Page 160 of The Grand Duel
The phone rings, and I almost give up, my frustration at her not answering wearing thin, but then my mother’s voice sings down the line. “Lissie, hi.”
“Mum?” My heart lurches, my head scrambling as I consider what this might mean. I sit up in my bed. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, love. How are you?”
“How am I?” I repeat back.
I pull the phone away from my ear, wondering if I’ve clicked on the wrong contact, but I haven’t.
“Why…why are you with Jovie?” I swallow, my heart pounding, not understanding.
“Lissie?” Jovie’s panicked voice comes through the line. “Shit. Lis. I’m so sorry. I was going to call and explain.”
“Jove?” I stand, smiling slightly at her voice, but it fades as a frown forms on my brow. “What’s going on? Why is Mum there?”
She stays quiet, the sound of my parents’ voices carrying in the distance.
I swallow, my fingers toying with my lips and tapping against them as I pace my room. “Why are they there, Jove?”
“I’m so sorry, Lissie. I didn’t know how to tell you,” she says, her voice a broken whisper.
I freeze in the middle of my bedroom. My eyes fill with tears, and I widen them. “They’re in Australia?”
“They asked to fly out and meet Willow. It’s been so long since I’ve seen any of you, and I just needed…They begged me, Lissie. Begged me to meet her.”
I nod, although she can’t see it. “I…” I clear my throat when my voice betrays me. “Okay.” I close my eyes as tears fall, spilling down my cheeks. “That’s…”
“I know after everything this is hard for you, but I missed them. Mum’s been calling for a while, and it’s been nice. They’re still our parents, and they’re trying, Lissie. They told me they’d move out here and help me with Willow.”
“What? What do you mean move out there? What about the house?”
“I know. I know, how this sounds, and it’s probably impossible for you to understand, and I’m sorry. I was going to call you. I just didn’t know what to say.”
I do everything I can to hold back my emotions, my face screwing up as a sob threatens to slip past the ache in my throat. “I don’t know what to say to you right now,” I try, my voiceshaking and audibly teary. “I love you, Jove, but I’m…I don’t know what I’m supposed to say.”
“I’m sorry, Lissie, please don’t be mad at me.”
I stare at my ceiling, my tears sinking to my temples.
Years. I’ve spent years working to bring her home, to protect her, and they’ve flown right out to her and promised her what? I shake my head at the thought, my tears pouring down my face, feeling like my sister has betrayed me.
Only it’s my baby sister, and since the age of five when she came into my life, I’ve only ever wanted to see her smile. “Okay. It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeats.
I frown, my chin trembling. “I’ll call you later.”
“Lis—”
“I love you.” I hang up, pulling in a quick rush of air, as if it might suppress the emotions erupting from my chest.
It doesn’t.
Charlie
Please let me know how it went today.
It’s all I have as I walk through the doors at The Nightingale after my meal with Edna. I don’t waste any time on the ground floor bar and head straight upstairs, knowing it’s where she works.