Page 33 of Holly Jolly Heresy
Jamie:But you never do.
There are a lot of things I never do that I’ve done in the last twenty-four hours.
His phone burst to life, vibrating and ringing in his grip, the sound far too loud. On his chest, Molly stirred and grumbled little noises of protest against his shirt. He fumbled to turn down the volume, pressing buttons too quickly, too haphazardly. The screen lit up, his brother’s concerned face filling the screen.
“Shit,” Caleb swore, the phone slipping in his grasp as his own image filled the box in the corner of the screen—an image that included a clear shot of Molly sleeping in his lap.
“What’s going on? Is that Molly?” Gavin asked, his eyes going wide.
Caleb panicked, hanging up the call just before he dropped his phone. It landed with a thud on Molly’s knee.
She groaned, lifting her face up to his. “Why is your phone attacking me?”
In her lap, the phone started ringing again. Caleb snatched it up and got to his feet, unceremoniously dislodging her in the process as he bolted from the room, taking the stairs two at a time and shouting an apology over his shoulder as he went. He didn’t answer the call until he was safely behind the door of his bedroom—not that he’d slept in it the night before.
Shit!
“What’s going on?” Gavin asked again when Caleb answered.
“Nothing.”
“Why are you out of breath? And why aren’t you wearing your collar?”
“It’s not—You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Am I? Why was Molly in your lap?”
“She—”
“Lying is a sin, Father West.” Gavin arched an expectant eyebrow at his brother through the phone.
Caleb scraped his hand over his face as he took a seat on the edge of his bed. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
“I do, in fact. Now tell me what’s going on.”
He shook his head, glancing away. “You’re not my confessor.”
“No, I’m your brother. And you’re avoiding the question.” When he didn’t answer, Gavin released a long-suffering sigh. “Did youloseyour collar?”
“Of course not.” Caleb grabbed the plastic tab off his nightstand and held it up for the camera.
“Why are you so defensive? Caleb—” Gavin’s forehead wrinkled, his eyes flashing with a curiosity that reminded Caleb of days spent trying to figure out what creature was eating all the sugar snap peas growing in their mother’s backyard, the determined interest with which his little brother would stake out the raised beds for hours on end in hopes of catching a glimpse of the culprit. “You look different.”
Caleb blanched. “You’re imagining things.”
“I don’t think so.”
With a frustrated harumph, Caleb slid the tabs of the clerical collar into place. “There? Is that better?” The collar chafed, the rigid plastic too restrictive, suffocating, even without buttoning the top button of his shirt.
“Worse.” The curiosity in Gavin’s eyes melted into something like hurt. “It’s just me, man. What’s going on?”
Caleb tore the collar from his throat and tossed it on the bed beside him. He lowered his voice. “I fucked up.” But that wasn’t quite right… “I made a mess of things.”Try again.“I—”
His voice broke and he glanced away, eyes zeroing in on that simple collar against the blue and yellow quilt.The truth will set you free.
“I think I’m falling in love with Molly.”
“I mean…yeah, Caleb. Are you just figuring that out now?”
