Holding Holly (Love and Football Series)

by Julie Brannagh

  “That’s not true.” She knew she should be cleaning something or straightening up. “It’s been slow today.” She grabbed one of the laminated menus out of the holder at the end of the counter. “Would you like something to eat?”

  He took the menu out of her hand and glanced at it for a few seconds. He laid it back down on the counter and looked into her eyes. “I’d rather have something to eat with you.”

  The breath caught in her throat. He couldn’t really mean it. Maybe he was just being nice. “I have to work right now . . .”

  “Do you work tomorrow, too?”

  “I’ll be here for breakfast and lunch.”

  “Let’s have dinner together, then.” He gave her a confident grin. “Somewhere else.”

  Chapter Two

  DERRICK WATCHED HOLLY’S mouth curve into a shy smile. He’d had a thing for her since the first time he saw her dishing up breakfast to the cafeteria line at the Sharks’ training camp, and he wasn’t letting this chance to get to know her better slip by. She glanced into his face and back down at the counter as she thought of an answer. He wasn’t going to wait.

  “Do you like Mexican food?” he asked.

  She nodded and forced out something that sounded like “Yes.” The happiness on her face and the blush spreading over her pale skin told him she was interested, but shy. He reached out to squeeze her hand and marveled at how small it was inside of his.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow night, then.”

  “But . . . but you don’t have an address . . .”

  He dug in his pocket for his smartphone. “If you type your address in here, I’ll find your place.”

  She swallowed hard, blushed a little more, and wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You’ll be meeting my grandma. I’m at her house.”

  “Maybe she’d like to come to dinner, too,” he teased. “I’ll bring my mama and my grandma. She’ll feel right at home.”

  She looked up into his eyes, and his heart did a funny little ba-bump as laughter spilled out of her. He wondered what he could say to her to make her laugh again.

  “It sounds like quite a date,” she said.

  “So, that means I have one?”

  “Yes.” Her eyes sparkled. “I promise I won’t wear the elf outfit.”

  His eyes held hers. “I wouldn’t mind,” he teased.

  Derrick managed to hustle his mama and grandma out of the quilt shop before he had to call his banker and tell him to brace for incoming. They walked along Main Street, window-shopping and enjoying the chilly afternoon. It was snowing again. He loved the delight in his grandma’s face as she caught a few flakes in her outstretched hand. Snow was a rarity in Alabama.

  His mama indicated the Caffeine Addiction bakery box in his hand. “Did you get some coffee beans, honey?”

  “I got us some cinnamon rolls for tomorrow morning. I thought you might like them.”

  His grandma slipped her hand through his arm. “That sounds delicious. Are you hungry?”

  “If you and Mama would like to get a bite, I’m sure I could eat.”

  The two women in his life tugged him through the doorway of the local diner.

  “Maybe we could visit the Christmas decorations store after lunch,” his mama said. He resisted the impulse to groan aloud.

  DERRICK WAS SPARED from the holiday decorations store when the diner’s server—a lifelong Sharks fan, she told him—asked for an autograph. Minutes later, he and his family were surrounded by clamoring football fans. Despite the best efforts of the diner’s manager to persuade the other customers to let Derrick and his family eat in peace, it wasn’t going to happen. Derrick glanced out the front window of the diner to note more fans gathering outside on the sidewalk too. Holly wouldn’t have told people they were in town, so someone else had, and now he needed to make a quick exit.

  Talking with Sharks fans was part of his job description. Normally, he loved it. He didn’t enjoy seeing his mama and grandma jostled by overeager fans, or missing their chance to order a late lunch, however. He signed autographs and posed for photos while the diner’s manager brought his mama and grandma something to drink and made sure they were safely away from the crowd while they waited for him.

  A quick glance outside showed the line of fans stretching down the sidewalk. A woman his mom’s age extended a scrap of paper to him for an autograph.

  “It’s so nice to see you here. My family loves the Sharks.”

  “We love your family, too,” he said. Her face lit up.

  She glanced down for a moment and bashfully peered up at him beneath her lashes.

  “You probably don’t want to do this in public, but I would love to see your sack dance again.”

  Derrick’s sack dance was the toast of sports broadcasters everywhere. He’d initially done it after being egged on by one of his teammates. His belly rolls after dragging some other team’s quarterback to the turf had gotten more elaborate over the years. He’d even incorporated something called a “samba roll” after briefly dating a ballroom dancing instructor. Other guys did stuff like flex their biceps, drop to one knee and pantomime roping a calf, or nothing at all. Derrick’s gyrations brought wild applause and laughter around the league. And five million hits on YouTube.

  “I always do this in front of thousands,” he assured the woman. He called out, “Who’s going to join me?”

  Amid clapping and shouts of “Go Sharks!” he gave his best example. A few people jumped out of their seats to dance with him. He had to laugh when he saw his mama trying to do a belly roll too. He signed a few more autographs and posed for some more photos, then glanced around as he heard a loud voice say, “Okay, folks, let’s break it up here. Mr. Collins and his family might want to have something to eat.”

  Noel’s twelve-man police force had arrived on the scene. Within a few minutes, four uniformed officers ensured the other customers were back at their tables. Eight other officers were dispersing the crowd outside of the restaurant. One of the officers told him, “We have a squad car outside to take you back to your car, if you’d like.”

  “I would appreciate that. Thank you for offering,” he said.

  The manager of the diner walked out of the kitchen with two to-go bags. “This is for you and your family,” he told Derrick. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, and we hope you’ll enjoy it.”

  Derrick could only imagine the headlines on sports websites around the country about accepting food he didn’t pay for at a local mom-and-pop-type restaurant. He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out three twenties. “Will this take care of it?”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house. We hope you’ll come by another time,” the manager said.

  “I insist,” Derrick said. “We’ll visit again soon.” He pushed the cash into the guy’s hand. “Thanks for the food.”

  A couple of the officers were helping his mama and grandma out of their seats. They were ushered out the front door of the diner and into the squad car seconds later amid more applause and chants of “Go Sharks!” from the crowds on the other side of the sidewalk. A few minutes later, they were in his SUV and driving toward the freeway.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t go to the decorations store. Maybe we could go another time,” he said.

  “I’m never going to get used to that,” his grandma mused. “All you did was walk into the restaurant, and everyone went crazy.”

  “Grandma, it’s football season. The team’s winning, so everybody wants to talk to us.” He pulled in a deep breath. “I feel bad you didn’t get to see everything you wanted to see.”

  His grandma stifled a yawn behind one hand. “We saw plenty, honey. Thank you for taking us. We had fun, didn’t we?”

  “Oh, yes,” his mother said. “We have so many projects now. We can visit Noel another time.”

  He knew they weren’t trying to make him feel guilty, but he felt the pang anyway. They didn’t ask for a hundred people interrupting their day
out with him today.

  Twenty minutes or so later, they were both fast asleep in the back seat of his SUV. He wanted to tell them about his date with Holly, but it would have to wait. He was also sure it would end up on the church’s prayer chain.

  LATER THAT DAY, the temperature was dropping in Noel. The town was expected to get three inches of new snow overnight. Three inches of snow would paralyze hilly Seattle, but those who lived in Noel spent all winter dealing with it. More snow meant more tourism, and more money in the pockets of local merchants.

  Holly unlocked the front door of the house and called out, “Grandma, I’m home,” as she stepped inside. Her grandma kept the house a toasty seventy-two degrees. Holly pulled off her down jacket and scarf as quickly as possible. She also unlaced her snow boots and stepped out of them. Her grandma didn’t like anyone to wear shoes in the house.

  “I’m in here,” Grandma said. “How was your day?”

  “It was slow until twenty minutes before I was supposed to leave.” Holly kissed Grandma’s cheek and sat down in the shabby, overstuffed chair next to the worn couch her grandma was sitting on. “That’s why I’m late.”

  “The tourists are back?”

  “I don’t think they ever left, Grandma.” She’d managed to put one very special tourist out of her mind while she finished her shift, but he was back with a vengeance the minute she got in her car to drive away. She still couldn’t believe she finally had a date with Derrick Collins. She’d wanted him to ask for months.

  Her grandma let out a laugh. “Did you get something to eat already?”

  “I had oatmeal this morning.”

  “That’s not enough,” Grandma scolded. “Would you like me to make you a sandwich?”

  “You can’t use your hand yet. I’ll do it. Would you like me to fix something for you, too? How about a toasted cheese sandwich?” Her grandma waved one hand in the air in a no, thank you gesture. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Bored,” Grandma said.

  Her surgeon was taking the most conservative route: rest for two weeks post-surgery, and at least two months in which Grandma couldn’t engage in her favorite activity, knitting. Grandma’s employees were running her store, Yarn with Heart, while she spent time recuperating. She’d been home for three days, and she was already climbing the walls. Well, she’d be climbing the walls if she could use her hands to do it.

  Holly sat forward in her chair a bit. “A couple of interesting things happened today.”

  Grandma grinned at her. “Is that so? Tell me about it.”

  “I have a date.”

  “That’s wonderful, sweetie. Who are you going out with?”

  Holly wanted to jump out of the chair with excitement. She fidgeted a bit.

  “I met this guy named Derrick at the Sharks’ training camp. He’s kind of shy and sweet. I’ve liked him for a long time, but I didn’t think he really noticed me. He was at the quilt shop earlier with his mom and grandma, and he came in to get a beer while they were shopping.” She looked into her grandma’s amused face. “We were alone in the coffee shop for almost an hour, and he asked me out for dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Derrick. Do I know him?” Grandma asked. She watched football; she could identify the team’s quarterback and maybe a couple of other guys, but she probably didn’t know who Derrick was at all.

  “He’s the big guy with the dreadlocks who does the belly roll dances every time he tackles the other team’s quarterback.”

  “Of course I know who he is,” Grandma said. “He’s ‘sweet and shy’?”

  “Wait until you meet him. You’ll see,” Holly said. She was so excited about the date, but she let out a breath. Grandma wasn’t going to be happy about the rest of her news.

  “There’s one more thing. He caught me crying over one of the Santa letters.”

  “What? How did this happen?” Grandma said. “Why were you upset?”

  Holly got up from the chair, found her backpack, extracted Michael’s letter, and brought it back to her grandma to read.

  “The first couple of letters were so sweet, and this one is heartbreaking. I don’t know what to say to him.”

  Holly sat down in the chair again and waited for her grandma to finish reading. When Grandma glanced up, there were tears in her eyes too.

  “Do you still have the envelope the letter came in?”

  “There’s no address, Grandma. There’s nothing written on the outside of the envelope except ‘Santa Claus, North Pole.’ ” Holly let out a sigh. “How will we find him?”

  Grandma glanced back down at the letter. “We’ll find him, honey. Don’t worry about that.”

  Chapter Three

  THE NEXT DAY, Holly rifled through her closet one more time. Unfortunately, the perfect casual-but-dressy outfit for her date with Derrick didn’t jump out at her. The ice and snow outside weren’t compatible with the little black dress she’d brought to her grandma’s for the hell of it. Noel’s Mexican restaurant also wasn’t a place anyone typically wore a dress to.

  The women Derrick usually dated probably had a closetful of designer clothes and some really expensive shoes to wear with them. She wanted to dazzle him, but she didn’t have the wardrobe to pull it off. She was still dressing in thrift shop chic and other people’s hand-me-downs, and would be until she got the last of her college loans paid off.

  The worn jeans and sweater that Holly pulled out of her closet would almost look presentable for a date if she put on some makeup and did a little something extra with her hair. She glanced longingly at the little black dress that hung in her closet, a gift from her friend Whitney Anderson. Whitney was the youngest sister of another of the Seattle Sharks, and was dating another of her brother’s teammates. She’d told Holly that she’d cut the tags off of the brand-new dress and found out too late it didn’t fit her. There was a brand-new pair of black pumps in the bag that Whitney claimed her sister Courtney didn’t want, either, and just happened to be Holly’s size. Whitney was a terrible liar, but Holly knew her heart was in the right place.

  “You’re definitely invited to my brother and sister-in-law’s holiday party. The dress will be perfect,” Whitney said. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

  If Holly could get the night off from her other job, she’d wear the beautiful dress and shoes, but she’d be hiding out in the corner. Everyone else always seemed to have so much fun at parties. She enjoyed people-watching and eating delicious food, but she felt shy and ill-at-ease until she found some one-on-one conversation.

  Holly heard her grandmother’s tap at the bedroom door. “Come in,” she called out.

  Grandma poked her head inside Holly’s room. “Honey, maybe you should put the Santa letters away before Derrick gets here,” she said. “If he takes a wrong turn on the way to the men’s room or something, our secret is out.”

  “I’ll do that,” Holly said.

  Her grandma closed the door again as she hurried away. Holly gave the jeans and fluffy sweater on her bed a pat while she got ready to take a shower. Hopefully Derrick knew how to drive in snow, or there might not be a date tonight at all.

  DERRICK PULLED A pair of custom-made designer jeans and a medium-blue cashmere sweater out of his closet and tossed them on his bed. He’d spent the afternoon getting a tutorial on how to put chains on his Escalade from a couple of guys at the local tire shop. Snow in Alabama was an infrequent occurrence. He’d been assured repeatedly that the roads to and from the mountain passes were plowed and sanded, and he’d get where he was going safely if he took it slow and easy.

  Holly must be used to the snow. He liked looking at it, and he’d enjoyed playing in it when Seattle had one of its infrequent snowstorms last year, but he talked Drew McCoy into chauffeuring him back and forth to practice until it melted. It wasn’t like he could call McCoy and ask him to drive tonight; he would be at home with his wife and their baby daughter.

  He heard tapping at the doorframe. “C’mon in,” he cal
led out as he grabbed a big terrycloth robe off the foot of his bed. He would walk around naked all the time if his mama and grandma weren’t visiting right now.

  “I’m guessing you’re not going to be home for dinner,” his mama said, taking a seat on the side of his bed.

  “I have a date,” he said.

  His mama’s smile was as radiant as the sun. “A date? That’s wonderful. Have I met her?”

  “Not yet, Mama. You will, though.”

  He grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of socks out of his dresser and added it to the pile on his bed. He wanted to wear the new Louis Vuitton kicks he’d bought himself the other day, but after listening to the guys at the tire shop, he’d bought a pair of sturdy snow boots this afternoon. They weren’t stylish, but if he found his ass stuck somewhere, he could walk in the snow in them.

  “Where did you meet her?” his mother said.

  “I’ve talked to you about Holly before. She’s the woman who works in the cafeteria at the Sharks’ training camp, remember? She’s little, dark-haired, freckles on her nose, and really sweet. I ran into her in the coffee shop the other day in Noel.”

  “The girl you liked.”

  “Yes, Mama.” He was already getting nervous. It wasn’t like he’d never invited a girl out before, but this one was special. He sat down next to his mother and turned to face her. “She’s in Noel, so I’ll be late getting home.”

  “It’s snowing up there, honey.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “If you and Grandma don’t want to cook, order dinner and put it on my tab at Purple or Lot No. 3.” One of the great benefits of living in a high-rise in moneyed downtown Bellevue was food delivery and a credit card on file at the restaurants downstairs.

  “Thank you, but there’s plenty of food in the refrigerator. We’ll have a snack and do a little more sewing,” his mother said. “Was Holly the young woman in the elf costume in the coffee shop? I saw her when we walked into the building.”