When they entered the barn, Rhett had stopped playing to take a break, and was busy in the corner, laughing with a few people, signing a poster for them. Holly rolled her eyes and walked over to the food table. Tammy was there, gathering utensils and putting them in jars for people to take as they filled their plates.

“Hey, y’all!” she said, a sectioned paper plate and wad of plastic cutlery in one hand and a scoop for the fried potatoes in the other. “I was just grabbing a bite for your nana, Holly.” Tammy gave her a suggestive look. “Where y’all been?”

“Just walking around,” Holly said, purposely being vague to avoid any sort of gossip. “I’m starving.” She went to pick up a plate, but Joe had already gotten one and held it out to her. “Thank you,” she said to him, not meeting his eyes. Her head was a muddle right now and she just needed to fill her empty stomach and get rid of the whiskey in her system so she could have a clear and rational head.

“Hey, Holly.”

She didn’t have to look to know who it was. Rhett had already made his way over to the table as if he had a homing device on.

Just the sound of his voice made her head throb. Joe handed her a napkin as she stood between the two of them, holding the serving spoon for the potatoes. She’d always known how to keep her composure when things were going wrong and she was rattled—it happened all the time at work. The trick was never to let the customer know that their dining experience was being interrupted. She’d had fires on the grill in the kitchen, broken glasses that she’d maneuvered around, incorrect drink orders, a shortage of ingredients for their dishes. None of it had flustered her like she was flustered right now, and she could not, no matter how hard she tried, get herself together.

“Holly,” Joe said her name gently, bringing her to. She set her plate onto the table, registering its weight, and realized she’d filled the entire surface of it with potatoes, the scoop still in her grip.

“Can we talk?” Rhett said, placing his hand on her shoulder, making her wince.

“I have to sit down.” Holly abandoned Joe, Rhett, and her mountain of potatoes and walked as if on autopilot over to Nana. She needed a friendly face.

“Good Lord, child, what’s wrong with you?” Nana said, noticing her state right away.

Was it that obvious? Holly sat in one of the chairs and hung her head down to steady her breathing. Was she having some sort of panic attack? She shook her head, needing a minute before she could answer Nana.

“Trouble in paradise?” Tammy said, setting Nana’s plate down. Holly forced herself to meet Tammy’s concerned gaze.

“I drank too much of Otis’s iced tea, I think,” she managed before dropping back down to keep from getting lightheaded.

“You just had the one, right?” Tammy asked. “Was it that strong?”

“I’ve got her,” Rhett said, coming up behind Tammy. “Can you walk?” he asked. His face was pleading as he squatted down next to Holly.

“Yeah.” She hadn’t thought about her ankle much tonight with everything going on. Despite it not giving her trouble, she didn’t want to walk with Rhett. Or talk to him in this state, but she knew he wouldn’t stop until she heard whatever it was he had to say.

He helped her up and walked her to the corner, away from everyone. With his finger, Rhett lifted her chin, forcing her to stare straight into the eyes of the person who used to be her best friend in all the world. When she did, the pain of losing him and not having him in her darkest hours came rushing in. Her lips began to wobble and only then did she know that the whole evening she’d been fighting to keep herself from doing this very thing. She didn’t want to have to look at his face. It was the face of late night movies, of laughing outside on the grass until her sides hurt, of baking cookies at Christmastime, of climbing trees together, sitting at the very top, and that night right before he’d left when he’d almost kissed her on Papa’s porch… The view of him clouded with her tears and she blinked them away.

“You didn’t come to see Papa,” she said in a whisper, the tears sliding down her cheeks, the pain finally surfacing through her voice. She took in a jagged breath.

Rhett looked down at his boots, his face revealing his shame.

“Why?” she asked, her anger gone in this moment and replaced with incomprehension.

“Is everything all right?” Joe said, coming up to her, those kind eyes causing the pain in her chest to subside briefly.

Rhett took a step back, assessing Joe. There was something clearly there every time Rhett encountered him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Everything’s fine,” he said, and the intensity she’d seen in his eyes had gone, Rhett becoming distant. “Holly, I just wanted to tell you that I was sorry. That’s all I can say.”

“Thank you for the apology. It doesn’t change anything, because when we needed you, you weren’t there.”

“I know,” he said. He ran his hands through his hair, and exhaled as if the years of absence had finally escaped on his breath. He shook his head, bewildered. “I should play some more music,” he said, changing the subject abruptly. “Mama’s coming, by the way. She’d like to see you, I’m sure.” His eyes went over to Joe again. “Have a good night.”

When Rhett left, Holly rubbed her neck and stared at the barn stage, collecting herself, her stomach churning more than it had been. “What an awful start to the party,” she said to Joe with a sniffle. “I’m so sorry to have had all this drama.”

“It’s fine.” Joe looked as though he felt for her and it only made the guilt over causing such a scene worse. She should’ve been better at keeping her emotions in check.

“I’m still hungry. I never got my… potatoes,” she said. “Let’s get some food and then go meet Otis.”

That made Joe chuckle, which helped.

Joe took her over to the table to grab a bite and then they went in search of Otis. When they approached him, Otis Rigby stretched out those gangly arms that could easily embrace four grown adults. “How’s my girl?” he said, pulling Holly close, his unique scent of wood fires and whiskey taking her back to the days she spent with him and Papa. He pulled back and looked fondly at her. His hair had evolved from the silver she remembered to a bright white, and there were a few new sunspots on his hands, but his friendly smile was exactly the same. “How ya been?”

“Good!” she said, not wanting to elaborate in that moment. She’d had a plate of food, which had settled her stomach, but that was the only problem she’d solved. If she started to tell Otis the real answer about Nana and Rhett, or her insecurities about pulling off the planning of Joe’s wedding, he’d only try to fix things, and there was no fixing any of her issues.

“I’m sorry your family couldn’t come this Christmas,” Holly told Otis as Rhett began to play another familiar song. She recognized it. He’d written this one at a bar in Nashville, he’d told her once. Rhett had always been enamored with Music City, and he spent a lot of his time bouncing around to hidden gems, as he called them—bars and restaurants, tucked away from the tourists.

The lyrics sailed into her ears, wrapping around her like a familiar blanket after a long walk in the cold. She tried to block it out.

“Just gives me an excuse to have two parties.” Otis winked at her. “Now I’ll have to have another one for my family when the snow melts.”

Holly had missed Otis. His easy-going personality and contagious happiness always made her very comfortable. He would get Papa laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. How Holly missed that laughter. She inwardly scolded herself for not visiting more often and decided that, no matter what, she’d make an effort to come say hi every couple of months at least.

“And you must be the infamous Mr. Barnes,” Otis said, holding out a hand to Joe.

“Oh!” Holly said. “I’m so sorry. Where are my manners?” Her past was getting the better of her tonight. “Otis, this is Joe.” But after she said that, it registered that he’d already known Joe’s name.

“Tammy’s been all over the floor tonight, telling people about you.”

Joe shook Otis’s hand. “She has?”

“Yep.” He dragged two chairs over and patted the seats before finding one for himself. Otis sat down, his long legs stretching out across the open space in front of him. “She said Holly found herself a keeper.”

Both Holly and Joe fell into a fit of denial, shaking their heads and laughing awkwardly, before Otis quieted them with a loud guffaw, slapping his leg. “Don’t worry, I asked your nana. She told me what’s going on.” There was something in that statement that made Holly want to ask Nana what she’d actually said. Otis sat back and folded his arms across his narrow chest, but his enjoyment of the moment was still clear as he looked back and forth between Holly and Joe. “Well, even though the two of you are only working partners, you seem to be on good terms, so you should have no problem joining Jean on the dance floor in a few minutes and saving her from Buddy.” He nodded toward the front of the barn where Nana and Buddy were doing the two-step under the Christmas lights.

Holly clapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t witnessed this much life in Nana in ages, and the excitement filled her like a runaway helium balloon. Seeing her now, Holly knew the choice to come to Leiper’s Fork had been the right one. Maybe, just maybe, Nana would have a wonderful Christmas after all.

“Why don’t you get out there and dance, Otis?” Holly asked. “I’ll bet those boots have dust on them from all the sitting still. I haven’t seen them move tonight the way they did as I remember.” Holly thought about how he’d chase her and Rhett around the yard with a water hose when they were little, singing and dancing as if the sprayer were a microphone, soaking them, Holly erupting into giggles and squeals.

“Is that a dare, Miss McAdams?” He stood up and held out his hand. “Because if I remember correctly, your papa taught you some fancy footwork. Why don’t we show Joe what to do?”

When she looked over at Joe, he seemed enthralled and charmed at the same time, those eyes sparkling in the candlelight surrounding them. He shifted in his chair with one arm resting on the back of it like he did, his interest clear. She only had that split second to notice him before Otis had pulled her onto the dance floor, spinning her around, those little southern shuffling steps coming to her effortlessly, the way Papa had shown her, the pain in her ankle barely there in all the excitement.

“How’d we get so lucky, Otis?” Buddy called out as they moved closer to him and Nana. “We got the most gorgeous girls in the whole place!”

Nana threw her gaze to the ceiling in mock annoyance just before Buddy spun her around. Watching Nana dance with Buddy was different than the way she moved with Papa. There was a defined space between them, like Holly had with Otis. Whenever she danced with Papa, Nana’s features had been relaxed, her smile carefree, her laughter rising into the air like bubbles in champagne. Papa’s hands would travel along Nana’s with ease, and they moved together as if they were one person.

“So, you planning a wedding for Mr. Fancy over there?” Otis said as he leaned toward her to keep his voice from carrying over the music. His six-foot frame meant he had to tilt way down to reach Holly’s ear.

“Yes,” she said, taking in Joe. He waved, and she had to fight the urge to want him on the dance floor with them.

He was so different to anyone there. With his perfect-fitting jeans, his expensive hiking boots, and a sweater that would probably cost her a couple of nights in wages, he seemed a little bit formal, like he’d never learned how to really kick back and relax. But there was an element to him that made her feel completely at home. The way he said her name softly, his face as he looked down at her, that laughter of his—it was as if she’d known him forever. She could only imagine what it would be like if she knew him better. They could be great… friends.

“This one’s called ‘The Two of Us’,” Rhett said into the microphone, his voice booming from the speakers in each corner of the barn. “Remember this one, Holly?”

She looked at him and then away. Of course she did. She remembered them all. Every single song had a story. This song was about best friends; they’d written it together. Well, he’d written it and she’d told him all the lines that he should change. Holly acknowledged him with a quick look, but she wasn’t in the mood for his public attempts to smooth things over.

Rhett was always making a mess of things. He was impulsive and fickle, letting his emotions drive him. Even that final night together when he’d tried to kiss her. It had come out of the blue. He hadn’t done anything to let Holly know it was coming, and she pulled away, needing time to figure out how she felt about it, but then he left. And she hadn’t heard from him since. It was typical of Rhett. She’d seen him do the same thing to other girls, but she thought their friendship had meant more to him than that.

After a couple more songs, Otis beckoned Joe onto the floor. Holly wanted to tell Otis that it was fine if he didn’t feel like dancing anymore. She’d be okay sitting down for a while, although it was nice to be out there with Nana. When Nana closed her eyes tonight, Holly wanted to be in her memory.

Joe complied, stepping onto the makeshift dance floor. Rhett had started playing their song. She hadn’t heard him play it live in quite a while. He’d changed it from the upbeat tempo, the way they’d originally written it, to a ballad that hung in the top ten last month and peaked at number one a few weeks ago. Holly heard about the celebrations among their friends, and the recording studio on Music Row had put a giant banner with Rhett’s face on it outside their doors. Holly had driven the long way to work to avoid having to look at it.

“Could you take my place, young man? My back’s starting to ache and I wouldn’t want to leave Miss Holly to dance all alone. What kind of gentleman would do that?”

“Of course,” Joe said, cautiously placing his hand in Holly’s.

Joe’s grasp was still and steady, and she tried not to think about how secure it made her feel. She liked his touch, but she knew his hand wasn’t hers to hold. She was just borrowing him for a dance or two so she could stay out there with Nana and enjoy herself.

“I won’t have to line dance, will I?” he said into her ear so she could hear over the sound, giving her goose bumps down her arm.

Holly laughed. “No. I think you’re safe.”

Joe’s other hand found her lower back and he gently pulled her toward his body. She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to keep her distance and fighting that ever-present movie reel of the first night on the sofa. Why did it keep replaying in her mind? She was starting to feel the twinge of panic, and she needed something to break the cycle of thought. Wedding. Focus on the wedding. She was working. Getting to know the customer.

“I was thinking,” she said, trying to keep things professional, given the circumstances. She’d let her guard down tonight and it was time to return to reality. No more of Otis’s iced tea, no more long talks out under the trees. “I should probably call Katharine and go over the wedding choices I’ve made so far.”

Joe blinked as if her sudden line of discussion surprised him, but then it was an odd conversation to have on the dance floor. Their entire situation was odd, though. “Absolutely. I’m sure Katharine would love a check-in.”

She felt his shoulder rise under her hand. It was subtle, but it was there—that slight stress or… something. What was it?

“I’d also like to get your input on the floor runner for the ceremony.”

His chest moved against her with his breath as he nodded.

“And do you have a list of RSVPs? I’ll need to check that against the invite list so we can possibly send a gentle reminder to the late responders. We need a final head count to update the order for the appropriate cake size and plan for reception tables by the twenty-third. That’s in two days.”

He’d stopped responding, his eyes on her, and she didn’t know how to read it. Their bodies were still moving to the music, but his expression was disconnected. Afraid he could feel her heart beating against his chest, she continued rattling off her list.

“We’ll need to check with the caterers to see if there’s any final tasting that needs to happen prior—have you done that?”

“Holly,” he finally said in that quiet way of his, when he wanted her attention. But then he fell silent. They’d stopped dancing and she waited, her pulse in her ears, to hear what he was about to say. Finally, he spoke. “We don’t have to do it all tonight, do we? We have time. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. Then tomorrow, you and I can make a list of what needs to be done.”

Holly chewed on her lip as Rhett’s music played around them. Life certainly could get difficult.