Page 14 of Melt For Us, Daddy
Holden let out a low whistle. “Do you have any idea what she could be so upset about?”
“None. I mean, I figured the Jacob thing had us both spinning out a bit but…” Trailing off, she let the night before play over in her mind. Running into Jacob outside, sending Ivy to get help, Jacob telling them who he was. Her telling everyone she knew his grandfather…
“Oh, fuck. I’m an idiot.”
“How so?”
“It’s not about Jacob. It’s about Silas. My past has always been very off-limits, even with Ivy. I’ve told her some of it, but I haven’t told her everything.”
“And does ‘everything’ include the fact that you have a husband?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it does.”
Holden let out a low whistle. “Then I’d say Ivy has every right to be pissed at you. Honestly, it’s probably in your best interest to let her cool down a bit before you grovel.”
“I don’t grovel. I’ll apologize, but I don’t grovel.”
“I dunno, Cordelia. A fuck-up of that magnitude deserves a good grovel.”
“Would you grovel?”
“Would and have. Beckett’s a master of the grovel if you want pointers. But that’s going to have to wait.” Turning into a reserved parking space right near the front door of a tall, well-kept building, Holden put the vehicle in park. “We’re here. You going to be okay up there?”
“I can handle my shit just as well as any of you, Holden.”
“Never said you couldn’t. But handling your shit is hard when you know your babygirl is off somewhere, hurting because of something you did.”
“I know. And I guess I appreciate your concern. But I’ll be fine.”
“All right, then. Let’s go.”
Jacob
* * *
The pants Zach loaned him were heavier and scratchier than he was used to. Not to mention at least a size too big. But Zach had managed to find him a belt to wear to keep them up, and the plain black t-shirt was long enough to hide how baggy the pants were. It was a far cry from the perfectly pressed suits he was used to, but it was… fun, he decided with a final look in the mirror before heading out to the kitchen.
As always, Zach greeted him with a smile. “Hey! They’re not too horribly baggy on you after all. Coffee just finished brewing. You want a cup?”
Caffeine of any kind was forbidden in the church. But his mothers had also hammered into him from a young age that it was rude to turn away an offering from your host, so he nodded. “Coffee would be nice, thank you.”
“Awesome. How do you take it?”
“Umm. In a cup, I suppose?”
Zach blinked, then threw his head back and let out a roaring laugh that Jacob couldn't help but join in with. “No, man. I mean do you want cream and sugar in it or just black?”
“Oh.” It seemed wasteful to add anything to a drink he was just going to dump out later. “Black is fine.”
“You got it.”
When Zach placed the steaming mug in front of him, Jacob leaned in, closing his eyes as he inhaled the strange aroma. If coffee tasted half as good as it smelled, he’d obviously been missing out on something amazing.
Or was this just another indulgence the world offered to lure him away from the Almighty?
Before he had time to dwell too deeply on that question, there was a heavy knock on the front door. And in an instant, Zach changed. His smiling, easygoing friend disappeared, and in his place stood what Jacob could only think of as a soldier. Taller, straighter, harder somehow in ways he couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Zach tapped the screen, his posture relaxing a bit at whatever it was he saw there. “Holden and Cordelia are here. Gonna go let them in.”
