Page 3 of A Christmas Collin

"It's me, Collin Wright, Mrs. Brogan. I stayed with y'all those few weeks all those years ago."

"Oh honey, how are you? Wait a minute, is this the guy, Danielle? The one you've been all secretive about?" She pauses, her voice dropping. "Is your brother the best choice for boyfriends?"

I groan and run my fingers through my hair. "Foster brother for nine weeks doesn't make us related or even siblings, Mom."

She ignores me. "Okay, then. How about you bring him for dinner? Oh good, I don't have to leave the house. These meatballs aren't going to make themselves. Honey, you and Collin, come. The more, the merrier. You should have said something earlier, Danielle."

"Mom." I shake my head at the rapid-fire speed of this conversation.

I'm ready to tell her the truth, but Collin swoops in beside me to tell her, "Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Brogan. I'd love to join y'all for dinner."

Mom talks over him, too. "Danielle, you really shouldn't be so rude to someone you're dating, especially around this time of year. It's very rude not to tell me you're bringing someone home with ya. On second thought, I’m going to run to the market and grab a few more groceries. Love you. See ya soon, honey."

My mother ends the call, leaving me standing beside Collin, who's grinning from ear to ear, his eyes shining with mischief. With his proximity, I forget the chill seeping into my bones. Iforget my piece-of-shit car. I forget everything else, and all I see is him.

He sucks his bottom lip between his teeth—something he unconsciously does whenever he’s up to no good. "So I guess we're dating, Jelly Bean."

2

COLLIN

Danielle Brogan's ash blonde hair is pulled back into a high and tight ponytail that shows off the slender lines of her neck and draws my gaze to her hazel eyes immediately. I don’t even believe in fate, but it’s like something has aligned that allowed us to meet like this.

I can’t count how many times I’ve dreamed of seeing her again and showing her I’m a far cry from the boy I was. That I am now someone she can be proud of. Someone who can take care of her. Someone she can rely on. Someone who can give her a good life.

What I didn’t take into account was how all the pent-up desire and longing would come rushing back at me all at once, almost knocking me off my feet.

This grown-up version of Danielle makes my head spin, my heart slamming against my ribcage. It’s not even ten minutes, but I’m already too far gone for her. So much so that hugging her feels natural, and my body hums in excitement when she doesn’t push me away.

A deep shade of red blooms across her cheeks as she says, "You don't have to do that. If my car's ready to go, my roadside service should cover this, right? I can tell Mom and Josh the dating thing was a misunderstanding."

"You and your mother have conversations the same exact way." I laugh. "All over the place. Are you seeing anybody?"

"No." The relief that she's available is immediate, and I know down to the marrow of my bones that I won’t let her slip away. Not this time. Never again. "I told Josh I was dating someone to get him off my case. They all say I work too much, and I just didn't want to hear it through the rest of this week. I told my mother that I'd bring my boyfriend, but sometimes sarcasm goes right over her head."

"Then bring me, Jelly Bean."

The side of her mouth lifts, and it makes my pulse pump wildly. I will do anything for that smile. "I can't believe you still remember that name. No one else calls me that."

"No one else is supposed to call you that because I gave that name to ya. Now, don't ignore me. I'll come over as your boyfriend. I'd love to see how the Brogans are doing after all these years. Although your dad and I never saw eye to eye, I'd actually like to thank him. Between you and him, I would have never ended up coming back to Heffen's Bluff."

Something clouds over her features. "Um, shit. I'm sorry, Collin. Dad passed away around eight years ago."

The overwhelming feeling to hug her washes over me, and I can't stop myself from pulling Danielle into my arms again. It feels natural to do this, like my first instinct is to comfort her. "You don't be sorry.I'msorry. You have my condolences. He was agreat man, even though it took some growing up for me to see he was only trying to help me. You too."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. All of the 'You're so much better than this' talk got me thinking about my love for cars." My arms drop to hold her by the waist, and I do what I can to keep her close. Having her here and not touching her is torture.

She giggles. "Well, you kept stealing them."

"That's how I thought I was supposed to learn how to drive. You know? Joy riding, but your dad set me straight. He actually kept me out of a ton of trouble. I really am sorry he passed. I wish I didn't let work take over my life, or else I would have found my way back to y'all sooner."

"It's all right." She smiles the smile that never fails to stop my heart. "I'm happy for your success, and I'm sure Dad would have loved to pick your brain about how you got so far, but it's just Mom and us. You remember my younger siblings, right? Josh and Evelyn?"

I flash her a smile and step back, shoving my hands in my pockets to make sure I keep them to myself, even if my entire body screams at me to stay closer. "I remember enough. They treated me like I had the plague, but you were different. You were nice to me when no one else really was. No one else besides your dad, of course. Back then, kindness was rare to me. It wasn’t often people treated me like … well, like I’m human and not some delinquent out to steal their cans of beans."

She smiles. "Dad never wanted to see any child under his care struggle. Besides, you had that whole bad boy look pat down, but I knew there was some goodness in you. Dad, too."

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