“Oh, Ethan, you precious thing.” Sweeping the baby out of Lorraine’s hold, Holly buried her face in his sweet little neck rolls and made gobbling sounds. He rewarded her with peals of delighted baby laughter, arms and legs jerking with glee. Holding him where she could return his wide smile, Holly kissed his nose. “I’ve missed you.”
“He’s missed you, too.” Lorraine pinched her side. The softly sharp clean smell of baby shampoo clung to her, and a couple of water spots dappled her pale blue sweatshirt. Darn it, Holly hadmissed bathtime, and she loved that with Ethan, the way he’d learned to splash at the water, wide-eyed and in awe of the world around him. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know.” With another kiss, Holly settled Ethan in his crib. She really should have brought her camera. He’d grown, and they were due for some new shots. She absolutely adored capturing David and Lorraine’s family, the life they created together. “I’ve been busy.”
Lorraine harrumphed. “Too busy to text?”
Holly shot her a smile over her shoulder, stroking Ethan’s exquisitely soft cheek. Normally, they kept up a constant flow of conversation via messaging, but for the past two or three days, she’d immersed herself in Colt, thinking about him when he wasn’t around. “Okay, I’ve been distracted.”
Lips pursed, Lorraine narrowed her eyes. “What have you been up to?”
Up the hall and across the living area, the side door opened, male voices carrying through to them. Holly shook her head, not wanting to get into where she was with Colt, not with Scott here. “I’ll tell you later.”
“I know you don’t think you’re getting off that easy.” Lorraine switched off the lamp as Ethan’s eyes drooped, leaving the nightlight to cast a soft glow about them.
“Fine.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I went on a couple of dates.”
“Oh, okay.” Lorraine darted a pointed look in the general direction of the kitchen. “Now I get it. Same guy or different ones?”
“The same.” In the hallway, Holly peeked into the third bedroom, DJ and Butler both snoozing away.
“I assume you had a good time?”
Memories of a strong arm sheltering her, of gorgeous, colorful photographs lit up the way his presence suffused her with something bright and lovely, flitted through her mind, and she smiled. “I had a wonderful time.”
Even with her busy day, filled with breakfast with her mama, restocking clothing displays, cleaning house, and an afternoon photo session, she’d found herself missing him. Although she’d had these plans for weeks, low level regret filled her.
She loved her friends, but really? Tonight, she’d rather be with him.
This was so not her, the desire to wrap her life around someone else’s, to see how they meshed. Oh, she’d fantasized about making a life with Scott, wanting what she couldn’t have, but that hadn’t felt like this, with the sparkling promise of a newly opened bottle of champagne.
“I’m glad.” Lorraine’s voice held a familiar no-nonsense note, blended with a hefty amount of approval. “About time.”
Because how long had Lorraine been urging Holly to move on? Instead, she’d clung to maybes and what-ifs, hurting herself in the process.
“Okay, you were right, Lorraine.” With a quiet laugh, Holly slung an arm about her neck and kissed her cheek on the way up the hall. “Would you like me to write that out as a blood oath or what?”
“Your mama is right about your mouth.”
Completely unintimidated, Holly pursed that mouth at Lorraine, earning herself a pop on the butt. Holly rubbed the spot where Lorraine’s palm made contact because, darn it, that stung.
Voices grew more distinct as they stepped into the open living area, and Holly frowned. Was that—
He’d brought her. He’d actually brought herhere, tonight, when this had always been neutral territory, like Switzerland.
He’d brought her, after Holly had deliberately not included Colt, after she’d stumbled through an awkward I-have-plans about watching the game at David and Lorraine’s and left him feeling unwelcome. He didn’t say it, but Holly knew it. The awful guilt had dogged her all day, not for doing something separate from him because couples needed space, but because he had to connect not being invited tonight to him and Tick.
Anger spiked through her. This was so like Scott, selfish jackass.
She pulled up her best, brightest smile because she meant neither Scott nor Andrea would know how angry and hurt she was. “Hey, y’all.”
“Hello, Holly, Lorraine.” Lips set in a polite smile, Andrea swept a weighted glance over them, judging Holly’s spangled game day sweater the same way she assessed Lorraine’s home decor. A hard breath seized in Holly’s throat. She was so . . .
Ugh.
None of the words that came to mind were nice. She’d half expected that judgment from Caitlin because, good Lord, the woman came from real money and had apparently gone to the same European finishing school that polished princesses. Holly had prepared herself to fight to the death for Tick or her friends if Caitlin deemed him or them not good enough. Instead she’d found herself swamped with sympathy that weekend at the lake and then again at the beach in Texas because Caitlin had been obviously terrified in their presence.
And she glowed in Tick’s, like he was the sun at the center of her universe and he lit everything up, which Holly knew was cliched as all get out but how else to describe the way the other woman looked at him? She’d turned out to be genuine and thebest thing for him. Holly liked her, even if Caitlin remained reticent in her presence. That was just her, and Holly hoped they’d become friends at some point.
