Nick rolled his eyes.
‘I don’t believe this! A woman takes a couple of isolated incidents, puts her own spin on them and wham, she comes up with her own version of the truth. I was working on that old house—’
‘The Shelby place.’
‘Yes. And I managed to put a rusty tenpenny nail through my hand.’
‘Because you were careless.’
‘Because I had the damned flu, and a fever.’
‘All the reasons you should have been home, in bed, instead of parading around on a construction site.’
‘Oof.’
‘Does that hurt?’
‘Of course it hurts,’ Nick growled. ‘And I wasn’t “parading around”, dammit, I was working because we needed the money.’
‘You were working because you were too damned stubborn to let me work.’Holly stepped back. ‘You’ll live. Your Everest-sized bump is no bigger than a petit pois.’
‘A what?’
‘A tiny pea. And the point of my story was that you went out like a light when you got to the emergency room and they gave you that shot.’
‘I passed out because of the shock. And the fever. The doctor said so. And because when you came flying into the emergency room you looked as if—’
‘As if what?’
As if you couldn’t bear it, if something happened to me. As if you really did love me as much as I loved you…
‘As if you were afraid you’d barf at the sight of blood,’ he said briskly, ‘and who could blame you? Well, thanks for the first aid. You’re right. I’ll be fine.’
‘You know, maybe you should put some ice on—’
‘I will. I’ll follow your advice.’ Nick forced a smile to his lips. ‘I’ll dump some snow on my head, when I get outside.’
‘Oh.’ Holly nodded. She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. ‘Well, then…’
‘Yeah.’ Nick cleared his throat. ‘Well…’ Merry Christmas. That was the thing people said, this time of year. But he hadn’t said those words in six years, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to say them now. ‘Take care of yourself, Holly.’
‘You, too.’
They stood in the darkened kitchen, looking at each other, and then Nick cleared his throat again.
‘It was good seeing you.’
Holly nodded. That was all she seemed capable of doing. She wasn’t about to risk speaking, not when her throat suddenly felt tight.
Nick raised his hand, as if he might touch her, and then drew it back.
‘It’s been…interesting.’
‘Interesting?’ she said, in a croak.
‘Uh-huh.’ His smile tilted, and he lifted his hand first to his lip, then to his head. ‘For lack of a better word.’
‘Oh.’ Holly gave a quick little laugh. ‘I, ah, I’m sorry about that, but—’
‘No. No, that’s all right, I understand. There you were, figuring you were tucked in bed, safe and sound…’ His gaze drifted over her, then returned to her face. ‘You were in bed, weren’t you? When I came in?’
‘Yes. Yes, I was.’
‘Yeah, well, as I said, it’s understandable.’
They stared at each other for another few seconds and then Nick drew a breath.
‘Well…’
‘Well,’ Holly said.
‘Goodbye.’
He turned and started towards the door. She followed him in silence, watching as the man she had once loved, the man who had once been her husband, collected the stuff that lay scattered all over the floor and then put his hand on the doorknob.
No, she thought desperately, oh, no…
‘Nick!’
He swung around quickly, his eyes on hers.
‘Yes?’
The space between them seemed to hum. Holly swallowed dryly; Nick took a step forward.
‘Nick,’ she said again, this time in a whisper. ‘It’s—it’s late. And the road must be awful. Where…where will you go? How will you find a place to stay? What will you do…?’
Her words trailed away. Nick’s eyes burned into hers, and he answered the only question that mattered, the only one she hadn’t asked.
‘Are you asking me to stay?’ he said softly.
Holly stared at him. There was no point in pretending she didn’t know what he meant. The kisses they’d shared just a little while ago, the flame that had ignited when he’d taken her in his arms… The memories held within these walls made pretence impossible.
‘Holly?’
Nick’s voice was husky. Holly could feel the heat of it burning through her skin.
‘No,’ she said, after a minute. She blinked her eyes against a sudden sting of tears and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘No,’she repeated, very softly. ‘I’m not.’