Page 37 of Henhouse
I knew it. Youneverget so flustered! Not even when I tell you every sordid detail about my last hookup,” Basil gloated. Effie regretted telling him about her date with Theo. He was far too proud of himself forcalling it. “So when are you seeing him again?”
“We’re meeting for lunch today,” Effie said and damn it if she didn’t blush.
“Perfect,” Basil squealed before his face took on a serious tightness. “I’m proud of you. You deserve good things.”
“So do you.”
“Yeah, well that’s a given,” Basil huffed, and Effie admired the confidence with which he knew what he deserved. Effie frequently felt like she navigated her life with an outdated map. She tried not to give it another thought and just accept that she did deserve good things as she took a box cutter to the parcel in front of her. Opening the lid revealed skeins of the baby-pink merino wool her mother had been looking for, finally delivered after weeks on back order.
Effie pulled a couple to the side and stashed them under the register to ring up for herself at the end of the day. “Who are those for?” Basil asked, knowing Effie preferred an embroidery to a knitting needle.
“My mom. She wants to knit more hats for the NICU.”
“What’s her deal? You don’t talk about her much.”
Effie shrugged. Pamela Thatcher’sdealwas difficult to put into words. She had the distinct memory of watchingPeter Panfor the first time and thinking that her mother would love Neverland. As she grew older, she frequently found herself feeling like Wendy to her mother’s Tinker Bell. An unspoken web of jealousy between them over Effie’s youth and prospects and Pamela’s lack thereof. But for all of her faults, she was still Effie’s mother. “I don’t know. She’s always been great at showing me exactly who I want to be.”
“That’s nice,” Basil chimed, but he’d become distracted by a dropped stitch on the start of a very loud hat to match the very loud scarf he had finished.
It would have been nice, if it weren’t for the fact that all Effie wanted for her life directly contrasted the choices that Pamela had made for hers. Effie learned much about who she wanted to be by deciding that shedid notwant to be her mother. Maybe she’d feel differently if she got to see her in action at work. It sounded like a grueling job, one that required selflessness and heart and grit. But those things were stripped away after her shift. The woman without the scrubs was attention seeking in so many ways. Effie chided herself for being cruel. Even if it was only in her thoughts. She didn’t know what a broken heart felt like, but she imagined it looked an awful lot like suppressed laugh lines and bottle-blonde hair.
Basil pulled her from her thoughts. “How’s the ballcoming together?”
“Pretty well. The guest list is already almost full since Lou listed the tickets for sale so early this year.”
“I hope I can find a date for my second ticket.”
“Should have plenty of time for that given your track record.”
“No, no. We don’t bringthosedates to this function. The ball is for romance, Effie. Or have you missed that memo for the last twenty years of your life?”
“It’s usually just a day that I have to sequester myself in my room until Louisa deems the house worthy of outside eyes.”
Basil rolled his own before that glimmer of his lit them up. “I cannot wait to see that man of yours in a tux and cummerbund. Mmm!”
“He’s notmy man. I don’t even know if he’ll want to go.”
Or if he’ll still be around by then.
Effie ignored her pessimistic inner gremlin and continued unboxing yarn.
Hope was decidedly late, but it wasn’t her fault. She was distracted.Again. This time, by counting down the days until she saw Brayden. He hadn’t answered her email, but a mystery bouquet of flowers arrived on the doorstep the next day. She took that as a good sign.
It hadn’t occurred to her that they might not have been for her.
She hurried around the kitchen, a bagel smeared with cream cheese between her teeth, and a to-go mug of herbal tea in hand.
“You need more than carbs for lunch,” her mother scolded from the breakfast table.
“I’ll get something nutritious for dinner,” Hope garbled out fromaround the bagel. She took a bite and chewed. “I promise.”
Tibby gave Hope a stern look, one that, in the past, had ensured Hope went to bed on time, brushed her teeth, and always had her partners wear a condom. That last one seemed to do little good recently, but it was sound advice nonetheless. Her mother was full of sound advice. Hope yearned to emulate that in the coming years too.
“I wish I could go with you, but I have a closing.”
“No worries. I’ll bring you new pictures.” Hope wedged the rest of the bagel between her teeth to grab her purse off the counter. She rushed to the foyer and out the door before she wasreallylate. One more ultrasound, two meetings with her editor, and five more days until she could see Brayden and properly tell him about all she’d been afraid of, and better yet, all she looked forward to.
“Mmm. Yours are better,” Theo moaned. Effie and Theo sat on a bench in the park sharing scones she had baked the night before. Theo brought salads to their lunchtime rendezvous and Effie provided the treats and tea.
