Page 43 of Holly Jolly Heresy
Jo:That was one time!
Molly tucked her phone back in her purse. A scandal-free holiday meant no waltzing into family dinner holding a priest’s hand. Which was fine. She could keep this to herself until after Christmas. Probably.
Sure enough, there was one trash bag left in the trunk of Caleb’s car, an iridescent angel wing poking out of the opening. She slung the bag over her shoulder and headed back into the church basement, determined to say her goodbyes quickly and get home to keep her promise to the girls. It was time to go back to reality.
“You’re being selfish,” Father Murphy's raised voice pulled Molly up short outside the door to Caleb’s office. She set the bag down on the floor and paused, unsure whether she should knock or go back outside and give the two priests some more time.
“I appreciate your perspective, but—”
“You cannot do this. You will make a mockery of this parish,” Father Murphy said, cutting off Caleb’s reply. “You aren’t thinking clearly. I knew the moment I got your email this morning something was off, and then I find you with that woman—”
“She has a name.”
Molly held her breath, shame crawling up her throat and heating her cheeks.
“This is not the time. Your parishioners deserve better from you. Don’t do something rash you’ll regret when you’ve had time to think it through.”
A long silence. Then, “You’re right.”
Molly dropped the bag at her feet, angel wings spilling out onto the beige carpet. She’d been here before, had been delivered a similar warning she’d been too naive to listen to—and she knew how it ended. The smart thing to do would be to leave, to get in her car and drive far away, to accept the job offerwaiting in her inbox, to start looking for apartments in Boston and never look back.
But her feet wouldn’t move. No matter how badly she wanted to disappear and pretend she hadn’t heard a thing, she wanted Caleb more.
Father Murphy’s booming voice, now calmer, came through the door. “Of course, I’m right. You’ll see. Leave the impulsive decisions to the youth.”
“Thank you for your counsel, Father Murphy.”
The door to the office swung open and Father Murphy startled at the sight of her. He scanned the mess of angel wings at her feet. “Ms. Proulx, let me help you,” he said, bending to retrieve a particularly glittery set of wings.
“That’s alright. I’ve got it.” She flashed a weak smile.
He seemed skeptical but he nodded and made his way down the hall, careful not to step on any of the wings on his way by.
Father Murphy disappeared through the door to the parking lot, but Molly waited until she’d counted to ten in her head before entering Caleb’s office, wings littering the hallway. Caleb was still seated behind his desk, but his lips were turned down in a pensive frown, the crease between his eyebrows more prominent.
His eyes softened when he saw her. “There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you got lost.” He sounded tired. Had he sounded so tired before Father Murphy’s visit?
“I couldn’t help but overhear…” She gestured towards the door half-heartedly.
Caleb sighed, running his thumb and index finger over his eyes behind his glasses. “Father Murphy means well.”
“Maybe he has a point. Maybe we are making a rash decision.”
“What?” All traces of exhaustion disappeared from his face, his frame stiff and alert, as though he was preparing to leap out of his chair. “Molly, that’s not—”
“I’m not saying we’re wrong,” she rushed to add, “but I think we need to take a beat.”
“A beat,” he repeated, incredulous.
“Some space.”
He pushed his chair back and rounded on her in one swift movement, taking her hand in both of his. “I don’t want space.”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I think we should do it anyway.”
His mouth fell open, a puff of air leaving his lungs. “Is that what you want?”
Of course it wasn’t! Her throat constricted, tears stinging her nose and the backs of her eyes. She wanted him, every moment of him, but not if he wasn’t sure. Not if one conversation with Father Murphy was enough to have him wavering. She wanted all of him, every moment, but they’d been so caught up in the last two days, in the dream come to life, maybe they weren’t thinking clearly. And she loved him enough to give him the chance to change his mind.
