Her childhood Christmas wish of being reunited with her parents had morphed into a nightmare right before her eyes.Holly felt as though she’d been sucker punched.The food in her stomach sat there like a great big lump.
She felt gullible and too trusting.Why did she think they could start over?Why did she think these people were going to be genuine and caring?
She inwardly groaned in rage and frustration.She was so angry.Though that fury was mostly directed at herself.She shouldn’t have let down her defenses.Her grandmother had warned her time and again not to trust her parents.Her grandmother had said it was a sad state of affairs when you couldn’t trust your own flesh and blood, but it didn’t make it any less true.Instead of remembering her grandmother’s sage words, she’d let herself get all caught up in milk and cookie wishes.
Now that Billie Jean had ripped the rose-colored glasses from Holly’s face, she could at last see them clearly.They were self-centered, greedy people.And she would never ever trust them again.
If they thought they were going to take her home and the business that her grandmother had entrusted to her, it wasn’t going to happen.And not because she couldn’t make a life for herself in another town, doing another job.
She would fight them tooth and nail because her grandmother would roll over in her grave if she knew these two worthless people stole the Kringle Soap Co., where her grandmother and great-grandmother had invested their hearts and souls.Holly owed her grandmother this much.So, if it meant spending every last penny, she would fight them to the bitter end.
“None of it belongs to you,” Billie Jean said in an eerily calm voice, as though it were a foregone conclusion.“I was her daughter.Her daughter.Therefore everything belongs to me.I know this won’t be easy for you, but surely you didn’t think you were going to continue to get a free ride, did you?”
Really?Holly reeled at the audacity of this lady.How dare she think that she is deserving of anything that belonged to Gran?Billie Jean didn’t do one thing for her mother except cause her heartache.
Holly wanted to yell at their audacity.She wanted to have a total meltdown, but they didn’t deserve that much energy.And so she summoned the persona she used when she had the most contrary customer.
“I don’t think you understand,” Holly said, restraining her anger.“There is a will and Gran left everything to me.”
Roger leaned forward.“And I don’t know how much money from the sale of the house you spent, but we’ll be needing it.All of it.Don’t try to cheat us.”
“How dare you come here, demanding things that don’t belong to either of you,” Holly said.“You’ve been gone for years—for my whole life.You didn’t love her.And you never loved me.”
Anger flared in Billie Jean’s eyes.“You don’t know anything about love.It’s nothing you can count on.My mother didn’t love me after I broke her ridiculous rules.She didn’t understand how much I hated this town and needed to find a place where I belonged.”
A heavy silence fell over their table.Holly felt Colin’s stiff body next to her.She hated that he’d had a front row seat for the final decimation of her family.After this moment, she was an orphan by choice, because these two people in front of her were not her parents.They didn’t want to be her family.And she didn’t want them to be her family.It was time to end this charade.
“I’m not giving you the apartment or the store.”Holly’s voice was low but full of angry vibes.“I’m going to give you exactly what you’ve given me throughout my life.Nothing.”
“We will sue you,” Roger said.“We will take everything you have.”
“Do whatever you need to do.”She got up and walked away.
She didn’t know if Colin followed her.She couldn’t pause to look back, because it was all she could do to hold her head high.Her legs had a mind of their own as she headed for the door.The next thing she knew the cold metal of the handle was in her hand, and she was yanking the door open.
It wasn’t until she was outside in the cold air and snow that she realized she hadn’t bothered to put her coat on.She couldn’t go back.She couldn’t face them again.
She kept walking.The cold air felt good against her heated skin.And at last, she could take a deep breath.
Her childhood Christmas wish was over.It was shattered into a million jagged ugly pieces.
Chapter Eighteen
Hisheartachedforher.
Colin sat in the booth as Holly walked away with her shoulders straight and her head held high.She was the strongest woman he’d even known—he would ever know.
And everything within him wanted to protect her, but she hadn’t needed him to come to her rescue.She was quite capable of taking care of herself.But that didn’t mean he couldn’t speak his mind.
He looked at the two miserable people sitting across from him.He couldn’t tell if they looked disappointed because Holly hadn’t just handed over the entire estate or angry because they knew she’d called their bluff.
“You two made the biggest mistake of your lives,” Colin said.“You not only missed out on knowing your daughter, but you missed out on knowing the most amazing woman with the biggest heart.Instead of being proud of how she turned out, in spite of you missing out on her entire life, you come here and scheme and threaten.But if you think you’re going to steal what her grandmother left to her, you’re mistaken.You would have to fight not only Holly but this entire town.If you haven’t noticed, everyone loves her.”
He grabbed Holly’s coat and stood.Their server was standing nearby.He approached her and reached into his wallet.He pulled out enough money to cover the bill for the entire table, because he doubted her parents would pay their portion of their bill, and he made sure to include a generous tip.
As he walked outside into the snowy afternoon, he realized something that he’d been denying for far too long.He loved Holly.
He knew it as certain as he knew the sun would come up in the morning.It was as though it were meant to be.She had been the girl-next-door—the girl who used to follow him around and help him with the strays.Now she’d grown into a beautiful, caring woman who lived across town—the woman who still cared about strays.
