Page 73 of Mistletoe, Mayhem & Mr. Grump
"Two minutes," he requests.
"No."
"One minute?"
"No."
"Thirty seconds?"
"She said no," Finn intervenes. "Give her space."
Holden nods, but doesn't leave. "I just wanted to say—the board meeting was interesting. I told them over the phone exactly where they could shove their acquisition plans."
"And?" I ask despite myself.
"And I've been officially terminated. Disowned. Disinherited. The full corporate excommunication package," he says, and he's actually smiling about it.
"You seem happy about losing everything," June observes, taking notes.
"I didn't lose everything," he says, still looking at me. "I lost things I never wanted. There's a difference."
"Pretty words again," I mutter, but my heart's doing something stupid.
"Truthful words," he corrects. "I'm done lying. To you, to myself, to everyone."
"Except about your name," I point out.
"I'm legally changing it," he announces. "To Holden Clark. Just Clark."
The room goes quiet again.
"You're giving up the Pierce name?" Delia asks.
"I never wanted it. It came with too many strings," he explains.
"That's a big gesture," Teddy says, wiping his eyes. "Very romantic."
"It's paperwork," I say, but my voice wavers.
"Everything important is paperwork," Mr. Jackson says wisely. "Marriage, divorce, restraining orders. All paperwork."
"Why do restraining orders make your important paperwork list?" June asks.
"The harvest festival," he says simply.
Everyone nods knowingly. I'm starting to think I don't want to know about the harvest festival.
"The point is," Holden continues, "tomorrow at the gala, I won't be Holden Pierce. I'll just be the guy with one callus who's terrible at cars but really good at falling in love with you."
"Stop it," I whisper.
"Stop what?" he asks.
"Stop saying things that make me want to forgive you," I admit.
"Then I'll keep saying them until you do," he promises.
"That's not how forgiveness works," I protest.
