by Kadie Scott
Holly grimaced. “My degree was time-consuming…”
“We don’t blame you.” Evaline reached out and squeezed her arm. “We enjoy your company. I’m so glad you took a job in La Colina. Now we’ll see you more often.”
Wow. So far most of the people who’d known her before she left had been relatively understanding. She’d had no idea what to expect, given many of the comments directed her way or muttered under breaths just before she drove off to college. What she hadn’t expected was a warm welcome. Maybe Evaline Hill hadn’t heard the rumors?
“Thank you,” Holly murmured, not quite sure how to respond.
“You remember everyone’s names?” John asked.
She smiled and nodded. Hard not to. Granted, she’d only gone to school with Carter, Cash and Will. She’d met the rest of the family a handful of times—the funeral, Sophia’s baptism and one or two other holidays—but the family, en masse, sure made an impression.
“You really know all of them?” Sophia asked her, eyes wide with surprise.
Holly chuckled. “With names like theirs, it’s hard to forget. Let’s see if I get them all right.” She took Sophia’s hand and, with her other hand, she pointed.
“That’s John, your grandpa. What do you call him?”
“Pop-pop.”
“Your uncle Will. Your daddy.” Holly let her gaze skate past Cash to the woman in the armchair.
“Over there is your aunt Carter.” Cash’s twin sister—a female version of him, with a more slender face and feminine lips—smiled and waved.
“That’s your uncle Autry. And over there is your uncle Jennings.” Younger versions of the Hill men grinned from where they stood at the back corner of the room.
“Did I get everyone?” Holly asked.
Sophia nodded.
“Then I guess I must know them all.”
“You know who they’re named after?” Sophia asked.
Holly chuckled. Like most Texans, she was a country music fan. “Yes. After country music singers, using their last names.”
“After the greats,” John added with a grin, his blue eyes twinkling and suddenly reminding her of Cash. “Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, June Carter, Gene Autry and Waylon Jennings.”
“Autry and Jennings got the raw end of the deal, though,” Carter commented.
The men shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
“Don’t you believe it. They love the attention.” Evaline winked at Holly.
“As someone who is one of three siblings all with names related to Christmas, I know a little bit how they feel.”
Was she just being sensitive, or did the Hills just take a collective breath. Funny how tension could become a palpable thing.
“Christmas?” Sophia questioned at her side, where she’d latched on to Holly’s hand, breaking the silence.
“Yes, it was my mother’s favorite holiday,” Holly stage-whispered to the child, who giggled in response.
“My middle name is for Christmas,” Sophia informed her proudly.
“Sophia Ivy. I know!” She’d been so proud…and humbled…when Georgia had told her that she’d given Sophia a middle name in honor of Holly. It reminded Holly of the lead-up to Sophia’s birth.
Yes, Georgia went after Cash when she knew very well how much Holly’d been crushing on him for years—they’d certainly talked about it enough. And she’d done so not caring about Cash at all. Not really. She’d cheated on Marcus. Not to mention the paternity question mark. Suddenly, Holly hadn’t known who her best friend was. Hadn’t liked who she was turning into.
Eventually, Holly forgave her. That one gesture in naming Sophia had healed a year-long rift and rekindled a friendship Holly had missed desperately. Georgia had made a mistake. They’d moved on. Or, she thought they had.
Holly turned back to a room of stunned faces. Once again, as in the grocery store, Holly got the impression the child didn’t giggle often. Or perhaps they didn’t know about the Christmas name origin. Or weren’t expecting her to bring up her siblings. She didn’t say anything, not wanting to bring up Georgia again and kill the mood.
“Oh, let the poor girl at least sit before we start grilling her.” Evaline broke the silence as she laughingly shooed Will off his seat on the couch.
Reluctantly, Holly sat beside Cash, horribly conscious of his muscled leg pressed up against the length of hers. Sophia distracted her by hopping right up into her lap, causing a small gasp to flutter through the room.
Cash turned the attention back to the earlier conversation. “So Christmas?”
She faced him then immediately regretted doing so as it added eye contact to the mix. Her body, which was already warming uncomfortably, didn’t need any more kindling.
As casually as she could, Holly shrugged. “It wasn’t originally the plan, as I understand it. She just loved the name Holly, but Christmas was also her favorite holiday, so when my sister was born, Mom decided to go with the theme and named her Noel. Then Mom had a boy, and that stumped her a bit. Eventually she went with Kris with a K.”
Holly smiled affectionately at the old memory.
Sophia tugged on Holly’s sleeve. “Does Kris stand for Christmas?”
Holly tweaked Sophia’s nose. “I’ll have to tell Kris that one. No, it stands for Kris Kringle.”
Sophia grinned.
Carter leaned forward. “I knew of your siblings but never really talked to them. Where are they now?”
“You don’t have to answer that. My sister is really nosy.” Holly turned just in time to catch Cash’s glare, cast over her head at Carter.
Holly kept her smile in place with effort. “No, it’s okay. Kris is in the Navy…Special Forces. So visits with him, or even phone calls, are few and far between. I believe he’s somewhere in the Middle East right now. He’s never allowed to say until he gets back, and even then most everything is classified. Noel is in the middle of a law degree at Stanford.”
“I know your parents passed away. Do you get together with your siblings often?” John asked.
Lord, she could cut the polite curiosity with a knife. Better to address it, though. In actual fact, she had no idea where her father was, but she didn’t correct him. Grams had been a parent to her more than a grandparent. Holly glanced at Sophia’s small form and considered her words carefully. “Not too often since we’re each in different states with time-consuming careers.”
“That’s too bad,” Evaline murmured, hand to her heart.
Sophia tensed in Holly’s grasp. Suddenly she wiggled around to wrap her slim arms around Holly’s neck, apparently having understood the impact of the discussion. “You lost your mommy too?” she whispered.
Holly glanced at Cash and caught the flash of pain in his eyes as he watched his child.
“Yes, I did.”
“Do you miss your mommy?”
She’d have to be a jerk to miss the tug on her heart caused by those heartbreaking words and ran her hand over Sophia’s hair. “Every day. My Grams too. She helped raise us until she passed.”
Sophia squeezed Holly’s neck. An old soul gazed back at her through a child’s eyes, and they silently bonded over the shared pain of the loss of a mother. Holly glanced up and her gaze collided with Cash’s. Instead of pity or sympathy, or even accusation—like she usually got from people—he viewed her with a strange kind of hostility, more than what her past actions warranted.
Holly summoned a smile from somewhere for Sophia. “It was long ago, and I’m a tough cookie.”
“And you had your brother and sister.”
Holly kept the light smile on her lips through sheer force of will. She wasn’t proud of that time in her life…after Grams died. She’d known coming back to La Colina would mean facing that again. Doing so with Cash watching sucked, though.
“Excuse me while I go check on the food,” Evaline said, and Holly was grateful for the needed interruption.
She turned her attention back to the room to find severa
l curious expressions turned her way. Time for a distraction. A happy one, preferably. “The hawk’s wing is almost healed,” she told Sophia, remembering the little girl’s interest at the grocery store. “If he can fly, then we’ll release him soon.”
“Can we go see him, Daddy?” Sophia immediately asked.
As distractions went, it’d worked. Cash hesitated only briefly, but his daughter’s enthusiasm seemed to sway him. “Of course.”
“Yay!” Sophia clapped her hands.
Once again, Holly got the impression this was not typical behavior for the four-year-old, as a few heads in the room shook from side to side in wonder.
“When? Tonight?” Sophia, like all children, pressed for specifics.
Holly glanced at Cash, who looked right back at her with raised eyebrows. “Oh, ummm…”
“Supper’s ready.” Evaline poked her head in the room.
Saved by the dinner bell, so to speak.
Chaos reigned as all the Hills rose at once, chattering as they made their way to the dining room. Holly would’ve hung back, slightly overwhelmed by the boisterous family, but Cash didn’t let her.
“Come on.” He waited for her. Again, she got the impression he was protecting her, which was ridiculous, of course. The man walked the other way when he saw her most of the time. She made sure not to touch him, though he was close enough for her to catch the scent of his aftershave—sandalwood. Yummy.
Holly brought herself up short mentally. When did Cash Hill become yummy again? That schoolgirl crush had died a swift death the moment Georgia announced she was pregnant. At the thought of her now-deceased friend, guilt washed through her. Cash had been left a widower barely a year ago and was probably still pining for his lost wife. Not only that, but there was the Marcus situation as well. Holly kicked herself for thoughts and feelings that obviously fell under the heading “inappropriate.”
“Holly, you sit here, dear,” Evaline indicated.
Holly relaxed a smidge when she noticed she’d been placed between John and Will. She didn’t think she could cope with more close encounters with Cash tonight.
The organized chaos continued as everyone got seated and served themselves. The chatter never stopped. Holly, not used to being around a family this large, stayed quiet but found herself enjoying the good-natured banter.
“Georgia used to talk about you training barrel racers in college. I bumped into Luke Tribble the other day, and he mentioned you might be a good person to talk to about training techniques,” Will said from beside her.
Holly stopped midway to spooning some delicious King Ranch casserole to her mouth. “I’ve trained here and there, though more cutters than barrel racers, to earn some money in college.”
Will reached for a roll to butter. “We train cutters here already, some track racers too, which is new. I recently started on a barrel racer, and I’m not happy with the progress. I wouldn’t mind trading tips.”
Holly grinned. “I’d be happy to.” She happened to glance across the table, where Cash sat. He was looking at Will oddly, but as soon as he caught her gaze on him, he changed to a neutral expression.
Ignoring whatever was bothering Cash, she shifted her attention back to Will. “If you don’t mind sharing tips of your own. I’ve been around horses all my life but only started training barrel racers a few years ago. Everything I’ve learned is from the Internet, plus figuring out what works for my horses and my style in general.”
“Have you competed?” Carter asked from the other end of the table.
Holly realized her conversation with Will had become the cynosure of the room and ducked her head a bit but kept going. “No, for a couple of reasons, but the horses I trained have all done well.”
“Georgia showed us some of your videos,” Carter shared.
Holly rolled her eyes. Sounded like something Georgia would do.
“I’d like to see you ride and some of the drills you run,” Will said.
She played with her glass of wine. “Sure. Although, the corral where I work my horses by our office is too small to actually do a full barrel run.”
“How about you come out here sometime? Bring your horse or both of them. You’ve seen our arena.”
“I’d love to try Mischief out in there, but ermm…” She hesitated to ask her next question.
“What?” Will asked.
“Would you mind if I try out my horse Solario on your track?” At his raised eyebrows, she added, “He seems to have a lot of speed, but it’s hard to tell.”
“Sure,” he agreed.
“Oh, that would be fun!” Evaline said. “Maybe we could all watch!”
“Yes! Yes!” Sophia cheered, bouncing up and down in her seat beside Cash. The rest of the room also broke out in chatter the way Holly was starting to realize the rowdy Hill clan often did. Comments flew and quickly became a lively discussion of horse-related events.
At least their focus was off her for a second. Holly took another bite of casserole and thought while she chewed. She hadn’t exactly planned to try her horses out with a crowd watching.
She realized Cash wasn’t adding to the discussion. A glance across the table showed him watching her with a surprisingly concerned light in his eyes.
“You don’t have to,” he mouthed.
Why was this man, who seemed to not like her all that much, the only one who understood she tended to be a loner, on the shy side, and wasn’t so comfortable with crowds? Usually she was able to hide it from everyone. Except Georgia. And why did he care anyway?
“It’s fine,” she mouthed back before taking another bite. She chewed without tasting.
“Are you going to the Cinco de Mayo dance this weekend, Holly?” Carter suddenly interrupted the general chatter.
Holly had a sneaking suspicion Cash’s twin had caught their exchange and decided to get involved.
Holly was still chewing a bite and held up a hand.
“Oh, you must go,” Carter insisted before Holly could speak. “I came home from school a little early just for it.”
“What’re you studying?” Holly asked, in an attempt to sidetrack the conversation.
“Carter’s the brain in the family,” Will said.
Carter rolled her eyes but smiled, addressing Holly. “I recently finished my Masters in Hydrologic Science and Water Management. Now I’m working on my PhD.”
Holly raised her eyebrows. “Sounds interesting?”
Carter shrugged. “Water—distribution, rights, usages, pollution—is a big deal to farmers and ranchers all over the country, and something that needs solving. I could either go the political route—”
“Which is a bad idea,” Autry interrupted.
Carter shook her head and kept going: “—or the science route. I decided to go science.”
“Very impressive,” Holly said. “Why not politics?”
Carter grinned. “Because I’m too honest to play the political game.”
“We’re really proud of her,” Jennings said. “She’s crazy smart.”
“Sounds like it.”
Carter waved them off. “Thanks, but you’re not getting out of the dance discussion. Are you going?”
“Going is a relative term.”
Carter sniggered. “Relative to what?”
Holly shrugged. “Does driving by and noticing all the cars count?”
That did what she wanted and got everyone laughing. Even Cash chuckled.
“I don’t count that as an answer,” Carter said.
Holly shifted in her seat. “It’s been a long time since I went to the Cinco de Mayo thing.” Her senior year of high school, in fact. “Is it still the same?” She looked around the table and got nods.
“After thirty years of tradition, you don’t mess with a good thing,” John said.
Will nudged her with his elbow. “It’s still a bit old-fashioned, but fun. And it’s grown.”
“Just about everyone from this side of Austin shows up now. A chance to
get together with neighbors we don’t see that often,” Evaline tagged on.
“Right.” College Station, where she’d gone to school, also had its fair share of country bars, but this was different. The entire community attended. Would she be accepted back into the fold? Or would long memories mean people still blamed her for what she’d done to Noel and Kris? Sure, she’d been in town a little while now, but not anywhere with the entire community.
“You should come with us,” Carter said.
Holly hid a grimace. Exactly what she didn’t need…Cash to witness firsthand her potential humiliation.
“Maybe Holly already has a date,” Will put in gently.
Holly shook her head. “No. Taking a date to a dance is like dieting at Christmas. Where’s the fun in it?”
Laughter rose around her again, but they still didn’t give up.
“Why don’t you join us? We’d love to have you,” Evaline said.
Enthusiastic nods around the table accompanied her gentle suggestion.
“Oh…you’re going as a family. I couldn’t intrude. Maybe I’ll meet you there.”
“We couldn’t let you show up on your own,” Carter said.
“I drive all over Texas and show up on ranches owned by total strangers on my own. I think I can handle a little community dance.” Holly added a wink and a cheerful grin. Please let them drop it.
“Of course you can,” Evaline said. “But we want to get to introduce you around and show off how we got you first.”
Damn. Holly forced a laughed. “When you put it like that, how can I refuse?” Her smile dimmed, though, when she noticed Cash wasn’t joining in to support her inclusion in this event.
“Can I go?” Sophia piped up.
Everyone chuckled. Jennings reached over and mussed her hair. “Adults only, kiddo.”
Her mouth drooped, crestfallen. “I never get to do anything fun.”
“I think someone’s tired.” Cash scooted back from the table. “Bedtime, young lady.”
To the tune of Sophia’s complaints that she wasn’t at all tired, he left the room, but then Sophia came hurtling back into the room to wrap her arms around Holly. “Night, Miss Holly.”
