Page 14 of Holly Jolly Heresy
“Go now, my friend. Stay safe.”
Caleb watched Father David retreat back towards the school, ducking his head as snow pelted him from all sides.
“Caleb.”
Blood rushed in his ears and he flexed his fingers in the pockets of his too-thin jacket. They’d go to the motel, they’d rent two rooms and ride out the storm, and in the morning, when the roads were clear, they’d drive home and everything would be fine. It wasfine. It was just a little snow.
Or maybe it’s a sign...
Of what? My inability to check a weather forecast?
“Father West! We have to go.” The rising panic in Molly’s voice snapped him out of his trance and he gave a curt nod before joining her in the car, the heat blasting and the wipers working overtime to keep his view clear.
Snow crunched beneath the tires as he carefully steered the car out of the parking lot and onto the deserted road. They moved at a snail’s pace, his attempts to keep the car from fishtailing on theslippery road at odds with his desire to move faster, to get them out of harm’s way—to getherout of harm’s way. A gentle curve in the road felt like a roller coaster, each bend more treacherous than the last, until, at last, a giant, neon yellow, glowing star in the distance came into view.
“Follow the star,” he muttered.
The Starshine Motel was one of those two-story roadside motels Caleb had only seen in movies, with a whitewashed cement façade and a steel railing running along the second story walkway. Each door was hung with an identical wreath and, beneath the sign with its neon star, was a nativity scene populated by plastic snowmen slowly being buried in the falling snow. The car slid to a stop in the parking lot, snow coming down so hard and fast now it was hard to make out where the other cars were beneath the blanket of white.
“I shouldn’t have said anything. About the Church,” Molly said when Caleb had parked the car. “I made it weird.”
“I’m glad you said something.” At her little sound of disbelief, he reached across the center console and gripped her hand. “Are we okay?”
“We’re okay.”
She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but the snow had already coated the windshield in the few moments they’d sat in the parking lot. Despite the warmth rushing through him at her gentle reassurance, the voice in the back of his mind demanded he get her inside, get her warm, get hersafe.
He squeezed her hand and reluctantly pulled away. “We should go in, before we get stuck out here.”
The small rental office was empty when Molly and Caleb pushed through the front doors, kicking snow from their shoes. The light from a low ceiling fan cast the modest wood-paneled room in an orange glow. A bell over the door announced theirarrival and a woman in her mid-70s with a short, gray bob looked up from the Harlequin romance she was reading at the check-in desk.
“What are you folks doing out in this storm?” she gasped, dropping her book. “Come in, come in. Are you the couple in 3B?”
“What? No,” Molly sputtered. “Us? We’re not—we’re not a couple.”
Caleb did his best to block out the restless, staticky feeling pulsing through his veins at the mere idea of being mistaken for Molly’s partner and the sick weight turning over in his stomach from their last conversation. “It seems we chose the wrong day to road trip to Nativity. I don’t suppose you have a couple of rooms open for the night?”
The woman’s face fell. “No, I’m sorry, we don’t. My last room was booked just a few hours ago.”
Molly laughed, a brittle, hysterical sound. “You’ve got to be kidding me. We followed the star and there’s no room at the inn! I think I’ve heard this story before.” She jabbed a finger at the sky, her voice high pitched. “Joke’s on you, God! I haven’t been a virgin since high school!”
“Oh, my,” the woman said, glancing between them.
Caleb pressed a hand to Molly’s lower back and she sucked in a breath, turning her wild eyes towards him, but he was determined to ignore the way that small sound sent heat racing down his spine. With his free hand, he lowered the zipper on his jacket, just enough to reveal his clerical collar. The woman’s eyes zeroed in on the square of white like a homing beacon.
“Is there anything you can do for us? My friend and I just need a safe space to ride out the storm,” he said.
The woman thought for a moment, glancing uncertainly out the window at her back. “There is The Stable.”
Another incredulous puff of laughter burst from Molly’s lips before she clapped her hand over her mouth.
“It’s the renovated barn out back. We use it as a vacation rental home.” The woman pointed out the window to a cabin set a little way back on the property, barely visible through the swirling storm. “It was supposed to be rented out all weekend for a bachelor party, but they called yesterday and cancelled.” She dropped her voice and leaned closer. “Apparently the bride and the best man were having a thing on the side.” Her eyes flashed to Caleb’s clerical collar again and she cleared her throat, straightening her spine. “The house is fully stocked and sitting there empty. I could give it to you for the cost of a standard room, seeing how it’ll just be going to waste otherwise, if you don’t mind the bachelor party décor.”
“That would be incredibly generous of you…”
“Mary.”
“Mary,” Caleb repeated with a strained smile.
