“Yeah. We need to get up to the resort.”
“But, Mom! I want to go see the tree!”
“No, but mom, Noelle. We need to get out of Chris’s hair and let him have his apartment back,” Holly said, looking straight at me.
Her words felt like a knife being driven straight through my heart. The last thing I wanted them to do was leave, but I couldn’t ask them to stay either. I was fucked.
“Let me check the roads,” I grumbled, grabbing my coffee and moving into the living area, no longer hungry. If the roads were clear, I’d figure out a way to get her where she needed to go, but the chance of renting a car this week were about as good as the roads being passable.
It took longer than I thought. Seems not many people had started to venture out yet. But after a few calls and a bit of searching, for the first time in a long time it felt like the big guy upstairs was on my side. The roads were still blocked. The plows were working as fast as they could, but it would be another day, maybe two if I was really lucky before the mountain road was cleared and Holly would be able to get through.
“Oh.” Holly’s face fell as I explained the situation.
“Maybe the Inn …”
“You’re staying here,” I declared, not wanting to have that conversation.
“Chris, you’ve been incredibly kind and generous, but we don’t want to cramp your style or overstay our welcome,” Holly replied politely.
“Firstly, I’m surprised that you think I actually have style,but thank you. And as for overstaying your welcome, I don’t think that’s possible.”
As soon as I said it, I regretted it. Not because my words weren’t true, but because the look of shock on Holly’s face had me wishing I’d kept my big mouth shut. Just because I was crushing on the woman and completely captivated by her clever daughter, it didn’t mean anything. Holly wasn’t mine to keep, even if I wished she was.
“Chris …”
I didn’t want to hear whatever she was about to say. Call me childish, but I’d been hurt before and the last thing I wanted was to take another hit, especially not from Holly. She was too sweet, too innocent to be the bad guy, and the last thing I wanted to do was remember her that way.
Instead of letting her finish, I cut her off and spoke directly to Noelle. “Noelle?”
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” Holly corrected, and Noelle ducked her head.
“Yes, Chris?”
“Why don’t you finish your breakfast, get your coat and gloves on, and we can go check out the Christmas tree and maybe even the festival down by the lake?”
I couldn’t stop the grin. Noelle was practically vibrating with excitement, her eyes wide. If only it was this easy to make her mother happy, I might actually have a chance.
“Mom! Can we? Pleeease,” Noelle begged, and I smirked.
Holly shot me a look that should’ve had my balls retreating inside me, but I wasn’t scared. If she wanted to throw down challenges, I was more than happy to pick them up.
Holly sighed dramatically and gulped down the last of her coffee. “Fine.”
“Yay!”
“But only if you put your coat, gloves, and scarf on. The sun may be out but it’s still cold.”
Noelle ran over to where I was leaning against the kitchen counter, my ankles crossed watching it all play out. “She said we can go!” Noelle told me excitedly as though I hadn’t already heard.
“Great. You go get ready and I’ll clean up, then we can go,” I told her, turning to start filling the sink to wash the dishes as Noelle ran across the apartment and disappeared into my bedroom.
I stacked the plates in the sink and started cleaning up. I’d just put my hands in the soapy water when I felt Holly beside me. The warmth radiated from her. When I turned to look at her, she was standing there with a dish towel looking a million times better than she had been, despite her sniffles
“What are you doing?”
“What?”
