Holiday Homecoming

“I bet you do,” Cain said.

Jack exhaled. “I remember carrying Joshua back after he wound himself around that tree on New Year’s Eve.”

“Well, that was a rough New Year’s Eve,” Cain said.

“What do you think of her?” Jack asked abruptly.

“Her?”

“Holly Winston.”

So, her full name was Holly Winston. “She’s a spitfire,” he murmured.

“And you like that in a woman?”

Cain knew Jack and he knew him well. “Forget it, Jack. She hates me and I’m going, probably this afternoon, so forget it.”

“Oh, hey, no, you can’t leave so soon.”

“I’ve got business and—”

“What about the wedding?”

“I’ll fly back for it.”

“What about the bachelor party?”

“You all come to the city. I’ll throw a bachelor party for Joshua he’ll never forget.”

“He’s not about to leave, and I can’t.”

Cain got up and went to the bar, opened a bottle of mineral water and drank a long swallow before striding over to the windows that overlooked the land around the resort. From here, you could almost make out the start of the run. Almost. The trees hid most of it. Damn, it looked straight up and down from here. “Are you going to offer her more money?” he asked.

“I’m not sure she’s after more money.”

“What does she want?”

“Beats me. I can’t figure her out.”

He turned. Jack got up, facing him across the room. “Join the club.”

“What happened on the mountain?”

“Nothing.” He reconsidered that. No, he’d almost done something really stupid. A kiss had been a thought, but before he could kiss her, he’d made himself stop. “She wanted me out of there, but the first time I saw her, she was angry. Then I saw her at the school. Same thing. She stared at me as if I’m something to scrape off the bottom of her shoe.”

“Oh, the old ‘love-hate’ploy?” Jack asked with a partial grin.

“No, it’s not ‘I hate you so you’ll be fascinated and run after me’ at all.”

The idea of her hating him was more disturbing than he’d realized until that moment. “Is she married?”

“Divorced.”

Cain had the oddest idea that Holly never gave up on anything, and he wondered why she’d gotten a divorce. Teachers weren’t paid well, either. None of that made sense. “She must need the money.”

“She’s as poor as a church mouse. She’s only been back here a few weeks and is renting the old Sanders place on Eureka.”

Cain remembered the house Jack was referring to. Tom Sanders had built a small bungalow on the same street as the school and the orphanage. It hadn’t been fancy then, and he doubted it was fancy now. “Why won’t she go for the money?”

“Well, I believe Holly Winston has her price. I just have to figure out what it is.”

Anyone could be bought. Cain had found that out in his business. A price was set and either met or rejected. “Does she have any family in town?”

“Sure. Annie at the hotel. She’s her sister, her half sister. The same mother, different father.”

Cain drank more of his mineral water. “Do you have any idea why she’d hate me?”

Jack appeared perplexed. “What in the heck happened on the mountain?”

“Nothing.” Thank goodness. He took chances, huge chances, but he hated to lose. And the idea of losing when it came to Holly Winston left an oddly bitter taste in his mouth. Maybe that was why he’d stopped any impulsive kiss on the mountain. Better not to begin in the first place. He drained the last of his water and tossed the bottle neatly into a trash container near the bar. “Absolutely nothing.”

Jack didn’t look convinced. “Sure, nothing,” he murmured.

“Jack, don’t start.”

His friend shrugged. “She got to you, didn’t she?”

Cain wasn’t surprised that Jack had noticed whatever was going on between the two of them. “She’s frustrating. I hate frustrating. I hate it when I can’t figure where someone’s coming from.”

“How badly do you want to figure out Holly Winston?” Jack asked with the shadow of a smile playing around his lips.