“Can we sit?” Sylvia asked, and Adele begrudgingly gestured for them to sit on the sofa while she sat in the armchair across from them.
“As you both know by now, Walter and I have been having some money trouble.”
Milly nodded. “You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to, Sylvia. You don’t have to tell us anything, but if you do, I won’t tell a soul, I promise you that.” She looked to Adele for her agreement.
“Who amIgoing to tell?” she said.
“To be quite honest, Iwantto tell you. It affects you both and it’s been eating me up inside, keeping such an enormous secret.” Sylvia paused briefly. “Walter gambled away all of our money. All of it. He’s been involved in these high-stakes poker games for years, but I thought it had stopped.”
“No!” Milly said.
“I’m not exaggerating. Every last penny. That’s why we sold the house, that’s why we’ve moved in next door. We can barely afford to put dinner on the table. He’s ruined us. It’s absurd, really, that we’re even trying to hang on to the club. We’ve got huge loans out on it, and if we can’t make the payments, the bank will take it from us, foreclose, seizure—whatever it’s called—along with all the money we’ve put into it so far. And if we lose this, we lose everything. That little shack we’re staying in, they’ll take that too.”
“It’s horrible,” Adele said.
“My God, Sylvia, I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was so grave. Can’t you sell the club?” Milly asked. “I know it’s not what you want, and it’s obviously not what we want, but at least you’d have something.”
“I suggested that to Walter. We’re friendly with John Wayne—”
“John Wayne?!” Milly said.
“Yes, you know Walter, he’s friends with everyone. Apparently, he’s been poking around showing interest in opening some kind of a club around here himself, but Walter says it wouldn’t help. The club’s too new, we don’t have enough members yet to make it profitable, and it’s not worth what the bank loaned us for it.”
Adele snorted a laugh.
Sylvia stared. “You find this amusing?”
“Je suis désolé,” Adele said. “I am sorry, I just always thought you were the richest family on this island.”
“I did too,” Sylvia said. “It’s amazing how fast your luck can change.”
Adele nodded. That part she could agree on.
“When I realized who you were, I selfishly thought of my dismal situation and the club and how an article or a documentary or whatever it is Rutherford wants to do might bring attention, and members, to our doors. I thought about how it might save us, get us back on our feet, how I might be able to shield my daughter Judith from this embarrassment and upheaval. But I should have thought of what it would mean to you, and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
The three sat in silence for a moment. Adele briefly consideredoffering them a glass of the wine she’d opened before they showed up at her door, but decided against it. She felt bad for Sylvia and could imagine her shame, but she wasn’t sure she wanted them to stay.
“I’ve been lying about the house,” Sylvia continued, “telling you that we were looking at other properties, that staying in our little shack was temporary, that we wanted a change of scenery. I even lied to my own daughter. What a load of baloney. I’m shocked you believed it.”
“I didn’t.” Milly gave Sylvia a kind smile.
“I didn’t either,” Adele said.
“To be honest, we all have our secrets,” Milly said. Adele and Sylvia both turned to her.
“What’s yours?” Adele asked. She’d always sensed that Milly was keeping something to herself. She might as well hear about it; after all, these women knew all her business now.
“Lloyd is leaving me,” Milly said.
“What?” Sylvia gasped.
“I don’t know exactly when or even why, though I suspect he’s having an affair with that gorgeous actress Beverly Douglas. He’s obsessed with her. He hasn’t been home in almost two weeks, and when he has shown up, he’s made it very clear that it’s just for show, to keep up appearances and to protect the children. He wants nothing to do with me. He even wanted to sleep in the guest cottage, but I put a stop to that.”
“Oh, Milly,” Sylvia said. “You’ve been alone so much, but I thought whatever it was would blow over.”
“It’s serious.” Milly felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. “But the tennis—maybe it’s stupid—but it really made me come alive. I thought that if I could excel at tennis, really excel, and then show Lloyd what I could do, I thought I might impress him.” She looked to Adele sheepishly. “I realize that probably sounds ridiculous to you, a tennis champion.”
“It does not,” Adele said.
