Holly versus Mr. Ivy by Amanda P. Jones

Chapter 32

Holly

Istared at Rhett with wide eyes. “Do you think he knows?”

Rhett’s phone rang again. This time he answered, also putting it on speaker. “Hey, Uncle Anthony.” Rhett tried to sound normal, but an edge of fear laced his tone.

“Everett.”

Rhett hung his head, somehow knowing that tone of Anthony’s conveyed disappointment and regret.

“Yes?”

“I came to the restaurant, and to my surprise, you weren’t there.”

I was going to puke.

“I took the day off. Aaron is handling everything at The Boardwalk tonight.”

“Meet me at my office. Now. We have things to discuss.” Anthony hung up on Rhett, just like he had me.

I climbed off Rhett, attempting to stand on my shaky limbs. “I guess I’ll meet you there?” Maybe this wasn’t about us. But then why would he call us to his office and not The Boardwalk?

Rhett nodded, a worried look pinching his eyes. “We need to stagger our arrival. I’ll leave first. Come in five minutes.”

“Okay,” I whispered. A bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

Rhett stood and placed a kiss on my forehead. “I’ll see you soon.”

I squeezed his bicep, then let him go. As I got my shoes on, I gave myself hope that Anthony was calling about something other than Rhett and me. That he had a new idea or a new restaurant where he wanted us to work together.

But Anthony’s tone. Rhett’s worried, defeated look. There was no hiding the most probable reason.

Anthony’s office was in a room on the second floor of a business complex in downtown Lampton. I parked in the lot behind the building, nausea turning in my stomach the entire walk into Anthony’s office.

The marble floors shone, reflecting the overhead lights on the surface. A few people came in and out of other office doors as I walked down the long hallway until I reached a door with Anthony Ivy’s name on a black plaque screwed into the wood.

I knocked, then opened the door. A large room with an oversized desk and a smattering of wingback leather chairs filled the space. Anthony sat behind the desk, wearing a scowl. Rhett sat in one of the chairs facing his uncle. I purposely chose the chair farthest from Rhett.

“Will you explain why you called us here?” Rhett asked, his voice neutral.

Anthony’s hard gaze bounced between me and Rhett. “Months ago, when I received a phone call from Darby, who claimed you two were kissing, you both assured me she was just a disgruntled ex-employee and the claim had no merit.”

Anthony pinned his glare on Rhett. “You reassured me mid-November that you and Chef Holly were only friends. And yet, tonight, I got a phone call from another employee at The Boardwalk claiming she’s seen you together. On dates.”

What? Who had called him? We’d been so careful. No one could claim we were dating. Even if they saw us out and about together. We didn’t hold hands. Kiss. Or do anything a normal couple would.

“I think we need a few more details than that, Uncle Anthony. Who reported seeing us out on dates?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He slapped a hand on his desk. “What I want to know is if it’s true.”

I refused to look at Rhett. How could I, knowing we’d both decided to make a stupid decision that had led to this moment? Why had we thought we wouldn’t get caught? And who had told Anthony about us?

“We went to the Lampton Christmas festival and ice skating together, but only as friends, as I told you before.” Rhett gestured to me. “Chef Dewhurst and I have spent time together outside of work, but I assure you, nothing happened between us while we were at those events.”

If taken at face value, what Rhett said was true. His wording just happened to leave out the most important parts.

Anthony looked at me, steepling his fingers under his chin. “You’ve been awfully quiet over there, Chef Holly.”

Yeah, because you scare me and I don’t want to say anything that would make you fire me. “I don’t have anything to add to what Mr. Ivy has already said. We’re friends.” And a whole lot more.

A condescending smile lifted Mr. Ivy’s jowls. “You two are good. I’ll give you that. I almost believed you were telling the truth. Except Skye said she saw you kissing under the mistletoe in the hallway at work.”

It was like someone pushed me out of a plane without a parachute. My stomach jumped, my pulse raced, noise whooshed in my ears, but my heart. Oh, my heart hurt the worst. Skye? Sweet, lovable Skye, one of the few in my kitchen with whom I connected, had taken a sword and stabbed me in the back, driving the hilt so far forward, the tip of the sword protruded through my heart. I glanced down at my chest just to make sure there wasn’t actually a piece of metal sticking out.

Betrayal, anger, confusion, shock. Like a tornado, they ripped through me, tearing my insides to rubble. Why had Skye turned us in? What did she get out of it? I couldn’t believe it was Skye and not one of my other employees who’d been there longer. My mind refused to wrap around the concept because it hurt too much to accept the truth.

“Chef Holly?” Anthony growled. “Do you have anything to say to that?”

I looked at Rhett, silently asking him what I should do. Did we deny Skye’s claims and make ourselves out to be liars, or keep our integrity and own up to it? Rhett gave me a look that said it was up to me.

I tried to phrase my next answer how Rhett had. “Yes, there is mistletoe hanging in the hallway at the restaurant. Rhett and I did find ourselves under it at the same time, but the kiss was simple. We weren’t making out or anything like that. If I’d met Aaron under it, I’d have kissed him too. It’s a cute Christmas tradition, that’s all.” Although Aaron’s kiss would have been on his hand or cheek. Not on his lips like I’d done with Rhett. And that kiss had been sweet. It hadn’t turned into a full-on passionate, must-have-you-now kiss until we’d moved to my office.

Anthony’s eyes narrowed. “Who hung the mistletoe?”

Rhett’s neck splotched pink. “I did. But I hung some in the lobby as well, and I can tell you, customers love it.”

“Let me get this straight. You hung mistletoe in an area where only employees go even though you know I don’t allow dating?”

“You’re making it sound like a bigger deal than it really is. The purpose wasn’t to trap anyone or get them in trouble. As Chef Holly stated, it’s a fun tradition that I thought would make the staff get in a festive mood. I shouldn’t have done it and will take it down tomorrow.”

“See that you do. In the meantime, you’ve both wasted your breath denying what’s going on.” Anthony pulled his phone out of his suit pocket and tapped on it before turning it around and showing the screen to Rhett and me.

It was a video of us kissing under the mistletoe in the hallway. Sure, what seemed like a quick kiss in real life looked nothing like that in the video. The way Rhett was cradling my neck, how my hands were splayed across his chest, how close we were standing—it was undeniable that the kiss between us wasn’t the first one or as innocent as we made it out to be.

Tears pooled in my eyes as my last hope floated away. I was losing my job over a stupid mistake. If Rhett and I had just waited, we would’ve been in the clear. As an adult, I should have had that restraint. I should have been able to realize that losing my job, the one thing keeping a roof over my head, and the one position that would get me a James Beard Award and a Michelin star rating, wasn’t worth the risk.

But the worst part of it all? Because I’d let go of the control I’d fought so desperately to maintain and listened to Rhett and withdrawn my boundaries, my life had fallen apart. I’d kept my heart safe, my life on track, until Rhett had stormed in and changed everything, and now I had nothing.

“Chef Holly, you will meet me at The Boardwalk tomorrow at ten to clean out your office. You are officially no longer executive chef.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. If only I’d kept my boundaries in place.

Anthony spoke to Rhett. “I hope you enjoyed your time at The Boardwalk, because that’s where you’re staying. The regional manager position is no longer yours.”

“Uncle Anthony, please don’t do this. We did as you asked. The Boardwalk will reach its goals. That wouldn’t have happened without the entire team working together. If you want continued success, you need Holly and me.”

Anthony jabbed a finger in Rhett’s direction. “You knew the consequences from the first day I hired you. I reminded you again and again. You made your bed. It’s time you lie in it.”

Anthony was right. I’d made horrible decisions since Rhett had come into my life. Ones I didn’t plan on repeating. I fled the room and ran to my car.

Rhett came chasing after me. “Holly, wait! Let’s talk about this.”

The pain cut too deep. If he hadn’t told me to show my staff another side of me, to open up and talk more, Rhett and I would still be coworkers, and Skye would never have had a reason to betray me. I’d rather have Darby calling me Ice Queen than this pain squeezing my chest so tight that I couldn’t even breathe.

Unlocking my car, I opened the door. “There’s nothing to talk about, Rhett. I was right, and you were wrong. Boundaries keep me safe, and I shouldn’t have let you tell me otherwise. If I’d never opened up to you or anyone else at The Boardwalk, my life wouldn’t be in pieces.”

“Sweetheart, come on,” he pleaded. “We can figure this out. Just talk to me.”

Hearing him say that sent another stab of pain through my heart. I swiped at the tears rolling down my cheeks. “I need to fix this on my own.”

Rhett stepped next to me, holding onto my door. His chest labored for breath. “We need to discuss our next steps together.”

Rhett would only confuse me. Try to get me to blur those boundaries again. No. I had to take back control and get my life in order once more. “I can’t,” I choked out through a sob. “I just…can’t. Goodbye, Rhett.”

I climbed into my car and sped away, hating that my life had shattered around me because I’d let a man influence my decisions.

Never again.