Wrapped Up in Holly (Hart Brothers)

5. Evan

Evan

I removed my work gloves and pressed my hands into my lower back, stretching my spine as I inhaled deeply.

“Hey old man, you’re in the way.”

I took my time turning to Ryan and raised my brow in a challenge. He rolled his eyes, lugging the big wooden picture board around me to the other side of the barn to make room for the trees that were being delivered. We were a fruit farm but imported some items from local bakers and other farmers for special events, though we’d only started selling Christmas trees since I’d come back from Ohio State with plans to expand the business.

Previous to me taking over, we’d mainly relied on the income from the summer and fall when people paid to pick their own fruit: cherries, strawberries, peaches, and apples. We had always hosted Halloween and Christmas weekends throughout October and December, but I’d wanted to think bigger with year round events. Now, we had pie contests in November, a Valentine’s dinner, an Easter egg hunt, and “spring planting” for kids, as well as school field trips throughout the year. It’s all led to tremendous growth.

The issue was, as the farm business developed, I’d had to split my time between my work and my family. It’s why Holly and I started having problems.

The Hart Family Farm was truly family run. My parents still worked, though they were getting up in age. Holly did the marketing outreach and all of our social media campaigns. Aiden took care of the money, payroll, and taxes, and the rest of my siblings pitched in whenever they could. But I was the one in charge now.

I was the one up at six every morning. I was the one who trudged in the front door after six every night. And I was the one who relied on my wife to do everything with the house and our children. It was unsustainable. I knew that. But I didn’t know what exactly to do about it.

“You’re extra pissed off this morning,” Tristan noted from his spot on the floor where he was unknotting a string of lights.

I grunted his way.

“Is it because of whatever’s going on with Holly?” Aiden guessed, and I whipped my head toward him. He removed his glasses, wiping them off on his sweatshirt then placed them back on the bridge of his nose. “What?”

“How do you know what’s going on with me and Holly?”

“Dude, everybody knows,” Ryan said, hands on his hips.

All three of my younger brothers stared at me, waiting for an explanation, but I wasn’t about to give it to them. I’d always kept my feelings close to my chest. With six younger brothers and sisters, there were finite amounts of time and attention, so I learned to mind my own business and take care of myself. I never talked to my family about what was going on in my personal life. I could handle it on my own. And they knew better than to question me about it.

“I ask again, how the fuck do you know what’s going on with me and Holly?”

Tristan, the youngest—by mere minutes—but most emotionally competent, said, “Even if Rosie didn’t tell me, it’s written all over your face.”

“Rosie?” I huffed.

“I think Rosie heard it from Julie,” Aiden said.

“Julie?” I threw my arms out. Julie lived in Texas. “How the hell does she know?”

Ryan shrugged. “How does she know anything?”

Julie was a journalist, which really meant she was a pain in the ass. When she was a kid, she used to write up weekly articles and print them off, handing them out to everyone in the family. There were updates on what we were all was doing, who was fighting, like Ryan and Aiden, who was doing what in school, like Claire acing her test, and who was sneaking off, like me and Holly.

Back then, she was a little gossip. Now, she was a big gossip and a pain in my ass.

I dug my phone out of my pocket to text her, to tell her to shut her mouth, but before I could, Holly stalked into the barn, her own cell in her hand.

Her big brown eyes settled on me. I smiled, but she didn’t return it. Then she looked to my brothers. “You mind if I take some pictures? Thought it would be good to post some behind the scenes stuff.”

Aiden shrugged. Tristan didn’t answer. Ryan waved for her to come closer. He was a ham.

“You still good to sign some gear for the giveaway?” she asked as she raised her phone up.

He grinned, leaning against a decorative red sled. “Yep.”

He played shortstop for the Cleveland Rocks, an exhibition baseball team that was known for more theatrics than actual baseball. The kid was a mini celebrity, and he used his “fame” to its fullest potential.

Holly snapped a few more photos of him and then some of Aiden and Tristan working together. I watched her step this way and that, framing up the photos she wanted, bending at the waist so her long plaid shirt shifted, revealing her ass in tight fitted jeans.

“Perfect,” she said, offering my brothers a smile that pissed me off. “Thanks.”

I caught her elbow as she strode to the doors. “You don’t want any of me?”

She appraised me with a raised eyebrow. “Since when do you want your picture taken?”

“Since it’s the only time I can hold your attention.”

“ Now you want my attention?” She crossed her arms under her breasts, and it had been so long since we’d had sex, my brain momentarily blanked at the thought of getting my hands on her.

“I always do,” I said, drawing closer to her, but she shook her head.

Our latest counseling appointment had included talking about how we could spend more time together. It didn’t resolve anything, although it did reveal how much I’d been neglecting our marriage for the farm. But I was focused on supporting Holly and our girls. I worked hard to give them whatever they needed.

Riley loved soccer, and she was growing so fast, it seemed like she needed new cleats every few weeks. Ari wanted to do gymnastics, which wasn’t cheap. And Holly, she deserved whatever she wanted. Everything she wanted.

Now, she settled her gaze somewhere over my shoulder, and I moved into her line of vision. “We figured it out before. We’ll figure it out again.”

She didn’t respond, only dropped her chin, clearly in disagreement.

“I love you,” I told her, and she nodded, but didn’t say it back.

“I’ll see you later,” she said quietly and turned, walking out of the barn.

I stared after her, feeling like my whole universe was slipping through my fingers, and when I finally spun around to face my brothers, they were standing in a line like they expected the next thing out of my mouth.

“I don’t know what to do.”

The three of them crowded around me in a semi-circle as Aiden said, “What happened? Start from the beginning.”

I explained how in the last few years, we’d drifted apart, not only physically but emotionally, too. And how, when she’d caught me with my hand around my dick one night while I watched porn, she broke down in tears. Then how she had confessed in our therapy session that she didn’t feel appreciated or loved anymore and how our relationship felt more like we were roommates as opposed to husband and wife.

“Well, I mean, not that I want to picture your dick, but mutual masturbation is hot,” Ryan said, completely unhelpfully.

I rolled my eyes.

Aiden set his hands on his hips. “If this is about you working too much on the farm, I can help you find a manager. I’ve been telling you for the last year that the profits have been sustaining in growth. You don’t need to do it all yourself. I get why you were because of those few lean years with the weather and crop yield, but you’ve done a great job of expanding the business. You can afford to hire help.”

I chewed on the inside of my lip for a while, thinking about how Holly barely met my gaze anymore. “What if it’s too late?”

“It’s never too late,” Tristan said, and when I gave him a bland look, he shrugged. “Actions speak louder than words, right? Show her how you feel. Show her how much you appreciate her as a mom, a wife, but most importantly, as a woman.”

For a kid, who I knew for a fact didn’t have a lot of experience with girls, he sure was a romantic.

Ryan on the other hand, slapped my arm. “Send the kids to Mom and Dad’s and fuck her like you’re two singles in your twenties. That’s mostly what it’s about, right?”

He wasn’t totally wrong, and when I gestured to my other two brothers for their input, they both shrugged. If Holly wasn’t feeling wanted because of the whole masturbation fiasco, I had to show her how much I still wanted her. How much I would always want her.

Ryan pasted on a shit-eating grin. “You’re welcome.”