As Holly wentto bed after Zack returned to his own place, she couldn’t believe the emotional rollercoaster the day had been. And Zack was her Secret Santa. It made her so happy and added meaning to the thoughtfulness of his presents.
Once he’d left, she went into her bedroom and spread all the gifts on the dresser. Seeing the items in this new light, Holly should have known it was Zack. But she kind of liked the way things had played out.
It had been like everything finally reached a head, and she knew she was ready to take this step. To love someone.
Was she in love? Based on the fear that made her throat choke up, maybe not. It reminded her of when she’d gotten physical therapy for an impingement in her shoulder. While helping a patient, she had pulled her arm in an awkward position in Denver. Because of her busy schedule, it took a few months before she finally saw her doctor about it, and he referred her to physical therapy.
After she’d been through several sessions, when she would experience pain moving a certain way even though she had just moved that way without it hurting, he explained it was her fear. It made her expect it would hurt. So it did.
Was that what she was doing with these new feelings for Zack?
She hated the idea that the mistreatment by her family might cause her to hurt him. He was simply the finest man she had ever known, and he deserved the very best. But wassheit?
CHAPTER 7
Holly gave herself one more glance in the mirror. It had been a year since she had gotten this dressed up. Ugh. Not that she wanted to think about that time. She was sodonecarrying the burden of what her sister and family had done to her.
She grabbed her phone to check if she had missed any messages from Kathy or Zack while getting ready. The only one came from an unknown number. What if it was from her family? What if it was from someone at the hospital? Holly didn’t have the phone numbers of everyone who worked there.
With trepidation, she opened the message.
Dad
We know we messed up but hope you will let us talk to you. Expect to be there in a couple of hours. Love, Dad.
Of course. It was just like them to assume she would, first, be here. What if she was still commuting to Price? But, second, they expected her to drop everything to accommodate them. Their presumption was so typical. The anger festering inside over theyear since that disastrous night flooded through Holly, making her head hurt.
And her heart. Twelve months ago, she had thought herself part of a loving and supportive family. Why did they have to intrude in her lifenow, just when she was finally feeling normal? Cared for.Wanted. And, this time, for real.
Not the lie they had lived.
Frustrated, Holly woke her phone and read the message again.All of them.Her stomach turned sour. Did that mean they were bringingBrettwith them? She covered her mouth, afraid she might throw up. No. She’d had all she could take from them and wouldn’t let them spoil this evening. Zack’s special night.
Holly paced her apartment, stopping occasionally to look out the window. The snow was coming down hard now. Would they have to cancel the evening’s events? Canyondale was on a mostly flat plateau above the river, but some of the outlying areas were at higher elevations. If it was this heavy here, how bad would it be for those people?
They rarely got much snow, so Canyondale didn’t have a need for a lot of snow removal equipment. One blessing was that a state highway ran through the town, so the state plowed it. But if this was a widespread storm, there might be too many roads for the existing equipment to handle. And they had to plow the road to Price too. Once again, Holly was so glad she wasn’t making that commute anymore.
At the sound of Zack’s apartment door opening, she dashed to her own. He’d barely tapped when she jerked it open and pulled him inside. With the door closed behind her, he leaned forward to give her a cold kiss.
“Your lips are nice and warm.” He grinned, pulling her closer.
“It doesn’t bode well if yours can freeze just walking from your place to mine.” She wrapped her arms around his waist.
“But you can fix that.” Zack moved in, his brows raised, but waited for a sign from her before kissing her again.
So Holly lifted on her tiptoes, and he pressed his mouth to hers. In the loveliness of his embrace and the way his touch brought her alive, she let herself forget about unwanted visitors.
His eyes hooded, and his breathing quick, Zack finally pulled back. He settled his forehead on hers. “I’ve used up all your lip gloss. Sorry. Not sorry.”
“At least it’s not lipstick.” Holly would have liked to keep kissing, but if they didn’t hurry, they would be late.
He straightened, lifted her coat from the hook by the door, and held the garment for her to slide into. “I see you have snow boots on.”
“And my dress shoes are in a bag.” She pointed to the door. “I’ve lived in snow country a long time.” Holly frowned. She didn’t want to think of that. Orthem. “Do you think it’ll be safe to go out tonight?”
“Let’s hope so. Everyone’s put in so much work to make this happen. I’d hate for us to lose it because of a freak snowstorm.”
Zack straightened her coat and fastened the top button before kissing her again. “We’d better leave before I change my mind.”
