Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“You said you liked the fact that she traveled for work because it gave you a break from each other.” He scoffed. “Man, that tells me everything I need to know. Maura goes away with her friends for a weekend, and I’m counting the minutes until she comes home. That’s the way it should be. Especially so early in a relationship, you shouldn’t want space.”
He wasn’t telling me anything that deep down didn’t ring true. “You might have a point about that.”
“But perhaps the biggest reason it wouldn’t work is because Effie doesn’t like Naomi,” he added. “There’s no fixing that or getting around it. Anyone you bring into your life has to have her approval. That little girl might only be eight, but she’s a smart cookie and a good judge of character. Effie is your priority, and that doesn’t leave much time for anything else. So, if you’re gonna be leaving her to spend time with someone, it needs to be worth it, you know?”
I’d often depended on Drew and Maura to babysit when I went out on the occasional date and then when I’d started seeing Naomi exclusively. But I’d tried not to rely on them too much. That left me little time to venture out without my daughter. I didn’t like leaving Effie with just anyone.
He sighed. “Anyway, back to Chloe… If anything about her leaving bums you out, you should suck it up and tell her there’s no reason she needs to go to the other place, unless of course she prefers the privacy.”
I heard footsteps behind me. Then Effie appeared in the doorway of the small laundry room.
“I gotta go, Uncle Drew. Effie woke up. I’ll call you again soon,” I said before I ended the call. “Hey, baby. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“I want to make sure you’re washing my ballet leotard.”
“Yup.” I patted the pile. “It’s all folded and ready to go.”
She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t sleep.”
I grabbed the pile of her clothes to take to her room. “Let’s get you back in bed.”
She followed me down the hall, and I first set everything on her bureau, then began putting each item in the appropriate drawer.
When I tucked her in, Effie grabbed my wrist and ran her little finger along the beads. “Do you like your bracelet?”
I looked down at the blue and white beads and the letters that spelled Daddy. “I love it. I told you, I’m not gonna take it off.”
“Do you think Chloe meant it when she said she wouldn’t take hers off, either?”
“I don’t know, sweetie pie.” That prompted me to prepare her for what might be coming tomorrow. “You know Chloe’s not here forever, right? In fact, there’s a house that just opened up in town. And she might take it. She’s thinking about it. I don’t want you to make her feel bad if she decides to leave, okay? We can still keep in touch with her if she does.”
A look of worry crossed Effie’s face. “I guess that’s okay if she does…” Then she said, “But I hope she stays.”
I nodded. Me, too.
“She told me about her mom,” Effie added.
“What did she say?”
“She said her body is there, but her mind isn’t.”
“That’s a good way to describe it.” I nodded. “It’s called Alzheimer’s disease.”
“It’s the opposite of my mom. Her body isn’t really here. But she’s always on my mind.”
Her words hit me like a blow to the chest. “That’s a very smart analogy, baby.”
“I know it’s not the same, but I feel like Chloe and I both know what it’s like not to have our moms. And you don’t have your mom either, Daddy.”
I sat with that for a moment, letting the profound sadness of her words wash over me. Effie kept so much inside about her mother. And the mention of her grandmother reminded me how much Mom would’ve loved her granddaughter. My mother had always wanted a girl, and she would’ve been the best grandmother to Effie.
“Your mom loves you,” I said. “Even if she’s not here.” I paused, sick of making excuses for Katerina, but always feeling like I had to in order to protect Effie. “I hope you know how much I love you, too.”
“I do.”
I bent to kiss her head. “Get some sleep. Homemade waffles in the morning.”
“Yay!” She beamed.
Whenever Effie was sad, I tried to compensate with food. Even if it didn’t solve the root problem, if it gave her something to look forward to, then I considered that a win.
As I returned to the laundry room to finish the last of the folding, I again got the urge to burst into Chloe’s room and tell her not to take the other place. But I resisted for all the same reasons that had kept me from telling her to stay when she’d first gotten the phone call.