Page 2 of The In-Laws

Frank, the middle brother and general peacemaker, placed a homemade cake on the counter. ‘It’s vegan,’ he said. ‘I hope everyone likes it.’

‘It’s absolutely disgusting,’ one of his twin daughters said drily.

‘Tastes like puke,’ the other added.

‘It’s an acquired taste.’ Frank’s wife, Melanie, was clearly trying to be diplomatic.

Frank laughed good-naturedly. ‘I’ll turn you into vegans eventually.’

‘Never!’ the twins shouted.

Amanda marvelled at Frank’s calmness and wished she was more like him. She doubted he looked at sharp knives and imagined plunging them into people’s chests.

‘Hello! Am I invisible here?’ Nancy barked, evidently put out at not being the centre of attention.

They all turned and hurried over to greet her.

‘You need your colour done, Nancy. I’ll come around tomorrow and sort you out,’ Katie said.

Nancy nodded curtly. ‘Okay, but I’ve a busy day. It’ll have to be at seven a.m.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ Katie mock-saluted.

Nancy rolled her eyes but didn’t snap. Amanda envied Katie her carefree attitude. She didn’t care what Nancy thought of her. The only person whose opinion Katie cared about was Jamie’s, and they were mad about each other.They had celebrated ten years of marriage last month and were still very much in love. Amanda thought back to her and Ross’s tenth anniversary. They had been happy then, too. But, years on … Well, that was a different story.

‘Show Granny the picture you drew,’ Katie encouraged her six-year-old Toby.

He handed Nancy a picture of a stick woman with a cloud of fuzzy yellow hair and a cast on one leg.

‘Is that supposed to be me?’

‘Yep,’ Toby said proudly.

‘He’s no Van Gogh,’ Nancy muttered.

‘Jeez, Mum, he’s six,’ Jamie said, rubbing Toby’s hair affectionately. ‘And he did it all by himself.’

‘I think it’s brilliant.’ Katie poured herself a large glass of wine and mumbled, ‘Grumpy cow,’ under her breath. Amanda smiled.

‘Hello, Granny.’ Lucy sidled up to her grandmother.

‘Hello, my pet.’ Nancy hugged the little girl tightly to her.

Amanda wondered if it was a blessing or a curse to be the favourite grandchild. It was something Theo would certainly never have to worry about.

‘How are Sloane’s sales?’ Nancy asked Melanie.

Amanda watched her sister-in-law’s face light up. She seemed to come alive when work was mentioned, which always surprised Amanda. She’d expected her to moan about work and how busy she was, like the mums in London had always done. They’d made a big deal of their constantly hectic lives, banging on about how they’d love to retire early. So it was a surprise to realize that Melanie genuinely lived for her work. Amanda hadn’t had a job in years and was impressed by how Melanie seemed able to juggle everything.

‘Sloane’s sales are up again. She’s flying in the UK. Her novel is number eight on the fiction chart this week.’

‘Good news.’ Nancy almost cracked a smile.

Still the favourite daughter-in-law, Amanda thought, watching Nancy’s face. It was annoying how obviously Nancy favoured Melanie. Then again, they worked together and Melanie was excellent at her job. It was hard to compete with that. Besides, Amanda would rather throw herself off a cliff than have to work with Nancy every day.

Amanda had loved living in London with a whole sea between her and her in-laws. But now they were back living in Dublin and she was going to have to try to win Nancy over with great meals, caring for her and being endlessly patient while she recuperated from the broken leg. She felt tired just thinking about it.

Beside her, Katie was pouring herself another glass of wine. She certainly was able to pack it away. They’d had a get-together over a simple supper on her and Ross’s first weekend back, and Amanda couldn’t help noticing how Katie kept her glass permanently filled. Maybe it helped neutralize Nancy’s snarky comments. If that was the case, Amanda wondered if she should up her alcohol intake to get through the next few months.

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