Dougie
Courage, Colorado. He couldn’t believe he was back and that nothing appeared changed in the six months he’d been gone. Downtown looked exactly the same, except for the few flyers he could see taped on a few lampposts. Micah had informed him these were popping up more often - flyers of people in the community that a small group wanted boycotted. He stepped closer to inspect one and blinked. Was that Holly? He hadn’t seen her in months, but he was pretty sure it was her. The question was why was her picture on a Wanted flyer? She wasn’t a pastor or a politician or anyone even mildly political, so why would they be targeting her?
It wasn’t an actual Wanted flyer, but it might as well have been one. The flyer featured a picture of Holly with information about why she was being boycotted underneath. He scanned the words. Reproductive health? Had she joined the prayer walks or hung a flyer about them in her restaurant? Even if she had, that seemed a minor reason to boycott someone. Micah had said most of the flyers targeted an outspoken pastor and the local Christian radio DJ, but this was the first one he’d heard of one targeting a business owner, and he wondered if Holly knew about it.
He ripped the flyer down, but as he looked around, he could see a flyer was on nearly every lamppost and in some of the store windows. This wasn’t good. As much as he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, he knew Holly needed to know about this, but he would take down as many as he could on his way to her.
It was lunch time when he arrived, but the restaurant was barely half full. He’d never seen it so empty which probably meant she was getting more fallout than just flyers.
“Hello, one for lunch?” A pretty blonde asked him as he scanned the area for Holly. The woman in front of him had a friendly smile, but there was a tenseness to her expression as if she were afraid he was going to yell at her.
“Actually, I’m looking for Holly. Is she in?”
The woman shook her head, but he could tell from the shift of her eyes that she wasn’t telling the truth.
“Will you tell her Dougie is here and I’d like to talk to her? I think she’ll want to talk to me, and if not, then I’ll have lunch.” He’d already eaten, but it was clear Holly’s restaurant could use the business so he’d order something to go if he had to.
The woman pursed her lips for a moment but finally nodded. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared into the kitchen, but he barely had time to look around before she was back and motioning for him to follow her.
Holly sat at her desk in the back office looking as beautiful as ever but more defeated than he’d ever seen her. Dark circles lined her eyes when she looked up at him and motioned him in. “Dougie? What are you doing here?”
He wanted to mention their last encounter, see if she would apologize, but it didn’t seem like the right time. Not with the weight she was carrying on her shoulders. “I came to see you.”
“I’m glad.” She mashed her lips together and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve wanted to apologize to you for a while. You were right about Frederick. Not only was he a cheater, but a thief. I should have listened to you, and I never should have yelled at you like I did.”
“I appreciate that, Holly, and I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” While her apology sounded genuine, he wondered if she would mention why she didn’t call.
She snorted and shook her head. “I’m not. I mean I’m sorry I was stupid enough to fall for him and sorry that he managed to steal money from me underneath my nose, but I’m certainly not sorry it didn’t work out.” Her gaze slid to the side, and she shifted in her seat. “I’m also sorry I didn’t try to track you down after you left to apologize. I was embarrassed and didn’t know if you’d want to hear from me. I told myself it was better to just let it go, but that was me being a coward.” Her eyes glistened as she met his gaze again. “Can you forgive me?”
Dougie fought the urge to pull her into his arms. It was clear she was in need of comfort, but he wasn’t sure she would accept it from him yet. “Of course, and to be honest, I should apologize to you as well. The way I left was cowardly. I should have said goodbye, and I heard about Frederick a few weeks later, but I wasn’t sure if I should contact you or not. I guess we both took the easy way out.”
She smiled softly at him and the silence stretched out between them. “I don’t blame you, but thank you for the apology. So, how have you been?”
“Better than you, I see,” he said, sitting in the chair across from her. He placed the only flyer he’d kept on her desk. “I just saw this downtown. You want to tell me what’s going on?”
Holly glanced at the flyer and shook her head. There was no shock, only sadness as she spoke again. “I attended a prayer walk with Ashley two weeks ago and a lady confronted us and took my picture. Ashley didn’t think anything would come of it, but they’ve posted it around town. I’ve lost a ton of business this week, and I don’t know if it’s them or not, but I’ve been getting threatening calls here too.”
“What kind of threatening calls?” His protective nature engaged, and he leaned across the desk.
“The kind where they either say nothing and breathe all creepy on the line or the kind where they tell me I’m a horrible human being and should leave town. I cringe everytime the phone rings now. And as you can see, they seem to be influencing business too. I’ve never seen it so slow.”
“Have you gone to the police?” Dougie’s heart ached for her; he hated seeing her like this.
“And said what?” Holly asked, throwing her hands in the air. “I think some people who don’t like me are posting my picture and harassing me? The cops have more important things to do.”
Dougie could see her point. “Okay, but what if it gets worse? What if they start showing up and scaring your customers away? Or what if they physically threaten you? Or harm you?” He could not keep the emotion out of his voice with the last three words.
Her eyes widened. “Do you think they would do that? I mean it’s one thing to harass someone and another to attack them.”
“I have no idea if they would, but I’d feel better if you’d keep me in the loop. Maybe let me provide some extra security for you. At least until this dies down. I’m new to the station, but I can look into the harassment laws.”
She blinked at him a moment, clearly processing his information. Then her eyes widened. “You got hired here?”
“Yeah, didn’t Merribeth tell you?”
Holly shook her head. “She told me they mentioned the job opening to you, but she didn’t know if you’d take it. Even if she had, I probably would have missed it. I’ve been a little preoccupied with this.” She tapped the flyer and sighed.
Before Dougie could say anything more, Ashley appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but there’s something you need to see.”
“What now?” The resignation in Holly’s voice made Dougie’s heart tighten like a string had been tied around it and was being squeezed.
“I have a feeling it’s about to get worse.”
“What do you mean?” Dougie asked.
Ashley, clearly ignoring the warning look Holly shot her, turned to Dougie. “I just came across a social media post blasting the restaurant. They’re posting negative reviews en masse. This is going to be really bad for business.”
“If they posted online, Holly, then you might be able to sue for defamation.”
“Well, that’s hardly the problem now,” Ashley continued. “Evidently some reporter saw those pictures and did a little research on you. Why didn’t you tell me your father was the mayor of New York?”
“Because my father is a jerk, and I haven’t talked to him in years,” Holly said, and Dougie saw her wall go up. “Did they mention him in the story?”
“Oh yeah. Look for yourself.” She handed her phone to Holly, who began scanning the story. The color drained from her face as she read.
When she finished reading, she handed back the phone and dropped her head into her hands. “This is a disaster.”
Dougie didn’t know what was in the story, but he made a mental note to research it later. What he did know was that he couldn’t leave Holly to deal with this on her own. “I think it’s time you get in touch with an attorney and look into filing a harassment claim,” he said.
She nodded. “You might be right. I just hope this doesn’t bring more attention. I left New York to get away from my father, and I didn’t really want him knowing where I was.”
“Unfortunately, I think more attention is coming,” Ashley said. “The story is trending and being shared.”
Holly groaned. “Well, maybe he won’t care enough to contact me. He certainly didn’t seem to care when he was cheating on my mother.”
“It’ll be okay,” Ashley said. “Remember, God never gives us more than we can handle, and He always has a plan though we don’t always see it.”
Holly nodded but she didn’t look convinced. Instead, she looked like the effects of an old country song where everything had been taken from you and then someone kicked you while you were down.
Dougie wanted to offer words too, but he knew they would feel like platitudes at the moment. He didn’t know if he and Holly were back to being friends. She’d apologized and he’d accepted it, but that didn’t erase six months of not communicating. “Can you give me any more information on the group harassing you? I can get the paperwork started, though you’ll probably have to sign something.”
“Yeah, I can help you with that,” Ashley said, glancing back at Holly before leading Dougie out of the office. “I hope you don’t mind, but I think it’s a little much for her right now.”
“I understand. I just want to help her out.”
Ashley nodded and tapped her phone. “This is all we have to go on. I don’t even know if this is the woman who took our picture, but maybe you can do some digging to see who she is and who else is sharing this post. I doubt she’s working alone.”
“Thanks, Ashley. If you get any more calls or anything else happens, please call me.” He glanced back toward the office. “I’m not sure Holly will.”
“I will, and Holly will come around. She wasn’t expecting to see you, but she still cares. A lot. Don’t give up on her.”
“I won’t.”