Page 87 of Not So Very Sensible

When they arrived, it took Mum only one look at Katie to demand what was wrong, before Katie admitted in a faltering voice what had happened. Mum’s offence-o-meter soared, and she started railing about all the bad men in the world and her poor daughters being royally abused.

Ellie tried to intervene, but Mum was having none of it. And it seemed Katie preferred Mum’s brand of sympathy over Ellie’s more bracing style.

“Katie, do you want me to tell the others?”

Katie shook her head, then immediately nodded. “C–can you ask EJ if I can visit her? I don’t want to stay here.”

“Of course I can.”

Two minutes later, Ellie was on a call with EJ—it was too early for Liv just yet—and letting her know what had happened to poor Katie. “So now she wants to know if she can come visit you.”

“Of course she can. You could come too. Come after church on Sunday. Otherwise, come tomorrow. There’s a free concert at the Opera House on Sunday afternoon I thought I’d go to. It might be good for Katie to have a change of scenery.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

“See? Smart sister. Look, pack her on the train tomorrow and you come up too, or on Sunday. We’ll have some girl time and take her mind off it. You’re off on Monday, right?”

“I’m supposed to work for Nicola,” she said regretfully. And Nicola had been so good in standing up for her against Francine that she didn’t want to take advantage of her by requesting a day off.

“Well, ask if you can come late on Monday, or swap your days.”

“I thought you were super busy.”

“I am, but I’m learning to prioritise what really matters. And family comes first, as someone near and dear to us always likes to say.”

“Thanks, EJ.”

Her sister laughed. “Gosh, it’s been a minute since I’ve heard that. Jordan sometimes says it too, and it takes me by surprise.”

“I don’t know why. Not when you forced us all to call you that for twenty years.”

“I do like being called Emma-Jane though. Especially by Jordan.”

“Ugh. Too soon.”

“Hey, I thought you liked him. You were always Team Jordan, right?”

“Look, he’s a good guy, and he’s lucky to have you. But you can’t go being too happy about your relationship. Not when your sister has just had her heart broken.”

“Please. She knew the guy for how many weeks? That’s not heartbreak. That’s hope-break.”

She winced. What would EJ say if she learned about Ellie’s disappointed hopes? In her case, it hadn’t even been weeks, but a single day.

“Ellie?”

“Did you come up with that hope-break term yourself?”

“Yep! Although I might’ve heard a version of it on a psychology lecture I once attended.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see how she’s doing and let you know. But I think you can expect to see her sometime tomorrow.”

“Not too early though. Jordan and I are planning a run.”

“He’s back in the city?”

“He’s coming in early just so we can have one of our runs like we used to. Actually, that reminds me. We were going to have a date on Saturday night. But I’m sure we can change our plans.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have to do that.”