Page 59 of The In-Laws

‘We need to talk.’

Sighing, Katie turned to face her husband, and the music.

‘You were out of line. You cannot speak to my mother like that, or anyone for that matter.’

‘But, Jamie, she’s always –’

He snapped his book shut. ‘I know how difficult she can be. I work with her every day. But she is my mother and my boss and we invited her to our house to celebrateToby’s birthday. You spilt cake all over her, made a right mess, she got a bit snappy and then you totally lost it. Who the hell calls their mother-in-law a poisonous bitch in front of the whole family? It’s out of control, Katie.’

‘I just snapped. She’s always belittling me. I’ve put up with it for years.’

‘The whole thing got crazy. I had to call Ross and apologize. I shouldn’t have fought with him. It was wrong.’

‘You were defending me, babe. I love that you did that.’

Jamie sighed. ‘I can defend you without losing my temper. It was not cool, especially in front of the kids. Ross said he’s never seen Mum so angry. He was shocked at what you said. Everyone was.’

Her hatred of Ross grew deeper. ‘I’ll apologize.’

‘I don’t think Mum’ll accept it. Not only have you upset her, you’ve upset Lucy. She’s been crying.’

‘I know. I was just talking to her.’

‘Mum’s relationship with Lucy is really special. I’ve never seen her like that with anyone. I love that Mum sees how brilliant Lucy is and how sweet she is with her. Lucy brings out the very best in Mum, but you jeopardized that with your big mouth and, frankly, too much wine. You would never have said that if you hadn’t been drinking.’

Hang on a minute, he couldn’t blame her for everything.

‘That’s not fair, Jamie. I haven’t ruined everything. Your mum’s relationship with Lucy is separate from me.’

‘But she’ll never call in here to see her now, will she?’ Jamie’s jaw tensed.

‘I’ll drop Lucy up to her house.’ Katie was panicking now. She needed Jamie on her side. She was all alone here, drowning. Jamie was her person. ‘I’ll grovel and do whatever it takes to get her to forgive me.’

‘I’m not sure she ever will. You’ve just made everythingso much worse, awkward for Lucy and for me in work. Jesus, Katie, why did you have to drink so much wine and be so disrespectful?’

Katie had never felt so small or alone in her life. It reminded her of how she’d felt after her mother died – like no one understood her, like no one really cared about her, like no one had her back. She wanted to cry and shout,What about me? What about my feelings? What about your mother calling me stupid? Making me feel stupid? Belittling my career?

Quietly, in as calm a voice as she could manage, she said, ‘I understand that you’re angry, but can you please just acknowledge that your mother has been pretty disrespectful to me since I first met her?’

Jamie clicked off his lamp. ‘You’re oversensitive about all that. Mum prefers bookish people, that’s all. It’s why she loves Lucy so much. You just don’t have much in common. You’re a bit paranoid about it. Anyway, I’m tired. Tomorrow we’ll figure out how best you can apologize to her.’

Jamie rolled over. Katie stared at her husband’s back. She’d known he’d be cross, but she’d presumed he’d also see her side. But to call her paranoid and oversensitive? Katie had put up with years of micro-aggressions from Nancy, and Jamie knew that. But one blow-out, one curse word and he was no longer Team Katie: it was all ‘poor Nancy’.

Thank God for Melanie and Amanda. At least they saw what a weapon Nancy was. Katie felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She wanted Jamie to hug her and tell her it would be okay. Now she’d have to grovel and beg forgiveness from her mother-in-law, when she actually believedshedeserved an apology from her. She closed her eyes and thought of Lucy. She’d do anything for her, even if it meant eating a mountain range of humble pie.

21. Melanie

Jamie sat in Melanie’s office, sipping his coffee.

‘Why did Katie have to open her big mouth?’ He groaned.

Melanie sat back in her chair. ‘Nancy triggers her. To be fair, she has niggled at Katie for years about her job and about not being a reader. I remember when they first met and Nancy asked the question she asks everyone, “What is your favourite book?”, and Katie said, “A very short one.”’

Jamie grinned. ‘I remember that. Mum was so shocked.’

‘They’ve never really got on. Katie has been biting her tongue for a long time.’

‘I know, but Lucy’s upset and that’s killing me.’

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