Alice Bliss - Laura Harrington [68]
Who is now standing in the doorway, her knitting in one hand, her other hand bleeding and held away from her like an accusation, like whatever happened to Ellie, alone in the house, is definitely Alice’s fault.
“What happened?”
“Splinter. A big one.”
“The kitchen bench again?”
“Yup.”
“It’s huge.”
“It hurts, Alice.”
“Let’s see if I can get it out. Come over to the window where I can see better.”
Alice leads Ellie over to the window.
“How can you knit and get splinters at the same time?”
“Hurry up!”
She finds her dad’s finest pair of needle-nosed pliers.
“You ready? Hold still.”
Alice pulls out the splinter.
“There you go.”
Ellie, with her finger in her mouth, takes a moment to survey the workshop.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m moving in.”
“You’re gonna stay out here?”
“Yeah.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah.”
“All the time?”
“No, I’ll shower and eat and change inside.”
“You’re gonna sleep out here?”
“I was thinking—”
“Every night?”
“Well—”
“You’re leaving me?”
“No, Ellie—”
“How can you do that?”
“You could stay out here with me sometimes.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“It’ll be fun.”
“No, it won’t.”
“It’ll be like camping.”
“You and Daddy are the only ones who like camping. I hate camping.”
Ellie looks at Alice for a long moment.
“What about Mom?”
“What about her?”
“Who’s gonna stay with Mom?”
“Ellie, it’s just the backyard.”
Ellie starts to cry. Alice sits down on the air mattress, pulls Ellie down beside her, and puts her arm around her shoulder.
“Ellie . . . I—”
Ellie cries harder.
“It’s one hundred feet away. It’s—”
Ellie looks at Alice. Stares at her. Waits.
“Okay, so maybe I could just be out here sometimes.”
“Like when?”
“Like in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. Or after school. When you’re at Janna’s.”
“Alice, if you’re not in our room at night—”
“I know.”
“Right where you always are—”
“I wasn’t thinking, Ellie. I’m sorry.”
Ellie blows her nose.
“You want to help me set it up? I’m open to suggestions.”
“If you make it all wonderful you’re gonna want to be here all the time. Besides, it’s Dad’s workshop. I don’t think you’re supposed to, like, mess it up or make it all yours and stuff. Like, exclusively. Yours.”
“You can come out here anytime.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m not. I mean it.”
Ellie wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Mom’s not gonna like it.”
“I know.”
“Is it secret?”
“It doesn’t need to be secret. It’s just an air mattress and a sleeping bag and some books.”
Ellie gets up and heads for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not going to help you leave me.”
“Ellie—Ellie—! Wait—!”
Which is when Mom drives up from work and Alice thinks, oh, no, here we go, this is all going to fall apart. What a mess. Of course Ellie tells her all about it; Alice can see her making her case right there in the driveway. And then, yup, here comes Mom. Alice braces herself for a shouting match, but Angie steps into the workshop, looks around, and in a normal tone of voice, says:
“I don’t really want you sleeping out here.”
“But, Mom . . .”
“And no boys, Alice.”
“Mom!”
“The deal is, you keep your grades up . . .”
“The whole point of this—”
“Is what, exactly?”
“You know what, Mom.”
“No, I don’t, Alice.”
“The whole point is . . .”
Angie waits.
“I feel like I can . . .” Alice begins.
“What?”
“Hold on to him here.”
“That’s . . .”
“Or that I can still find him here.”
“Oh, honey,” Angie softens.
“Do you know what I mean?” Alice pulls Matt’s jacket closer around her.
“Yes. I think I do.”
“I want it to be perfect when he gets home. I got a book out of the library so I can learn how to clean and oil all his power tools. I mean, I know it’s already totally organized, but I thought . . .”
Angie looks at Alice: Her cheeks are flushed and the tip of her nose is bright red. She is swamped in Matt’s jacket, it nearly reaches her knees. She looks like a kid again, a little kid.
Angie wishes she could reach out and touch Alice, but