Page 70 of The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
Aiden kneels down and runs his hands over the cat’s body. “Just a little cold, and that’s nothing a few minutes in front of the fire won’t cure. She’s perfectly fine. Thanks to Holly.” He looks at her from across the room, but Holly can’t tell what he’s thinking—the urgency of her sadness is suddenly back, full force.
“Excuse me,” Holly says, and slips from the room to find somewhere she can be alone and collect her thoughts.
“Holly?” She turns. Alexa has followed her out into the hallway. Holly takes a deep breath, willing her tears to stay at bay.
“Please, Alexa. I can’t take any more, okay? I’m a little shaken up. I just need a minute.”
But there’s something different about Alexa’s expression. Her eyes are wide, and she’s clasping her hands together. “I came out here to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t fair to you. Aiden was so upset to find you’d left—and he was going to go out and find you, but then George called to tell him Mrs. Claws was missing, so we all rushed out here to help find her. Butyouhad gotten here first, and were out in the snow, on Christmas night, looking for an old man’s cat.”
“Of course I was. George adores Mrs. Claws.”
“It was really kind of you to go out looking for her. I’msorry for what I accused you of—finding Aiden on purpose because you knew he was rich and successful now, and therefore more up to your standards. I don’t know what’s been getting into me lately.” She sighs. “Well, actually I do know. But just because some anxiety I thought I had kicked is getting the better of me, it’s no reason for me to treat people the way I have been. People like you. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course,” Holly says, then offers a tentative smile. “No grudges allowed at Christmas, right? It’s really okay. And what you’re going through—that’s hard. I’m sorry. But I know everyone in your family loves you a lot.” She can feel the tears rising up again. “Alexa, I think I need to go,” she says.
“Holly, wait, no—”
“I have to, Alexa. I really do.” Alexa looks stricken as Holly turns for the door. “Could you say good night to everyone from me? Thank them for everything? I’m sorry. I really am.”
She fumbles with her boots and coat and is barely out the door before the tears start again almost at once, flowing hot down her cheeks in the cold night air. She breaks into a jog, heading for her car.
“Holly!” In just a few steps, Aiden has caught up to her. “Holly.” He says her name again, gently—the same way she said Mrs. Claws’s name earlier, being careful not to startle her into running away.
“Please, don’t cry,” he says.
“I can’t stop myself. And this isn’t something that you should have to deal with.”
He steps closer. “But why not? I care about you, Holly. A lot.”
“Even after everything? Even after the fact that I was engaged to someone and I didn’t even tell you?”
“I think I understand,” he says. “You came here to heal, and you didn’t want to talk about it. And I promise, I never thought it was what Alexa said—that you had come out here looking for me because you’d heard I was successful, and you never would have given me the time of day before. I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but I just know you would never do that. Back at my parents’ place, I went outside because…” He trails off.
And all at once, Holly finds herself smiling, even through her tears. “Because you needed a minute,” she says. “Because it takes you time to think, and you just wanted to do that, to think. So you went out to the yard.”
He smiles, too, and reaches for her. “Exactly.” They stand like that, holding each other’s hands, but not embracing, not yet. “And then I came back in ten minutes later, and you had gone. I was so upset with Alexa for being that hard on you.”
“It’s okay, really. We talked in the hallway.”
He shakes his head. “It’s nice of you to be understanding, but she and I need to have a big talk, too. Meanwhile, I’mworried about you. It was so great of you to help George. Please, don’t run off.”
“Of course. I’m so glad I found her.”
“I’m so glad I foundyou,” he says, his voice hoarse now, full of emotion. “But Holly, I also don’t want to be a rebound for you. I care about you way too much for that. So, as hard as it would be for me, take all the time you need.”
Holly swallows hard over the lump in her throat. “I know. And I don’t want you to be a rebound, either. I like you so much, Aiden. I was with my fiancé for a long time, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him—and yet I know already that the way I feel for you is different. Stronger. It’s what I think I’ve always wanted, even though I half convinced myself it didn’t exist.” She pauses. “After tonight, though, I’ve realized that I want to do it right. I can’t rush into anything with you because I’m afraid I’ll ruin it. And the idea that I might have ruined it was completely devastating for me. I think that means we have to slow down a little.” As she says this, she finds herself drawn toward his lips, as if they’re twin magnets, pulling her closer. He seems to feel the same, lowering his head until their lips touch, softly, barely.
“I understand,” he whispers. “I don’t want anything to ruin this, ever.”
They kiss gently in the snowy Christmas night, and then pull away from each other. Every single part of her wants toask him to come back to the cabin with her, but instead she says, “I’m going to head back alone. But I’ll call you in the morning?”
“Okay,” he says, kissing her one last time. Then he stands and watches as she drives away into the darkness—but when she reaches the end of the driveway, she hits the brakes. She can see the words on his long-ago card in her mind: “Dear Holly, I’m writing to wish you a very Merry Christmas—and to profess my deep affection for you. I think you’re the best girl in the school. You’re pretty, you’re smart, you’re kind, you’re funny, you’re entirely you, and I’ve never met anyone I liked more. I hope we always know each other.”
She held these words in her memory for twelve years. Never forgetting a single one. And the person who wrote them was Aiden.
She puts on the emergency brake and gets out of the car, runs back toward him in the gently falling snow, her steps growing lighter with every one that takes her back to the place where he is standing, waiting. The tears are streaming down her face again, but she knows they aren’t tears of sadness. And when she gets close enough to him, they stop falling.
He looks confused, but cautiously happy. “Did you forget something?”
