Page 36 of Three Days of Holiday

“Well, where were you, Will?” Diane demanded as Holly’s sister unzipped a bag to a pup tent and watched it pop up, righting itself perfectly.

I finally spared Diana a glance. “Not that it is any of your business, but I was at Tanner’s house.” It wasn’t a lie. I had been at his home. I just conveniently left out who I’d been with.

Her eyes narrowed, and she tapped her foot against the carpeted floor in annoyance. “I called you six times,” she whispered in a quick sneer so no one else heard.

I finished fixing the black table cover I’d been working on before she walked in the room. “Yes, I saw.” I just didn’t have enough concern to answer. If it was actually important, someone from my family would have notified me.

Holly ended up leaving Tanner’s house at seven withthe excuse she needed to get her final decorations together. It was way over her three-hour self-imposed limit but still too soon for my liking.

We talked for hours about everything and nothing. It felt like we worked out the details of our relationship yet nothing at all.

The only guarantee was that I’d fallen hopelessly in love with Holly Halliday. Unfortunately, I was still the future CEO of Causebay Family Farms. The more we were together, the more I realized my belief we could work through our issues was a dream. Her family still hated me more than apple farmers hate a late seasonal frost.

I couldn’t handle the thought that a stupid family feud might keep us separated.

From the wayher brother glared at me from across the room, the hatred ran deep. He had the same expression my father wore if on a random day in the middle of June the temperatures plummeted to under forty degrees and left us wondering what would happen to the apple stock.

“And you couldn’t call me back?” Diane asked.

I sighed, not wanting to go over this with her but needing to escape the drama until after the competition. “I wanted a good night’s sleep to get here on time. Five when they unlocked the doors. Like we agreed.”

She crinkled her nose and flattened her lips, giving me one of her sneers, but it didn’t faze me. She gave me worse while dating.

Holly’s can of fake snow sputtered out, giving her one last decent spurt before we heard its death rattle on ourside of the room. She shook the can, staring at it, and took two steps backward, bumping into the fake wall Uncle Johnny’s Apple Orchard set up to hide their preparation. The wall monstrosity teetered back and forth, and Holly desperately grabbed at it.

“So sorry!” she called as she got the piece under control.

Her sweet demeanor brought a smile to my face, making me forget I wasn’t alone. Diane slid up right next to me. We were so close I smelled the coffee on her breath.

“I can forgive indiscretions while we are taking a break, but your father will never forgive you for sleeping with the Halliday whore.”

I sucked in a breath at her words and clenched my fists, disturbing the tablecloth I’d just fixed. If she wasn’t a woman, I’d have hit her without a second thought. No one talked that way about Holly and got away with it. How did she even guess? When had my family become so toxic? Were we so power hungry we no longer cared about people?

“Grab the lights,” I said with only darkness in my voice and a promising look in my eyes. “Get to work, and never comment on my personal business again.”

As much as I wanted to throw a fit and cause a scene, I didn’t have time to waste on Diane at the moment. I should’ve taken care of her a year ago. Helped her find employment someplace else before things grew so bitter between us, but I couldn’t rectify the mistake right now.

We had a competition to win.

“Shawn, grab the last two tablecloths and cover these tables,” I said pointing to two naked food tables in theback of our area. We had most of our design put together, but assembling the food had to happen at the last possible moment to guarantee freshness.

I stepped into the middle of the room using the small blank space without tables and pulled my phone from my pocket to send Holly a text.

Will: Good luck. Your tables look good.

I hit send and waited for her knowing glance after she read the message.

While I stood quietly, the commotion around the room kept me alert. I loved the atmosphere right before a final. I was going to win the competition, but that didn’t mean Holly hadn’t done an amazing job with her layout. She was a formidable opponent.

I already made my way back to our tables by the time her return text came through.

Holly: Thanks. Your setup is… dark.

I chuckled, agreeing with her assessment and understanding it didn’t look great at the moment. We hadn’t pulled in all the pieces yet.

My phone buzzed again in my hand almost immediately.

Holly: Also, you were right. Johnny’s group is a bunch of assholes.

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