Chapter Fourteen #2
Eyes prickling with hot tears that made no sense, she sucked in a shallow breath and nodded. His gentle hold tightened, and she tried for a deeper breath.
“Don’t do that.” With a groan that shared space with a pained chuckle, he cupped her head with his other hand and leaned in to kiss her. “I hate when you cry.”
“I’m not crying.” She knuckled under one eye, blinking hard. Thank the Lord for waterproof makeup.
“Come here.” With a rueful sound, he engulfed her in a cedar-and-ocean scented hug, warm and steady and everything she needed. She clutched at his shirt beneath his shoulder blades and rested her ear over his heartbeat, the rhythmic thud calming her.
He laughed, darn him, rubbing a palm over her spine. “Who knew Holly Callahan of all people would be a bundle of emotional vulnerability?”
“Don’t do that.” She pulled back far enough to land a punch on his arm.
“Ouch.” He rubbed the spot. “You gotta quit doing that. All those years of softball and you hit harder than you think.”
“You can’t joke about this, Colton.” She sniffed. “Your daddy didn’t leave you emotionally.”
“No.” He shook his head, all facetiousness gone from his features. “Part of my mama did, and I don’t think she ever quite came all the way back.”
Breathless, she nodded. “It’s the same, but different. Sue doesn’t quite know how to let go of you, but she’s afraid all the time. She turned you into a project without meaning to. Daddy wanted to let go, but felt like he couldn’t. He turned me into a duty he dropped as soon as he could.”
And why did that sound like her and Scott? Yeah, that realization worked a cringe down her spine all over again.
“One, you’re more than a duty to me.” He lifted a finger in punctuation, then added a second. “Two, I’m not planning on dropping you, ever.”
“I don’t see you as a project.” She ran a knuckle under her lashes again.
Golly geez, that pricey mascara was worth every cent, not flaking at all while she teared up like this.
“Well, maybe the whole letting go of the past guilt part because you’re not going to do that on your own, but the rest of you is turnkey ready. ”
He stared, scowling. “What the hell have I done to my life, getting involved with you?”
“Vastly improved it.” She reached for a napkin, blew as delicately as Ralph sorting through his food for juicy tidbits, and slipped off the stool to wash her hands.
He snorted. She glared at him over her shoulder.
Lights swept across the front windows, a familiar engine, and she gestured toward the dining room, still painted the awful bright green the former owners had chosen, and foyer, its walls bright turquoise also thanks to the last occupants. “David and Lorraine.”
“Your nose is blotchy.” Absolute horror dawned in his eyes, his mouth parted in true dismay. “Your nose is blotchy, and Lorraine-freaking-King is about to walk in here and think I made you cry.”
“It’s fine.” She sniffed, still congested, and soothed her throat with a sip of icy water. “Lorraine knows me.”
“Right.” Disbelief dripped from the syllable, his shoulders rigid. Holly rolled her eyes. What did he think Lorraine would do? Speak her mind? She always did that.
The front door swung open, and Holly set her cup aside, headed to meet her friends.
Too bad they didn’t plan to bring Ethan tonight – she could have used a few baby cuddles right now.
Instead, she settled for walking into Lorraine’s hug, and Colt wasn’t wrong as Lorraine’s sharp gaze honed in on her face before she fixed a sharper look over Holly’s shoulder and on Colt.
“I’m fine.” Puffing her bangs out of her eyes, Holly pulled free and wrapped her arms around David’s neck as he finished up shaking Colt’s hand. “We were talking about my daddy.”
“Right.” Mollified, Lorraine patted her shoulder before gracing Colt with a hug of greeting.
He extricated himself fast, and Holly frowned.
She’d never noticed enough to pay attention before, really, but he was kind of weird about being casually touched when he wasn’t close to someone.
Okay, so she’d have to talk to Lorraine about that later, make sure his boundary zone didn’t end up violated.
“How was your day?” Linking her arm with Lorraine’s, she sashayed them toward the kitchen. Lorraine’s shift had ended not long ago, and David had just come off a forty-eight with EMS that morning.
“Mackey and Pete Abadi were both on shift, so smooth sailing all day.” Lorraine punctuated with a forward, rolling wave of her hand. “Well, other than Pete wanting to tie up with one of the sheriff’s deputies from Haynes County.”
“Pete?” Colt scooped ice into cups and set up beverages for them. A grin played about his mouth, and affection laced his small pfft. “He’s intense, so yeah, I could see that.”
“He’s intense in a good way.” Lorraine accepted her cup and shook her head. “It was Jim Ed Reese–”
“Aw, geez.” Colt groaned and propped his hips on the counter for a split second before the oven beeped to announce the end of the preheating cycle. Leveraging off the cabinet, he opened the oven and transferred the waiting trays. “He’s such a pr–”
He cast a quick glance at Holly, grimaced, and swallowed the word.
“Jerk.”
“You had it right the first time.” David hitched onto a stool.
“He’s a sexist, racist asshole.” Lorraine plopped herself down next to David. “That soup smells wonderful. So Mackey got in it, and we had security show his ass out the door. Best ten minutes of my day.”
“So this is coming to dinner tonight.” Colt lifted a brow in Holly’s direction. “This is great.”
“This is normal, and our boy Pete does not take any bullshit off anyone.” Lorraine glowed with approval. “I love that about him.”
“Yeah, me too.” Colt saluted her with his glass, then nodded toward the stock pot. “Grandma’s recipe for vegetable soup.”
“Man, we are gonna eat good tonight.” David clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together with exaggerated glee, and Holly smiled, exchanging a look with Colt. Oh, she loved them so.
The good feeling held with the arrival of the others in rapid succession – Del and Barb, Mackey, Andy and Grace, Wally and Pete – and she even managed to keep it in place as Scott showed up with Andrea, who appeared her normal tense, subtly critical self.
Lord, she and Sue were two peas in a pod, a realization that almost had Holly feeling sorry for the older woman.
Warmed by tall gas heaters, the deck offered space and air, so they gathered around the long table she made Tick help her build when she bought the house.
Polo gave them a disgusted look, their conversation disturbing her slumber, and lumbered through the dog door into the laundry room.
Surrounded by shallow chatter that skimmed the surface of their lives and left the undercurrents of the past alone, Holly relaxed, ignoring Scott’s incisive gaze when he skimmed a look over her or Colt or the two of them together.
That would get easier, being only friends once more.
She dipped a corner of a sandwich triangle into her soup.
It was already easier, his sharp attention more of an annoyance, a buzzing mosquito that made her emotions itch, rather than the sharp slices of pain she’d experienced that whole weekend in Houston last month.
Buoyed by the realization, she smiled at Colt, a wide, bright smile.
He blinked on a visible double take before he grinned, a pleased glow in his eyes.
Okay, so this wasn’t half bad at all.
“Andy, you are the love of my life and the father of my children, but I need you to admit you can’t dance worth a lick.” Grace’s soft laugh, full of adoration, hung on the night air.
“I have visual proof that’s a lie.” Next to her, Andy relaxed into his chair, an arm slung behind her. “Our wedding reception video. You loved my dance with my groomsmen.”
“Because your groomsmen made you look good.” Grace gestured between Colt and Wally. “Especially those two. Actually, Colt made you look good because we know all the Calvert boys can dance.”
“You haven’t seen Chuck try to dance then,” Del muttered. “He looks like an Amish scarecrow with no rhythm.”
“Hey, I helped him look good.” Wally touched his chest with two fingers. “I know how to dance.”
Pete made a pained noise, and Holly bit back a giggle. Definitely not half bad at all.
“Wait.” Andy twisted sideways to pull his phone free. He wagged a finger at Grace. “More recent video proof. Like October-recent. Ashley’s wedding reception. She’s got posts up on–”
“Andy, man, don’t do that to yourself.” Colt propped his elbow on the table and rested his mouth in his palm. “You were halfway wasted and just thought you could dance.”
“Honey, you looked like one of those blow-up wiggly man-blimps they put in front of used car lots.” Gracie patted his knee.
“I am proving you wrong.” Andy gestured at the television hanging in the grill area. “Can I screencast to that?”
“Sure.” Holly waved a hand in permission. Colt groaned and exchanged a glance with Wally.
Wally shook his head. “Anderson, don’t come crying to us when you’re wrong.”
“Pfft. I’m not wrong.” Fiddling with his screen, Andy nudged Gracie’s knee with his. “We should bet something fun on this.”
Lorraine’s laugh flashed bright in the evening, and she snuggled her arm into David’s shoulder. “They sound like us.”
“Except if we were betting on my dancing skills, I’d win the something fun.” David gave her a familiar playfully lascivious wink.
With a pained sniff, Andrea straightened in her chair, next to Scott, who had on his customary bored-with-life expression, the one that had always made Holly feel like a misbehaving four-year-old. Holly caught herself in a half-shake of her head. They might just be perfect for one another.