by Ines Saint
He laughed, and she looked out the window again. The sun had come out and he caught her reflection on the glass. She was grinning, like she was having a good time with him. He was having a good time, too.
He’d only thought of Holly in relation to Johnny, and of how he didn’t want his carefree younger brother losing his lighthearted ways by getting caught in a difficult relationship. Except, one by one, his perceptions were shifting.
She had a profitable business and solid plans, she was reluctant to see her daughter go on Friday nights, but she did it because it was good for her daughter and grandmother. And she was passionate about the first house he’d ever lived in. Only she didn’t know his connection to the Craftsman.
She was also easy to be with and fun to talk to. Or was it fun to be with and easy to talk to? Why was she single, then? His brothers weren’t gossipy girls, so they wouldn’t tell him if they knew.
“Your turn,” she said.
“Maybe we should turn the music off for a while. My ear is itching and I feel a headache coming on.”
“Ozzy Ozbourne can do that to a person.”
Toto can do that to a person, Dan wanted to say, but a few minutes went by before either said anything. “So you know any travel games?” he asked.
“I know them all. But I spent too many hours playing travel games when I was little and I’m sure we’d never agree on a game to play. We once drove from Alaska to Missouri playing nothing but I Spy, the license plates edition.”
“Then let’s find a new game that wasn’t around when you were little. Does your phone have Wi-Fi?” Holly nodded. “Let’s agree to play the first game that pops up when you do a search for ‘new travel games’.”
“Fair enough.” Holly took her phone out, searched, and shook her head when the results came up.
“We agreed, first search result,” Dan said, before glancing at her phone. The moment he read the words on the screen, he cringed.
Holly laughed. “Well, we agreed, so ‘getting to know your date with twenty questions’ it is.” She squinted at her screen. “First question, what is one thing you’ve always wanted to do but never done?”
Okay, that wasn’t bad. “I’ve always wanted to make a hard rock music video.” He grinned. “How about you?”
She shifted in her seat. “Before I say anything, we should both swear that anything we say remains within the confines of this car.” He nodded, wondering what she could possibly say that had to remain a secret. “I’ve always wanted to do cartwheels in the middle of a serious event. For as long as I could remember, whenever we were at church or a graduation or wedding or something, I always wondered how people would react if I suddenly got up and started doing cartwheels down the aisle.”
“Are you serious?” He shot her a side glance, to see if she was making that up. She seemed perfectly serious. “You’re an odd one, Holly Bell.”
“I know.” She offered him an impish grin.
Eleven ridiculous, amusing, and enlightening questions later, Holly came to a tricky one. “What is your biggest regret?”
Dan paused. “This is question number twelve. It’s your turn to go first.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her fiddle with her phone, her expression unreadable. When she turned to him, she offered up a too-quick smile.
Whatever she was about to say wasn’t her biggest regret.
“I regret not making out more.”
“Excuse me?”
She smiled. “I only had one boyfriend and he became my husband. He was my first and every kiss. If I could go back, I’d make out with a few more boys. It’s too late now. I mean, I’m single again, but I have a daughter and I have to set a good example.”
Dan tried to remember whom he’d gone out with in tenth grade. Carly Moore. When he thought of all the girlfriends and women he’d been with since then, the thought of still being with Carly depressed him.
“Your turn. What’s your biggest regret?”
She hadn’t shared her deepest regret, and he wasn’t about to share his. But she’d been truthful, so he had to think of something.
“You’re stalling.”
“My biggest regret is having waited so long to come back to Spinning Hills.”
“Are you thinking of staying?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Definitely not. But I won’t stay away for five years next time. Johnny would say that being back has been good for my soul or something. I think moving to different places is, too. I can live wherever I want and I like taking advantage of that.”
Holly was quiet for a moment. “Ben used to think it was funny that I descended from a gypsy tribe, because I hated moving around so much. But I’d tell him even the gypsies had a place they called home. They’d wander during spring, summer, and fall, but in winter, they came home. Maybe you also need a place to call home.”
“Define ‘home’.”
Holly took her time before answering. “I’ve read that people around here considered the gypsies colorful and odd, but they didn’t reject them, because they worked hard and they didn’t offend anyone. I guess home is where you can be as colorful and as odd as you want. Aren’t Sam and Johnny your home?”
“By your definition they are, but we meet up a bunch of times during the year, usually at Reds games. So home is a Reds game with Sam and Johnny.”
“Johnny says you guys rarely fight. Is that true? You guys seem too restless to be at peace for long.”
“When we do fight, it’s intense, so we avoid it. Sam and I fight over the stupid stuff, while Johnny’s always trying to get us to fight over the important stuff he thinks the three of us should be fighting about.” Regretting that last part, he looked over at her. “And none of it gets anyone anywhere anyway, so what’s the point?”
“I think Johnny’s right. Most people fight over the silly things, while the important stuff builds—”
The GPS interrupted Holly’s next words by directing them to take the next exit. Dan was surprised the trip had gone by so quickly. He didn’t need anyone’s help following a GPS, but Holly kept repeating everything it said, pointing along the way, and hollering every time she saw a street they were supposed to take, as if he hadn’t seen it.
“You’re an annoying navigator,” he mumbled when they reached their destination.
“I know. I always feel like I’m going to miss a turn.” She looked up and her expression changed. Dan turned to look, as well. A three-story Georgian brick with white trim, black shutters, and a rooftop widow’s walk greeted them. Impressive.
Seconds later, he and Holly were out their doors and up the steps. Dan rang the doorbell.
A harried young woman with spiky red hair answered and Holly introduced herself, explaining they were there to buy the stained-glass window.
“Yes, that’s right! You were coming today, too. I’m Debbie Glazer, by the way.” They shook hands. “It turns out we’re having a last minute wedding celebration this weekend and I don’t have a hand to spare. I’m so sorry about that, but I’ll show you to the barn out back where the window is, and you can pay my husband. Steve’s in the kitchen. You’ll have to load it yourselves, though, is that okay?”
Anxiety radiated from Debbie’s pores. Holly and Dan agreed and followed Debbie to a large red barn that was wall to wall full of furniture, accessories, fixtures, and more. “The house came with all of this, but the previous owners weren’t interested in acquiring authentic period pieces, so we ended up with a barn full of beautiful things we don’t need. Feel free to look around. It’s all on eBay, too.” With that, she left.
“Look at this claw-foot tub,” Dan called from the back, and darn it if he didn’t sound excited.
Holly made her way toward him and found him sitting in the tub.
“I think I’m gonna take this, too. The price is right. And I think it’s big enough for two. Buyers will love it. Get in, I want to see.”
She sat down on the opposite side. It was huge and the
y both fit comfortably. When she looked up to ask him if he was really going to buy it, she spotted the stained-glass window they were looking for. It was beautiful.
Dan turned his head to see what she was gaping at. He stared at it for a long moment before looking back at her. “I can’t believe it’s the original, and I can’t believe you found it. You’re a whiz.”
“It was a stroke of luck.”
“I wonder how it ended up here.”
“Let’s ask Steve when you pay him.”
Holly placed her hands on both sides of the tub, hoisted herself up, and tried to step out of the tub, but she tripped on Dan’s outstretched leg, lost her balance, and landed on Dan’s lap, her feet out of the tub and one hand on Dan’s crotch. He caught her head before it hit the edge of the tub.
She removed her hand from his crotch and looked at him, feeling her eyes widen and her cheeks and neck burn. He didn’t remove his hand from the back of her head as they stared at each other. His eyes were bright and they were busy studying her. Holly’s heart skipped a thud and her entire body buzzed. What was going on?
As if in a trance, Dan leaned in, touched warm, soft, firm lips to hers, and pulled back. It happened in an instant and it was over just as fast, but its effect was staggering. Sparks were going off all over her body.
They stared at each other again, Holly unable to breathe. Dan’s heartbeat thundered under her hand. His chest was hard. That night in the basement his arms had been just as hard. And strong. And muscular.
Why was the memory of that night suddenly tinged with sexual overtones? With effort, she breathed.
“Can I do it again?” Dan whispered. Holly was too devoid of oxygen to think. Her body did what it wanted and she slowly nodded. His soft breath was on her lips first, and then, the magical touch. She shivered, even though liquid warmth was spreading from her core to her limbs. Her heart sped and her breath quickened. Dan pulled her closer, his lips caressing hers, coaxing them open, before plunging in and exploring her mouth until she ached, burned, and melted inside. “Dan,” she breathed his name out, feeling too good for her own good. “Is this what I’ve missed?” She felt his smile on her mouth, and she sprinkled a few soft, clinging kisses on his lips.
He hadn’t worn cologne, and his natural scent was sweet, salty, and delicious to her senses. It invited a hungry, openmouthed kiss. His breath hitched and he lowered his head to capture her mouth in another bruising kiss. This time, she was the one to deepen the kiss, pulling him closer and tasting him until he groaned. Exhilaration and a feverish yearning pulled at her, and it was too much to bear.
The moment she became aware of his arousal, reality sliced the haze she was in. She hopped off his lap and onto his legs.
He yelled out when her butt landed hard on his left fibula. She scrambled out of the tub. “This can’t be smart,” she said, even though nothing had ever felt so good.
Dan shook his head, ran both hands through his hair, and breathed in and out a few times before answering. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
She swallowed and stepped back. “We can’t tell anyone. Don’t you dare tell Sam or Johnny, or we’ll never hear the end of it. That was crazy.”
“I won’t. It was.”
Holly gulped, and her throat dried up even more. “Let’s look at the window. It’s right there and it’s what we came for.”
Dan climbed out after a few moments and followed her. The window was the perfect remedy for their awkwardness. They studied it closely, ran their hands over it, and couldn’t help but exchange incredulous smiles.
They walked side by side, but didn’t speak or look at each other. It was a cool, overcast day, beautiful in its way. Holly studied the clouds and the browning leaves, and kept her wandering eyes away from Dan. They found Steve in the kitchen, supervising a cook. “We’re here to pay for the claw-foot tub and the large stained-glass windowpane out in the barn.”
Steve blinked. “Oh sure.”
Dan whipped his checkbook out, filled in a check, and handed it to Steve. “Do you know how the window got here?”
“I have no idea. The original owners, the Dodsons, I believe their name was, bought a bunch of stuff that didn’t suit the place.”
“Where do they live now? Do you have their number and address?” she asked.
“I think they moved back to Ohio, somewhere up north, but I don’t think I have their information and I’m too busy to look for it.”
They took the hint, thanked Steve, and left.
“What if the Dodsons have the matching windowpane or know where it is?” she said to Dan. “I’ll write to Debbie in a week, when she’s less busy, and see if she can find their contact info.”
“Let’s focus on getting the tub and windowpane into the pickup bed. It won’t be an easy task.”
It took them a half hour of hefting, a few smarts, a little arguing, and a lot of laughing to get the tub into the pickup bed. The windowpane was easy, but Dan felt bad for Holly. She wasn’t built for hauling and lifting large objects, and she hadn’t signed up for the tub. She looked exhausted.
Their kiss was probably the last thing in her thoughts now, but it refused to leave his. Holly smelled like sweet milk, toasted almonds, and a note of something deep and sensual. He couldn’t have helped stealing the first kiss. The details were blurry after that. Something had burst in his chest the moment he locked lips with hers. That burst was unfamiliar, but he was a man and men were simple. Burst feels good? More burst please.
But nothing could come of it, so he’d beat the memory of it into oblivion soon enough.
Unable to agree on music, they got through a few more questions in the new travel game. They stopped at a drive-through coffee shop for a shot of caffeine, and stayed in the parking lot so Dan could drink the overflow before driving.
“Question sixteen. What is one thing no one knows about you?” Holly asked.
“It’s your turn,” he reminded her, knowing she wouldn’t give him a real answer on this one, either.
“Oh. That’s right. Hmm . . . I have a crush on Elijah Wood.”
“Elijah who?” He looked over at her.
“He was the adorable kid in Forever Young, remember that nineties movie with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis?” Dan looked like he knew the movie, so she continued, “Anyway, he sang ‘You Are My Sunshine’ to this little girl and I was so jealous of her, but I fell in love with him. He was in a few movies and in a Paula Abdul video and I was obsessed for a while. Then, years later, I saw him in Lord of the Rings and bam! There it was. That old feeling. I don’t know what it is about him.”
“Holly, you’re not talking about Frodo, are you?”
“Yes, Frodo, aka Elijah Wood.”
“You have a secret crush on Frodo?” he repeated, thinking there was no way she could be attracted to both Frodo and him, because they were absolutely nothing alike. Of course, maybe she wasn’t attracted to him, and she was only turned on by his kiss because she had been so deprived.
Why did he even care?
“Mmm. Now it’s your turn.” Holly took a sip of her coffee, convinced he wouldn’t tell her anything intimate.
“I kissed Holly Bell,” he said after a long silence.
Holly’s cheeks burned. “That just happened, you haven’t had time to tell anyone, and we agreed you wouldn’t. We wouldn’t.”
“I was projecting into the future. That’s one thing I’ll never tell anyone.”
“Well, now you sound as if you regret it. Maybe that should be your new biggest regret.” He’d been teasing her, she knew, but her insides were too hot and bothered by the memory of how amazing the kiss had been to kid around about it.
“It’s not.” He laughed softly and looked at her from under thick lashes. “I meant we both agreed we’d never tell anyone, so it’s my most recent secret. One I’ll try to forget.”
Holly looked down at her phone. “Next question, have you ever been in love?”
>
“No.”
“Never?” She looked at him again.
“I’m not the ‘falling in love’ type. Too practical by half. How about you?”
“I fell in love with my ex when I was sixteen, as much as a sixteen-year-old can. It was delicious and exciting and it filled up my world.”
“How long did it stay that way?”
“Um . . . maybe about three years, while there were still new things to explore. We were so young and my father was so strict, it all stayed exciting for a pretty long time. Then it became something more comforting. By the time we got married, I think we were more of a habit, but we couldn’t see it until we stopped growing together and started growing apart.”
“Where is he now?”
Holly met his gaze, realizing she’d been reminiscing as if she were by herself. Should she tell him more? “He’s in Tokyo right now. Next question.” She laughed when she read it. It was too silly. “If you knew you were going to die within the next five minutes, what is the one thing you’d do?”
He groaned. “I can’t believe these questions have kept us entertained. Anyway, it’s your turn to go first. You keep trying to cheat.”
If someone would’ve asked her this morning, she would have said she’d call Ella and pray. But that wasn’t what popped into her head just then. If she had five minutes to live right now, alone in the car with Dan Amador, after he’d affected her entire being with that kiss . . . “I’d call Ella, tell her I love her and not to worry about me, and—and then I’d pray. What would you do?”
“I’d tell you I’m sorry.” Dan looked into her eyes, his expression serious for the first time since they’d started playing. “Everything I said about you that day was wrong, and I was wrong to judge you without knowing you.” He reached for her free hand. “Do you think you can forgive me?”
Warmth traveled up her arm and spread. She put her coffee in the cup holder, afraid she’d spill it. “I forgive you.”
His thumb rubbed the palm of her hand, back and forth. Heat filled every crevice in her body. Was he seeking forgiveness or trying to drive her crazy in an entirely new way? “Do you really? You said sometimes people only forgive on the surface. That sometimes they need to stay angry to set a different course.”