“I never heard yours.”
Holly winced. “Can’t we ignore that part and you just answer?”
“What if we did like all those movies you love so much and both say our reasons on three?”
Holly lit up. “That’s a great idea.”
Oh, shoot. He swallowed and set down the fabric tape. “Okay. One.”
“Two.” Her green eyes twinkled.
He nodded at her. “Three.”
“Birthday.”
“Jail.”
“Whoa.” Holly reeled back in her chair. “That escalated quickly. I was expecting you to say snow globe.”
He hesitated. Was he really going to go there? Yet somehow, it felt right. After all he and Holly had been through, she deserved the explanation. He drew a breath. “They’re connected.”
“Okay, this I must hear.” She capped her marker and crossed her arms over her chest. “How did you get arrested over a snow globe?”
“I didn’t.” Nick dusted glitter from his hands over his sweater. What was a little more at this point? Then he leaned back in his seat, matching her posture. “I’ll tell you. But first—why does your birthday make you hate Christmas?”
“It gets ignored.” Holly shrugged, averting her eyes. “I knowthat sounds really petty. But growing up in a big family, as a middle child no less, sharing your birthday with a major holiday is sort of a bummer.”
“I can see that.”
“Mom and Dad tried, but they had their hands full with all of us. It’s not like they forgot I was born on Christmas, it just always got put on the back burner. I was thrown an extra gift that night, or maybe some of my Christmas gifts just counted as birthday, too, because they said they spent a little more money.” Holly visibly swallowed. “But it wasn’t ever about the price for me.”
Nick lowered his voice. “It was about the attention?”
“Exactly.” She shook her shoulders a little, as if resetting. “Like I said—sort of petty.”
“Not petty at all.”
“When I got older, coming home for Christmas turned into some kind of progress report. Was I dating? Engaged yet? Successful?” She snorted. “Didn’t help that Kat got married young, and Olivia is, like, Supermom, and Ryan has the Midas touch with everything.”
“He is annoying that way, isn’t he?” Nick grinned.
Holly shook her head. “It wasn’t any better when I was young. Ryan was Mr. Popular, and half the girls my age just wanted to be my friend because they knew he was my brother.”
Nick winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. I mean, I had my own friends, but they could never come to a birthday party because of traveling for the holidays.” Holly pursed her lips. “I think I just started seeing Christmas as something that got in the way.”
“That’s a lot on a kid.”
“And bullies were real. Between my red hair and being a Christmas baby, the teasing was endless.”
Ah. “Hence the nicknames you hate from Ryan.” Good thing he hadn’t teased Holly with those names at the height of Operation: Naughty List. He wouldn’t have realized the depth of their effect. “Funny how the smallest things can be triggers, huh?”
“Like snow globes?” She quirked an eyebrow. “Your turn.”
Oh boy. Nick rolled a Sharpie between his fingers. “I’ve talked about my parents a little, right? Their perfectionist aim, Christmas always being a hollow showcase.”
“Right.” Holly nodded.
