“It’s okay to ask your friends for some help.”
She shrugged as she reached for another piece of pizza.“It’s just that everything happened so fast with Gran.One moment she was fine, the next she was in the hospital.And then… Well, you know.And after I lost her, there were so many things I had to take care of for the estate.Now, well, I’m just trying to sort out things for myself.”
“What about your parents?Have they been around to help you?”
She stared down at her uneaten piece of pizza.“They were too busy to make the funeral.They had some business meeting.Can you believe that?They didn’t want to reschedule.They said it was too important—more important than Gran’s funeral.Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised.They were too busy to raise their own daughter.”
Sympathy shone in Colin’s warm-brown eyes.“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.“You have nothing to be sorry about.You made it to the funeral home.And you’re helping me now.It’s so much more than my parents ever did for me.”
She pressed her lips together to silence her mouth.She couldn’t believe she was talking about her parents.They were not something she talked about with anyone—including her grandmother.
“When I was young, Gran tried to cover for them to explain away their absence,” Holly said.“As I grew up, I figured out Gran was making excuses for them to make me feel better.It didn’t work.So, we agreed not to discuss them.Ever.What was the point?They were never coming back.And that was fine with me.”
Maybe it hadn’t been fine with her younger self—the child in her that longed for a mother to take her shopping for a dress to wear to the school dance, for a father to take her to the father-daughter dance.
“I’m sorry, Holly.They missed out on getting to know a very special person.”
She blinked as she remembered when she was a kid and Christmas would roll around, and she would write letter after letter asking Santa to bring her parents back to her.Each Christmas morning her heart would be filled with hope that they would be sitting in the living room next to the Christmas tree.
And each Christmas morning, she would be disappointed.She didn’t understand what was so wrong with her that her own parents didn’t want her.Gran always said there was nothing wrong with her—it was her parents that had something wrong with them.
But all of that had been a long time ago.As a kid, Holly had figured out that going forward, all she needed was Gran.But now her grandmother was gone too.So, Holly figured the only person she could count on going forward was herself.
Something cold touched her arm, jarring her out of the past.She glanced to the side and saw Tater Tot sitting there, staring up at her.He was so cute, and she could use a hug right then.
She leaned over and picked him up.As soon as he was in her arms, he turned and licked her face.She wasn’t expecting that.His tongue was smooth against her skin and left a wet trail up her cheek.
“Those are puppy smooches.Get used to it,” Colin said.“I have a feeling he’s going to be giving you a lot more.”
Puppy smooches?It was a cute term.
When she put the pup down on the floor, she resisted the urge to wipe away the wetness from her cheek; she didn’t want Colin to think that she didn’t like the puppy.The truth of the matter was that she had no intention of liking or disliking Tater Tot.Liking the puppy meant she’d care about him, and if she cared about him, she’d want to keep him, and that was not happening.Nope.Not her.She was fine on her own.
“What’s wrong?”Colin’s voice drew her from her thoughts.
“Uh, nothing.Why?”
He shrugged.“You just had this look on your face.I couldn’t tell if you were… Never mind.”
Holly glanced over at the puppy and gasped.“Stop!”
“What’s wrong?”Colin struggled to turn around.
“The puppy is peeing.Correction: he just peed on the floor.”
A dimpled smile came over Colin’s handsome face.When she frowned at him, he burst out laughing.
“This isn’t funny,” she said in her most indignant tone.
“If you could see the look on your face, you wouldn’t say that.”He laughed some more.
She continued to frown at him.
When he sobered up, he said, “I’m sorry.I forget that you aren’t used to being around animals.Why is it that Merry asked you to take care of Tater Tot?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.I mean, almost anyone else in Kringle Falls would be a better choice than me.”
