Page 17 of Christmas with Holly

“Not all casseroles are bad,” Maggie said.

“Name a good one.”

“Macaroni and cheese.”

“That’s not a casserole.”

“What is it, then?”

“It’s a vegetable.”

Maggie burst out laughing. “Good try. But it is a casserole.”

“If you say so. But it’s the only casserole I like. All the others taste like something you put together to empty out the pantry.”

“I have my grandmother’s recipe for mac and cheese. Four kinds of cheese. And toasted bread crumbs on the top.”

“You should make it for me sometime.”

Of course that would never happen. But the idea of it caused heat to rise from her neck, spreading up to her hairline. “Shelby wouldn’t like it.”

“No. She doesn’t eat carbs.”

“I meant me cooking for you.”

Mark said nothing, only looked out the window with a distracted expression. Was he thinking of Shelby? Anticipating seeing her soon?

“What would you serve with it?” he asked after a moment.

Maggie’s grin fractured into a laugh. “I’d serve it as a main course with grilled asparagus on the side…and maybe a tomato and arugula salad.” It seemed like forever since she’d made anything beyond the simplest meals for herself, since cooking for one rarely seemed worth the effort. “I love to cook.”

“We have something in common.”

“You love to cook, too?”

“No, I love to eat.”

“Who does the cooking at your house?”

“My brother Sam and I take turns. We’re both terrible.”

“I have to ask: How in the world did you end up deciding to raise Holly together?”

“I knew I couldn’t do it alone. But there was no one else, and I couldn’t put Holly into foster care. So I guilted Sam into helping.”

“No regrets?”

Mark shook his head immediately. “Losing my sister was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, but having Holly in my life is the best. Sam would say the same.”

“Has it been what you expected?”

“I didn’t know what to expect. We take it day by day. There are great moments…the first time Holly caught a fish at Egg Lake…or one morning when she and Sam decided to build a waffle tower with bananas and marshmallows for breakfast…you should have seen the kitchen. But there are the other moments, when we’re out somewhere and we see a family…” He hesitated. “And I see it in Holly’s face, wondering what it would be like to have one.”

“Youarea family,” Maggie said.

“Two uncles and a kid?”

“Yes, that’s a family.”

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