Page 5 of Three Days of Holiday

Richard paused, waiting for something until one of the other judges created a fake drumbeat on the corner of a table. They really took this thing seriously.

“This year’s alternate to Maine’s Annual Apple Cider Taste-Off is…” he paused even longer, letting the drum roll increase. I took a deep breath, hoping to be out of the showroom in the next five minutes. “Family Fun Time.”

A small cheer rose from the left side of the auditorium and I peeked in their direction before swooping back at Holly. Her shoulders slumped, and she stared at the floor as her sister Hope whispered something to her. It seemed even the sisters didn’t think Oceanview Orchards was first-place material.

“If something should happen and our first-place contestant cannot perform their duties at the statewide event in three days, Family Fun Time will represent the great east side of the state. More drum roll, please,” Richard said, motioning to the other judge and then waiting for the beat to begin again. “The first-place finalist, the farm or orchard who will go forth to represent our great section of the state in the final competition, is none other than…”

The drum beat rose higher, and I clenched my hand into a fist, ready to be on with it. Anticipation dripped down my spine, and I found myself curious to learn the winner as much as the contestants.

“Oceanview Orchards!” Richard yelled into the microphone, and then his face fell when the applause was a healthy clap rather than a roaring onslaught, as it seemed he expected.

It was a perfectly socially acceptable time to look at the winners of the event, so I turned, giving my back to Diane. I watched as Holly and Hope hugged in the back of the room, each of them jumping up and down at the news.

“Good luck, Oceanview Orchards. Represent us well as you win our annual taste-off. We will be there rooting for you.”

“Well, this year’s competition should be an easy wash,” Diane said, barely missing stepping on Bacon’s tail as she moved closer. “I’m headed back. Are you coming?”

“No, I need to stay and talk with Peter about outsourcing more product from him next year.”

“You heard your father last week. He doesn’t want to work with Peter any longer, so why waste your time?”

Bacon lifted his nose for her to give him a pet, but Diane ripped her hand away and put it behind her back. The fact she hated my dog should have been the first clue that our relationship would never work.

I pulled Bacon closer so he wouldn’t get a complex. Diane was gorgeous—supermodel pretty. Her beautiful blue eyes duped me for a while, but when she stopped pretending to like Bacon, her true colors came through.

Diane was the exact opposite of Holly, who had brown hair and honey-colored eyes. The two women looked and acted nothing alike. How did I spend a year dating Diane, but meeting Holly in the hallway gave me more nervous jitters than a girlfriend ever had?

“One day soon the business will be mine and then I’ll work with whoever I want,” I said, lacing my words with venom. “And I can get rid of those I don’t.”

Diane used a hand to fluff her hair. “We’ll see.”

I had no intentions of working with Peter. My father and I might not have agreed on every aspect of running the business, but we didn’t need Peter’s inferior product. It was the right choice to move on to someone else. But Icouldn’t very well admit to Diane my true reason for staying.

I stood next to Bacon and watched as she walked out of the conference hall, knowing once the door closed behind her, she’d never stoop herself low enough to hang out with these commoners, as she liked to call them. She only agreed to attend today because she heard I planned to visit.

It was like she thought if we turned up at enough events together, somehow we’d magically end up dating again. It wasn’t a wholeheartedly horrible plan, if I was being honest. Loneliness one night after a conference in Florida was how our relationship began, but I wasn’t stupid enough to fall in that viper pit again.

When the door clicked closed behind Diane, I slowly made my way back to the Oceanview Orchards’ table, scanning the crowd to guarantee nobody remained in the room who’d report my actions back to my father or any other family member. You didn’t fraternize with the competition and certainly never with a Halliday.

“Congratulations on your win,” I said to Holly once I reached her table.

She stopped deconstructing her tower of donuts long enough to turn to me. A smile sat on her face, causing the freckles gracing the top of her nose to crinkle. “Thank you. I really didn’t know if I’d pull it off.”

“Do you think you’ll be ready for the finals in three days? It’s a tough competition, I hear,” I said, plucking a donut from her hand and breaking it in half before taking a bite.

Her smile fell, and I hated that my question removedthe look from her face, but her lips only tipped back up again as she thought about what the next few days held.

“I’m ready. Well, actually I’m not,” she said and then punctuated the sentence with a laugh. “But I’m pretty sure I canbeready in time.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said around the most delicious bites of cinnamon sugar apple cider donut I’d ever eaten in my entire life. Someone definitely had to figure out the recipe they were using with their donuts. “Would you be interested in a celebratory drink this evening?”

Heat licked at my toes with the fire I was starting. Nothing good could ever happen between Holly and me. The universe would never allow it, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t take out a beautiful woman for a congratulatory drink just once.

No one needed to know.

Hope’s head popped up from behind the table. “She doesn’t do drinks unless dinner is included.”

Holly’s eyes widened, and she twisted around. “Hope! That’s not true,” she said before turning to face me again.

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