recognized as regulars at the studio applauded with unbridled enthusiasm.

“Settle, hush.” Judy made gentle, soothing motions with her hands, the patient smile never leaving her face. “Our Holiday Showcase this year will be based on my Ezechiel’s critically acclaimed rendition of…”

She paused for dramatic effect as the room fell eerily silent. Even I found myself holding my breath with anticipation. She was nothing if not a performer. An effective one, at that.

“The Nutcracker ballet!”

The uproar hit with such force, I viscerally recoiled and stumbled over my feet in the face of it. Excited shrieking, raucous applause, and cacophonous chatter filled the studio to overflowing. My head spun as I blinked to try and clear the chaos from my mind. I blinked even more rapidly as a young girl appeared in front of me with an armful of papers.

“Here you go, Mr. Branson!”

As I swept my eyes over the papers foisted upon me, my stomach dropped. Becs’ practice schedule for the next six weeks left me in a panic for how packed it was. My work schedule made it hard enough to get her to her weekly practices on time. It became difficult to swallow the longer I skimmed the page.

“Hey, you know we're more than happy to help, Ols.” Reading the worry on my face, Lincoln squeezed my shoulder. “Don't be afraid to ask for it, yeah?”

My eyes darted to Linc’s face as my lips curved into a wobbly smile. “I appreciate it. This is… rigorous.”

“We’ll make it work.”

I murmured my appreciation as the schedule captured my attention again. Without Lincoln’s help over the years, my life would have been even more disastrous than it already was. I'd had to put my pride aside more than I wanted to in order to avoid disappointing my darling girl. It appeared I would be doing even more of that in the coming weeks.

I searched the crowd until the bright red bouncing curls of my daughter became visible. Her joy was infectious. She'd gotten her wish to join the troupe of sugarplum fairies and in the end, that was all that mattered. So long as my baby was happy, I was happy. Even if that meant admitting I couldn't do it all alone.

My worries started to subside as the music of her laughter rose above the noise in the studio. They disappeared completely as she caught my eye and smiled as bright as the sun. It seemed I was finally forgiven for almost ruining everything. This time. I tucked that win close to my chest as I returned her wave from across the room. It would all be worth it to keep that smile on her face.