“Yeah.I wish I could say the same for Belle’s dog.”
“Has there been any news?”
Michael gave a quick shake of his head.“I’ve been stopping in every chance I get.The case just keeps getting stranger.”
“If there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”
“Actually, I was wondering if you were going to the party tonight.”When Colin sent him a confused look, Michael said, “You know, the Kringles’ Christmas party.”
“Oh.Right.Well, I don’t know.”He didn’t normally go.But he liked the thought of taking Holly.As friends only.
“I was planning to take Candi.It’ll be her first Christmas in Kringle Falls, and I don’t want her to miss out on any of the traditions, since she loves the holidays so much.But obviously Parker won’t be there.And Justin never goes.”
“And you want me to go so you have someone to talk to?”
Michael nodded.“So, what do you say?”
“Mom and Dad will be there.They’re always there.”
“I know but it’d be great to have one of my brothers around.”
He thought about Holly.He’d had a hard time talking her into going to get a Christmas tree.He had serious doubts about talking her into going to a big holiday party, but then he recalled her baking cookies for the party.“I don’t know.I wouldn’t count on me being there.”
“But you could take Holly.”
Colin arched a brow.How much did his brother know?“What are you talking about?”
Michael sighed and rolled his eyes.“You surely didn’t think it had gone unnoticed that you’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”
“I was just trying to help her with the dog she’s fostering.”
“Really?”Michael’s eyes shone with amusement as he struggled not to smile.“How does visiting the Christmas tree lot help the dog?”
Colin glared at his brother.“I was being nice.”
“Uh-huh.And I remember the huge crush she had on you when we were kids.Maybe she wasn’t the only one with a crush.Huh?”
“Michael, stop.I have to go.”He moved past his brother and headed for the door, where he paused and called over his shoulder, “Turn off the lights and lock up when you leave.”
As he stepped outside, he heard his brother’s laughter.Colin’s back teeth ground together.It was so hard to do anything in a small town with a person of the opposite sex without people jumping to all of the wrong conclusions.
He climbed into his pickup and pulled out of the parking lot.Holly’s place was across town.He glanced at the clock on the dash.It was after noon now.His brother had made him late.
He pressed a little heavier on the accelerator.He thought of calling her, but if she was already headed to lunch with friends or something like that, he didn’t want to disturb her.
When he reached her block, he slowed down as he searched for a parking spot.But as his gaze swept the roadway side to side, he spotted Holly exiting the shop.He was about to roll down his window and offer her a ride to lunch, but then he noticed she wasn’t alone.
Flanked on either side of her were her parents.He didn’t know what to think.Then he saw Holly nodding her head and talking to them as they turned in the opposite direction of him.He wasn’t sure what to do.He wanted to turn around and drive away, but that was impossible between the parked cars and the snow banks.
Instead, he pressed on the accelerator.Maybe she would be so busy talking to her long-lost relatives she wouldn’t notice him drive by.He kept his gaze focused forward and kept going.
It was for the best.At least that was what he wanted to believe.Because he knew that if he had been there when her parents arrived, he would have done his best to keep Holly away from them.
He knew as sure as he was driving down the street that they were going to disappoint Holly again.He found it surprising Holly would let them into her life after their painful history.Then again, maybe it wasn’t so surprising.
Holly didn’t say how much she missed her grandmother, but it was in the pained look in her eyes.It was in the way she refused to unpack the boxes at the apartment.It was in the way she kept the soap company running just the way her grandmother would have done.
He just hoped that Holly knew what she was doing where her parents were concerned.He didn’t want her getting hurt…again.Those people left a trail of devastation.At least they used to… Something told him that hadn’t changed.
