Page 53 of Like the Season
Chapter Fifteen
Monday morning, Boyd left home for work over an hour early to try to get caught up somewhat. He’d spent a chunk of yesterday evening in bed with his work laptop and Caleb curled up next to him while he went through his work e-mails and tried to clear things out. It still left a lot of ground to cover after having been out of the office for two weeks, most of the last week spent unable to do more than skim e-mails on his work phone at gas stops and reply only to the most urgent items.
He’d also marked his calendar that he wasn’t available for any meetings that morning in an attempt to slog through the worst of everything before lunch, which he intended to eat sitting there at his desk while he—spoiler alert—worked.
That’s why it surprised him when Ed Thorton, his boss and head of Planning and Zoning, summoned Boyd to his office a little after ten that morning.
Shit.
He was even more surprised to find Caleb already sitting there and looking shell-shocked.
“Shut the door, please, Boyd,” Ed said from where he stood behind his desk.
Hoping he could spin whatever fuckstorm this was into something that would leave both of them with their jobs, Boyd slowly shut the door. “What’s going on?”
“I need you to sit down, please.” Ed took his seat behind his desk.
Boyd slowly crossed the room and rounded the other chair, glancing at Caleb before focusing on Ed. “Why does this sound serious?” He wouldn’t offer anything more than that without knowing what they were dealing with.
“Because it…might be.”
“Mightbe?”
“I received a very interesting and borderline hysterical call this morning from a woman named Elenora Prevost.”
Oh, fuck.“And?”
“Says her sister is Caleb’s aunt, and she went to see him last week. And, long story short, that Caleb is gay and apparently not living at his apartment, but with some guy he works with or for.” Ed sat back in his chair and leveled a gaze at Boyd. “Care to take a guess the name she gave me?”
Inwardly, Boyd winced. But he refused to blink, to cower, to react without knowing the full story. “Should I?”
“This is a serious allegation, Boyd.”
Boyd glanced at Caleb, who now sat staring at the floor. “I’d like to hear the full allegation before I respond,” Boyd said, swinging his gaze back to Ed.
“She said her sister went to Caleb’s apartment and a woman there said she was subletting. They snooped on Facebook, saw that Caleb had liked and commented on a bunch of your pictures, and the aunt recognized your daughter. That’s how they got your name.
“The aunt cruised by your house, after they used county property tax records to find out where you live, and saw Caleb’s car there. Then, because our county website is so helpful, she Googled your name, found your name on our county website, was able to run up the phone tree to puzzle out what your position was, and that I’m your boss.”
The man leaned forward, his hands clasped together on his desk. “Let me tell you something—that crazy-ass phone call wasnothow I wanted to start my Monday morning.”
Fuck.
Except Ed wasn’t done. “She demanded I fire Caleb because he’s gay, so he can move back home ‘and be a good boy,’ as she put it. Now, honestly, the woman sounded like a total nutjob to me, so I’ll leave it at that. I told her truthfully that employees’ personal lives were none of my business, and that I would not discuss them with her. When she wasn’t happy with that answer, I informed her that Sarasota County is an equal-opportunity employer who doesn’t kowtow to bigots. Then she hung up on me.
“However…if her allegations are true about a workplace romance, that the two of youareinvolved with each other, then we actuallydoneed to have a serious discussion. Caleb refused to answer my questions without you here.” He leaned back in his chair and swept a hand at Boyd. “Now you are caught up, and this is where you and I need to talk.”
Boyd pulled in a slow breath and then reached over to clasp Caleb’s hand, gently squeezing. “It’s a long story. Parts of it are very private, and I refuse to tell them. This started outside of work, and we didn’t recognize or realize who the other was when our relationship…grew intimate. Ever since then, however, I’ve been watching for a lateral position to open up to transfer Caleb into outside my department.”
“How long’s this been going on?”
“Only a couple of weeks,” he fibbed, squeezing Caleb’s hand as he did to make him pay attention and hoping Ed wouldn’t do the math. “He’s not officially living with me, but only because we were putting that off until he could transfer.”
Ed rubbed at his forehead. “I’m going to ask a stupid question—how could younotrecognize each other when you met outside of work?”
“Let’s call it a costume party and leave it at that.”
“Okay.” Ed leveled a gaze at him. “Have you talked to Calvin, then?”
