Page 32 of A Christmas Changes Everything

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Holly.”

“Yeah. I’m afraid it does.” Her eyes held his for a second longer. “Good night, Chace. Sleep well.”

11

Thirty minutes and a cold shower later, Holly still couldn’t wrap her head around what had transpired in the kitchen with Chace. How something so innocuous as converting plain vanilla ice cream into a peppermint swirl and informing him the girls wanted to get a Christmas tree led to resurrected memories, sexual innuendos, and an almost-kiss she somehow found the strength to avoid.

No small feat considering she ached to feel Chace’s lips against hers again.

Clearly, Holly should have eliminated the temptation altogether by handing Chace his bowl of ice cream and making a hasty retreat to her room. Or better yet, bypassed the kitchen entirely. Gone straight downstairs and locked the damned door, even if the latter was more to keep herself in the bedroom than to keep Chace out.

Fortunately—or unfortunately, as far as her lips were concerned—Holly had managed to evade what was likely to become a one-thing-led-to-another scenario where the two of them ended up behind that locked door for real. How she was able to say what she did and escape on legs as limp as cooked spaghetti noodles, Holly didn’t have a clue.

Irritated with herself for not only putting herself in that position in the first place but for nearly surrendering to her baser needs, Holly wanted nothing more than to erase the entire encounter from her mind. Pretend it never happened.

She turned on the TV, hoping to find something enthralling or mindless to spark her interest—anything to keep her from thinking but, most of all, from remembering. Not just about what had almost happened tonight but what they’d once had together all those years ago.

Holly turned down the covers and sat on the edge of the bed to plug her cell phone into the charger. When the screen lit up, she noted three messages from her sister, the last one in huge capital letters:

CALL ME.

Generally, Holly and Kit communicated regularly. But with Sean’s accident and Lyss leaving to be with him, it was all Holly could do to adapt and merge her schedule with Emme and Wren’s. She was lucky to have had enough time to leave Kit a voicemail detailing what had happened and that she was staying at Lyss’s with the twins.

Under normal circumstances, going several days without connecting with her sister wasn’t unusual. Not when the entire McCade brigade essentially lived within spitting distance of each other, making it easy to keep tabs on family as well as members of the community. Besides, someone was always willing to make sure everyone willing to listen wasin the know.

All of which likely explained why Kit had texted and called several times in the last twenty-four hours—someone had informed her that Chace was back in Hickory Ridge. And since Kit’s Automotive served as a veritable hub of information in the twin-town hamlet, it was safe to assume word had spread that Chace was also staying at Lyss’s to help care for Emme and Wren.

Yeah, Holly could hardly wait to have this conversation with her sister.

Not.

She’d just decided to wait until the morning to return her sister’s call when the phone vibrated in her hand before another message popped up on the screen.

If you don’t call within the next five minutes, I’m coming over there and bringing the whole damn family with me.

Guess I won’t be postponing that call after all.

Inhaling a deep breath for strength to get through this conversation, Holly hit the green receiver icon and put the call on speaker.

“It’s about fucking time.”

And here we go.

“Sorry. I’ve been a little busy.”

“So I’ve heard.” Each word dripped with sarcasm. “Why didn’t you tell me he was coming to help with the twins?”

Oh, how to answer.Because it’s no big deal.

No, after crying on her sister’s shoulder for months after their breakup, Kit would never believe that.

How about…Because I didn’t think he’d actually show up.

Though somewhat true, Holly figured it would only rile up her sister more.

Maybe… Holly wracked her brain for a more plausible reason. Only none were forthcoming. Probably because she had none, aside from the fact she was trying to deal with the situation as best she could while also keeping everything as normal as possible for Emme and Wren.

“It’s not that difficult a question,” Kit stated unnecessarily.

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