Page 102 of Holiday Romance
I move over to the curtain to check, drawing it back to find it fully light outside. Andrew groans when the sunshine hits the bed, but we need to get up, so I leave them open and dart out of the room before he can complain.
It’s warmer in the hallway, as well as more… delicious? The smell of garlic and onions wafts from downstairs and my stomach rumbles loudly, despite the fact my internal body clock is now well and truly busted. God knows how I’m going to get back into a routine.
I count the doors as I head toward the bathroom. There’s a sock on the handle, just as Andrew said, but I can’t hear anyone on the other side. And though I don’t want to meet any more of his family members standing outside the toilet, I also really,reallyneed to pee. I’m weighing up the pros and cons of trying to find another one, thighs pressed together, when the door flies open, revealing a young woman in mismatched pajamas.
She yelps when she sees me, dropping the toothbrush that was dangling from her mouth.
“Hannah!” Colleen rounds the top of the stairs, carrying an armful of folded towels. “What did I say about waking them? And why aren’t you getting dressed?”
“I’m brushing my teeth!” the girl says, affronted. She’s tall, with green eyes set far apart and a button nose with a small piercing at the side. Her long brown hair is tinged bright red at the ends, half of it still up in old-fashioned curlers. She looks nothing like Andrew, except for the glint in her gaze when she turns back to me. “I’m Hannah.”
“Molly,” I say.
She grins. “I know.”
She bends down to scoop her toothbrush from the floor while Colleen joins us. “I have to put my contacts in,” she says apologetically, holding up a little box. “Two seconds.”
She leaves the door open as she heads back to the sink and I try not to stare at her reflection in the mirror.
Hannah.
She was only six when I first met Andrew and over the years she’s more or less stayed that way in my mind whenever he spoke about her. It’s bizarre to see her now, to realize how much time has passed. Every Christmas I would get an update on her life and now here I stand before her.
About to wet myself.
Colleen clears her throat, drawing my attention back to her. “I’ve put the hot water on in case you wanted a shower. I’ll leave the towels just inside the door.”
“Hot water after ten a.m.?” Hannah teases. “Did we win the lottery?”
“It’s Christmas and she’s a guest.”
“She’sAndrew’sguest,” Hannah smirks.
I am seriously going to— “Do you mind if I use the bathroom?”
Hannah winces as she hears the urgency in my voice. “Sorry! Of course.” She scurries past me, blinking her contacts in.
“Take your time, Molly,” Colleen says as we trade places. “Hannah, get dressed. You’re peeling potatoes.”
“It’s Christian’s turn to peel potatoes.”
“He’s bad at it,” she dismisses.
“He’s bad at it purposefully so he doesn’t have to do it!” Hannah’s protests fade as they walk away and I close the door, barely taking the bathroom in before I run to the toilet. No one tries to come in in the minute I take to go through the motions, but I hear Christmas music coming from one of the closed doors on my way back to the bedroom, and Hannah singing along with a surprisingly good voice.
Andrew is lying on his back when I return, one arm flung over his face to protect him from the daylight.
“Was that my sister’s dulcet tones I heard?” he asks.
I shut the door. “I scared her.”
“You’re very scary.” He drops his arm to look at me and my heart does a little flip in my chest. “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks,” he says. “Which is saying something considering it only lasted two hours.”
“You were tired.”
“Maybe.” He watches me from the bed, his gaze warm and inviting. Still, I don’t move.
“Are you coming back in?” he asks, noticing my hesitation.
