Page 32 of A Holly Brown Christmas
“I’m fine, Lucas. Really. You don’t need to be making such a fuss.”
But secretly, she loved that he was making such a fuss.
When they finally got up from the bedroom floor, he had carried her down the stairs and gently placed her on the living room sofa. Then he’d made her a cup of tea, gave her some ibuprofen, started a fire in the fireplace, threw together a snack tray with a combination of sweet and salty treats, ordered dog food for Shmoop since he wasn’t allowed table food, and essentially just hovered to make sure she was okay.
It was freaking adorable.
“Please sit down with me and eat some of this food. This is way too much for one person.”
He seemed reluctant, but he finally came and sat down beside her. “Do you need more tea? I can reheat it or just make you a fresh cup.”
“No, thank you. It’s still plenty warm.” Reaching over, she rested her hand on his thigh. “You are seriously my hero. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t come home when you did.”
“I’d like to think you would have eventually climbed down on your own. Slowly, but you would have done it.”
But Holly shook her head. “Nope. I was legit frozen up there.”
“If you know you’re afraid of heights, why would you even attempt to climb that ladder?”
Shrugging, she laughed softly. “It really bothered me that the one single strand of lights was left dangling. I know Henry’s coming back tomorrow—at least, I hope he is. I don’t know what the family emergency was. Anyway, let’s just say that he’s coming back tomorrow. I hate leaving things unfinished. He had the entire house done except that last window.”
“Then you shouldn’t have been looking at the window!” he said with a laugh of his own. “Jeez, Holly. Do you have any idea how much you scared me? I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my entire life!”
“Well, you totally hid it. You seemed confident and completely in control. And, like I said, a total hero.”
If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he was blushing.
“I’ve never been anyone’s hero before.”
She scooted a little closer to him. “Now you have. And I will always remember it.” Then she put her head on his shoulder, sighing happily. And when he put his arm around her, she thought it was damn near perfect.
The food, the fire, the cuddling…it made the nearly dying on a ladder thing completely worth it.
“How was pickleball?” she asked after a few quiet moments.
He chuckled. “We had a good time. Nana won two out of three.”
“Did she really win, or do you let her?”
“Sadly, she really beats me. It’s not my favorite sport, and I only play it because she loves it so much and it gives us time to hang out just the two of us. When we get together with everyone, it’s hard to have a conversation without someone interrupting.”
“That is so sweet.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t play pickleball.”
Another small laugh. “Not that. I meant your family. Are they all local? Do you spend a lot of time with them?”
“I do! My parents live right around the block from me. Remember, I told you my mom comes and takes Shmoop for walks? We typically have dinner together at least twice a week. My grandparents on my mom’s side live just ten minutes away, and my dad’s parents live an hour away, but come for dinner twice a month.”
“That must be nice.”
“It is, but no one’s into playing any sports. We do board games.”
“Oh, yeah? Which ones?”
“We are big Pictionary fans, but my grandma—my mom’s mom—and I are fierce at Scrabble and Bananagrams. I’m addicted to any word games. I play Wordle every day on my phone and I’m very proud of my winning streak.”
