The Boarding House (10 page)

“Looks like you’re a 34B,” the clerk said. “Wait here and I’ll see if we have it.”

Ellie smiled and gave Sophie a thumbs-up. “I went from barely a 34A to a 34B in one summer. Looks like I might have inherited more than blonde hair and blue eyes from Momma.”

“What do you mean?” Sophie asked.

“Momma had really big boobs.”

Sophie frowned. “Breasts. You should say
breasts
.
Boobs
is so common.”

“Oh,” Ellie said, and made a mental note.

A short while later they came out of the store carrying a pink shopping bag containing three new bras.

Garrett stood up. “Are you ready to go now?”

Ellie looked to Sophie for an answer.

“Yes, we’re ready,” Sophie said.

Garrett glared. “What the hell, Ellie? Have you also lost the ability to make a decision on your own?”

The pitch of Sophie’s voice rose slightly. “Oh. I apologize for overstepping my bounds. I had no idea.”

“You do not apologize to him for anything,” Ellie hissed, and sailed past Garrett with her nose in the air.

Garrett cursed beneath his breath and palmed his car keys as he followed his daughter to the parking lot. She got into the backseat with her shopping bag in her lap and proceeded to glare at him in the rearview mirror all the way home.

At first Garrett was pissed. But the farther he drove, the more fascinated he became. He’d been intrigued by her shyness, but he was beginning to like the fiery side of her more. The next time she gave him an angry look, he winked.

Ellie froze. Something wasn’t right. Why wasn’t Daddy still angry? Confused, she looked away and began talking to Sophie, but the damage had been done. Once again, her fragile claim on stability had been rattled.

It took another month
before Sophie’s influence began to really get on Garrett’s nerves. She’d set Ellie to reading an etiquette book and practicing place settings at the table, complete with all the forks, spoons, bread plates, and multiple glasses one would expect at a formal dinner. Doris had threatened to quit from all the extra laundry and dishwashing, and Garrett had had to raise her salary to appease her distress.

Every time Wyatt crossed swords with Sophie, she gave him a look that set his teeth on edge, followed by, “I had no idea,” so his absence was not surprising.

Garrett was beginning to think he was the only one left with a brain and had ideas he would gladly share, but he knew it would get him arrested. He was so pissed about the ground he’d lost with Ellie that he finally made a demand she couldn’t deny.

Ellie felt almost grown-up
as she left the drugstore and started home. The air was chilly, and she was glad she’d worn her pink leather jacket and good denim jeans. At Sophie’s instructions, she’d gone after pads so that she would be prepared when her next period began. Doris had taught Ellie how to keep track on a calendar, and Sophie added that it was always good to be prepared.

Besides the pads, Ellie had bought a new shade of nail polish and a Hershey bar and was eating it slowly one square at a time as she walked. It was one of those days when the world felt right—when it seemed like heaven was on her side. She was doing well in school. She felt pretty, and the chocolate melting on her tongue was about as good as it got. It didn’t bother her that she had no friends her age. She was satisfied with just going about her business at school. Her life was far too complicated at home to get strangers mixed up in it.

As she turned the corner and started down the last block to get to her house, a car full of teenagers drove past, waving and honking like crazy people. She couldn’t enjoy the attention because it reminded her of what happened the day Momma killed herself.

Ellie broke off another piece of chocolate and popped it in her mouth, then licked her fingers to make sure nothing had been left behind. As soon as she got home, she was going to take off her old nail polish and try her new color. It was called Sunset Coral—a bit darker than the pink she’d been wearing, but not enough to look common. Sophie said good girls should never look common.

But Ellie knew something that Sophie did not. It wouldn’t matter how properly she spoke or how particular she was about her clothing and demeanor, it was going to take more than manners to offset being Daddy’s whore.

Whore
was a new word she’d picked up at school this year. It was enlightening to Ellie. At least now she had a name to put to their relationship. Some girls pronounced the word as “ho,” but Sophie said if you had to use the terminology, you should at least use it properly.

Ellie slipped the last piece of chocolate in her mouth and shifted her sack from her right hand to her left, then stumbled as she looked up.

Daddy stood on the front porch waiting for her, and she could tell he was mad. She wondered if he was going to get as pissed as Momma had about the boys honking at her. She shifted her stride to accommodate haste and hoped she could get past him without a situation.

It didn’t happen.

The moment Ellie walked up the steps, Garrett moved in front of the door, blocking the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked. “I had permission to go to the drugstore.”

“From who?” Garrett snapped.

“It’s from
whom
, not
who
, and Sophie said I could.”

Garrett wanted to shake her, but opted for another time and place. Today, he had other fish to fry.

“I’m standing on the front porch of our house, in front of God and everyone so you’ll feel safe enough to talk to me, and I will be heard.”

Ellie paused, her heart thumping so hard it was difficult to breathe. “I’m listening,” she said, and wished Wyatt or Sophie was standing beside her.

“You’ve been calling the shots around here for months. I’ve let you get by with a lot of it because of Fern’s death, but you’re turning into a tyrant.”

Anger surged so fast Ellie forgot they were on the front porch. “Seriously? Do you really want to go there with me?”

Garrett knew he was taking a chance, but he pushed back.

“I’m not going to get into a shouting match with you, and I’m not going to stand here and take the blame for what’s in the past.”

“I didn’t expect you to,” Ellie snapped. “You never have. Why should I think you would suddenly change? Sophie says a skunk never changes its stripes.”

Being referred to as a skunk by his own daughter was like throwing oil on a fire. Garrett was so mad he was shaking.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m sick of having Sophie thrown in my face—and you insisting either she or Wyatt go everywhere with us. We’re never together like we used to be.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Ellie yelled.

Garrett looked nervously toward the street, then shoved his hands in his pockets and took a step back.

“Here’s the deal. I’m not asking for much. Just our Sundays like they used to be.”

Ellie’s head began to whirl, trying to decipher exactly what that meant. She could remember plenty of Sundays that had been hell on earth. Especially the ones when Momma had passed out. “What do you mean?”

“Either you agree to attend church with me
 . . .
just me
 . . .
like we used to, or I’m never taking you back there again.”

Ellie gasped. He’d found her Achilles’ heel. She liked the church even though her Momma’s funeral had tainted it a bit. It was less of a castle now, but more of a sanctuary. She believed God could hear prayers better there, and it troubled her to think she’d lose that connection.

The idea of never going there again was almost worse than having to play Daddy’s games.

She moved closer to him—so close they could feel each other’s breath. “Just church. But if you hurt me again, I’ll scream it to the world and take the consequences.”

“Deal,” Garrett said, and walked back into the house, stifling the urge to grin.

Ellie dragged her feet as she followed him inside.

Wyatt was waiting for her. “I heard. You’re going to be sorry.”

Her voice was shaking from the surge of anger she was trying to control. “Church doesn’t mean the same thing to you that it does to me.”

“Whatever. I’m just saying it’s a mistake.”

“Wouldn’t be my first now, would it?” Ellie snapped.

Sophie slipped into the hall. “Here, here, you two shouldn’t be fussing.”

Wyatt turned on her. “You don’t know anything about it,” he said, and left.

“What’s he talking about? What don’t I know?” Sophie asked.

Ellie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

But it did. When Sunday rolled around, the only one who walked out the door with Garrett was Ellie.