Page 54 of The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
“And you found out he’s the sweet guy who wrote a card you always cherished. Be happy about that, Hol. Try to enjoy it—maybe even for what it was. Because even if it was just a great night between old friends, how can that be a bad thing? It could have been exactly what you need right now.”
“I needed this pep talk,” Holly says, and she does feel a little better already. “Thanks for being there.”
“Of course. Is there anything you can do today to get your mind off him?”
Holly thinks for a moment. “There are cross-country skis in the shed. I think I still remember how to Nordic ski.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“Plus, it was a super-late night. I could have a nice long nap.”
“Sounds like a perfect day to me.”
“So, how’s it going there? And who is this friend you went camping with?”
“Just someone I met at the hotel,” Ivy says as Holly hears voices in the background. “I’ll tell you more later, but I have to go.” As Ivy hangs up abruptly, Holly feels a twinge. She’s thousands of miles away from her best friend—and although she insisted she needed to be alone and that’s why she came to the Hudson Valley, the distance feels suddenly vast.
She pours herself a coffee, and feels somewhat betterafter she drinks one, then another. She dresses in her warmest clothes and heads to the shed to find the cross-country skis, determined to have a good day—on her own. Aiden might call, and he might not. Either way, Holly tells herself, she’s going to be fine.
Holly hasn’t Nordic skied for a few years, but once she has the boots and skis on, it all comes back to her. She moves easily along the drive and out onto the road, following the signs for the hiking trail.
At first, the path is narrow, and sheshushesalong in silence beside skinny birch trees covered in icing-like layers of snow. But eventually, the path opens up, and the trees morph from birches and elms to formidable evergreens. They tower above her, their snowy tops barely visible as they reach toward the sky. The trail widens even more, and Holly turns a corner—then gasps at the beauty of it all. The valley is laid out below her like someone shook out a blanket covered in picturesque mountain ranges and evergreen trees, all topped with lacy snow. The sky above is a brilliant blue, with fluffy clouds floating across it.
Holly stands still and takes it in, feeling the anxiety about Aiden start to dissipate. Another breath of the winter air and her head is almost clear. She thinks of what Ivy said, about how he might call or he might not. And she’ll be fine. She did what she wanted to do. She had a great night.
Even if they don’t end up getting together again, she knowsshe’ll always have a special place in her heart for him, especially knowing he was the one who wrote her the card she’s treasured.
She glides forward again, feeling the power those long-ago words have always given her, as simple as they were. They make her remember who she used to be—who she is around the people she feels most comfortable with.
The sun is almost down by the time Holly turns the corner onto the driveway of the cabin again, stomach grumbling, thinking over what she might make for dinner—but all thoughts of food fly from her head when she sees Aiden shoveling the cabin path. He stops when he sees her.
“Hey!” he calls out. “I saw the tracks in the snow, so figured you’d gone out for a ski. I decided to wait for you. Hope that’s okay?”
She stands by the shed and pops off the skis, then walks toward him along the path he’s shoveled for her, her shy smile growing bigger the closer she gets to him. It’s cold out, and getting even more so as the sun goes down, but Holly doesn’t feel the cold anymore. Her entire body feels warm, and her heart is pounding.
“More than okay,” she says. “I’m happy to see you.”
“Oh, yeah?” His smile is slow and sexy—and this side of him is new, the side of Aiden that isn’t just sweet and nicebut also extremely hot. He steps closer to her. “Even when I acted like a total weirdo this morning, when I kicked you out of my bed and took off on you?” He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry about that. I did have a meeting in the city, but the truth is, I think I might have needed a little time to process what happened between us last night. I could have handled it better.”
She looks up at him and tilts her head. “And? How did that processing go?”
His smile grows bigger. “All I could think, all day long, wasI must be the luckiest guy in the world. And the stupidest one, for leaving.” He reaches out, puts his hands on her waist. “Which is why I drove out here the second I got back into town. I couldn’t wait a minute longer to see you.”
Holly reaches up and touches his stubbly cheek, runs a finger along his chin, pulls his face to hers. Their lips meet in the twilight, and their kisses quickly grow fervent.
“Come inside,” Holly says, leading him to the door. Inside, she can’t get out of her winter clothes fast enough, and neither can he—and soon, they’ve fallen together onto the couch, lips locked, limbs entwined, exactly where they both want to be.
15
Ivy
December 23
Kauai, Hawaii
Oliver’s arm brushes against Ivy’s as they load their tents into the back of his Jeep—but, as she has grown used to doing, she forces herself to ignore the shower of sparks his touch sets off on her skin, to push away how his proximity makes her feel. Not think about how it felt to kiss him in the waterfall pool. Definitely not think about doing that again.
Despite the tension Ivy feels, they listen to music and chat easily during the drive and are back at Larry’s villa by noon. As they’re unpacking their camping gear from the back of the Jeep, Larry comes outside with a phone message: a colleague of Oliver’s from the hotel has a sick kid at home andis looking for someone to cover her shift. Oliver looks concerned as he heads inside to call her back.
