Page 119 of Holly and Nick Hate Christmas
My heart warmed as the room erupted into activity. Paul and Axel shaking hands and meeting for the first time. Chloe showing off her ring. Devin nodding a hello and refusing to get up because of Kat perched securely in his lap. Janie plopping her doll in the backpack carrier her dad gave her and wearing it around the room. Mason passing the ball back and forth with his dad while repeatedly shouting, “This is even better than coming from Santa!”
Watching my sisters and the kids get everything they wanted was such a gift. Sure, the rom-com lover in me still wanted Nick to walk in the door next, but I’d had my share of Christmas miracles today. I could wait.
There was always New Year’s, right? People made plenty of rom-coms about New Year’s Eve. Even New Year’s Day.
“Wait.” Olivia checked her watch, then squinted at me. “Wasn’t there one more gift?”
I squinted back. “What do you mean?”
“I swear there was something else for you.” She got up and dug around the discarded paper three feet deep around the tree.
“I think that was all, dear.” Mom frowned as she helped her look. “There are no more packages.”
“Oh my gosh. It’s still in the barn.” Olivia smacked herself in the forehead. “It was too big to completely wrap, and I didn’t want you to know what it was under the tree.”
“Oh! Is it that suitcase I mentioned?” I followed her to the back door.
Whew, it was cold. The morning sun was already bright, pushing back the winter-gray clouds to reveal patches of cerulean sky. The screen door snapped behind us, and I huddled into my new sweater as I followed Olivia’s beeline toward the barn.
“I’msosorry I forgot. With Paul showing up…” She shook her head, a little grin still lingering on her cheeks. “I had no idea.”
“Totally fine, sis. Obviously your marriage is more important than my travel accessories.” I shivered again as we crunched across the frosty grass to the barn. It was kind of nice to have one more gift to open. Hopefully it was Samsonite or something sturdy, because my current bag was bursting at the seams. Not that I’d be traveling much anytime soon.
Olivia swung open the barn door.
My eyes instantly glossed with tears.
Nick had briefly second-guessed wearing the party hat, but the shocked expression on Holly’s face assured him it’d been the right way to go.
“Happy birthday, Holly.” He adjusted the string under hischin and fought the urge to look up at the mistletoe he’d taped over his head. Time for that later, hopefully.
But right now, her mouth was still open, unspeaking, her wide eyes teary. He nervously gestured to the space behind him that he and Olivia had spent an hour decorating earlier that morning. “Since you’re turning thirty, I thought you might enjoy a classic kid-themed birthday party.”
He’d very intentionallynotused Christmas colors. Instead, red, blue, and yellow streamers crisscrossed the rafters, trailing down the support beams and looping around the stall doors. Balloon clusters—Olivia had graciously blown them all up while he taped streamers—were bunched in various corners, also in primary colors, while a couple of strategically placed space heaters knocked the worst of the chill from the air.
Holly stepped cautiously inside the barn. She wore a sweater he’d never seen before that hugged her figure and brightened her eyes. Man, she made thirty look amazing. “This is all…for me?”
“All for you.” He clasped his hands in front of him, waiting, not fully ready to surrender his under-the-mistletoe stance.
Just in case.
“How did you do this?” Holly bit her bottom lip. Was that a smile peeking through? Oh, he hoped so. He’d not seen her texts asking if they could talk until he remembered to charge his phone halfway to Point Bluff. And of course, that’d been in the middle of the night.
He nodded toward Olivia still lingering in the doorway, a hopeful grin on her face. “Olivia helped. Snuck me in the house to crash for a few hours, then helped me decorate this morning.”
“Aha!” Holly spun toward her sister. “Sothat’swhere you were when Janie said you were ‘getting coffee ages ago.’ ”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Sneaking away from your kids on Christmas morning should be an Olympic sport. You owe me.” She pointed at Nick. “Make it count. You’ve got maybe ten minutes, then the whole family is going to descend.” Olivia backed out of the barn and started to shut the door.
Holly shot out her hand. “Wait—what do you mean? There’s really a party?”
“Of course, silly. It’s your birthday.” Olivia grinned, shaking her hair out of her face. “They’ve been in on everything.” She pursed her lips. “I’m guessing the holiday family photo will also happen in here, so keep that in mind.” She winked.
The door slid shut.
Holly finally looked directly at Nick, and everything he felt deep in his chest radiated out of her eyes. Wariness. Anxiety.
And a little bit of Christmas spirit.
