Page 4 of Maybe This Christmas
Without thinking, he turned to run toward the half bath, finding Sabrina fast on his heels.They’d been like this since childhood—they were the closest in age, so everything was a competition.
“Knock it off!”Sabrina elbowed him as she switched on the faucet.
“You’re wasting water,” Caleb chided.
Their hands danced over one another as they washed up.Brandon appeared in the doorway.
“That’s the most energy I’ve seen out of you since the kids left.”
Caleb snatched a towel off the rack and dried his hands.“You two are laying it on a bit thick.What’s for dinner?”He stepped to make his move past Brandon.
Brandon sidestepped him, keeping him in place.“Spaghetti and meatballs.The kind with ricotta.Your favorite.”
“What are you two buttering me up for?”He eyed his brother-in-law with skepticism.
“Well, not so much buttering you up as giving you a chance to step outside your box a bit.”Sabrina gave Caleb a push.“All will be revealed over dinner.”
Chapter Two
Caleb nudged his food around on his plate.“Are you going to make me finish every last bite like a little kid before you tell me what’s going on?”
Sabrina set a fresh beer in front of him.“We’ll tell you now.Anything to knock that dour look off your face.”
He edged his chair back from the table.“So, what is it, then?”
Sabrina leaned closer to him.“We’re all worried about you, Caleb.Ever since Olivia shared her plans, we knew this Christmas would be hard for you.We don’t want you to be alone.You’ve been stuck in rutsville, my dude.It’s time to make your departure.”
He knew they were right, but he didn’t appreciate the bluntness of their approach.
“Hence the ambush at my place, yes, yes.I’m caught up now.”
“Okay, fine.No one wants to see you isolate yourself this Christmas.No jobs are on the docket until the new year, so you won’t have an excuse to leave the house.So, there’s two options.”
He wasn’t exactly in the mood for his baby sister and her husband to be bossing him around, but this would end sooner if he let them express their thoughts.Caleb popped the cap on his beer.“Which are?”
“Option number one.Help the biddies with their annual toy drive.Meaning you’ll be doing most of the grunt work and standing out on Silver Spring Street in an ill-fitting Santa suit, pestering passersby for donations,” Sabrina said.
“You’re leading with the worst option.”
One of the cats jumped in Sabrina’s lap and she began to stroke it under the chin.“Do you remember Avalee?”
He took a sip of his beer.“Should I?”
“She was the activities director at Sky House.She left us under rather…unfortunate circumstances yesterday,” Brandon said.
“That sounds ominous.Did she die?”
“No, she was screwing around with her boyfriend in a cabin.Guests caught her.It was a whole thing.”Sabrina waved her hand.“Thankfully, she quit before we got a chance to fire her.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Again, he witnessed his sister and her husband exchange glances.He missed that kind of intimacy, when your partner could know what you were thinking with a glance.
“We won’t be able to hire anyone permanently until after the new year.So, what’s to say you help your local family-owned mountain resort for the holidays?”Sabrina tented her fingers.“After all, you’d be doing us a big favor, helping us out through our first holiday season.”
“As the activities director?Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”
Caleb was by far the most introverted of the Ellis siblings.He would rather grind his teeth down with an angle grinder than lead a group of tourists in Christmas carols.Or god knows what else Sabrina and Brandon had cooked up for the holiday season.
