Her lips automatically formed the word yes but she quickly snapped her mouth closed. No. No. So what if it was Todd’s final exam? She had her evaluation next week, and if she wanted to impress her teacher, she needed to come up with a recipe that would knock the man’s socks off. Wasn’t that more important?
If Carson were here, she knew he’d say yes, it was more important, and a sudden flare of determination lit up inside her.
“I can’t,” she told her brother. “I have my own exam to prepare for.”
Todd looked startled. “You can’t? But it’ll only take a few hours. Please, Holly?”
She was about to firmly reject him again, when her older sister suddenly slammed her hand down on the table, causing the silverware to jingle loudly. Everyone turned to Caroline in surprise, even their dad, who hadn’t said a word during the entire meal.
“Quit bothering Holly,” Caroline said to Todd, her green eyes flashing with anger.
“She said no.”
Todd swallowed. “I wasn’t—”
“You were being an asshole, expecting her to drop everything to help you study for an exam that for weeks you should have been reviewing for,” Caroline snapped. Her cheeks flushed. “Actually, we were all being assholes to Holly. Even you, Daddy.”
Their father frowned.
“I’m serious,” Caroline insisted, her eyes filling with remorse. “I know we’ve all had a tough couple of years, but yesterday I realized how unfair we’ve been to Holly. We expect her to do everything.”
“Because she’s so good at it,” Kyle offered. His expression grew pained. “You know, the way Mom was.”
“Well, she’s not Mom,” Caroline replied. “And she shouldn’t have to do whatever we ask her to. Did you guys know she has a boyfriend?”
The three males glanced at Holly in surprise. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, not to mention confused. What on earth had gotten into Caroline? For two years her sister 60
www.samhainpublishing.com
Heat of Passion
hadn’t seemed to have any qualms about asking Holly for every favor imaginable—what the hell had changed?
“That’s right,” her sister said, shaking her head to herself. “She’s got a boyfriend, and none of us even knew about him.”
“Caroline,” Holly began, wanting to tell her that Carson wasn’t exactly her boyfriend.
Her sister silenced her with a sharp look. “No, don’t explain. You have a boyfriend, and you didn’t tell us, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that none of us even cared to ask if you were seeing anyone new. We’re jerks, Holly. We expect you to fix everything in our lives and don’t bother being interested in yours. All we do is make demands. It’s no wonder you got your boyfriend to hang up on me. I deserved it.”
A short silence fell over the table, until Holly’s father finally cleared his throat and shot her a gentle look. “Honey…is it true? Do you think we make too many demands of you?”
Holly swallowed. “Sometimes.”
Her dad looked away, but not before she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. “I’m sorry,”
he said after a moment. “You always seemed so eager to help out, doing all the stuff around the house that your mom used to do…” Sorrow creased his features. “And I was too busy missing your mother to notice how unfair I was being to you.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” she said, her voice coming out shaky.
“No, it’s not. Caroline’s right. Your mother’s gone, and it’s time we figured out how to take care of ourselves.” He suddenly straightened his shoulders, his stern expression reminding her of the way he’d been before her mother had died. Strong, commanding.
“First things first, I want you go home.”
She faltered. “What?”
“You said you have an exam to prepare for.” Her father’s gaze was determined. “Go home and focus on that, honey. And while you’re taking care of yourself, the rest of us are going to clean up and do the dishes and figure out exactly how we’re going to make it up you. Got it?”
www.samhainpublishing.com 61
Elle Kennedy
She couldn’t help but smile. “Got it.”
She was still smiling as she left her father’s house and headed for her car. Although she was still a bit stunned over what just happened, she wasn’t about to complain. For some reason, her family had come to their senses tonight.
No, not for some reason. Because of Carson.
Carson had gotten through to Caroline last night. Instead of letting Holly go clean up another one of her sister’s messes, he’d forced Caroline to deal with it herself. And the tough-love approach had worked. Holly had been babying them all for so long, and thanks to Carson, she wouldn’t be doing that any longer. How could she have ever thought he was selfish?
I know you want to be with me…we’d both be a lot better off if you’d just admit it.