Chapter 2Ryder Franklin had been friends with David Hollingsworth since Holly’s dad had come to work for Ryder’s forever ago. As only children, each viewed the other as the sibling they wished they had. When Ryder had grumbled about his name—the kids in school began calling him Red Ryder after watching A Christmas Story—Holly had been the one who’d teased that he should be grateful his name wasn’t Benjamin. When the class bully made fun of Holly’s nickname, dubbing him Holly Hobbie, Ryder had punched the kid’s nose. He’d gotten a week’s in-school detention and he’d been grounded at home, but he considered it worth it because after that, no one else teased his friend.
Not to say that Ryder didn’t. As Holly’s best friend, it was his prerogative.
As they’d grown older, those feelings had gr
