Page 258 of The Grand Duel
I wish I could call Jovie.
I know exactly what she’d say.
The lecture she’d give me.
I miss my little sister so much.
“Oh, Lissie, what is it?” Edna asks, walking into my office and around my desk.
She wraps her arms around my shoulders.
“Sorry.” I wipe at the stray tear on my cheek. “I’m okay.”
“Says the crying girl.”
I wave my hand. “Lots of emotions going on up in here at the minute, it seems.”
She hums. “Indeed. A mess, really.”
I nod, the ache in my throat burning.
“But not anything that can’t be fixed.” She pulls back and smiles down at me. “The two of you will make it through all of this.”
“I hope so, Ed.”
“You will. You remind me much of myself and Phil. He has two children, neither of whom are mine.” She shrugs. “Well, they’re kind of mine by default now.”
I chuckle, snivelling. “I didn’t know.”
“You do now.”
I think back to the card she gave me when I first came here, and the fact Charlie said it wasn’t his. “You worked at the club, didn’t you?”
She drops back to the sofa, elegantly crossing her legs. “I did. A long time ago now. It’s where we met.”
“You and Phil met at the club?”
She nods. “Yes. He was eight years older than me, married but separated, and we simply fell in love.”
“That’s crazy.”
“It is. It’s how I eventually met Charlie and started working for him. Bronwyn passed on my details one day.”
“How long have you and Phil been married?”
“Fifteen years.”
“Wow.”
“Yes, wow, but it wasn’t—isn’t—without its tribulations. We didn’t make it easy. Navigating a relationship outside of that establishment isn’t easy. I had no idea about his wife and children until I’d given everything up for him.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“I was a little naïve back then. But I loved him. And I stuck by him.” She shrugs. “I just knew.”
I huff a laugh of disbelief and shake my head. “I remember Bronwyn telling me it had happened before at the club. Like with me and Charlie.”
Edna smiles. “Bronwyn had a front row seat at my wedding. One of my dearest friends to this day.”