Hold Me Close(39)

“I made this myself and watched everything that went into it,” he told her.

Effie nodded and pushed onto her tiptoes to give him a hug that didn’t linger. Her fingers stroked down his back once, twice, before she pulled away. “I trust you.”

For a moment, all he did was stare. Then a small smile twisted his mouth. She thought he might kiss her, but Heath only went back to setting out the food he’d brought while Effie watched.

“You need a haircut,” she told him.

He looked at her over his shoulder. “After dinner? Will you?”

“If you want to look like a shorn sheep.” She laughed and shook her head, but Heath was serious. Effie sighed, pretending to be annoyed, though secretly she was pleased he came to her for things like that.

Polly, without being asked, had set the table. She was being too quiet, something Effie noticed but hadn’t yet approached her about. She suspected it had something to do with the sleepover party Polly had been at last night. So far, Polly hadn’t talked about the party, but she’d been sleeping all day since Dee had dropped her off at ten this morning.

“Pollywog, get me a beer, would you?” Heath shrugged out of his battered canvas jacket and hung it on the hook next to the kitchen door. His hook. Nobody else ever used it.

Why Effie should think of this now, she couldn’t say, except that she hadn’t noticed how empty the rack looked without his coat on it. She shoved that thought aside and focused on getting out the plastic containers of chopped fruit and veggies with ranch dressing from Heath’s bag.

“I got lemon bars for dessert.” Heath’s gaze swept her up and down. He put out one long arm to turn her slightly, side to side, then nodded.

Effie put her hands on her hips. “What?”

“You’re looking good.”

“Chubby, you mean.”

“Too many dates,” Heath said. “All those fried appetizers.”

Effie knuckled his upper arm. Heath grabbed her to hold her off, then tickled her ribs until, squealing and breathless, Effie tossed up her hands. She looked to see Polly watching them with a small yet somehow humorless smile. Carefully, Effie extracted herself from Heath’s grip.


“It looks good on you,” Heath said. If he noticed anything off about Polly, he wasn’t showing it. He took the beer the girl handed him and cracked off the top to take a long swig. When he let out a low, rumbling belch, Effie and Polly both gave disgusted cries. Heath patted his belly and gave Polly a wink. “Better out the attic than the basement.”

Usually Polly would’ve giggled at that, but today she gave him only a faint smile and took her place at the table. Effie hadn’t raised Polly with any kind of religion beyond secular observances, but a few years ago she’d decided to pray before meals. What Polly said or whom she said it to, Effie didn’t know, because Polly always did it in silence. Today, though, she held out her hands. One to Heath, who took it at once. One to her mother, who hesitated.

“It won’t kill you,” Heath said.

Polly looked expectant. Effie frowned but linked her fingers with her daughter’s. Polly bent her head. Effie waited for her to speak, but she prayed as she always did, without words. A few seconds passed, and in the quiet, Effie looked across the table at Heath. Their eyes met.

He smiled at her.

In that moment, there was nothing else in the world for her. This, the two people Effie loved most in the world, at her table. They were a family. In that moment, she couldn’t imagine anything other than this.

Sister, Brother, Daddy. Here we are. Isn’t this nice? All of us together, a family.

The memory reared up, twisted and ugly, and Effie jerked away from it physically, knocking over her wineglass. Liquid spread across the table and she jumped up to grab a towel, grateful for the chance to hide her face from Heath, who would’ve looked at her and known something was wrong. He did give her a curious glance as she blotted the spill with an airy, forced laugh at her clumsiness, but he didn’t say anything, and when he tried to help her, she shooed him away.

“I got it.” When he tried again, she snapped at him. “I said I got it.”

He backed off.

“My friend says she’s going to grow beans,” Polly said when the conversation turned to her science project.

“Can you do something that doesn’t involve taking care of any living thing?” Effie got up to pour herself a new glass of wine and brought another beer for Heath. “No peeps, no beans. How about that diet cola and mints experiment? That looks like fun.”

“Someone else is doing that one.” Polly dragged her fork through the casserole, separating the chicken from the rest of it and pushing it to the side.

Heath tipped the beer bottle against his lips, then swallowed. “You’re not going to eat that?”

“I think I might become vegan.” Polly shrugged.

That was news to Effie. “You realize that means no cheeseburgers, right?”

Polly laughed. “Duh!”

“And you’ll have to actually eat vegetables,” Effie added as Polly pushed the broccoli to the side, as well.

“Yes, Mother,” Polly said with a sigh. “I know.”

Heath poked his fork into a piece of chicken on Polly’s plate. “More for me.”

Polly eyed them both. “So, you’re okay with it? If I become vegan?”