The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl (i can read book club .TXT) 📕

I only have a week off this time. Olympic sails in a week, then her sister ship Titanic sets off on her maiden voyage in about ten days’ time.’

‘Sister ship! Just like we’re sisters!’ Lily giggled.

‘Yes, just like us!’ Emma said, giving her sister a squeeze.

‘Which ship are you signing on for?’ Ma asked.

‘I’ll stick with Olympic. I know it well now. Maiden voyages are lovely but the passengers can be a bit over-excited, which makes them more difficult to look after.’

Ruby had listened in silence, but now she got up and walked out. A moment later Emma could hear the clump of her feet on the stairs. ‘What’s up with Ruby? I thought she’d be out?’

‘You’ll have to ask her,’ Ma said, tight-lipped.

‘She’s in trouble, as always,’ Lily said, ‘but she won’t talk to me, hardly at all. I might as well have only one sister, not two. She’s never taken any notice of me, not like you, Ems.’

‘I’ll go up.’ Emma took the cup of tea Ma was handing to her and left the room. Upstairs, Ruby was lying full length on her bed, her forearm draped across her eyes. She shifted it slightly to see who’d come in, and Emma was pleased to note she then moved over a little in the bed so that Emma could sit down. It was as near as she’d ever get to an invitation to sit and talk. ‘All right, Rubes? Seems like ages since I saw you last.’

‘Three weeks. So much can happen in three weeks though, can’t it?’ Ruby sighed, and reached out a hand to Emma, who clasped it with both of hers.

‘Oh Rubes, what’s happened?’ Emma could see her sister was fighting back tears.

‘Harry bloody Paine, that’s what’s happened.’

Emma felt as though all her nightmares were about to come true. She waited, heart in mouth, for her sister to continue.

‘So – we’ve been seeing each other for ages now. Nearly a year. And people know. They all gossip about us, and someone threw a rotten tomato at me, and Mr Biggins at the hotel – you know, my boss – calls me into his office and says word has reached him that I’m running about with a married man, and that if it continues he’ll have to let me go as it’s bad for the hotel’s reputation. Huh. As if they don’t have unmarried couples staying there all the time – the number of Mr and Mrs Smiths that check in is ridiculous.’

‘Oh Rubes, you don’t want to lose your job,’ Emma said, hoping that her sister hadn’t already lost it. Family finances were tight enough without having Ruby out of work for a while.

‘I don’t care. I’m going to hand in my notice anyway. But that’s not the worst of it. So I said to Harry, it’s been a year, it’s time you made an honest woman of me. I wants him to divorce Celia and marry me.’

‘Divorce! That’s a big step.’

Ruby shrugged. ‘Not really. Just means he made the wrong decision five years ago. You shouldn’t be forced into staying with the wrong person if you don’t love them any more. Anyway, it isn’t going to happen. Harry told me yesterday he’s not going to get divorced. They’ve got three little kiddies and he doesn’t think it’s right for them to have to grow up with divorced parents. One of those kiddies is only three weeks old. That means he’d already started seeing me when he got Celia pregnant. He’d told me they was estranged and sleeping apart. He’s a bloody liar.’

‘Oh Ruby.’ Emma leaned over and gathered her sister into her arms for a hug. ‘I’m so sorry this has happened.’

Ruby pulled away. ‘I haven’t finished yet. There’s been a few days lately when Harry was supposed to meet me but didn’t turn up. Then Ellie Carter told me today she saw him, down at the Crown and Anchor, chatting up some girl with red hair. Don’t know who she was, but he was supposed to be with me that evening.’ She scoffed. ‘Ellie Carter took such glee in telling me.’

‘He’s let you down.’ Just like he let his wife down, Emma wanted to add but stopped herself in time. Men like that let everyone down.

‘I never wants to see him again. To think I let him …’ Ruby tailed off, and turned over, her face to the wall. ‘I hates him. I wants to get myself as far away from him as possible. I hate it here. There’s nothing for me in Southampton any more. No one will talk to me. They all think I’m a … slut.’ She spat the last word out, her tone a mixture of shame and defiance. ‘Even Lily hates me. Says I never talk to her. Says she don’t care if I never sees her again.’

‘Oh, she’s just at that difficult age,’ Emma said, soothingly. ‘She doesn’t mean it.’

Ruby nodded. ‘I think she does. She told me her school friends were making fun of her for having me as a sister. I’ve got to get away from here.’

‘What will you do?’ Emma asked.

‘D’you reckon they’d take me on Olympic?’ Ruby asked, twisting back to look at Emma hopefully. ‘I’m old enough now. Or that new ship, Titanic, is it?’

‘Worth a try,’ Emma said, with a smile. ‘Sign on day is tomorrow. Come down to the docks with me.’ There’s someone I’d like you to meet, she almost added, but thought better of it. No need to show off her own boyfriend just as Ruby had lost hers, even if she would be better off without hers in the long run. ‘Does Ma know?’

‘Not really. I said he upset me, that’s all. She’s probably hoping it’s all over, so she’ll be delighted when she finds out it is.’

‘She’ll be sad for you, though. She only wants you to be happy. Same for all of us.’

‘No, Ems. She wants more than that, don’t she? She wants us to be