Page 30 of Holiday Star
“Oh?” He’s interested. I picture him pressing the phone closer to his ear.
I’m probably asking for bad karma, because a little thrill goes through me. There’s something so delicious about sharing a secret, especially one you shouldn’t. I lower my voice, which is dumb since I’m in the car by myself, but still I whisper. “Caleb Lawson is staying at Mom and Seth’s house with me.”
“What?!” His surprise is gratifying. It makes me laugh.
I laugh even harder at his next question.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
“Eww, Teddy. No, I’m not sleeping with him.”
“What do you mean, eww? Isn’t he America’s sexiest man or some BS like that?”
I think about the rumpled grouch who never leaves the living room and have to admit that even grungy Caleb is kind of sexy.
But I’m definitelynotgoing to tell my baby brother that.
“I don’t see him that way,” I say. “He needed a place to crash for a while. That’s all. He wants to lie low and stay out of the limelight.”
“Do you like it? Living with him?”
I tilt my head, considering. “It’s okay, I guess. He doesn’t do much. Reads and listens to music. He’s an excellent cook, though. Oh! Get this, I had to teach him how to do laundry.”
“What?” The volume of Teddy’s voice goes up a notch. “Isn’t the guy in his late twenties? What do you mean you had to teach him?”
“He only has four shirts, so he needs to wash them every couple of days. He didn’t know the difference between dishwasher detergent and washing machine detergent,” I say gleefully. “So he put one of those dishwasher pods into the washing machine. By the time I found out, bubbles had flooded out of the washing machine and were spreading all over the laundry room floor. It was a disaster!”
I don’t tell Teddy how I went running into the laundry room, slipped in the water, and fell on my butt, right in front of Caleb.Talk about humiliating.I also don’t tell him how Caleb had truly laughed for the first time since he moved in and how that sound, a low rumbling guffaw, had echoed somewhere deep in my chest.
Nope.No need for my brother to hear about that part.
“That’s crazy,” Teddy exclaims. “Every adult should know how to clean their own clothing.”
“Right? He’s been sheltered from real-world stuff like that. The other day he told me he’s never made a dentist or doctor appointment himself. His mom or some staff always do it for him.”
I laugh, but then become more serious, making my voice firm, imitating Mom when she’s telling us to be home by curfew. “You can’t let anyone else know about Caleb living with me. Okay, Teddy? I mean it.Noone.”
“Fine,” he huffs. “I won’t tell a soul. Promise.”
“Good. When are you going to talk to Mom about college?”
“Not sure.” He sighs so loudly that I flinch and pull the receiver away from my ear. “I’ll get around to it, eventually. Just keep it between us for now, though. Okay, Sissy?”
Geez.Seems like everyone wants me to keep their secrets recently. Caleb. Teddy.
But this is my baby brother. I’d do anything for him.
“Okay, Teddy Bear.”
17
The baby goat has hard, pointy hooves that dig into my back in just the right spot. I should enjoy the sensation, but I’m too busy worrying that it’ll pee on me.
“Isn’t this amazing?” asks Jenny next to me as she flows into downward dog like she was born without any joints. Her own personal goat prances for a minute and then settles, perched atop her as if she’s the biggest peak of Mt. Everest.
“Yeah, amazing,” I agree halfheartedly.
In the spirit of the holiday, our goats are made even cuter by the tiny Christmas sweaters they wear. Mine has a snowman on the front. Jenny’s goat has an elf.
