Holland's Peace and Gold

5

"What do you mean you can't come over?" Paz asked. Holland could practically hear her pout, and smiled.

"I have to go see Mr. Johnson. He's lonely and I'm supposed to go see him every single Wednesday, I haven't went and seen him for a couple of Wednesdays now if you haven't noticed." He sighed.

"Can I go with you?" She asked suddenly. His ears perked up at the sound and he thought for a minute.

"Are you sure?" He countered with scrunched eye brows.

"I'll be ready in five." She hung up even though he wasn't done talking, another thing he had grown used to in their time together.

He grabbed his keys and opened his front door. He looked back into his house and realized how lonely it had become with just him there and he had suddenly missed his family. They would be home tomorrow and they called every single night but still he missed them. He smiled sadly at the living room and walked on out the door with a sigh.

He thought about Mr. Johnson on his way over to Paz's. His wife had died a couple of years ago, just after he retired, which he had done late. They always bickered he could remember that from when he was a kid and his father would take him there. He was lonely and he reminded you of it the whole time you were over there, and he sure was a handful.

He sat in front of Paz's house. Her grams came to the door and waved at him. He returned the wave with a smile and he took the time to look around the outside of the place where his kinda girlfriend was living.

Speaking of his "kinda" girlfriend, here she came bouncing out of the front door. She was carrying something in her hand that resembled a pie.

She smiled at him through his father's truck window. They took his van on vacation.

Her hair was in a bun and there was hair loosely falling from it. She was wearing a crop top and some leggings.

"Hey Pez." He greeted as she slid in beside him.

"Hey baby." She said and scooted closer to him. She kissed his cheek and he still wasn't used to the warmth that shot through his body whenever she touched him.

"I brought him a pie." She said as she stuck it securely beside her and then let her hand fall carelessly onto Holland's leg.

He grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers that way he wasn't distracted by her hand on his leg and he drove to their destination.

"This is a nice house." Paz said as they pulled up to a house that looked like it was over a hundred years old, yet almost new.

"Come on." Holland quietly murmured as he helped her out of the truck. She grabbed the pie and he shut the door behind her.

"Hey there, Holland." The familiar old man said. "Who's this young lady you brought with you?" Holland smiled down at Paz who looked ecstatic.

"This is Paz." He said. She let go of his hand and shook Mr. Johnson's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Johnson." She blushed as she looked down at the pie. "My gram's and I made you a pie."

Mr. Johnson looked at Holland and grinned. "It's been a while since I have had a pretty girl bring me a pie. Holland why don't you go ahead and put that on the kitchen table." Holland took the pie from Paz's hand and smiled at them hesitantly.

He walked down the long hallway, in this old house anyone could get lost in. He put the pie on the kitchen table and picked up his speed a bit when he heard Paz laughing.

"She told you that you built it to close to the window, you should have listened." She said giggling.

Holland knew the story he was telling. He had built a baseball diamond for their kids to play on and Bea kept telling him it was too close to the window but he didn't listen and the first time they played ball on it, he had to go buy a new window.