It was so sweet of him, but she couldn’t let herself get in any deeper with him.She couldn’t forget Roger’s threat to take this place away from her.Everything in her life felt as though it was up for grabs.
And she was busy putting up walls around her breaking heart.It was the only way she knew how to survive this juncture in her life.
She stopped in front of the checkout counter.She braced her hands on the edge of it.She lowered her head.“Please just go.And don’t come back.There’s nothing here for you.”
“Holly…”
“No.Colin just leave.”
There was a tense moment where neither of them said anything.And then she heard his retreating steps.The door unlocked and then it opened.When it closed, she turned around.
Her gaze spotted the papers Roger had been waving around.She went and picked them up.She didn’t read them.Not now.
Instead, she glanced at the front door.Part of her wished that Colin had ignored her request and come back, but he hadn’t.He was gone.
A tear splashed onto her cheek.She tried to tell herself it was for the best, but it didn’t feel that way.Another tear fell onto her other cheek.In fact, she never felt more alone in her life.
Chapter Twenty
Thiswasn’tright.
Colin hated leaving Holly alone.He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her.He wanted to promise her that everything was going to be all right.But he couldn’t do that.Because he didn’t know how any of this was going to work out.
He walked with no destination in mind.He was too worked up to go home.How could those people go into Holly’s shop and threaten her?
Anger and frustration balled up in his gut.He had to think this through because he didn’t want to do anything to make things worse for Holly.But those legal papers had him thinking.He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and reached for his phone.He pulled up the number for her grandmother’s attorney.
Mr.Price didn’t answer his cell phone.Colin didn’t blame the man, since he was on vacation, but that didn’t stop Colin from telling the attorney about the latest visit from Roger and Billie Jean.He also might have mentioned how distraught Holly was and if there was something he could do to stop those two that he would greatly appreciate it.He even offered to pick up the tab for the man’s services.
“Colin, is everything okay?”
He ended the call and turned around.Justin stood there with a concerned look on his face.Colin let out a sigh.“What are you doing here?”
“I heard there was a commotion at the soap company, and I thought I’d stop by to make sure everything was all right.As I was driving down the street, I saw you standing here, talking on the phone.You looked pretty animated, so I decided to see if you were okay.”
“I’m fine.It’s Holly that I’m concerned about.You have no idea what happened with her today.”
As they stood on the sidewalk, snowflakes swirled around them.At first, he resisted saying anything.But he knew that he had to calm down if he was going to think clearly and come up with some way to help Holly.And so, he told his brother about Holly’s parents and how miserable they were making her.
“I can’t even imagine having parents like hers,” Justin said.“It makes ours look like the best parents in the world.”
“Little brother, we do have the best parents in the world.”
Justin grinned at him and nodded.“Yeah.I guess you’re right.”
“Thanks for listening.I need to get going.”Colin back-tracked to the clinic where his pickup was parked.
He was almost home when he realized what he could do for Holly.He turned around and headed to Purr ’n Woof Supplies.But when he pulled up the lights were off.
With a resigned sigh, he turned around.But instead of heading home, he drove to the Kringles’ house.It didn’t take long to get anywhere in Kringle Falls.It was a benefit of living in a small town.
He parked in front of the Kringles’ house.He rushed up to the front door and hoped he wasn’t too late.After he pressed the doorbell, he paced back and forth.
When the door opened, Merry Kringle stood there with her brows scrunched together.“Colin, what are you doing here?”
“Can we talk?”
“Oh.Yes.Come on in.”She stepped back, pulling the door wide open.
