Page 24 of The In-Laws

‘Fine, send me the revised manuscript when it’s ready. I want to read it. Did you give him a deadline?’

‘Yes, a month from today.’

‘Too long.’

Melanie kept her voice steady but Amanda noticed her clenched fists.

‘No, Nancy, it’s what Peter needs. It’s a significant rewrite and it’ll still be ready for the Copenhagen book fair, which is the main goal.’

Amanda was impressed by her sister-in-law’s firm,don’t-mess-with-me attitude. She loved watching Nancy being stood up to. Ross would have to be careful: Melanie was undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

‘How’s Theo?’ Frank pointedly changed the subject.

‘He’s still adapting,’ Amanda said.

‘He’s fine, just needs to get on with it,’ Ross added.

‘It takes time to settle into new schools and surroundings,’ Frank said. ‘Has to be tough for him.’

‘If I had my way, he’d be at boarding school,’ Ross grumbled.

‘But you hated it,’ Jamie reminded him.

‘I didn’t hate it. I was just very young when I was sent there. Nine is … well, young. Theo’s seventeen. It would do him good to have more discipline.’

‘Nine was so young.’ Frank’s voice was full of empathy. ‘It must have been really hard on you.’

Amanda watched her husband bristle. Ross couldn’t handle Frank’s need to analyse everything and empathize with any, and all, difficulties.

‘It was a hundred years ago, Frank. I’ve moved on.’

‘Past traumas stay with you unless you deal with them. They can be toxic.’ Frank was not giving up.

‘I’m fine, Frank.’ Ross turned away from his brother.

‘Everyone handles things differently.’ Jamie jumped in, as ever.

‘If you ever want to talk to someone, Ross, I have the best therapist.’

‘Frank.’ Melanie’s voice was sharp. ‘Ross doesn’t want therapy. Not everyone needs to talk about things all the time.’

Frank nodded. ‘Okay, just offering. It saved my sanity, so I believe in its power.’

Maybe I should try it, Amanda thought. She had a lotto offload and unpack. She had no good friends, and she couldn’t trust her sisters-in-law because they’d just run back and tell their husbands. Then Nancy would find out Ross’s dirty little secret and Theo’s very big screw-up, and their car-crash of a life would be known to all. She couldn’t stand the humiliation. Besides, it might tarnish Ross’s chances of running the agency and that goal was one of the only things Amanda and Ross agreed on. Amanda had not moved back to Ireland under duress to have her husband be an employee. She wanted him running the agency and awarding himself a large salary so they could pay off Ruby, buy a house, and she could have the life he had promised her. The life he had provided until the affair and the subsequent mess that followed. Living with his mother and being a semi-carer was not what Amanda had signed up for. There was no way this situation was going to last. Ross was going up that ladder if she had to throw him up it herself.

8. Katie

Katie pulled the black eyeliner up into a wing at the side of her eye.

‘That’s weird, Mum,’ Lucy said, peering at her over her book.

Katie sipped her glass of wine. ‘It’s a party look for the concert I’m going to with your uncle Frank.’

‘Is that why you’re wearing a sparkly dress?’

‘Yes, it’s a sparkly-dress kind of night.’

‘What’s for dinner? I’m starving,’ Toby asked.

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