Holden's Resurrection (Gemini Group #6) - Riley Edwards Page 0,45

made my insides seize. What the hell was going on? Why was he pulling her into his web? Holden knew exactly what he was doing. He might be a promise-breaking, heart-crushing jerk but he wasn’t stupid. He knew Faith would eat up every word he said.

Nixon’s chuckle cleared my thoughts.

“Stop teasing her,” Micky chastised. “We brought you coffee, Charleigh. How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you. Just waiting on the doctor so we can go home.” Nixon and Holden exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher but instinctually I knew it was about me. “What’s the look for?”

“What look?” Holden asked.

“Don’t play dumb. You just gave Nixon a look. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, babe. Drink your coffee and we’ll talk after the doctor comes in.”

“No way.”

“Leigh-Leigh, drink your coffee and get some food in your stomach. You didn’t eat anything yesterday so I know you’re starving.” How does he know I hadn’t eaten yesterday? “I know you didn’t eat because I asked.” Holden answered my unasked question. “We’ll talk after breakfast,” he amended.

My daughter nodded like she approved of this plan and I wasn’t sure I liked her and Holden on the same team. And as much as I wanted to argue and tell Holden he could shove his heavy-handed directives straight up his ass, I refrained. There was a time and a place for me to explain to Holden that nothing had changed. I was grateful for his help, but we were going back to avoiding each other until I could figure out my next move.

And I still had to deal with my parents. My mother would rather die a thousand deaths than ruin her mother-of-the-year persona. I would be shocked if they actually went back to Virginia Beach empty-handed. She cared more about her country club friends’ opinion of her than her daughter’s or granddaughter’s well-being. It was vitally important to her that she see Faith before she left so she could report back to her crew the state of her “precious grandchild.” Pure bullshit. Neither of my parents actually cared about us. They cared about their reputations.

Nixon was unearthing Faith’s pancakes when I felt Micky tap my hand with the cardboard cup. “Here.”

“Thank you. I appreciate you bringing Faith something to eat,” I returned.

“It was no problem. We were coming in anyway.”

“Where’s Holly?”

“We dropped her off at Weston and Silver’s.”

It must be nice to have close friends as neighbors. Weston and Silver lived on a piece of property that bordered Nixon and McKenna’s. It was the same with Alec and Macy and Jameson and Kennedy. Actually, Chasin and Genevieve bought Nixon’s old farm, making them neighbors with Nix, Micky, Weston, and Silver, too. Bobby lived in a repurposed old shed on Chasin and Genevieve’s property. They’d remodeled the old building into a kickass guest house. And of course, Holden lived there, too, in his Airstream.

He hadn’t owned it when we were together and I’d never been inside, but I’d heard from the others that he’d redone and modernized the interior. As much as I didn’t want to be, I was curious what it looked like and why he chose to live in a pull-behind trailer and not in a house or apartment. However, I never asked and I never would. The less I knew about the new Holden Stanford, the better.

I didn’t want to know what he’d been doing in our years apart. I didn’t want to know if he’d fallen in love, had his heart broken, or been the one to break more hearts. I didn’t want to know if he spoke to his parents or if either of them had remarried. I didn’t want to know if he and his dad had worked out their differences about Holden being in the military. Nope. I didn’t want to know anything. Not a damn thing that would strengthen the connection I felt. It was better for me not to know anything.

That wasn’t to say I didn’t break my own rule sometimes. In a moment of weakness when he and I were alone after he’d come to Virginia to help me out with the Towlers, I asked a few questions. None of which he answered. That also wasn’t to say that after a few drinks I hadn’t tried to kiss him. The ill-fated kiss was so embarrassing, I shoved it down into the darkest recesses of my mind in an effort to forget that as soon as my lips had brushed his, I felt the bond we shared snap back into