Chapter Twenty-Seven
At some point, he was aware Tick danced with Aunt Lenora, but his attention centered on Holly. The music shifted, from jazz to cheesy holiday disco, and she discarded her heels to throw herself into dancing with the enthusiasm he loved.
“Okay,” she laughed, patting his chest as an instrumental of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” drew to a close. She smiled, breathless and flushed, her hair a shining sheet of rumpled gold spilling over her shoulders. “I need a break and to freshen up.”
Hooking a hand about her nape, he leaned down to kiss her. “I’ll get us a drink.”
“Thank you.” She flashed a smile at him over her shoulder as she walked away, skirt glittering in the lowered lights. He was enough of a guy to pause and enjoy the view, the slim skirt skimming her hips and thighs, the sweet curve of her ass. She was the most freaking gorgeous thing he’d ever seen.
Geez, she was barefoot still.
With an amused exhale, he went to grab her shoes.
Bending to snag them from under her chair, he caught a flash of green at the corner of his vision.
His gut tightened — she was wearing that shade of green — and he forced himself to relax.
It was Christmas, and that holiday green was everywhere tonight.
He straightened and strode for the long hallway that led to the restrooms, her strappy heels dangling from a pair of fingers.
“This is such a waste of your energy.” As he turned the corner, Holly’s voice carried to him, low and perturbed, that hint of stress pricking every nerve ending he had to full alert. “Does this make you happy or feel better or alive or what?”
His pulse kicked up a notch, his brain registering the pair of familiar blonde heads – one infinitely precious to him, the other one he didn’t care if he ever saw again. “You forgot your shoes.”
He ignored her, ignored the weight of her gaze on his face. Instead, he walked by without looking at her, refusing to edge by her, so she had to move aside.
Holding the shoes aloft, he focused on Holly’s gaze, aware of the glint of relief in the blue depths. “Need these if you’re going in there.”
“Yes.” Her voice held a breathless note of that same relief. She reached for the heels. “Thank you.”
Rather than pass the shoes over, he hunkered down to fit first one, then the other, Holly’s hand a warm weight on his shoulder.
“So sweet.” Her voice dripped with derision. Colt ignored her, pushing to his feet, attention on Holly.
He jerked his chin toward the ladies room door. “I’ll wait for you.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered, tense lines about her mouth, and he smiled.
“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand and let go. “I’m good.”
With one last lingering look at his face, eyes slightly narrowed, she nodded and turned to hurry into the ladies room.
Behind him, she hadn’t moved, lurking like mythical Medusa, waiting to destroy him. “How precious.”
His brows tugged together, hard. She had always been the most destructive person he’d ever known, even more than Will.
His younger cousin had hurt himself and those around him because he’d been unable to process an emotional pain Colt had no insight into — he doubted even Del had known what went on in Will’s head.
But her? He didn’t have a clue where her drive to destroy other people came from.
Didn’t want a clue.
Maybe she’d needed a way to get back at Tick for something, and he’d shown up drunk enough to hand it to her, almost destroyed himself in the process.
He refused to give her anything else.
Folding his arms, he trained his gaze on the paneled restroom door and held his tongue.
Her trilling laugh scratched over him. “Cat got your tongue?”
He did not have to engage. That had always been Tick’s downfall with Will — and her.
He didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut so he gave away his own power by responding.
Maybe he’d learned, but as a boy, he’d had a competitive drive to have the last word with Will and a desperate drive to keep Allison happy.
He’d been doomed to fail on both fronts.
Colt himself recognized the power of silence. Isolation did that for a guy. Let her have her say, get her digs in . . . in the grand scheme of his life, she meant next to nothing now.
As long as she kept her poison away from Holly, they were good.
A fingernail scraped down his nape in a teasing caress. The familiarity of it pushed nausea into his throat. Memory flashed in his head — the same touch when she’d walked up behind him at Andy’s, seeking him out.
He’d forgotten that, how she’d made the first move that night.
He spun, putting a backward step between them, the same way he had a decade ago. Staring into triumphant blue eyes, gleaming with malice, he kept his face impassive. She wanted a reaction — she wouldn’t get one from him.
The burn of victory in her gaze shuddered through him. That level of ill will left no room for anything good in her life.
Shit, that was sad.
He and Holly would go home, spend the night together. Tick and Caitlin would go back to their house on the river, carry on their lives together.
She’d go home with that hatred and unhappiness, let it color every second of her life.
Hell, he felt sorry for her.
Behind him, the restroom door swung open, Holly’s shoes clicking on the hardwood. He glanced over his shoulder, smiling to alleviate the concern darkening the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. “Ready to dance with me some more or do you need a break?”
She eyed him a moment, gauging his emotions. A smile bright with joy broke over her face, curving the pouting mouth he’d wanted to kiss since high school. “I’m always ready to dance with you.”
Ignoring her low sound of disgust, he held out an arm for Holly. “Yeah, that’s why you said no when I asked you to homecoming.”
“Colton.” Ignoring the other woman standing in the hall, she tucked her hand through his arm. “You are not teasing me about that for the next fifty years.”
“Of course not.” He steered them toward the main room, refusing to edge around her, forcing her to move with the steadiness of his stride. He shifted his arm to curve around Holly’s waist and pinched her hip. “I was thinking more like seventy.”
“You’ll be ninety-eight and forgetful.” Her arm folded around his waist, warm through his shirt. His lungs opened up with that familiar weight, with the joy of having her next to him, a walking, glittering promise of everything pure and good.
“Making you a memory box to match your grandma’s.” He rubbed his fingertips along the curve of her hip, playing with the edges of her sequins. “I’ll write out a reminder and tuck it into one of the drawers so I remember every so often.”
“You would, too.” Eyes narrowed, she let him twirl her into his arms. He grinned. Was he supposed to be intimidated by that small glare? All he felt was lighter and freer, even a little younger than he normally did. “You should be glad you’re handsome and good in bed.”
“Good?” He buried a chuckle in the curve of her ear, grinning at the shiver he felt move over her. “I’m going to be great later.”
Her mouth pursed into a rueful moue. “I’d dispute that claim except you’re darn great most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” He bit the tip of his tongue then ran it over his teeth. “Huh.”
She drifted a hand over his shoulder, trailed a fingernail along his nape, replacing the earlier touch that had made his skin crawl. “What did Coach Z tell y’all back at football practice? Men have to step into the challenge?”
A laugh worked its way up from his chest. She’d invoked that man’s name with him on purpose, while talking about their sex life. “Keep it up, little girl. You act like I won’t spank you.”
“Oh.” Her eyes brightened with intrigue and mischief, gleaming like her skirt, like the joy she brought to his life. “We haven’t tried that. We might like it.”
Lord help him.
On a deep chuckle, he abandoned the dancing position and wrapped her close, hugging her hard. “Hell, Holly, I love you.”
Her arms closed about his waist and she pressed close, her nose against his throat. “You know what, Colton? I love you, too.”
Dropping a kiss on her hair, he tightened his hold. Nothing about the past mattered, not when he had her in his arms, in his life, like this. All was right in his world, in this moment he lived for.
And nothing could touch that.
Half-humming, half-singing along to Creedence Clearwater, Colt fitted the drawer joints together and swiped off a bead of excess wood glue with his thumb. He’d given away this surprise last night, but that was okay. She’d love the piece when he was done.
She had his grandma’s ring and her grandma’s dress for her something old.
Maybe he’d tuck something new in one of the drawers when he presented her with the finished product.
Earrings or a bracelet or necklace she could wear with Mrs. Sadie’s wedding dress.
Maybe something with a sapphire or an aquamarine for her something blue.
He’d get Mrs. Jane at Hodges to help him out with that.
Outside, Ralph erupted in a paroxysm of wild barking, his gleeful hey-I’m-wonderful-pet-me routine. Fitting another small drawer together, Colt shook his head. Holly had spoiled him for real.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel, heavier than Holly’s light step.
Wally, then, and he was guilty of making Ralph rotten, too.
His presence made more sense as well, since Holly had a couple of photography sessions scheduled, a young couple celebrating an engagement and some family shots for Sara and Trace Davis.
The footsteps stopped at the door.
Colt concentrated on another joint. “Thought you were taking your husband to lunch in Bainbridge.”
“Actually, I had lunch with my wife and Louise.” Lamar’s voice shot through him, an electrical surge of shock.
Colt fumbled the drawer pieces and swallowed a curse. On a deep breath, he steadied the sides and his hands, fitted the tenon and mortise together. He didn’t look around. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Tick’s shoes scraped on the sawdust-laden floor with a step forward. Colt frowned, setting one side to the other. What the hell was he doing here? Tick’s slight inhale rang in his ears. “Nice workshop.”
“I like it.”
“The whole place is nice.” Tick cleared his throat. “Solid work.”
Geez, this defined awkward. Tick hadn’t dropped by to compliment him on his construction skills. Might as well put them both out of their misery. Setting the drawer aside, he straightened to face his cousin. “What are you doing here?”
“Making things right.” Tick’s jaw tightened. “I should have handled your apology better.”
“So you thought you needed to drop by for a visit?” Swallowing a scoff, Colt turned back to the stack of drawer pieces waiting to be assembled.
“I thought we needed to talk.” Tick’s voice held the patience Colt associated with Gene . . . and D. “Maybe that I should apologize, too.”
Colt stilled, then slanted a look over his shoulder. Mouth pressed to a taut line, Tick shrugged.
“I let my temper and my hurt keep me stubborn with you too long. Shouldn’t have gone as long as I did without listening to you.
Talking to you.” Tick spread his hands. He cleared his throat, tendons flexing with a hard swallow.
“Forgiving you. Think I needed some maturity and experience on me, though, to be man enough to step back into things with you. This last year or so . . . I’ve had to find a way to live with mistakes I made and can’t undo.
Plus, Cait can’t let go of the past with her brother, and it’s annoying as hell–”
“I shouldn’t have been in that room.” The words hurt Colt’s own throat, but he couldn’t let Tick stand here and own everything wrong between them, not when it had started with Colt himself. “Shouldn’t have–”
“I think we’re done with that night.” Tick’s low voice was steady, firm, giving Colt his first real glimpse of the man Tick had become. Back then, they’d still been boys, struggling to navigate world-shaking losses. They were different people now. “If you want to be.”
He’d wanted to be done with that night as long as he could remember now. The past couple of months with Holly had helped him step out of the self-imposed punishment of his isolation. And now here was Tick, handing him what he’d given up hoping for a long time ago.
“I’d like that.” His voice emerged rough, choked.
Tick nodded, a short, sharp dip of his chin. “Good.”
“We can’t go back where we were.” Colt hated tasting the admission. He wanted that, more than he’d realized, to simply be in that time he hadn’t realized how much he would miss once it was gone, to be in Tick’s life and have Tick in his. “The way we were back then.”
“No.” The small negative hit hard, but a slight smile quirked at one corner of Tick’s mouth. His shoulders rose and fell in an easier shrug. “Maybe we can build something else, though. Something new, but resting on the old foundation.”
“Yeah.” He could live with that. If nothing else, he’d learned how to build over the past few years. He knew how to craft a well-built structure. “Maybe start with breakfast or coffee or something the next time you’re home.”
“Sounds good.” Another half-smile shaping his mouth, Tick scuffed a hand over his neck. “Lord, when Holly finds out about this.”
“Oh, she’ll be all over it.” The idea made him grin. She’d be thrilled. Colt reached for his wood glue and dotted beads down the inside of the mortise. “She’ll be arranging our coffee dates.”
“Man, don’t I know it.” Tick released a long breath. “Holy hell.”
A chuckle worked its way up from deep in his chest. The moment almost felt like before.
Almost.
Because somehow, this felt better than what had been before.
Colt slotted the tenon into the mortise, a snug fit. The glue would help it hold.
Maybe sooner or later, he and Tick would dovetail like they used to.
And maybe there’d be enough moments like this to help them hold as well.
Read on for a glimpse into Always Love You.