Hold Me Close(26)

Polly looked caught, which made Effie pause before stripping out of her underwear to head for the shower. “Nothing.”

“You must’ve done a lot of nothing.” Effie put her hands on her hips.

Polly shrugged and gave Effie a look of bland innocence she’d learned directly from her mother. Effie sighed and looked at the clock. If she showered quickly, she’d have time to shave all her important bits and blow-dry her hair, and still make it to the restaurant within the time frame she’d asked for. If she had a heart-to-heart motherly chat with her child, it was very likely she wasn’t going to end up going on this date at all.

Choices, choices, choices.

“Text Nana for me, would you? I need to get in the shower,” Effie said over her shoulder as she went into her bathroom and turned on the shower. She quickly tweezed her eyebrows while she waited for the water to heat, then called to Polly, still in the bedroom, “Did she answer you?”

“She says she’s sick!”

Effie stuck her head around the bathroom door. “What?”

“She says she texted you and called you an hour ago.” Polly held up her phone. “She said she’s sick and she can’t come.”

“Shit.” Effie’s phone had been off while she worked and her mother wouldn’t have canceled if she weren’t truly sick. It was her own fault for not checking the text or voice mail she had seen but assumed was her mother asking her a question she could answer when she got there.


“I could stay home alone,” Polly offered hopefully.

Effie snort-laughed at that one and hopped into the shower. Too hot. She hissed and turned the faucet handle while she grabbed her razor. “Um, no.”

“Why not? I’m almost twelve. Meredith stays home alone all the time.”

Effie started shaving, wishing she’d bothered to manage at least some of this upkeep a little better over the past week, because damn, she’d turned into a Sasquatch. Not that she intended to be in any sort of position with Mitchell that would give him even a glimpse of the parts she was grooming. “Since when are you and Meredith such bosom buddies?”

“You’re the one who told me to give her a chance,” Polly said.

Effie peeked around the shower door. “That means I was hoping she’d pick up your good habits, not that she’d teach you bad ones.”

“Staying home alone isn’t a bad habit!”

Effie ducked back beneath the water to rinse off the shaving cream and start on her hair. “No, but arguing with your mother is.”

“Ugh!” Polly said, disgruntled. “If you’re not going to let me stay home alone, then why are you still bothering to shower?”

Good point. Effie scrubbed shampoo through her hair, making sure to strip out the blobs of paint. “I’m going to call Betty Grover.”

“No! No, Mom!”

Effie laughed again but held it back so Polly wouldn’t hear. “She’s not that bad, Wog.”

“She smells like pee, and she makes me watch stupid TV. She treats me like a baby.”

Effie bit back another chuckle. Betty had lived in the house next door for fifty years and had been very kind to them when they moved in, but she did, in fact, smell faintly of urine and was prone to babying both Polly and Effie. Still, she was almost always available to come and sit with Polly for a few hours and refused to take money, and with Betty here instead of Effie’s mother, Effie would have a real excuse to get home early if she needed one.

“Can’t I see if Heath will come over?”

Effie muttered a curse at the sudden sting of shampoo in her eyes. Polly had no idea, really, what a shitty thing it would be to ask Heath to babysit so Effie could go on a date, but there was no way to explain it to her. “No, Pollywog, if Betty can’t do it, I’ll stay home.”

“He already said he would,” Polly said.

Effie pulled open the shower door again to glare. “What? You already asked him?”

“Yeah, he said he would.” Polly held up her phone without even a glimmer of remorse.

“That’s not... Shit, Polly. Shit.” Effie tipped her face under the water to rinse away the last of the shampoo. If she couldn’t explain why it was a problem, how could she also explain why she was angry? Heath had taken Polly hundreds of other times when Effie needed someone.

“He’ll be here in about ten minutes,” Polly said. “You’d better hurry up and finish getting ready.”

It took her about twenty to finish with everything else, and admittedly, Effie did not put as much effort into getting her glamour on as she should have for a date, even a second one. The look on Heath’s face, though, as she came into the kitchen, was proof that even the underwhelming effort she’d made had been impressive. The gleam of admiration in his eyes actually made Effie blush.

“Hey,” she said. “Thanks for this.”

“No problem. You know I’m always here for you when you need me.”

Effie pressed her lips together but met his gaze steadily. Heath gave her a bland grin. He knew exactly what he was saying.

“I won’t be out late,” Effie said.

Heath shrugged. “Take your time. Have fun.”

“I won’t be out late,” she repeated, then kissed the top of Polly’s head. “Be good.”