Chapter Five
This was not how she expected her evening to end up.
Holly sat at the kitchen table and sighed. She couldn’t believe Colin had been in her apartment and had seen the mess. Just the memory had her face warming with embarrassment.
And the fact that he’d helped pick up stuff only caused her to feel utterly mortified. This was the guy she’d crushed on so hard in her teens, and the one time he visits her place, it looks like a bomb had blown up in it.
The truth of the matter was that ever since she’d lost her grandmother, she’d been struggling: struggling to pay the medical bills, struggling to move and sell the house, struggling to keep the soap company running just like her grandmother had done.
And so when it came to this apartment, it fell last on her list of priorities.
The puppy whined, drawing her attention back to the present. Before Colin left, he’d brought in the boxes Merry had packed for her.
But first, she made walls out of boxes to keep the puppy in the kitchen. Once that was done, she turned her attention to the bag of puppy stuff. At this point, she didn’t have a clue what was in it, but it looked stuffed full.
Who knew puppies needed so much stuff? It was like he was a tiny human. She dug through the items until she found a bag of kibble. Merry had been thoughtful enough to write a note for her, telling her when and how much to feed Tater Tot.
Holly got out his bowls. She washed them and filled one with cold water and the other with a quarter cup of kibble. Once the bowls were on the floor, she opened the crate. Tater Tot didn’t come rushing out.
Instead, the pup sat there, looking at her like he wasn’t sure what to do. She called to him, but he still wouldn’t exit the crate.
Then she got an idea. She retrieved his food bowl and waved it near him. His nose started to go. However, when she called out for him to follow her, the pup wouldn’t move.
After trying a couple of times, she finally gave up. She moved both of the bowls inside the crate. That seemed to do the trick because he immediately started to eat the kibble. She breathed a sigh of relief.
While the puppy ate, she cleaned and set the kitchen table for two.
It was something she’d never done before in this place.
She hadn’t even had her friends Belle and Felicity over.
She had a new friend, Candi, but she hadn’t had her over either.
She was too embarrassed about the place to have anyone over.
She had been so busy taking care of her grandmother’s estate. She was appointed the executor. It wasn’t that she was the only family her grandmother had. There were also Holly’s parents, but they’d been MIA Holly’s whole life.
Her grandmother had been angry with her parents for abandoning their nine-month-old baby and never looking back.
But her grandmother had wrapped Holly up in love and been the best parent.
She could be firm when needed, but she was also compassionate, and she had been Holly’s biggest cheerleader.
She always said that together they could accomplish anything. Holly would suppose that was true.
And now that the estate was settled except for a few legal steps, she could turn her full focus back on the soap company.
Buzz-buzz.
It was the doorbell. Colin must be back with the gates. She rushed over to the stack of boxes. She shoved them aside to reach the top of the steps. By the time she made it, Colin had let himself inside and was making his way up the steps with his arms full.
When he reached the top steps, she offered to take the pizza box from him. She inhaled the aroma of tomatoes and oregano. Her stomach rumbled in anticipation. It appeared she was hungrier than she’d thought.
She squeezed past the boxes. “Sorry about those. I was using them as a wall so I could let the puppy out to eat, but he had other plans, so I let him have dinner in his crate.” Then she wondered if she’d done the right thing. “That’s all right, isn’t it?”
Colin leaned the gates against the wall. When he turned to her, he had a smile on his face. “It’s fine. Just relax. You have good instincts. Trust them.”
“I don’t know…” She worried her bottom lip. How could she have good instincts when she’d been abandoned by her mother and father? At that moment, her instinct was telling her she was doing everything wrong. After all, she’d never had a pet in her life.
“Seriously. You’ve got this.” His voice had a reassuring tone.
She wanted to believe him, but she had so many questions and no answers. She supposed that when she curled up in bed that evening, she’d be conducting internet searches to answer some of those questions. But it was only for a day, two tops. It was like a mantra she kept repeating in her head.
“I’ll just set up these gates.” Colin’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“I have the table set.” And then she had a thought. “Unless you’d rather have pizza in the living room.”
He paused from where he was setting up the gate to the living room and sent her a lazy smile.
“I don’t remember you being this unsure when we were kids.
In fact, I remember a very determined young lady.
” His smile broadened. “I remember how you used to stomp your foot when you got frustrated. You were a cute kid.”
Heat rushed up her neck and settled in her cheeks. She refused to look at him. “I don’t remember any of that.”
It wasn’t exactly true, but she didn’t want to continue talking about how embarrassing she was as a kid. And she didn’t want him to stumble down memory lane so he could recall the gigantic crush she’d had to him.
“You don’t? Because I certainly do.” When he paused to stare deep into her eyes, it sent her heart racing. “That cute kid blossomed into a beautiful woman.”
The breath hitched in the back of her throat. He thought she was beautiful? She resisted the urge to run her hand over her honey-brown ponytail to make sure it wasn’t falling out. She could just imagine errant strands of hair going every which way. By evening, her hair had a mind of its own.
She turned away, not wanting him to see the effect his words had on her. She turned on the faucet and released a pent-up breath. He didn’t mean it when he said she was beautiful. He’d just said it off-handedly. That had to be the explanation. He was just being nice.
She squirted some liquid soap on her hands. Even if he did mean it, why was she letting his words get to her? She’d gotten over him a long time ago. Right now, she had to focus on taking care of Tater Tot.
A noise from the dog crate had her wondering if the pup had read her mind. She subdued a laugh at anyone reading her mind. At times, it could get scary in her brain.
Forcing her thoughts back to Tater Tot, she realized she didn’t want to mess things up with the puppy. Even though she’d just met the pup, she’d fallen under his charming spell. How could she not? He was adorable. She was certain Merry wasn’t going to have a problem finding him a home.
She dried her hands and moved to the fridge. She pulled the door open and scrounged around inside to see if she had anything to make a side salad. She had a partial head of lettuce, but she didn’t have any vegetables to go with it.
It was obvious she never entertained guests. Ugh! She was turning out to be a horrible hostess. And then she picked up the bottle of salad dressing. There might be enough for one bowl of salad but definitely not two. A trip to the market moved to the top of her to-do-list.
Chair legs scraped across the hardwood floor, jarring her out of her meandering thoughts. She closed the fridge and turned around.
“Holly?” Colin’s voice once again drew her from her thoughts. “Did you hear me?”
He’d said something? The heat rushed back to her cheeks. “Sorry. What did you say?”
“Would you like me to get the drinks?”
Her gaze moved to the table where Colin had already served the pizza on each of their plates. “I’ve got it.” She moved to the fridge and opened it. The shelves were practically bare. This was getting embarrassing. “I’m afraid I can only offer you water.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Thankfully, she was on top of the dishes. She withdrew two tall glasses from the cabinet and filled them with faucet water. With it being winter, the water was very cold, so there was no need for ice.
Feeling embarrassed that she didn’t have anything else to offer him, she placed the glasses on the table and then sat down, keeping her gaze lowered. This whole evening had been so stressful.
And then she noticed Tater Tot had finally meandered out of his crate.
The pup stopped between them. She smiled down at the little guy.
Tater Tot’s head turned back and forth between her and Colin.
The next thing she knew, the pup put his paws on Colin’s leg.
It seemed Tater Tot had made his choice.
Not that she could blame him. Colin was like an animal whisperer.
While Colin fussed over the puppy, she took a bite of her pizza. It was delicious. She hadn’t splurged on takeout since her grandmother was alive. Since then, there had been a lot of ramen noodles, box mac-n-cheese, and spaghetti.
“Are you planning to put up any Christmas decorations?” Colin asked.
She looked over at him and couldn’t help but laugh. “Have you looked at this place? The last thing on my mind is Christmas decorations.”
His brows rose. “Are you trying to tell me that you aren’t going to have a Christmas tree?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll have time to put one up.”
He nodded. “I understand. Sometimes life doesn’t slow down so we can get off the ride.”
“The ride?”
“You know, whatever situation has your full attention.”
“I suppose now that I’m off the settling-the-estate ride that I need to hop on the unpack ride.”
“It’s okay to ask your friends for some help.”