Hold Me Close(79)

“When I first got here, and you said it was a family party, I thought he was your brother. Like, he had to be. And then I thought, maybe a cousin. But he’s not, is he?”

“No, Mitchell. Heath’s not related to me.” Effie looked at him. “But he is family.”

“Ah.” Mitchell took a step or two back. “I knew I should’ve called first.”

Effie frowned. “Yes. You should have. But you didn’t, and you’re here now. He’s not. So if you have something you need to say to me, or ask me...”

She waited, sort of breathless, for him to say something. To ask those questions she’d avoided until now but had known would eventually come up. She would tell him everything. She would do it, let him see her.

“Is he the reason why you’re hesitant about committing?”

“Yes,” Effie said.

“You were together?”

Effie turned to the mantel and the photographs. “We’ve known each other since I was thirteen.”

“Oh. First love,” Mitchell said as if he knew what that meant.

Effie looked at him. “Yes.”

First. Last. Only.

“But it’s over?”

“Yes. That part of it, anyway,” Effie said and wanted to cry because of how much it felt like the truth.

Mitchell was quiet for a moment. He looked at all the pictures again. Without looking at her, he said, “It’s admirable that you can be friends for Polly’s sake.”

“We’ll always be friends.”

“Got it,” Mitchell said.

From the other room came a swell of giggling that broke the mood that had, for a moment, threatened to turn somber. Effie smiled at him. She went to the mantel and pointed at the collage.

“I got pregnant at eighteen with someone I was only casually seeing. Had Polly just after I turned nineteen. I knew better but hadn’t been careful. My mom flipped out. Heath was there for me. He’s always been there for me.” She touched the frame briefly, then turned to Mitchell. “He’s my best friend. Anyone who’s with me should be his friend, too.”

“Fair enough.” Mitchell nodded. He hesitated, then said, “Effie, I feel like you have a lot going on that you don’t share. And I’m not trying to push you or whatever. All in good time, I guess.”

Only minutes ago she’d imagined herself telling Mitchell everything, answering any question. Faced with the reality of it now, though, Effie found herself unable to offer anything. She’d have stripped down bare in front of him and felt less naked than telling him why Heath meant so much to her.

“Another game?” Mitchell suggested, and she gladly agreed.

They played cards, then watched a movie until the girls in the den quieted down. Effie tiptoed in to check on them. All sleeping. She moved half-full soda cans and popcorn bowls to the side and turned off the lights, leaving on the one in the hall in case any of them needed to get up in the night to use the bathroom.

Back in the living room, she found Mitchell had straightened up the sofa pillows and was looking over the photographs on her walls, most of them Polly but a few of Heath there, too. He turned when she came in. He gestured toward the window.

“It looks like the snow’s stopped. A plow went by, and a salt truck. I bet the roads are okay now. If you wanted me to leave.”

Effie paused before answering while she thought about what she wanted. “Do you want to go?”

“If it’s going to be weird in the morning,” he said, “I probably should.”

She thought about Polly having to face a stranger over the breakfast table while her overtired and possibly bitchy friends giggled and whispered. “Yeah. That’s probably best. I don’t want you to go if it’s not going to be safe, though.”


“I have four-wheel drive. I’ll be okay.”

They both stood without moving until Effie took the two steps toward him and Mitchell met her halfway. She kissed him. Slowly at first. Then harder when his mouth opened and his arms went around her.

“You really shouldn’t go out in this weather,” Effie said.

Mitchell studied her quietly for a moment. “I can take the couch.”

“You don’t have to...” Effie paused at the look on his face. “I mean, I have a guest room.”

Mitchell kissed her again, then hugged her close. He said against her cheek, “It’s not that I don’t want you.”

Effie laughed and nuzzled against his neck for a second, thinking of kissing him again. Or nudging her knee between his thighs and sliding her hands down his sides to cup his ass. She could seduce him. She’d already done it once, right? But Polly was here, along with a bunch of other people’s kids, and Effie had long made a point about not f*cking strangers with her child in the vicinity.

“God, I really do want you,” Mitchell said before Effie could answer him. “But with the kids all here...”

“We don’t have to have sex, Mitchell. You can sleep in the guest room or the couch, your choice. But the guest room is way more comfortable.”

Down the hall, she showed him the spare room and gave him fresh towels. A toothbrush from her supply of extras. A pair of sweatpants that were too big for her.

He kissed her in the doorway when she turned to leave, and Effie let it linger until Mitchell had backed her up against the wall and her breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes, feeling his hands. His mouth. His tongue. And yeah, there it was, the press of heat and hardness on her belly.