Page 39 of The In-Laws

Why did people say that? Ross had no idea how hard this was. He had not had his trust and heart shattered. He had not had his life ripped apart. He had not been an innocent bystander while the two people he loved most in the world destroyed his life. He did not have to live with a mother-in-law who criticized him incessantly. He had not the slightest idea of how hard this was.

‘You don’t, but go on.’

Ross squeezed her hand tightly, and his voice shook with emotion. ‘I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with all of this chaos. I’m sorrier than I can say and I promise you I’m doing my best to sort it all out. Thanks for sticking by me. I hope that, with time, we can be us again. I miss you. I know it’s my fault, but I really miss what we had.’

Amanda looked into her husband’s hazel eyes. He was in his boxer shorts with his shirt buttoned the wrong way, looking like a lost boy. The confident man she had married was floundering over the mistakes he had made. He wasteetering on the brink of disaster. She had to help him: she had invested so much in this marriage.

Amanda had targeted Ross in university because he was a good catch. He offered her a way out from her small-town past. The bonus was that she had fallen head over heels in love with him. He was funny, affectionate, and made her feel special. He built up her confidence and always made her feel loved and safe. She did the same for him. She could see that underneath his bluster he had been damaged by his childhood. Ross had always felt like the ‘other’ son. She’d wanted to fill the hole in his heart that his parents’ abandonment had left and make him feel secure and cherished. They were both ambitious and socially astute. They worked well together as a team. They had built a wonderful life. And even though these days she wanted to murder him, part of her – buried deep down – still loved him. And the truth was, he needed her just as much as she had needed him.

‘Look, we will get through this, but we have to stay strong and be strategic. We can’t let that slut blackmail us for crazy child support, and you can’t let Melanie or Jamie take over the agency. They could fire you and then where will we be? You are the rightful heir. Your mother dumped you in boarding school while she raised Jamie and Frank so she bloody well owes you.’

Amanda watched Ross’s face change as his energy and determination returned.

‘I love you,’ he said. Her husband hugged her. She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms, but she did not melt. She remained stiff. She was not ready to forgive or forget anything yet.

Ross took Theo into school for an early-morning maths grind. As Ross kissed her goodbye, Amanda noticed Theolooking surprised. She’d tried to keep the whole affair and baby fiasco quiet from their son. He knew something was up, but when he’d muttered, ‘What’s up with you and Dad?’ she’d just said they were getting over a little bump in the road and it was nothing to worry about. That was before Nancy had fallen and Theo had got caught in his own ‘bump in the road’ at school, which had caused complete mayhem.

Amanda would have to be careful, though. She didn’t want Theo to know anything about his half-sibling until he had settled in to his new school. He needed to be focused on one thing only – his final exams. She was determined to keep him on track and not take her eye off him. Her son was not going to waste a good education and she would make damn sure he was not given any excuse to act out.

At the same time, Amanda wondered just how long they could keep the news from Theo. Ross had been adamant that he was not going to be involved in the child’s life. It was Ruby’s decision to keep the baby and she knew she’d be raising it as a single parent. Ross had made that clear. But would it last? Surely Ross would be curious to see his own flesh and blood. At some point, wouldn’t he feel a responsibility to make contact with his child? Amanda shivered at the thought. She wanted never to set eyes on the kid. The thought of her husband and son spending time with the baby made her feel sick. Ross claimed he only had contact with Ruby via his lawyers – Amanda knew that was true because she checked his phone every night when he was sleeping. She felt no guilt for doing so. If you break someone’s trust, you have to expect them to be suspicious.

Amanda needed this baby to remain a secret from Theo – and the whole family – for as long as possible.

14. Katie

The twins swung around in the salon chairs, high-fiving each other as they whizzed past. They were in their school uniforms, trying to look cool with their skirts rolled up, their ties loosely done and tanned legs. Katie remembered doing the same. With no mother to stop her, she’d cut her skirt so it was a mini, customized her school jumper by sewing patches on it and had worn Docs to school instead of the regulation shoes. She was sent home at least once a week for being inappropriately dressed. That was fine with her. The house was empty, so she’d just chill on the couch and watch TV.

Katie rolled her eyes. ‘All right, you two, enough messing. You’ll wreck those chairs.’

‘I’d love to work here,’ Joni said.

‘Same! It seems so fun,’ Janis agreed.

‘It’s not all fun. It’s bloody hard work too, and you have to deal with some delusional clients who come in with photos of supermodels and want you to make them look like them. Then, when they just look like themselves but with better hair, they get really annoyed. Hairdressers can change your hair but they can’t perform miracles.’

‘But you like what you do, right?’ Joni asked.

‘Yeah, I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else, to be honest.’

It was true, Katie did like hairdressing because she was good at it and because she didn’t have to do any admin, which would have required writing and spelling names.The receptionist did all that for her, and Jamie did her tax, so she focused on hair. Katie couldn’t imagine doing any other job. This suited her and didn’t stress her out.

‘Mum says we have to go to college,’ Joni said.

‘She’s right. You’re smart girls so you should go and get a degree.’

‘Dad says we should follow our curiosity and do something we feel passionately about,’ Joni added.

‘To be honest, I didn’t feel passionately about hairdressing. It was the only job I could get when I left school early, but then I realized I was good at it, so I began to enjoy it.’

‘I want to be an influencer. They make tons of money and all they have to do is post content,’ Janis said.

Katie grinned. ‘Have you told your mum?’

Janis rolled her eyes. ‘Are you mad? I don’t have a death wish. Imagine her reaction! “No child of mine is going to waste their education. You are going to college to get a good degree and find a job that pays well so you can support yourself and never depend on anyone for your finances, blah-blah-blah” …’

Joni groaned. ‘She is literally obsessed with us earning money.’

Katie thought Melanie put too much pressure on the twins, but she understood where her sister-in-law was coming from. Frank was lucky to work in the family business, or who knew what he’d be doing or earning? ‘All mums want their kids to be secure, that’s all.’

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