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“And completely disregard them,” Holly joked.
“Young lady, you’re awfully cheeky this morning,” Victoria said.
Merry smirked. “Yeah, Holly, what’s got you in such a good mood?”
“Or should we say who,” Noel joined in, earning a dark look from Holly. The last thing she needed was her mother getting curious, or worse yet, excited, thinking that Holly might finally be getting serious about someone.
“What’s going on?” Victoria’s gaze swung around the table, inquisition evident in her eyes. “Does Holly have a boyfriend I don’t know about?”
“No, I do not.”
“But she left the bar early to make sure Declan Gallagher got home safe,” Noel said.
“Wait, Declan?” Victoria turned toward Holly, her brows knitted in obvious confusion. “I thought you didn’t like him.”
“I don’t,” she said, ignoring Merry’s scoff. “Regardless of my feelings for him, he was drunk and I was sober. His house is one street over, so it made sense for me to drive him there and walk to my house.” There was no way Holly would tell them Declan stayed the night or there would be many conclusions drawn.
And she didn’t want unnecessary speculations until she’d reaped the benefit of the actions.
“Wait, you walked at night?” Victoria frowned. “That’s not safe, honey.”
“No one is going to try to take me on, Mom.”
“Still, you are a young woman and we do get bears in town occasionally. I’m sure Declan could have slept it off in his vehicle.”
But I prefer him sleeping it off in my spare bedroom.
“Probably, but you taught me to be kind to my fellow humanoids.” Holly tossed her hands in the air when her mom looked like she was about to argue some more. “It’s a moot point! He’s fine, I’m fine, we’re all fine.”
“Sounds like she doesn’t want to talk about Declan with us,” Merry said.
Under normal circumstances, Holly would be happy to discuss all the latest developments with her sister, Noel, and her mom, but Declan’s request that they keep anything that happened between the two of them weighed on her mind. Keeping things casual was one thing, but a secret hook-up? She was a grown woman and if anyone had something to say about her love life, they could shove it up their wazoo. But she knew Declan well enough that it made sense he wouldn’t want their personal business getting around town. He liked to keep his private life that way, and if Holly wanted to take the next step with him she’d need to honor that confidence.
As if sensing her emotional anxiety, Merry’s Great Pyrenees, Daisy Mae, got up from the floor and ambled over to Holly, shoving her face in Holly’s lap. Holly stroked the white dog’s soft fur with a smile. “Aw, sweetheart, you feeling left out of the conversation? You wanna talk boys too?”
Suddenly, her parents’ bloodhound, Butch, was pushing his nose in front of Daisy’s, which started a wrestling match for the two of them.
“Butch!” Victoria hollered, standing up from her seat. “You two need to go outside and do that. There are too many breakables in this house for roughhousing.”
“It’s funny, she used to say the same thing to us,” Merry said, laughing.
“Merry, stop snickering and take these two out the laundry room door. I need to use the bathroom.”
Merry called the dogs, who scurried after her out of the room and Victoria trailed behind them out of sight.
Holly finished the last of her mimosa and stood up. “I’m going to get a refill.”
“Me too,” Noel said. “I am not working tonight and I’ve earned a second glass.”
Holly set down her empty glass on the island and said, “Same here. Put yours down and I’ll fill them both up.” She poured a quarter flute of champagne and filled the rest with orange juice.
“Thank you.” Noel picked up her glass and tapped it to Holly’s rim. “To the future, no matter what it brings.”
“That’s a weird toast,” Holly said, taking a sip of her drink.
Noel shrugged. “Didn’t you know I was weird?”
“You’re right. Makes total sense.”
