Holiday with a Twist

by Shannon Stacey

  Croy had never given much thought to kissing, but he suspected Leigh’s mouth and the words coming out of it would have him thinking long and hard about kissing later. Like maybe when he was in the shower.

  “Yeah,” he said, and then he shut his mouth because the last thing he wanted to do was flirt with this woman.

  Or, more accurately, it was the last thing he should do. When she sighed, it wasn’t a sad sigh or an exasperated sigh. It was a dreamy-eyed, I-want-some-of-that sigh with a small smile that made him want to trace her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

  It was time to shut this down. “You didn’t drive here, did you?”

  “Nope. I walked.”

  The good news was that he wouldn’t have to drive her home, leaving her car in the parking lot overnight, since the only taxi service in town had gone out of business in 1986 and Uber was just a word to soup up adjectives. The bad news was that she was just tipsy enough so he wasn’t comfortable letting her walk home alone. It wasn’t very far, but it was dark and cold.

  “We lock the doors in ten minutes. Then I’ll walk you home before I close up.”

  “I would tell you that you don’t have to do that, but I know you better than that, I guess.”

  It was weird, Croy thought as he cashed out the last few open slips. Leigh did know him better than that because they’d grown up together. They’d been good friends for most of those years, and yet the woman sitting at the bar was practically a stranger. A stranger who knew a lot about him, granted, but nothing from the last eight or nine years, or however many it had been.

  “You have a coat, right?” he asked her when it was time to go. Part of him wanted to linger, finding small excuses to keep her there a little bit longer, which made no sense to him considering he hadn’t been super thrilled to see her when she walked through the door. But it was best he got her out of there before Lucas was done in the office or Jeff in the kitchen. They’d somehow made it through her having two tall drinks without his brothers knowing Leigh Holloway was sitting at the bar and he’d prefer to keep it that way.

  “There were a bunch of coats hanging on hooks in the foyer, so I hung mine there, too. You haven’t given me a bill yet, though.”

  “It’s on the house. Welcome home.”

  She paused in the process of sliding off her stool and, for a second, he was afraid she was going to fall. But she was frowning at him. “Thank you.”

  “The look on your face doesn’t really go with the words, if you know what I mean.”

  Once she was on her feet, she shrugged. “I’m surprised, I guess. I thought if I was lucky, you’d set a drink in front of me and give me the cold shoulder.”

  “And if you were unlucky?”

  “You’d refuse to serve me and I’d have to settle for expired cough syrup.”

  He laughed and nodded toward the foyer. “Go get your coat and I’ll be right there. I need to tell somebody I’m going out for a few minutes.”

  Luckily, the first somebody he came across was Dylan, who was pulling the remaining ketchup bottles from the tables and lining them up in a bus pan. The kid nodded when Croy told him he was stepping out for a few minutes to make sure a customer got home okay, but he didn’t ask any more questions. It was one of the things he liked about the young man.

  The temperature had plummeted since Croy had shown up for work at eleven that morning, but he was used to it. And he was pleasantly surprised to see that Leigh had a real coat—probably borrowed from her mother or a sister—and not some flimsy thing that looked good until her lips turned blue.

  It was cold enough so they didn’t dawdle, that was for damn sure. Despite not being totally sober, Leigh was steady enough on her feet so they kept a quick pace and didn’t chat. He walked close enough so he’d have a chance of catching her if she slipped on ice or tripped over her own feet, and it brought back memories of how many times they’d walked Center Street growing up.

  He and Aubrey and Leigh. Sometimes there were four of them since Leigh had boyfriends, of course, but mostly he remembered spending time with his girlfriend and her best friend. Then her best friend had stolen her from him, and some guy had stolen Aubrey from both of them.

  And he didn’t really care anymore. At the time, the pain and betrayal had felt as if they’d devour him, but now he knew having your heart broken was just part of growing up. And he was a lot more interested in the version of Leigh walking next to him than he was in remembering the younger version who’d pissed him off.

  “How long did you say you’re in town for?” he asked when he knew they were close to the Holloway house.

  “Three weeks. My mom wants to have a final Christmas in the old house, you know?”

  “I guessing being able to come home for that long is the silver lining in quitting your job.”

  She shrugged, and the act almost tipped her sideways. He tucked his hand around her elbow to steady her, and then left it there just in case.

  “Oops.” She giggled and the sound made him smile. Walking her home had definitely been the right decision. “Hey, there’s my house.”

  “I bet your dad’s looking forward to somebody else being responsible for cleaning the driveway and walkways.”

  “He grumbles about losing his alone time, but I think he’s secretly looking forward to it. You don’t have to walk me to the door, though. I don’t want my parents to see you and think I’m out walking at night with a guy while engaged to Jason.”

  “Okay. Feel free to stop by the pub for a drink anytime, okay? Maybe one with a little less vodka and a little more cranberry and ice.”

  “Thanks for walking me home. I’ll see you later.”

  He turned back, but he took his sweet time walking since the gentlemanly thing to do was make sure she got inside okay. If it was a woman he was walking home from a date, he’d know she got inside since he would have walked her to the door and kissed her goodnight. But this was Leigh.

  Do you like to kiss, Croy?

  He watched her open the door and then she stopped, silhouetted by the light in the hall. She turned and waved. After returning the wave, he shoved his hands in his pocket and started walking.

  He wasn’t surprised to find Lucas waiting for him when he walked back into the restaurant. His oldest brother was checking something off the bar area’s closing checklist—which was definitely Croy’s job—and he knew he’d have to hear about it for who knew how long.

  “Dylan said you were walking a woman home?”

  “Yup. I think she overestimated her ability to handle the second drink.” He plucked the list out of his brother’s hand and scowled when he saw Lucas had checked off four items. “You didn’t have to do any of this.”

  “Somebody has to.”

  Croy gave him a really look. “I wasn’t gone long and what the hell do you care how late I’m here? It’s not like you can’t leave until I do.”

  “How the hell do I know you didn’t decide you’d walk her home and then stay a while. Dylan said you looked pretty into each other.”

  “Maybe because I’ve never done that?” He didn’t even want to touch Dylan’s opinion of their alleged attraction. “And the woman was Leigh Holloway.”

  Lucas’s eyebrows shot up. “No shit?”

  “No shit.”

  “Okay. So...did she make it home?”

  Croy laughed at the implication he might have done away with her. “That was a long time ago. She’s probably flopped across her bed right now, snoring.”

  His brother looked at him for a long time before giving a short nod and turning his attention back to the list. Croy was surprised he didn’t have more to say. That year Aubrey left had been a bit of a turning point for the three brothers. Lucas and Jeff were close in age, and four and five years older than him. Croy had always been the “baby,�
�� but that year—when Croy was down and out and wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life—they’d really been there for him. They’d kept him busy and helped him get his head on straight before he returned to college determined to look forward instead of backward.

  “She didn’t think it was poor form to come into our restaurant?” Lucas said, and Croy chuckled. He should have known better. “I mean, it’s literally our family’s home.”

  “We’re also the only place in town with a liquor license.” Croy hit the button to open the cash register so he could start counting and banding money. After pulling the twenties, he handed the stack of tens to Lucas. “The thing with Aubrey was a long time ago. If we were meant to be together, she wouldn’t have run off with some other guy, so maybe Leigh did me a favor. Better while we were still in college than after we were married and had a couple of kids.”

  “That’s true.” Lucas slid a money band around a stack of tens. “It really does suck when you have to drag the kids through it with you. But you’re right. It was a long time ago.”

  “Who knows? Maybe it’ll be nice to have her around for a while. We were close when we were younger. Me, her and Aubrey were always together.”

  Lucas gave him a sideways glance. “And does this bygones attitude have anything to do with the fact Dylan said she was very attractive?”

  Croy laughed. “Somehow I doubt Dylan said that.”

  “Okay, that’s not exactly what he said. I’ll spare you the specifics, but that was the gist of it.”

  He was saved from responding by the kid in question turning the corner. “I think I’m done.”

  Lucas sighed. “You have a checklist, Dylan, so you really don’t have to think at all. Is everything on the list checked off or not?”

  “Yeah, so I must be done. Croy, when I cleaned the bar off where your lady was sitting, I found her phone under the napkin. Jeff put it with your stuff in the office.”

  “She’s not my lady,” he said, but Dylan was already on his way out, walking and looking at his phone screen at the same time.

  The kid might have overstated their relationship, but he’d been right about the very attractive part. And Croy would have to see her again, he thought as he returned his attention to the stack of twenty-dollar bills. He was going to have to start the count over. Scooping the cash up off the bar, he glanced over at Lucas to find him watching, a knowing smirk on his face. Croy snorted and shook his head before looking back at the cash in his hand.

  Leigh Holloway might be very attractive, but she was definitely not his lady.

  Chapter Three

  A dog barked. A baby cried. No, check that. A baby wailed. Leigh very reluctantly opened her eyes, testing the condition of her head. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but the cacophony of sound from Hope’s room wasn’t going to help.

  She’d only had two drinks, she thought, pulling the quilt up over her head to block out the sounds and the light that wasn’t the least bit tempered by the thin curtains on the windows. They were a far cry from the expensive, light-blocking blinds in her bedroom at home.

  Or in her former home. Technically it was Jason who had expensive, light-blocking blinds.

  It had to have been travel weariness, stress, lack of a proper meal and dehydration that did her in last night, she thought, shoving Jason and her beloved blinds out of her aching head. She loved cocktails, but she usually only got one and nursed it, while also ordering an ice water she’d sip off of the entire time. Instead, she’d had two very tall, very strong vodka and cranberries, and they’d gone straight to her head.

  As miserable as she felt, Leigh was a morning person and once she was awake, she wasn’t in the habit of lying in bed for no reason. Rolling to her side, she poked her arm out of the blankets and felt around on the nightstand for her phone.

  It wasn’t there.

  She threw the covers back and sat up, looking around the room. It wasn’t there, and the last time she could remembering having it was at the pub. She’d put a napkin over it. With a groan, she climbed out of bed. If whoever had cleaned the bar just swept everything into a bus pan, her phone could be gone for good.

  Another trip to the Center Street Pub was in her near future. After cursing under her breath at the realization she was back in the world of no private bathroom for her bedroom, she opened her door and stepped out into the hall. The bathroom door was closed, but not all the way, which was the sign nobody was in there. But before she took a step toward it, a strange and creepy breathing behind her made her turn.

  Hope’s dog—or rather, Tim’s dog—was sitting in the middle of the hall, staring at her. “Hey, Atticus.”

  His tongue was flopped out one side of his mouth and he sounded more moist than he had before. Like the sound of sucking the last few drops of liquid through a straw. She wished he’d bark or bring her a ball to throw or something. But he just watched her with those very observant eyeballs.

  “I’m going to go pee now.” She took his lack of acknowledgment as a thumbs-up and went into the bathroom. When she exited it again, the dog was gone and TJ was quiet.

  She went downstairs, hoping she hadn’t missed breakfast. There was no enticing smell of frying bacon or freshly baked banana bread wafting through the house. She could smell coffee, though, which meant there was hope.

  “Good morning,” she said as she walked into the kitchen, hoping her parents wouldn’t notice she wasn’t feeling exactly chipper.

  “Morning, sunshine.” Her dad looked over the top of his newspaper and gave her a wink.

  In that moment, Leigh was so glad her mom had called her to come back. Maybe she’d made a mess of her life in the process of stopping herself from making more of a mess, but she had this. Her dad winking at her over his paper as he’d done every morning she’d spent in this house. Her mom pouring her a cup of coffee.

  “There are some microwave breakfast sandwiches in the freezer if you want one,” her mom said as she set the mug of coffee on the table.

  Okay, that was not the same. And it sucked. “Um...okay.”

  “They’re the kind with egg whites and turkey bacon, so they’re much healthier than the breakfasts I used to make. And they’re so quick and easy.”

  “No cooking and no pans to wash,” Leigh said, picking up the coffee.

  “Exactly. Freedom and lower cholesterol.”

  “I might make one later, thanks.” The last thing Leigh wanted was to throw microwaved egg whites at her stomach. The coffee would be bad enough, but she could only sacrifice so much. “It sounds like TJ is pretty fussy this morning, so I’m going to take this upstairs and see if Hope needs some help with him. Or some company while he cries it out.”

  “The poor little guy’s been cranky lately.”

  “Maybe he’s spending too much time with that dog.”

  Her mom laughed. “Isn’t Atticus the cutest little thing? Don’t tell Hope, but I’m knitting Atticus and TJ matching sweaters for Christmas.”

  “That sounds...” Horrifying. “Super cute.”

  Her dad coughed, making the paper rustle, and Leigh knew he was trying to stifle a laugh. She was having a hard time keeping a straight face herself, so she retreated back up the stairs, coffee in hand.

  She found Hope sitting in the rocker their dad had bought for their mom when she was pregnant for the first time. TJ wasn’t wailing anymore, but he was fussing and squirming, while Hope just looked exhausted and Atticus stared.

  Her sister looked at the mug in her hand and perked up. “I’ll trade you my child for that coffee.”

  “No.”

  “No? You’re heartless, Leigh.”

  She sipped the coffee because maybe she was a little heartless when it came to caffeine, and then shook her head. “All’s fair in love and hangovers.”

 
“A hangover? You’re not serious.”

  Leigh crossed the room and turned the mug, holding it so her sister could have a drink from the clean edge. “Not really a hangover, but I have a bit of a headache. I didn’t eat much yesterday and was tired and dehydrated. Two drinks and Croy had to walk me home.”

  “Wait. What? He walked you home?”

  “Why does that surprise you? You know he’s always been a good guy.”

  “Except for the shouting match that made you cry for two days.”

  “Water under a very old bridge.” It felt good to say that out loud, making her realize how much she’d been bothered over the years by the way she and Croy had left things.

  Hope nodded, shifting her son so she could reach out a hand for the coffee mug. Leigh took a big swallow and then surrendered it. She might have a headache and a desperate need for caffeine, but she didn’t have an unhappy baby. And she wasn’t heartless.

  “It sounds like the night went okay, then,” Hope said, “if the past is water under the bridge and he walked you home. You know, I think he’s even better looking now than he was when we were kids and he was one of the cutest boys in town.”

  “Don’t even go there.”

  “Speaking of not going there, how come Jason didn’t come with you?”

  Ouch. “He didn’t have any vacation time left and he’s working on a big project.”

  “So he used all of his vacation time and you used none? Weird.”

  “He took a couple of guys’ trips and some long weekends. Hey, I need to go Christmas shopping,” she said, wanting to turn the conversation away from Croy and Jason.

  Hope laughed, shaking her head. “Way to leave it to the last minute.”

  “Once Mom called and guilted me into coming home for the holidays, I didn’t have time to do the shopping and get everything wrapped and boxed and shipped in addition to everything else I had to do before I left. And I really didn’t want to schlep a suitcase full of gifts to the airport with me, so the easiest solution was waiting and doing all my shopping once I got here.”