“What do you think it looks like?” Her head angled so far, her ear almost touched her shoulder.
“It looks like I have a baby.”
Her eyes tugged from his down toward Laney, and Holden suddenly realized it wasn’t the child’s presence that had Rachel so upset. It had to be something else entirely.
“You do have a baby.”
“I mean, yes, I have a baby in my arms, but she’s not mine.”
“And what’s her name?” she asked, then lifted a hand and her mouth flipped into a sarcastic frown. “Oh wait, never mind. I’m not sure I would believe you, even if you told it to me.”
The back of Holden’s neck prickled with heat. “What’s going on?”
“Why don’t you tell me,Holden?” She spun away from him.
He gulped. “I’m sorry. Rachel, listen—”
She whipped around. “What? You mean to tell me you’ve knownmyname this entire time, but I had to find out from my parents who you were?”
His head shook side to side so quickly, his vision lagged a second behind. “No. I didn’t know it was you. Not until Lance figured it out.”
“Ah, your partner in crime.”
Laney wriggled, bending to reach a nearby display of stuffed animals. Holden stepped out of arm’s reach. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw you both last night, sabotaging our speaker and measuring our tree.”
“What? We didn’t sabotage your speaker.”
“But youdidmeasure our tree?”
Chest ballooning with a breath he needed for courage, Holden admitted, “We did. And that was really dumb and I’m really sorry.”
“You mean you’re sorry you got caught?”
“But we didn’t get caught. I thought we made it out of there without being seen.”
“There’s this fascinating little technology called home security,” she said bitterly. “My dad saw you on the cameras.”
One-part embarrassment, two-parts regret pulsed through Holden’s veins. “I’m really sorry you had to find out who I was that way.”
“I mean, it’s fitting, isn’t it? That I would discover your identity like that? With you attempting to take this competition from us?”
“I’m not trying to take this competition from you. I was doing a favor for my dad. Remember that broken foot? He asked that I do it for him.”
“So you’re telling me your entire family is in on this?”
All words disappeared right out of Holden’s brain. He went mute.
“Of course they are!” She flung around again.
Holden jogged around her and Laney must’ve thought it was some game because she let out a loud belly laugh. “Listen, Rachel. I really am sorry.”
“I can’t believe I thought your name was Buddy.” She shook her head and looked at the ceiling.
“I’m a little too big to be an elf,” he joked, but it fell flat. Too soon, apparently.
“Ding, ding, ding,” Laney suddenly interjected when another patron entered the store.
