The Return of Antonides: Christmas at the Castello(5)

"Holly?" Lukas felt as if he'd been punched. "You kissed Holly?" Then, hopefully, he'd asked, "Was it gross?"

Matt's face had turned bright red. "Nope."

It couldn't be different than kissing any other girl, Lukas had  thought. So he'd done that. And then he'd kissed another. And another.  He couldn't believe Matt kept on kissing only Holly.

Then, Christmas of Holly's senior year in high school, they'd got engaged.

"Engaged?" Lukas hadn't believed his ears. It was ludicrous, he'd told  Matt fervently. He'd told Holly the same thing. "You're crazy," he'd  said. "How can you think about spending the rest of your life with one  person? You're not in love!"

But they hadn't paid any attention to him. And when he'd tried to make  it clear to Holly, well, let's just say she hadn't got the message. In  fact, she'd hated him even more.

Then, when Matt was twenty-two and Holly just twenty, they had tied the knot.

Lukas had been on the other side of the world when he got Matt's call to come home and be his best man.

"I'm in Thailand!" Lukas had objected. He'd been crewing on a schooner  that summer, basking in sunny days, balmy nights and the charm of a bevy  of intriguing, exotic women. He hadn't been home for three years, had  no intention of going to the wedding.

"There are planes," Matt had said. "Get on one."

Lukas had argued, but Matt was implacable. "You're my best friend,"  he'd insisted. "You've always been there, always had my back."

The words had stabbed his conscience. "Fine," he'd muttered. "I'll come."

He'd done it. Had even managed a toast to the happy couple at the  reception. Then he'd got the hell out of there, lying about the  departure time of the plane he had to catch. He'd been back in Thailand  twenty-four hours later-back to his real life, back to being footloose  and fancy-free. Matt could have marriage with its boredom and sameness.

Lukas had been telling himself that for a decade now. Today was no  different, he thought as he shaded his eyes with his hand and squinted  out across the water. It was just a matter of putting the past to rest.                       
       
           



       

And then he saw her.

One minute he was scanning the water where everyone pretty much looked  alike paddling their canoes and kayaks and pedal boats in the confines  of the marina. The next moment his gaze locked onto a woman in the back  of a canoe out near the breakwater. There were two kids in front. And in  the back there was Holly.

His heart kicked over in his chest. He didn't know how he'd missed her  before. There was, as always, a purposefulness about her. Everyone else  was splashing and floundering. Holly was cutting through the water with  ease and determination, as if she knew what she wanted and aimed to get  it.

She hadn't changed a bit.

He remembered when she hadn't known how to paddle a canoe, and, taking  advantage of that, Lukas had refused to let her come with him and Matt.

Her chin had jutted. Her eyes had flashed. "I'll learn."

He'd scoffed. "From who?"

It turned out his oldest brother, Elias, was no proof against big blue  eyes. Elias had taught her, and the next time they went canoeing, Holly  had come, too.

Suddenly there came a whistle from the car park. A man wearing a green St. Brendan's T-shirt waved broadly. "Bring 'em in!"

With greater or lesser skill, the paddlers turned their canoes and  kayaks and headed for shore. Lukas kept his eyes on Holly. He could see  her talking to the students, giving instructions to back off a bit and  let the earlier arrivals dock first.

She still hadn't seen him, but she was close enough now that Lukas  could study her more easily. Gone were the luxuriant dark waves she'd  worn at her wedding. Now she had the same pixie-ish look she'd had as a  child. Most of her face was hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and she  wore a sun visor for shade, as well. The boy in the front of her canoe  said something that made her laugh. And Lukas's breath caught in his  throat at the husky yet feminine sound.

"Gimme a hand, mister?"

Lukas looked down to see a kayak alongside the dock and two boys  looking up at him. One held out a line to wrap around the cleat. Lukas  crouched down to steady the kayak while the boys scrambled out. Then he  helped them haul it out so they could carry it up to the waiting van.  Out of the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on Holly's canoe where she  was talking to her students. She was still several feet away from the  dock.

One by one, as the canoes and kayaks came up against the dock, Lukas  helped them all until finally when he turned back there was just one  canoe left.

Holly sat in the stern, unmoving, her sunglass-hidden gaze locked on him. No question that she'd seen him now.

Lukas straightened nonchalantly. "Holly," he said casually. "Imagine meeting you here."

The boy and girl in the canoe looked at him, surprised. Holly's  sunglasses hid her reaction. She still didn't move as the two students  brought the canoe against the tires lining the dock, and Lukas grabbed  the bow to hold it for them.

The boy scrambled out, followed by the girl. Holly stayed where she was.

"Thanks, mister," the boy said.

"You're welcome." Lukas had seen all the St. Brendan's canoes now, and  this one, with its deep, narrow hull, was far nicer and swifter than the  wide-bottomed trio he'd helped pull out earlier. He let his gaze slide  slowly over it, then brought it to rest on the woman who hadn't moved.  "Nice canoe. Yours, Holly?"

"How come you know Ms. Halloran?" the girl demanded.

"We grew up together-I've known Ms. Halloran since she was about your age."

The boy's brow furrowed, as if he couldn't imagine either of them being that young. "You kiddin'?"

"Not kidding." Lukas held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

"You were never a Boy Scout!" Holly blurted.

"Ah, she speaks," Lukas drawled.

Her freckled cheeks were suddenly a deep red.

"I was a Cub Scout," Lukas said, "when I was eight. You didn't know me when I was eight."

Holly gave a muffled grunt. She still didn't move to get out.

And knowing her, she probably wouldn't, unless Lukas forced the issue.  "Nice to see you again, too, Hol'. It's been a long time." He held out a  hand to help her out of the canoe, daring her to refuse it.

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like "Not long enough."

And of course, she ignored his hand. Instead, she set the paddle on the  dock and shoved herself up, trying to step sideways at the same time so  as to avoid his outstretched hand.

In a flatter-bottomed canoe, it might have worked. In this one, she'd barely edged sideways when the canoe tipped.                       
       
           



       

"Oh!" she yelped. "Oh, hel-"

"Ms. Halloran!" The kids shrieked as Holly pitched, arms flailing into the water.

Lukas couldn't hide the unholy grin that stretched across his face.

More kids came running. So did the men loading the canoes onto the trailer with St. Brendan's van. Lukas didn't move.

Holly sputtered to the surface, hair streaming, sunglasses gone, those  all-too-memorable blue eyes shooting sparks in his direction. He still  couldn't stop grinning.

All around him kids clamored. "Ms. Halloran! Are you okay?"

"Ms. Halloran! You fell in!"

"You're s'posed to stay in the center of the canoe, Ms. Halloran!"

One of the men who'd come from the van pushed past Lukas, a hand outstretched to help her. "Are you all right?"

"She's fine," Lukas said abruptly, stepping around the man and reaching  to grasp her arm. He hauled her unceremoniously up onto the dock,  steadying her with a hand against her back, aware of the warmth and  suppleness of her body through her wet T-shirt even as she shivered.  "Aren't you fine?" She sure as hell looked fine, her nipples pebbling  beneath the cotton of the shirt and her bra. He swallowed.

"Of course I'm fine," she said brusquely, clearly unaware of the  spectacle she presented as she turned to the students. "I slipped. We've  all done it, haven't we?"

At the fervent bobbing of heads, Holly grinned, shaking her hair out of  her eyes. "So, I'm just today's reminder. Do what I say, not what I  just did. Now, let's get the canoe out." And with a deft move, she  twisted out of Lukas's grasp to haul the canoe up onto the dock.

If the T-shirt was a temptation, it was nothing compared to the way her  shorts plastered to her rear end. Lukas's mouth went dry. The other men  and boys seemed to be appreciating the view, as well.

Stepping between Holly and her interested audience, Lukas wrested the  canoe away from her, simultaneously snapping at one of the teachers.  "Get her a towel. The rest of you, give me a hand."