Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 88
"Okay, if you're sure," Edward said, feeling relieved that he wasn't taking advantage of Renee's kind nature. He liked having her around. Not only was she a gracious and uplifting person, she seemed to genuinely care about Ella. He didn't want to risk losing her services by being overly demanding of her time.
Renee too had grown to like her employer quite a lot over the past months since she started her work with Ella. She could see the weight of the recent tragedy engraved on his face. He seldom smiled or did anything that didn't have something to do with his work, his comatose wife's condition, or his daughters well being.
If that wasn't enough, the little she had learned from Esme about the trials he had been through with his wife's illness prior to her hospitalization created a pool of sympathy in Renee's heart for the sad and unfortunate young man. After all, she could relate quite well. She recalled the toll it took on her physically as well as emotionally to helplessly watch her husband wither away.
She thought she recognized the look on Edward's face every time he asked Renee to get Ella ready to visit Carmen at the hospital. That look of a condemned man being taken to the gallows to meet an unavoidable fate. What a stark and cutting blow it must be to have to see his beloved lying on a bed. Alive but lost to him, perhaps forever.
She could only imagine how much Edward had to be missing his wife. To Renee, his unwillingness to talk about Carmen or his attempts to deflect questions about her were clear signs of how deeply he loved her.
She felt a strong sense of camaraderie when she looked at him. They were fellow sufferers on the journey to learn how to live without a part of their soul. She understood his sorrow all too well. She recognized the traces of her own pain reflected in his eyes.
Her heart went out to him, and she wanted to make his life just a bit easier in any way she could. Perhaps she wasn't old enough to play a maternal role in Edward's life, but she sure could be a big sister.
"I'm sure," she replied with a mischievous smile. "Also, I kinda have an ulterior motive and thought buttering up the Bossman wouldn't hurt. What was it that you said about your policy on house guests? 'Cause my daughter called me today. She's coming for a visit this weekend. And I'm hoping you wouldn't make me put her up in a hotel."
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.