“Any chance I might steal you away in the evening?”And forever after that?
“I think that could be arranged.” Her fingers twirled around the fringe on his scarf. “Your family is wonderful, Holden.”
“Eh. They’re alright.”
“I’m serious.” Her tone indicated that clearly. “They were so warm and welcoming. I’d had it in my head all of this time that they were these impossible people who only cared about their son succeeding. But they are all so lovely. I wish I had given them a chance before. Givenyoua chance.”
“But you are now.” He stole a look in her direction.
She didn’t answer.
“Can you tell me what you’re thinking?” he asked. They were only a few minutes out from her parents’ cabin, and he felt the opportunity slipping through his fingers like sand.
“I’m thinking about a lot of things.” She dropped the ends of the scarf. “I go back and forth between wishing I never reconnected with you and being over the moon that I did.”
That was a sucker punch to his gut. He winced. “Oh.”
“And I don’t mean to say that to hurt you at all. It’s just…” Her gaze trailed out the passenger window, not latching onto anything in particular. “It would make leaving again easier if I still thought you were this annoying guy who had it out for me.”
A quiet laugh came to his lips. “That might be true, but you need to think of it like this. When you were little, did you believe in Santa?”
Her attention swung back to him. “Of course, I did.”
“And when you found out he wasn’t real, did you wish you’d always known that? Or were you grateful for the experience of getting to believe?”
“I suppose I was grateful for the experience.”
“Then let yourself do that now. Let yourself experience the magic between us, even if it’s only temporary,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, it’s still a gift.”
CHAPTER35
“Hey, Dad? What’s your honest opinion of the Harts?”
Stewart paused, a can of cranberry sauce in his grip still halfway from the shelf. “The Harts? Oh, gosh, I don’t know.”
He placed the can down and turned to his daughter by his side, helping him restock a new delivery of items. The store was finally filling back up after being completely depleted during the blizzard. Trucks could make it back up the highway, and along with them came all the essential items that had flown off the shelves earlier in the week.
“I’d say they’re a hard-working family that does what they can to make sure their children are taken care of and have the best lives possible.”
“So not all that different from you and Mom?” Rachel passed off another can and her father placed it on the shelf in a row of similar products.
“Not all that different, I suppose.” He gave her a look. “What brings this up?”
“Have you ever thought something was one way your entire life, only to realize it’s the opposite?”
He thought on that while he emptied the box and moved on to a crate of canned peas. He paused and took a single can into his palm. “I used to think I didn’t like peas until I finally gave them a chance. Turns out, they’re not so bad.”
Rachel laughed. It wasn’t a perfect analogy, but it would do.
“I think I might have feelings for Holden Hart.”
The can slipped from her father’s grasp, but he recovered quickly and snagged it with his other hand before it hit the ground. “Oh.” He put the item down, then swiped his glasses from his face and rubbed them with the hem of his apron. “Is that so?”
“He’s a great guy, Dad. I think he always has been; I just never took the time to get to know him for the man he truly is.”
“And are you getting to know him now?” Stewart refit his bifocals onto his nose and lowered an inquisitive gaze.
“That’s the entire problem. I’m going back to San Francisco tomorrow and he’s here, in Snowdrift.” She twisted the fabric of her own apron in her fists. “I just don’t know that it’s worth starting something that has no potential for a future.”
