“Do you want me to tell them to go away?”Colin asked.
She did.She really did.But she also realized that this was her problem, not his.
“It’s okay.I’ll deal with them.”She walked to the door.Then she stopped and looked back at Colin.“Could you hold Tater Tot?”
Colin nodded as he strode over to her.Once Colin had the wound-up pup in his arms and was moving away from the door, she released the deadbolt and opened the door.
“Oh, Holly, there you are.”Billie Jean looked relieved.“I’ve been out here knocking on the other door and now this one.”
She wanted to turn the woman away, but she didn’t.Holly pushed the door open wider.“Would you like to come in?”
Billie Jean didn’t say a word as she hustled inside.Holly stuck her head out and looked around, but she found Billie Jean was alone.“Where’s Roger?”
Her mother frowned at her use of her father’s first name.“He had a headache.He’s at the B&B, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.But I thought it would give us a chance to talk alone.”
Holly got an uneasy feeling.She didn’t know why.“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.Colin’s here.We have plans.”
Colin glanced up from holding Tater Tot.“Hello.”
“Hi.”Billie Jean smiled at him before turning back to Holly.“Can we talk?Please.”
“Can we do it another time?”
“It’s important.”
Holly couldn’t think of anything important they had to discuss.Her neck and shoulders tensed as she once more closed and locked the door.With reluctance, she turned to Billie Jean.“What do you need?”
“You.”Billie Jean sent her a smile that was supposed to put her at ease but it didn’t.“I want to apologize to you about last night.We should have told you about our project, and then it wouldn’t have caught you off guard.”Billie Jean sent her a pleading look.“We never meant to upset you.”She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out some cash.She held it out to Holly.“Here’s some money to cover the lunch.We never meant for you to pay.If it’s not enough, let me know.”
Holly took the money.She didn’t stop to count it.Instead, she stuffed it into her pocket.“Thank you.”
She was caught off-guard by Billie Jean’s act of kindness.The stress she’d been feeling since last night eased away.Her neck didn’t feel tense any longer.
In that moment, Holly felt guilty for jumping to the wrong conclusion about them.She wondered if it was too late to try to salvage some sort of relationship with them.
“I, well, we would like to invite you to lunch,” Billie Jean said.“It’s on us, and you can pick the restaurant.What do you say?”
“I, uh…” Her gaze shifted to Colin, but his back was to her as he worked to keep Tater Tot quiet.Her gaze swung back to Billie Jean.“I already have lunch plans with Colin.”
“Oh.I see.”Billie Jean sent her a knowing smile.“Colin, would you mind if we all had lunch together?”
Oh no.She didn’t foresee this happening.Should she stop Billie Jean and tell her no?Or should she see if Colin was willing to go along with it?If so, then she could give them one more chance.This lunch surely couldn’t go as bad as their last meal, right?
Colin turned.His gaze met hers first.She couldn’t make out what he was thinking.Then he looked at Billie Jean.“Sure.We could make that work.”
“Good.”Billie Jean smiled.“Where would you two like to meet?”
Holly looked at Colin, and he shrugged.She instantly knew where they should go.“The Kringle Cup Café.It’s the best in town.”
Billie Jean nodded.“Okay.We’ll see you there in say, an hour?”
“Sounds good,” Holly said.After Billie Jean was gone, she turned to Colin.“I’m so sorry about this.If you don’t want to go, just tell me, and I’ll make an excuse.”
He shook his head.“That’s not necessary.I’ll go.”Then he gave her a quick once-over.“Are you going like that?”When she glanced down at her sweats, he said, “I mean you look adorable.”
“Oh no.I have to go get ready.”She ran to grab her coat.On her way out, she paused at the door and turned back.“Aren’t you two coming?”
Colin picked up Tater Tot while she turned off the lights.She hoped this lunch went well.She knew they were running out of chances.
