Her Festive Baby Bombshell

“You?” The girls both turned to their mother.

“This is our gift, not yours,” Suzie said bluntly. “You aren’t invited.”

“But—”

“Um, there is no trip,” Holly said.

“No trip?” All heads turned to Holly. “You mean all you got us was some bikinis that we can’t even use because if you hadn’t noticed, it’s snowing outside—”

“Suzie, that’s enough. I’m sure your sister has something else in mind.” Her stepmother sent her an expectant look.

Wow! This family was unbelievable. If Finn had his choice between having no family and this family, he’d be much happier on his own. He glanced around to find out why Holly’s father hadn’t interceded on his daughter’s behalf, but the man couldn’t be bothered to stop reading his paper long enough.

Finn inwardly seethed. As much as he’d like to let loose on these people and tell them exactly what he thought of them and their lack of manners, he had to think of Holly. For whatever reason, they meant enough to her to buy them gifts and come here to put up with their rudeness. Therefore, he had to respect her feelings because it certainly appeared that no one else would.

“There is one other thing.” Finn looked at Holly, willing her to trust him with his eyes as he gave her hand a couple of quick squeezes. “Do you want me to tell them?”

“Um...uh, sure.”

“You know how Holly is, never wanting to brag. But she used her connections and secured tickets to the Mistletoe Ball for the whole family.”

For once, all three females were left speechless. Good. That was what he wanted.

“You did that? But how?” Her stepmother’s eyes reflected her utter surprise. “Those tickets cost a fortune and I heard they sold out back in October.”

Holly’s face drained of color. “Well, the truth is—”

“She has an inside source that she promised not to reveal to anyone,” Finn said. “They’ll be waiting for the four of you at the door of the museum.”

The girls squealed with delight as Helen yelled in to her husband to tell him about the tickets to the ball. If a man could look utterly unimpressed, it was Holly’s father. And through it all, Finn noticed that not one person thanked Holly. It was though they felt entitled to the tickets. A groan of frustration grew down deep in his throat. A glance at Holly’s pale face had him swallowing down his outrage and disgust.

He made a point of checking his Rolex. “And now, we really must be going.”

As they let themselves out the front door, the girls were talking over top of each other about dresses, shoes, haircuts and manicures. And he had never been so happy to leave anywhere in his entire life. Once outside, Finn felt as though he could breathe. He was no longer being smothered with fake pleasantries and outright nastiness.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BIG FLUFFY SNOWFLAKES fell around them, adding a gentle softness to the world and smoothing out the rough edges. Finn continued to hold Holly’s hand, enjoying the connection. When they reached the car, he used his free hand to open the door.

She paused.

“Holly?”

When she looked up at him, tears shimmered in her eyes. The words lodged in his throat. There was nothing in this world that he could say to lessen the pain for her.

Instead of speaking, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. With the car door ajar between them, he couldn’t pull her close like he wanted. Instead he had to be content with this simple but heartfelt gesture.

With great regret he pulled back. “You better get in. The snow is picking up.”

She nodded and then did as he said.

Once they were on the now snow-covered road, Finn guided the car slowly along the streets. He should have been more insistent about putting off this visit, not that Holly would have listened to him. When she set her mind on something, there was no stopping her. Although after meeting her family, he could understand why she’d want to get that visit out of the way.

As the snow fell, covering up the markings on the street, his body tensed. This must have been how it’d been the night his parents died. The thought sent a chill through his body.