Page 121 of The In-Laws

‘You’re right, it should. Spelling is so hard when the sounds don’t match the words,’ Janis noted.

‘Yeah, it’s like “neighbour”!’ Joni said. ‘That’s a mental spelling for that sound.’

Amanda smiled at her nieces. They were being so sweet with Katie.

‘Remember last week we had “vague”, and it had a silent “u-e”?’

‘Oh, yeah, silent u-e. I remember – “vague” and “vogue” and “rogue”,’ Katie said.

‘Yeah, but then there’s “argue” when you do pronounce theu,’ Janis said.

Katie threw her hands into the air. ‘Oh, for feck’s sake, how am I ever going to get it? Why is English so complicated? It’d be easier to learn bloody Mandarin.’

‘I still can’t spell “scissors”,’ Joni admitted.

‘“Embarrassed” trips me up,’ Janis said, ‘I mean, why are there twors? It makes no sense.’

Amanda laughed. ‘Mine is “nauseous”. I always get that wrong.’

‘Okay, enough of trying to make me feel better,’ Katie said. ‘Come on, let’s crack on. I have to get better before Lucy twigs her mother can’t read properly.’

‘But you can read. You just get tripped up by tricky words,’ Janis said.

‘You’re a perfectly good reader. Everyone struggles with words that don’t sound like they look,’ Joni added.

‘You two are the best.’ Katie hugged her nieces. ‘Right, where was I? Oh, yes–“Buster stuck out his tongue and …”’

After Katie and the twins had left, Amanda went back to her desk and opened her laptop. She needed to figure out how to set up the new royalty-payment system she had sourced. It was supposed to be the best and most efficient one. She was really enjoying working again. It had been daunting at first, but Melanie was a fantastic boss. She encouraged Amanda, then left her to get on with it. Amanda worked late every day to get to grips with it all. It was an uphill learning curve, but she was tackling it step by step and gaining in confidence with each win. She felt like a new woman: she had a job, a purpose, and she was adding value to the agency. It was also a welcome distraction amid the whole baby saga.

Her phone buzzed. It was Theo:Hey Mum, just checking in. Dad and I visited Juniper this morning. Ruby was a total pain, hovering around when I tried to hold J, but J is very cute. Hope you don’t mind?

He was so sweet. Since Juniper was born a month ago, Theo had tried not to mention his baby sister in front of her. Ross was pussy-footing around it too. But then Amanda had walked in on Ross showing Theo a video of Juniper. They’d both looked so guilty when they saw her. The whole situation was so bizarre and unsettling. Amanda was still processing it all. She wanted Ross to take responsibility and be a father, and for Theo to know his sister, but she also felt very detached. She was the outsider in that group. Juniper was Ross’s daughter and Theo’s sister, but she was nothing to Amanda. Ross and Theo were going to have this whole life away from her, an important familial relationship that she had no place in. She was still trying to figure out how she felt about it. While she did not want to hear Ross talking about his new baby, she didn’t want Theo to feel guilty about meeting his sister and that he had to lie to her about it.

She texted him back:Theo, Juniper is your half-sister. It’s important you get to know her. I’m glad you got to hold her.

Theo:Okay, just wanted to check. Dad and Ruby had a scrap so we didn’t stay long. Luv u x

Love you too x

Oh dear, another argument. Ross needed to figure out how to handle Ruby or the next eighteen years would be hell. Amanda was glad Ross was working back in the UK and that she was here, far away from all the drama. She didn’t want any part of it.

At home now it was just her and Theo, and Ross came back every second weekend. The arrangement worked forthe moment, but when Theo went to Exeter in September, Amanda was going to move out of the rental house and find a small apartment. Somewhere she could afford to pay the rent by herself, just in case she decided to go her own way. She did still love Ross, but there was so much baggage and drama now that she wasn’t sure she wanted to take it all on. She wanted a calm, fulfilling life without angst and worry – she’d had enough of that for a lifetime.

Melanie came out of her office, beaming. ‘Canada just made a huge offer for Sloane’s new book.’

‘Yes!’ Amanda fist-pumped Melanie. She was thrilled. Melanie had been incredibly generous when she hired her, after an initial four-week trial period.

‘I want you to be invested,’ Melanie had said, ‘so I’m giving you two per cent of every deal we do. Every book deal, every foreign-rights deal … all of it.’

Amanda had been left speechless. Melanie charged fifteen per cent agenting fees and she was giving Amanda two per cent of her own earnings.

‘The harder we work, the more successful we’ll be. I want you to reap the benefits of your work. Besides, we’re family.’

Amanda had tried really hard not to cry, but failed. She felt so grateful to her sister-in-law, not only for taking a chance and giving her a job but for investing in her future too.

It was only now Amanda’s confidence was growing that she realized how foolish she had been in giving up her chance of a career the minute Ross had proposed. She’d thought being a full-time mother, married to a successful man, would be her role for life. She had never imagined that her life would implode so dramatically.

But maybe now, with a little distance and the fact thatshe was in a happier place, she could look at the implosion as not all negative. Painful, incredibly stressful, yes, but all of the drama that had occurred had rocketed her out of her bubble and made her dig deep, deeper than she’d ever thought possible. She was stronger than she’d thought. She could make it on her own. If she decided to leave Ross, she would be okay. She had a son she adored, a job, a salary, and two sisters-in-law who had her back. Her life had taken an unexpected turn, but she had come through, bruised and battle weary, but wiser and determined to live it on her own terms. That was worth everything.

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