Page 54 of The In-Laws

‘Right, that’s enough cleaning. Thank you both so much. Let’s have a drink. I need one.’

‘Me too,’ Amanda said.

‘Me three,’ Melanie added.

The three women sat up at the kitchen counter. Katie poured them all large glasses of wine.

Melanie reckoned Katie had had enough wine for the day, but they were all shaken up, so a glass was welcome, and she wasn’t going to start lecturing her now.

Katie sighed. ‘I’ve fucked up royally, haven’t I?’

‘I’m sure if you apologize on bended knee she may forgive you.’ Amanda sipped her wine.

Melanie decided to be blunt. ‘You’re dead to her now.’

‘Jeez, Melanie, give it to me straight, why don’t you?’ Katie laughed. There was a hint of bitterness and regret in the laugh.

Melanie didn’t see the point in lying to Katie. Her sister-in-law knew she had blown it with Nancy. You can’t call someone a poisonous bitch – least of all your mother-in-law – and expect things to be okay afterwards. Nancy was never, ever going to forget it.

Katie sighed. ‘The thing is, I don’t care if Nancy never speaks to me again. In fact I’d welcome it. But Jamie’s angry and, worst of all, I’ve upset Lucy. As much as I dislike Nancy, I don’t want to destroy Lucy’s relationship with her.’

‘You won’t,’ Melanie reassured her. ‘Nancy adores Lucy and she isn’t going to let your argument affect that. She can go through Jamie to contact Lucy.’

Katie’s eyes welled with tears. ‘Do you think Jamie will be okay with me?’

Amanda squeezed her hand. ‘Of course he will.’

‘Jamie adores you and he knows Nancy is difficult. I think it’s Ross he’s really annoyed with,’ Melanie said.

Amanda shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. ‘Ross overstepped. He was … he is very wound up. I can only apologize for him. It was a rotten thing to say.’

‘Thanks, but just as Jamie has no control over what comes out of my big mouth, you have no control over what comes out of Ross’s either.’

Melanie admired Katie’s response. She was immediately separating Amanda from Ross’s nasty comment.

‘Oh, God, girls, what have I done!’ Katie covered her face with her hands and gave in to the tears.

You’ve blown it, Melanie thought. Nancy would take this insult to the grave.

19. Amanda

Amanda was still reeling. As she sipped her wine and helped console Katie, she could not get her head around the fact that Katie had called Nancy a poisonous bitch. It was the most shocking thing she had ever witnessed. She knew Katie was a bit of a live wire, fun, boozy Katie, but to say that to Nancy, and in front of everyone, it was mind-blowing. If she was being honest, she had thought it about her mother-in-law many, many times, but to say it out loud! Katie must really have reached the end of her tether.

And then Jamie and Ross fighting like that … It had been the craziest day. Amanda wondered who would have come out on top if Frank hadn’t intervened. She reckoned Jamie because he was fitter, but then Ross was taller … Anyway, thank God it hadn’t got violent. Mind you, she would probably have enjoyed seeing Ross get a few punches, just medium ones that hurt but didn’t cause actual damage.

As she patted Katie’s back, Amanda was thinking that Katie’s outburst could work in Ross’s favour. Now, Jamie would be tainted in Nancy’s eyes by his wife’s behaviour and his physical aggression towards Ross. So, Frank was useless, Jamie had a mad wife and a bad temper, therefore Ross was the obvious heir. Ross also had a good, sensible wife. A wife who stood by him through thick and (unknown to everyone) very thin. A wife who cleaned up other people’s messes. A wife who had scraped Nancy offthe bathroom floor. A loyal, silent wife who, although she wanted to murder him, stayed by Ross’s side and supported him. Yes, this outburst definitely played in their favour.

She did feel sorry for Katie with regard to Lucy, though. Falling out with your children was horrible – she’d had enough arguments with Theo these past months to know that only too well. She wanted to reassure her. And she greatly appreciated Katie refusing to taint her with Ross’s mean comment.

‘I really wouldn’t worry about Lucy and Nancy’s relationship,’ Amanda said gently, as Katie’s tears subsided. ‘Nancy talks about Lucy a lot, she adores her. To be honest, I wish Nancy would show a scrap of interest in Theo. It’s as if he’s invisible.’

‘Nancy has very little interest in the twins either, or Toby for that matter,’ Melanie remarked.

‘Yes, but we’re living with her. She sees him every day and she still pretty much ignores him.’

‘I wish she’d ignored me all these years instead of poking holes in me,’ Katie said.

‘She’ll ignore you now.’ Melanie chuckled.

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