Page 38

Holly watched them and felt a twinge of… not envy, exactly. Longing? Wistfulness? The two of them, she knew from Tara, had been through the wringer together, falling in love, then breaking up catastrophically before finally finding their way back to rebuild their marriage. Now they seemed at complete ease with each other, peaceful in their love.

There was a way that everyone here was with each other, not just the couples, but also the friends, that Holly had rarely seen. Even Tara and Cole, taken out of the constraints of Charleston, seemed to relate to one another more easily. Holly was close to her sister (and loved her brother fiercely, as annoying as he was), had a decent relationship with her parents (even if she was currently avoiding their meddling), had friends (sort of), but she didn’t have a person, any person, platonic or otherwise, who felt like her ride-or-die.

This morning, she would have said that didn’t bother her.

With a noise like a tornado, Cole burst through the swinging kitchen door. “LEVI!” he shouted, picking Levi up and swinging him around in a bear hug.

“I saw you two hours ago,” Levi said, his voice muffled in Cole’s arms.

“HANNAH!” Cole put down Levi and picked up Hannah. She made a noise like she might puke on him, which he probably deserved.

Holly turned to Tara, who had come in quietly behind Cole. “He seems like he’s dialed way up, even for him.”

Tara nodded. “He just introduced me to his boyfriend. He’s on a high.”

“That’s fucking adorable,” Holly said, and then, when Cole turned to her, held up her hands. “Do not pick me up, Nicholas.”

He turned to Mrs. Matthews. “FELICIA!”

“You know what else is adorable?” Holly asked Tara quietly, pulling gently on the skirt of her dress until Tara was standing closer, so close their bodies were brushing against each other.

Tara looked down the front of Holly’s braless shirt. “Yes.”

“Rude! Those are not adorable! They’re majestic.” She held her shirt closed. “Keep being mean and you won’t get to see them later.”

Tara smiled wolfishly. “Oh, I will.” She turned to whisper into Holly’s hair, and Holly shivered. “In fact, I think there are several hours until dinner, if you’d like to try to escape now.”

Oh yeah, she was totally okay with Tara taking the reins on this situationship. Nodding enthusiastically, Holly took Tara’s hand and turned to lead her out of the kitchen, still wearing the I’m Not Irish, Kiss Me Anyway apron Mrs. Matthews had loaned her, but she bumped into Miriam coming in the door.

“Ow!” Miriam laughed, rubbing her forehead where they’d run into each other. “It’s my birthday! Be nice to me!” Coming farther into the kitchen, she exclaimed, “Ooh! Are we making cinnamon rolls?!”

Noelle followed behind her, her face lighting up at the words cinnamon rolls.

“Unlike these brats”—Mrs. Matthews gestured at her son and daughter-in-law—“Miriam can bake.”

Miriam nodded. “Usually at three a.m. You’re always invited,” she told Holly. “Maybe you can show me your coconut cake recipe.”

“But you’re not baking today,” Noelle reminded her, “because we’re all going outside to build snowmen.”

“That’s true,” Hannah agreed. “Wedding and birthday week or no, guests expect a snowman competition, and we’re going to give it to them.”

Tara sighed. “They’re not going to let us get out of this. I should go change into something warm.” She rested her forehead on Holly’s, and Holly got a little dizzy from the smell of magnolia and star jasmine.

“I can come with you?” Holly asked hopefully. She’d been so close. She wanted to find out if all of Tara smelled like a Southern summer in bloom.

“You are coming with me!” Cole announced. “We’re going to be on a team! Because Tara is very bad at building snowmen!”

Tara gasped in indignation. “I’ll show you, you little shit,” she said, and stomped off to get changed.

“Now she’ll try really hard,” Cole told Holly, bringing his finger to his lips like his ploy was their secret. “Pretending you think Tara will be bad at something is the best way to get her to do it.”

Hmm. That was good information. Holly tucked it away for later. Competitive orgasms? She could get on board with that.

“Is this everyone?” Levi asked the room. “Who are we waiting for?”

Hannah counted on her fingers. “Esther is around somewhere. She said she’d meet us outside. Elijah and Jason are supposed to be here with the twins. Lawrence said he was bringing that new girl he’s dating.”

“They broke up,” Levi updated her.