Page 12 of Christmas with Holly

Holly shook her head, looking grave.

“Yes, you are, you just said something.”

“No, I didn’t.” A titter escaped her as she saw Sam’s expression.

“You did it again, by God! Say my name. Say it.”

“Uncle Herbert.”

Sam let out a breathless laugh and grabbed her, pulling her against his chest. “Herbert?Oh, now it’s going to be chicken lips and lizard feet for dinner.” Still clasping Holly, he looked at Mark with a wondering shake of his head, his color high, his eyes containing a suspicious glitter.“How?”was all he could manage to ask.

“Later,” Mark said, and smiled.

“So what happened?” Sam asked, stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove. Holly was busy in the next room with her new puzzle. “How did you do it?”

Mark uncapped a beer and tilted the bottle back. “Wasn’t me,” he said after a biting-cold swallow. “We were in that toy shop on Spring Street, the new one, and there was this cute little redhead behind the counter. I’ve never seen her before—”

“I know who she is. Maggie something. Conner, Carter…”

“Conroy. You’ve met her?”

“No, but Scolari’s been trying to get me to go out with her.”

“He never mentioned her to me,” Mark said, instantly offended.

“You’re going out with Shelby.”

“Shelby and I aren’t exclusive.”

“Scolari thinks Maggie’s my type. We’re closer in age. So she’s cute? That’s good. I thought I’d check her out before committing to anything—”

“I’m only two years older than you,” Mark said in outrage.

Setting down the spoon, Sam picked up a glass of wine. “Did you ask her out?”

“No. Shelby was with me, and besides—”

“I call dibs.”

“You don’t get dibs on this one,” Mark said curtly.

Sam’s brows lifted. “You’ve already got a girlfriend. Dibs automatically go to the guy with the longest dry spell.”

Mark’s shoulders hitched in an irritable shrug.

“So what did Maggie do?” Sam pressed. “How did she get Holly to talk?”

Mark told him about the scene in the toy shop, about the magic shell, and how the suggestion of make-believe had worked a miracle.

“Amazing,” Sam said. “I never would have thought of trying something like that.”

“It was a matter of timing. Holly was finally ready to talk, and Maggie gave her a way to do it.”

“Yeah, but…is it possible Holly would have started talking weeks ago if you or I had just figured it out?”

“Who knows? What are you getting at?”

Sam kept his voice low. “Do you ever think about what it’s going to be like when she gets older? When she starts needing to talk to someone about girl stuff? I mean, who are we going to get to handle all that?”

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