The Piano Man Project Page 0,66

her arm. ‘Take a pew.’

Honey dropped down onto the steps and the other woman switched her cigarette into the hand furthest from Honey.

‘Sorry. Bad habit. Menthol though, not that they’re much better. Ernie’s been nagging me to give them up for years.’

‘You’ve worked here for a while then?’

Carol nodded. ‘I’ve been with Ernie for over twenty years. He’s more like family to me than my own lot.’

Honey traced her finger along a crack in the step, feeling rather like they were sizing each other up as much as Lucille and Ernie were inside, representatives and supporters from the blue and the red corner. She well understood the concept of friends feeling more like family; Lucille and Mimi had been surrogate aunts for several years.

‘It’s a shame his other sister couldn’t make it today,’ Carol said mildly.

Honey tried to find neutral words. ‘It was a shock for both of them, Ernie’s letter. Mimi will come around. She’s …’ Honey paused thoughtfully. ‘She’s strong willed, that’s all. I think she’s troubled by the whole idea of her mother having had a child before she was born, coming out of the blue like that.’

Carol bent and put the cigarette out in an ashtray concealed behind a low wall. This was clearly her favoured smoking spot.

‘I can see that. Ernie’s known about his sisters for the last forty years. I guess he’s had longer to adjust.’

Honey frowned, perplexed. ‘Can I ask why he never got in touch before now?’

Carol turned her head to look at Honey. ‘Oh he did. He wrote to his mother. To their mother,’ she corrected herself.

‘Really? But …’

‘She wrote back by return post and told him not to contact her again. That she’d put everything to rest years ago and she couldn’t bear to rake it all back up again.’

‘Wow. That’s just so sad,’ Honey said, floored. She knew that Lucille and Mimi would be equally as shocked. They sat in the sunshine for a moment, each digesting the information that was new to them.

‘Has Ernie always been disabled?’ Honey asked, trying to slot the pieces of Ernie’s story into Lucille and Mimi’s.

Carol shook her head. ‘Injured in the war. He was about twenty-three I think, been in a chair ever since.’

‘And he never married, or had any kids?’ Honey asked, wary of sounding as if she were prying but fascinated to hear Ernie’s story.

‘No one. He barely leaves the house. It’s a crying shame. He’s lived here all of his life, his ivory tower against the outside world ever since the war. He came home, closed the door, and that was pretty much that.’ Honey shook her head. Ernie seemed such a kind, gentle soul, it wasn’t fair or right that he’d cloistered himself away. She found herself holding back tears all of a sudden. The parallels between Ernie and Hal were there in plain sight. All those years Ernie had spent alone couldn’t be rewound, but she was damned if she was going to allow Hal to resign himself to the same reclusive fate.

‘His adoptive parents were nice enough from what I can gather, but he doesn’t have any other family left to speak of,’ Carol said. ‘I’m the only person he sees, besides his physio nurse who comes in most afternoons.’ A dark cloud passed over her features. ‘His health isn’t what it used to be.’

Poor Ernie, he seemed to have been dealt a bad hand of cards all round. Honey found herself feeling very glad that he’d been brave enough to write to Lucille and Mimi, and wishing that Mimi had been able to find it in herself to come and see him. Hopefully she’d be in a different mind about it after Lucille spoke to her about today.

‘So why get in touch again?’ she asked. ‘Why now, after all these years?’

Carol looked at the floor with a heavy sigh. ‘Like I said. His health isn’t great, and he’s not going to get any better. He’s a lonely man.’ The shadow that crossed Carol’s face told Honey that there was more to be said on the subject. It was clear that Carol was immensely fond of Ernie in the same way she herself was of Lucille and Mimi; she couldn’t bear the thought of either of them being unwell. So she didn’t pry, and her quiet reflection gave Carol time to speak at her own pace.

‘He’s put all of his affairs in order over the last month or so. He thinks I haven’t noticed, but of