Holding Holly (Love and Football Series) (7 page)

“Neither,” he said. He waited for her to bring the mugs, the half-gallon of milk, and the coffee carafe to the table. She poured a mugful for him, put it down in front of him, and said, “Is there anything else you need right now?”

“You’re waiting on me just like you did at the Sharks’ cafeteria,” he teased. “You always take good care of me, girl.”

Her smile was bashful. “I can’t help it,” she said.

“I like it,” he said. He reached out to squeeze her hand. She squeezed back, and his heart went ba-bump in his chest. He might actually enjoy waking up in the mornings if Holly was with him.

His thoughts turned to the pile of letters on the table. He should wait until later to bring them up. Maybe he should talk with her about them when he wasn’t quite so cranky still. He took a cautious sip of the coffee. It was still too hot.

“Yeah, there is one more thing. Where’d you get these letters to Santa Claus?” he asked, nodding at the small stack still on the kitchen table.

H
OLLY GOT UP
from the table, opened the refrigerator, and grabbed one of the pizza boxes inside. She placed a few slices on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven to warm. It might be a good idea to face this conversation with a bit more than coffee in her now-churning stomach.

She’d forgotten to put the letters away last night like her grandma asked her to, and now she was going to have to invent yet another story to cover up. She did her best not to lie as a rule, but this was a pretty big secret to entrust to someone she wasn’t sure could keep it.

“Holly?” he said.

“I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

She walked back to the table on now-leaden legs and sank into the chair. He didn’t take his eyes off of hers. The only noises in the room were their breathing and the wind that was still whipping around outside. Seconds later, her cell phone rang. She grabbed it out of her pocket. Her boss’s number was on the screen.

“Holly, sorry to bother you again. We’re closed today. The power company says they’re not sure when we’ll be up and running again. The storm knocked out some transformers, among other things.”

“Are you okay?” He and his wife lived in a small apartment upstairs in the same building as Caffeine Addiction.

“We’re fine. I’ll call you when I know more. Go back to sleep, okay?”

“Thanks.”

She disconnected and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She wasn’t getting any hours today, and the chances were good that the money she would have been paid for tonight’s job wasn’t happening without power, either.

Derrick was still watching her and waiting for an answer. She glanced down at the table. She could dwell on her problems later.

“It’s not my secret to tell.” It wasn’t an answer, but it was the best she could come up with.

He reached out one big hand and covered hers. “Then whose secret is it? I’d like to help. Maybe we could work together to find Michael and his family.”

He had just confirmed that he not only glanced at the letters, he’d read at least one of them. The sinking feeling in her stomach intensified; Holly and her grandma’s closely held secret wasn’t a secret anymore. The timer she’d set on the stove went off. She got up from the table again to pull the food out of the oven.

“Do you wonder if Michael and his family are sitting in a freezing-cold house right now?” he said. “What if we could help them? I saw some of the other letters. One of those kids asked for a bat, a mitt, and some cleats. I could fulfill every wish in those letters, including paying for a headhunter to find Michael’s mom a good job . . .”

“The median income here is pretty high,” she hedged. “Most of those kids will get all that and more from Santa on Christmas morning.” She shoveled a couple of pieces of pizza onto a plate, grabbed a fork out of the drawer, and brought it back to the table.

“Then let me help Michael and his family, if we can find them,” he coaxed. His voice dropped. “Your grandma can’t write anything right now with her hands wrapped up like that,” he said.

He
knew
.

She wanted to tell him the whole story so badly, tell him everything that was in her heart about how she’d be willing to help Michael’s family with her own money if they needed it, and if she could find them. She’d miss the quarter at UW or have to borrow her tuition, but she would never regret it. She could tell him that her grandma told her she’d never received a Santa letter like that in thirty years. She could only imagine what Derrick’s resources could do for a family that needed them so desperately.

She got to her feet and tried to keep her voice casual. “I’d better grab a shower. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She reached into her pocket and put her cell phone down on the kitchen table. “It’s too dangerous for you to go outside right now to get your charger. You can use my phone to call whomever you’d like. The charger’s on the counter.”

She got up from the table and went to her room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

D
ERRICK HEARD
M
ISS
Ruth’s shuffling steps down the hallway a few minutes later as the shower went on.

“I smell coffee,” she called out.

“It’s in here,” he said.

“I hope you won’t mind my casual dress,” she told him as she strolled into the kitchen. If he wasn’t already awake, her attire made sure of it. She wore neon-green satiny pajamas and a shocking pink chenille robe. She’d tied a red bandana around her hair too. His mama and grandma made some crazy fashion choices at times, but Holly’s grandmother took things to an entirely new level.

“Miss Ruth, I do believe you’ve outdone both my mama and my grandma.”

She grinned at him. “It’s my job.” She grabbed another mug out of the cupboard, flinched a little at holding anything in her hand, and sat down at the table with him. He remembered how much fun it was to try to do things for himself after having a badly broken thumb operated on a couple of years ago. “Is Holly getting ready for work?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. The power is out at the place she works.” Derrick poured Holly’s grandmother a cup of coffee out of the carafe that still sat on a hot mat on the kitchen table. “Would you like me to get you some sugar?”

“No, thank you.”

“How about a piece of pizza? I see there’s a piece left, and it just came out of the oven a few minutes ago.”

“I can get it,” she said.

“No. You relax.” He got up from his chair, found a plate, and dished up the food. He put the plate down in front of her.

“Holly’s in the shower.” He gazed into Miss Ruth’s green eyes. “I asked her about the letters. I think she’s upset.”

“Letters?” Miss Ruth said. Her eyes shifted away from his toward the pile on the table. “What letters?”

“We’re not going to do this, are we?”

She took a sip of coffee and stalled for a few seconds. “No. You’re right. You do realize, however, that this has been a secret for thirty years, and there will be a lot of disappointed children if it ever gets out . . .”

“I’ve heard about that already, and I’m pretty good at keeping a secret.” He reached over the table and patted her upper arm. “So, Miss Ruth, there’s at least one family in these letters that needs some serious help. I’d like to help them, and you can keep my involvement secret. I have a couple of ideas on how to do this.” He stared into her eyes. “I wonder if you’ll help me implement them.”

She gave him a nod.

Chapter Seven

D
ERRICK REACHED ACROSS
the table to give Miss Ruth’s hands a gentle pat. “I’m going to find Michael and his family. I’m also hoping you know enough of these kids to know if someone else might need my help this holiday season too. Let’s work together.”

“How are we going to explain it to all of these kids?”

“We don’t have to explain a thing. Holly may have mentioned to me that most of these families will be taking care of the big gifts themselves.”

“She did, did she?” Ruth said. “I’ll have to talk with her about spilling my secrets.”

“Don’t be mad at her. It’s not her fault. I fight dirty, Miss Ruth. I wasn’t letting up until she told me.” She tried to look stern, but he saw her smile. “Why don’t we invite the letter writers and their parents to a holiday party here, the local Santa hands out gifts, and I pay for it all?” He leaned back in his chair. “I’ll get some idea of how many boys and girls there are and take care of some fun stuff for them. Stuff like games, jump ropes, that kind of thing. I’ll figure out how to help Michael’s family without their ever knowing who did it, either. How about it?”

Holly’s grandmother reached across the table to pat his cheek with a bandaged hand. “I don’t know how you’re going to pull this off, Derrick, but if you’re willing to try, I can help.” She got up from the table, walked over to a drawer beneath the counter, and extracted an old-fashioned paper address book. “Here’s where we need to start.” She flipped the book open so he could see. “Let’s talk to Santa Claus first.”

H
OLLY PUT THE
final touches on her hair before she went back to the kitchen. She knew she’d overreacted to Derrick’s offer to help, but she knew how much the Santa letters had meant to her grandma over the years. It was a chance for her to give back to Noel, and she looked forward to it each year.

Holly was more touched than she could ever explain to him that Derrick wanted to help people in her community, but she also didn’t want him to think the only way anyone cared about him was when he pulled out his wallet.

Maybe she should let everyone else worry about their feelings. She could only be responsible for her own.

She heard her grandma’s soft voice from the kitchen, and Derrick’s laughter. She peeked around the doorway to see what they were doing. They were bent over the kitchen table with the letters, carefully paper-clipping the envelopes to them while they worked so nothing would get separated. Derrick took notes in her notebook while her grandma read off the items. “So far, we have twenty-five primary letter writers and twelve additional siblings with eighteen more letters to open. Here’s another little girl. She says her brother wants a Sharks jersey.”

“Did he say which one? I’ll bet I can rustle up at least one of those. It might have an autograph on it too.” She saw the flash of Derrick’s brilliant smile. “Maybe more than one.”

“That’s nice of you, Derrick,” Holly said as she walked into the kitchen. She tried to conceal her amazement that not only was her grandma allowing Derrick to help her read the letters, they were evidently conspiring together as well.

“There you are,” he said. He got up from the chair and reached out to hug Holly. “I didn’t mean to crowd you out of the action earlier,” he said into her ear.

“I’m sorry too.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I left. It was rude,” she said. “I’m so happy you want to help.”

“If you’re both done apologizing to each other, we have a lot to do,” her grandma said, but she was chuckling as she said it. “Holly, he told me he fights dirty.”

Holly let out a sigh. “I collapsed like a house of cards.”

Holly’s phone rang in Derrick’s pocket. He pulled it out and handed it to her.

It was her boss again. “Holly, the Merchants’ Association event is postponed too. They just cancelled the mobile espresso cart.”

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry. I know that’s money out of your pocket.”

“They’ll reschedule.” Her boss was quiet for a moment. “Listen. I know this is tough on you financially too. I’m paying you for today. We’ll call it a holiday bonus.”

Holly clapped one hand over her mouth in surprise. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m back at school soon, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it—”

He interrupted her. “We wish we had more to give, but maybe this will help a bit. Do something you’ll enjoy today. Hopefully we’ll be ready to go tomorrow morning, and I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll be there. Thank you again.”

“You’re very welcome, Holly.” He disconnected, and she stared at her phone in shock.

“I’m guessing Gil told you he’s paying you today,” her grandma said as Derrick gave her one more squeeze. Hugging him was like wrapping her arms around a life-sized teddy bear; he was warm, he smelled good, and she felt so protected in his embrace.

“He did,” Holly said. “It’s really kind of him to do this.”

“You deserve it, honey. You work hard for him. Now, let’s get busy while you have a little extra time today,” her grandma said.

W
HILE
H
OLLY AND
her grandma nailed down a local hall on the date Derrick specified, made a deal with the local caterer, and hired the local Santa Claus to make a triumphant appearance, Derrick went into Miss Ruth’s family room to call his coach and teammates. He was expecting a monster fine. He would most likely not be playing Sunday afternoon even if he could get back across the pass, which was looking somewhat iffy at this time.

The snow and wind appeared to be slowing down, but he hadn’t heard a car pass on the street outside all morning. In other words, the snow was deep and probably meant the roads were impassable. He had no idea how he was getting home, but he’d better come up with something. The team would be practicing hard for Sunday’s game.

No matter how big the fine was, it was worth every penny to spend the past several hours with Holly. They’d spent a lot of time dwelling on the letters, but it gave him a chance to see what kind of woman she was. She was thoughtful, kind, caring, and seemed to be as beautiful on the inside as she was to look at. She was exactly what he hoped she would be. He was going to do whatever he had to do to see her at every opportunity. The other women he’d dated in the past would hint around about the school bills she was struggling so hard to pay or ask him outright for a better phone. Not her. She worked for the things she got. He’d seen her reaction when her boss gave her a day off with pay. Despite the fact that she appeared to have little, she was willing to share what she had with him.

There was a surprise coming for her, too: A brand-new smart phone with a contract he was paying for was on its way to her house. It was a damn good thing he called her cell provider before he called half of Bellevue to tell them what was going on with him. She would have paid a fortune for the old-fashioned minutes he used. He’d tried texting with her “dumb” phone, as she called it. It was so frustrating he wanted to let out a string of obscenities and smash the thing on the floor. Holly would be able to text on a state-of-the-art phone. They could stay in touch even with a mountain range between them.