“Thanks.”He stepped past her.“This won’t take long.”
After she closed the door against the cold breeze, she said, “You look like you have something serious on your mind.”
He nodded.“I do.It’s about Tater Tot.Have you given the puppy to the other family yet?”
“I haven’t.Not yet.”
He breathed a sigh of relief.“That’s good.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s just that Holly and Tater Tot have bonded.She wants the puppy back.”
Merry arched a brow.“She does?”When he nodded, she asked, “Why didn’t Holly speak up?”
He understood Merry’s hesitancy.“Holly had a lot dumped on her today because of her parents.When you arrived, Parker had just stopped Roger and Billie Jean from harassing her.He had to escort them out of the shop.By the time you showed up, she was feeling overwhelmed.”
Merry hesitated.“I’ll delay placing the puppy in the new home for a couple of days, but if Holly truly wants the pup, she’s going to have to come for him.She’s going to have to admit to herself and me that she truly wants him.”
He released a pent-up breath.“Thank you.She’ll be here.She just needs a little bit of time to recover from the damage from those people.”
“I’m sorry to hear about what she’s going through.I just don’t understand how people can be that way, much less to their own flesh and blood.”
Colin didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing at all.But at least he had a chance of getting Holly and Tater Tot back together again.But he couldn’t push Holly today.The wounds were too fresh.But tomorrow was another day.
Was it good news?Or bad news?
The following morning, Holly had been asking herself that question since she’d gotten the call from her grandmother’s attorney.Mr.Price was very brief but asked that she meet him at his office in an hour.
It meant she wouldn’t be able to open the shop that morning.But this meeting was of the utmost importance.It might tell her if she was going to keep her home and business.The thought of losing all she’d ever known was quite daunting.She never thought about moving away from Kringle Falls, but this just might be enough to make her pack up and relocate.
She pushed away all of the negative thoughts.This meeting would go well.She hoped.At last, she’d have some answers.Mr.Price would know if they had a case, right?After all, he was an attorney, and he was the one who drew up the will.
She’d changed clothes three times until she realized this wasn’t court.It didn’t matter what she wore.She turned around to say something silly to Tater Tot about her being so nervous, but he wasn’t there.The spot on the right side of the bed was empty.Pain stabbed at her broken heart.She told herself he was happy with a little boy to play with and a family to spoil him, but it didn’t ease the pain of loss.
She settled on a pair of black pants.The color seemed rather fitting.Not wanting to be too maudlin, she chose a white blouse.Then she couldn’t decide if she should wear her hair up or down.Eventually, she settled on her usual ponytail.She didn’t know why she was making such a big deal out of this meeting.After all, the only person at this meeting was going to be Mr.Price.And she already knew him.He’d helped her through the process of settling her grandmother’s estate.
On her way out the door, she grabbed the papers her parents had threatened her with.She’d looked over them.They were filled with a lot of legalese, and it sounded bad—very bad.
She checked the time.When Mr.Price had called, she’d had all sorts of time to get ready.When she walked out the door, she had to hurry.Luckily, his office wasn’t far from her place.
When she arrived, the desk where his receptionist was normally seated was vacant.The office was filled with dark woodwork and lots of brass.Landscape paintings hung on the wall.
There was a huge brick fireplace in the reception area.Above the large wood mantle was an equally large wreath.That was all there was for holiday decorations in the office.Still, everything was tastefully done.
Mr.Price must have heard Holly enter because he appeared at his office doorway.“Holly, come on back.”
She shrugged off her coat and hung it out in the alcove by the door.Then she headed to his office.She fished the legal documents out of her purse and held them out to him.
His brow scrunched up as he looked at the folded papers.“What’s this?”
“These are the papers they were throwing around in my shop.I didn’t think they had a case until I looked at them.Now I don’t know.”
He took the papers.“Have a seat and let me look over them.”
She sat down in a wooden chair and didn’t know what to do with herself while he read the papers.She got out her phone to scroll through the cute animal videos, but she never got that far because she noticed that she had a bunch of text messages.There were more than forty of them.What in the world?
She never got that many messages.Surely they weren’t all from Colin.She realized she hadn’t handled things between them very well.She regretted sending him away, but it didn’t change things.She just couldn’t take a chance on starting a relationship with him and have it fall apart.Her scarred heart couldn’t take anymore.
