How Nick and Holly Wrecked...Saved Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

Dew.
    “Let’s go,” he says and heads for the door.
    “What did you get your Aunt Ivy for Christmas?” I ask as we pull on our boots.
    “iPad. Her computer died but all she cares about is Words with Friends, the weather, and her e-mail. This should be all she needs. What about Collette?”
    “I have an idea but I haven’t done it yet.”
    I head for Nick’s truck, but it’s his dad’s Mercedes that starts up on its own across the garage.
    “C’mon,” Nick says.
    “That’s your dad’s new SUV.”
    “He said I could drive it.”
    I shuffle my feet to keep them from freezing. “I’ll get our groceries.”
    “No, c’mon. We’re only goin’ a couple miles down the road. We’ll be back for the truck. And stop making that face. It’s fine.”
    What face? The one that’s concerned we’ll get pulled over in your dad’s new car?
    I need to find a new face. A poker face.
    I sit on a heated leather seat and breathe a hint of new-car smell through my busted nose. “This is nice.”
    Nick hops out at the mailbox and the end of the drive. “It’s OK,” he says as he gets back in. “But it’s no Z-28.”
    A few minutes farther down Lakefront Drive, Nick slows. Cars line the street in both directions and all the way up the drive. I can see from the road that every light in the house is on.
    “Isn’t this Ricky Farmer’s house? Are his parents having a Christmas party?”
    “No, Ricky’s having a Christmas party. His parents won’t be back tonight.”
    “That looks like some party.”
    Nick drives past the house. “There’s nowhere to park here.” He pulls off the road two mailboxes away. “There’s a path through the woods. Let’s go.”
    “I didn’t know we were going to a party, Nick. My face is not exactly in party condition.”
    “Everyone here already knows about your face. We won’t stay long. Ricky’s mom needs this envelope from my dad for her charity and I told Ricky we’d stop by.”
    We?
    “C’mon. All our friends are here. It’ll be fine.”
    Our?
    Apparently, Nick Zernigan has sniffed one too many new car fumes. I may have known some of these people since Kindergarten, but they are not my friends. Amanda and I don’t get invited to these legendary parties on the lake, and we don’t move in these circles.
    Ice, snow, and twigs snap beneath my boots. Bitter cold shocks my cheeks and nose and I slow down to avoid diving face-first into the ground. Nick and Ricky know this path well. I do not.
    Nick takes my hand. “We’re almost there.”
    I push my scarf further up my face and walk close to him where it’s safe. I no longer mind the cold.
    The house pulses with music and noise as we approach.
    “There must be a hundred people in there.”
    “I doubt that,” Nick says as he enters a side door.
    We stand in the laundry room at the bottom of the stairs. Nick puts the envelope with Mrs. Farmer’s name on the dryer.
    “Ready to go up?”
    No. I don’t drink, and I don’t smoke, and I don’t feel comfortable with these people. And why doesn’t anyone get that I look like I’ve been hit by a bus?
    “Yes,” I say and smile.
    We climb the stairs. Nick opens the door and then closes it again.
    “What?”
    “There are a lot of people in that kitchen.”
    “I told you.”
    “Here.” He digs in his pocket. “Take this.”
    He hands me the remote keychain for his dad’s car. I hand it back like it’s on fire.
    “No, take it.” He laughs.
    “What am I supposed to do with this?”
    “Let’s get in and grab some food. I’ll find Ricky and say hi. If we lose track of each other, text me, and I’ll meet you outside. Push this button twice and this button once.”
    “Then what happens? It’ll drive down the path and open the door for me?”
    “No, but it will start and warm up the seats. I don’t want you to stand out in the cold waiting for me.”
    I reach around him and push open the door. “Go.”
    Nick opens the refrigerator and pulls out a beer. He