"Trees hang low and clouds suffocate the sun so you can see, put a signal in the sky for me"
Tuesday
Holly rubbed her eyes as she tried to focus on the screen. She was sitting in bed trying to keep up with her emails. Summer had thrown herself on Holly's bed last night and hadn't left, but Holly didn't mind; it's not like she could really sleep anyways. Holly read through the email she had been working on one last time and hit send. She found the animated swooshing sound of a jet taking off that followed was strangely satisfying; it added to her sense of accomplishment. Holly clicked back to her inbox and started reading through the next email that needed her attention.
Summer was sprawled ungraciously on top of the comforter and as she rolled over in her sleep she kicked Holly's knee. Holly unceremoniously returned the kick; Summer seemed largely unfazed and maintained her slumber. Holly still had a good seven emails she needed to get to that morning. She glanced at the time; 6:15. She still had a good two hours before she needed to get up and dressed. Her boss and colleagues had been very understanding of her sudden absence, especially since it was the summer and lots of people had their own vacations planned. Still, there were open cases she was working on that needed to be handed off or dealt with mostly by the interns, which meant Holly was essentially doing most all the work by email proxy.
Another electronic 'swoosh' sound effect; another internal high five. Holly clasped her hands, stretched them out in front of her, and yawned. She heard her phone start to vibrate on the nightstand. If this call was about the email she had just sent she decided she wasn't going to answer. That was an empty threat, though and Holly knew it. She groped for the device on the nightstand and swiveled it around so she could read the screen.
Holly smiled as she slid her finger across the screen the accept the call, "hey."
"Hi. What's up?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You called me..."
Gail could practically hear Holly breakout in one of her crooked grins. Way to be a fool, Peck. "Oh, well, what I meant was, you called me at the beginning of my shift and I couldn't really talk, so I'm calling you back now. So; what's up? Shit, I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Oh, no no. I was up. Going through emails for work. Did you just finish your shift?" Holly didn't remember Gail's night shifts going so long in the past.
"Yeah, well, no. I stayed a little late in booking because we're so short staffed and then I got some food."
"Ow!" Holly cursed as an elbow struck her right the boob as Summer rolled over to burrow her head under the pillow.
Gail raised her eyebrows and waited for an explanation even though she knew Holly couldn't see her.
"Sorry," Holly apologized as she smacked Summer's bum. "Summer just elbowed me in the boob."
"That's not very sisterly," Gail clicked her tongue.
"Well, she's asleep, she didn't mean it. But you're right; not very sisterly."
"She's in your bed?" Gail raised an eyebrow, "creeps."
"Not, really," Holly shrugged, "she sleeps barefoot so, not as creeps as you."
"Whatever," Gail grumbled over the line. Holly chuckled as Gail continued, "so how are things? The funeral's this morning right?" Holly heard a loud thud in the background which she chalked up to Gail dumping a bag of her's on the ground.
"Yeah it is. I mean it's fine," Holly sighed, "I mean it's awful. All these people keep coming up and saying how sorry they are but like, I've never met them. And they're all old, so I have to bend down to talk to them, and yell so they can hear me. It's awful," Holly rubbed at her temples.
"I kind of can't wait to lose my hearing," Gail lamented. "Then I won't have to hear the stupid stuff all these idiots come up with. I already know sign language so..."
"Maybe I'll say that the next time one of them tries to strike up a conversation," Holly joked.
"You should, let me know how it goes."
Holly laughed and then the line went silent for a little while. Gail was feeling a little braver so she decided just to ask. Holly hadn't actually answered but Gail was good at being blunt, "so, why'd you call last night?" She tried to keep her voice light and casual when she was feeling anything but.
"You caught that huh? I guess I was having a moment," Holly tried to brush it off, "plus I wanted to talk to someone who could hear me."
"Sorry, what'd you say?"
"I said I-" Holly caught on, "oh shut up," Holly laughed. "I don't know, I guess I just wanted to talk to you."
Gail would take it. "I don't blame you."
"So how was your shift?" Holly tried changing the subject and propped the phone between her ear and shoulder as she started on another email reply.
"Long, but fine. I was in booking and it was a Monday night so, relatively calm. Only booked like seven people. I'm actually working a double this evening slash tonight slash tomorrow morning, so that'll be a marathon of fun."
"Well I know how much you love running."
"Stop smiling," Gail could tell Holly's mouth had gone all crooked over her misfortune and Holly's joke.
"I am not," Holly feigned insult. Summer nudged her hard in the side, and this time Holly was pretty sure it was on purpose.
"I'll give you a pass today," Gail seemed to ponder her offer as she spoke.
Holly looked down at her sister for a second, "hey, I've gotta finish these emails before I have to go, and you should probably get some sleep."
"Probably," Gail conceded a yawn; she was already in bed.
"Okay, well I'll talk to you later," Gail couldn't tell if Holly said it as a question or a statement.
"Yeah, of course."
"K, well,"
"Holly, I meant it. I meant all of it, okay?"
"Okay," Holly couldn't help smiling.
"Okay, good." Gail nodded to herself.
"Goodnight, Gail."
"Good morning, Holly."
Thursday
"Sooo," Chloe drew out the word as a fair warning that she was about to ask a question, "is Holly back yet?"
"No," Gail kept her answer short and curt as she made a right turn as the light turned green.
Chloe furrowed her brow, "why not?" Her voice was filled with genuine surprise and curiosity.
"She and her sister decided to stay a couple more days with their grandpa. That okay with you?"
Chloe ignored Gail's rhetorical question, "aw, that's really sweet," Chloe smiled. "My grandma died when I was a kid and my grandpa was so heartbroken. It's was so sad. I'm kinda surprised he didn't like die of a broken heart ya know? He ended up living another, like, fifteen years." Chloe quickly turned in her seat to face Gail, "do you know if they liked the flowers I sent?"
"What?!" Gail pulled the car over.
"Woah," Chloe looked at their sudden change of course, "what?"
"You sent flowers?" Gail was shooting her best eye daggers right at Chloe, and there was only about a foot and half between them.
Chloe smiled to try and defrost Gail's face, "uh, yeah. To the funeral home." She raised her hands up like it was no big deal.
"Why?" Gail asked slowly and suspiciously.
"That's what you do right?" Chloe was obviously nervous, "I mean you and Holly are-were-are uh, well you and Dov are really close and we're together, so I just thought it would be nice. I had them put his name on them too." Chloe's smile turned to a frown, "wait, you did send flowers too right?" Chloe knew Gail wasn't the most socially adept individual. She almost felt a little bad she hadn't maybe told Gail to send some flowers or something.
"Yes," Gail snarked back as if Chloe's question was preposterous. Gail wasn't about to tell Chloe that Traci had basically told her straight up that that's what people did. Gail still didn't really get the point. All the flowers everyone sent were probably already in the trash anyways. She also wasn't about to tell Chloe that unbeknownst to her, her mother had also sent flowers on behalf of the whole department. Superintendent mom was such a busy body.
"Oh," Chloe perked right up, "well great. Shall we?" Chloe pointed to stream of traffic.
Gail didn't respond but turned her left blinker on to merge back onto the road.
"So when's Holly flying back?" Chloe was practically bouncing out of her seat.
"She's not," Gail answered cooly.
"What?" Chloe sounded worried, which Gail got a kick out of, "she's not coming back? Why?!"
"She's coming back," Gail pulled the squad car up to the park they were meant to do a short foot patrol in.
"Wait, what do you mean? I'm so confused," Chloe shook her head back and forth as they hopped out of the car.
"She's driving back," as much as she found this line of questioning annoying and stressful Gail was enjoying toying with Chloe while she could.
"I thought she flew out there? You drove her to the airport!" Chloe was once again, confused.
"Her parents had driven out and they flew back so she and her sister are driving their car back. Does that pass your sniff test, Chloe?" Gail was getting really impatient. Chloe really doesn't know how to drop things, does she?
"Makes sense," Chloe nodded, getting the hint that Gail wanted to talk about something else.
"Can we just keep an eye out for this pill pusher?" Gail didn't wait for Chloe's response and started down the path through the park.
Friday
"Hey."
Gail was sure she could hear Holly smile into the phone. "Hey, what's goin' on?" Gail threw her legs over the back of the couch and reached into the bag of cheese puffs for another handful.
"So, guess what I played for an hour while I babysat my eight and twelve year old cousins tonight?"
Shit. Gail tried to play it cool, "video games? Did you lose real bad?" Gail put on an air of sympathy.
"No, although I did lose. Actually, I lost all the cash I had on me," Holly's voice said, 'I know you know what I'm talking about but I'm gonna let you dig your hole a little deeper if you want.'
"Holly," Gail's voice was serious, "I can't believe you took your cousins to a strip club. Really. I mean, I know you're in this silent contest to be the coolest cousin, but it probably just scared them. Well, maybe not Daniel. I'm appalled they even let them in. Seriously, what's the name of this place? I'm reporting them."
"Ha," Gail could hear Holly chuckling, "I did not take Adam and Dan to a strip club. They actually wanted to play this cool new game they learned called Blackjack. Ever played?"
The jig was up. "I haven't played in a while..." Gail chomped down on another cheese puff.
"Oh yeah?" Holly asked playfully. "Well these guys were quite the card sharks. They said that my special friend Gail taught them how to play and that she even taught them how to split their hand."
Gail stopped chewing; "am I?"
"Are you what?"
"Am I your special friend?" Gail started to play with the hem on her t-shirt and pivoted the bottom of the phone away from her mouth so she could exhale loudly.
Gail could hear Holly sigh but then her playful tone was back, "do you really want to have this conversation over the phone?"
Gail pouted, "no, I hate talking on the phone."
Holly smiled, "well I could let you go if you want."
"No," Gail answered quickly and firmly. Shit, was that desperate? Ugh, whatever.
"You called me, you know?" Holly was talking out of the side of her mouth; Gail could tell.
"I know," Gail answered in her pouty voice.
"Just so long as we're clear." Gail thought she could hear the creak of the porch swing in the background.
"We didn't play for money," Gail offered.
"Sorry?" Holly wasn't sure where Gail had taken the conversation.
"I didn't teach them about betting. We just played. Without money," Gail clarified, "they probably Googled it or something."
Holly turned around in her seat and looked through the window into the kitchen, "yeah, maybe if a certain Summer Stewart goes by 'google' now."
Saturday
"I don't know Gramp Ed," Holly kept her eyes trained on her iPad, "I'm not sure you're gonna like what Summer brings back from the grocery store. She could have just waited until I was finished with this."
"Nonsense, the traffic would have been a bear," he set a cup of tea down on the table next to Holly's armrest and then sat down on the swing next to her, holding onto his own mug.
"Thanks," Holly smiled and sent her email. She flipped the cover over the tablet before placing it onto the table and taking the mug into her hands.
"As soon and your grandmother saw this swing she whispered to me, 'we're buying this house come hell or high water.'"
Holly smiled, "I love this swing."
"I know," he took a sip of his tea. "Nine months out of they year you were on this thing or you weren't at our house," he chuckled to himself.
Holly looked over at him, "I miss her gramp Ed."
He smiled softly and patted her hand, "I know, butterfly. Me too. But she wouldn't want us to mope. That'd kill her." Holly scooched down so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "Speaking of which," he produced a small velvet box from his shirt pocket, "she would have wanted you to have this."
Holly moved her head from his shoulder with a curious look on her face. She took the box and popped it open. "Gramp Ed," Holly's face was total shock as she shook her head back and forth. "Gram's engagement ring? No, I can't take this," Holly snapped the box shut and placed it back in his hand.
He carefully put the box back in Holly's hand and closed her fingers around it, holding her hand closed with his own, "she would want you to have it, to give." Holly stared at him with a look that combined surprise, fear, and sadness. He smiled at her, trying to calm the activity in her mind. "She did," he smiled and nodded, "she didn't tell me, but trust me; she did."
They sat there for minutes. Holly frozen, her grandfather still.
"Guess what I got!" Summer's voice echoed through the kitchen.
"Guacamole?!" Ed called back hopefully as he stood up. He kissed the top of Holly's head and whispered, "it's not gonna bite, Butterfly. Nothing to be scared of," gently tapped her cheek twice, and then rounded towards the door to the kitchen.
After her grandfather and Summer had gone to bed Holly sat on the swing late into the night. She opened and closed the box. She took the ring in and out. She spun it around her fingers. She watched it shine in the moonlight. She whispered, "well played, Gram. Well played."
"Trees hang low and clouds suffocate the sun so you can see, put a signal in the sky for me"
- Matt Hires "Signal in the Sky"
A/N: Seriously, your reviews make me feel like a little kid on Christmas morning. I read, and love them all!
I was planning on this chapter and the next being one but then I decided it would be super long so you're getting this one tonight. I hope you like it and that it's not too hard to follow.
Hang in there annabanana6! Holly's coming home on Sunday...
P.S. FanFiction has been seriously glitchy for the past week or so and if your reviews haven't been posted just know there's nothing I can do about it, (I don't think? is there?) but I'm probably sadder about it than you are :/