Page 74 of The In-Laws

‘He seems to be handling it well enough, doesn’t he?’

Amanda could hear pleading in Ross’s voice. Part of her still wanted to hurt him, but he was doing his best and she had to try to let her anger go or it would destroy her.

‘He does, yes. He’s a great boy, and we should be very proud of him. He’s had a really tough time.’

Ross sat down at the counter. ‘I know. I’ve been too hard on him.’

‘Yes, you have.’

‘I’ll make it up to him, and to you, I promise.’

Amanda knew he meant it, but how did you make up for deep betrayal and crushing someone’s heart?

26. Katie

Katie was finishing at the salon when she got a message from Jamie reminding her about the client dinner. He was taking out an Italian publisher they were hoping would sign a big rights deal for Sloane’s book and he wanted to push for deals for some of their other authors too.

She stared at the message and sighed. She’d forgotten all about it.

Bring ur A game babe, these guys r really important.

Katie felt tired. She’d got up for an early-morning swim and she’d been looking forward to a few glasses of wine on the couch and an early night.

She texted her usual babysitter, but they couldn’t do it. Neither could her back-up babysitter. She was half tempted to tell Jamie she couldn’t go because she had no sitter, but she knew he wanted her there, that it was an important work dinner, and she didn’t want to let him down. She had been trying to be the perfect wife since the incident with Nancy. Could she ask the twins? Would Melanie let them babysit? Maybe Theo was a better option. Then again, Lucy and Toby didn’t really know him. He was so much older than them and hadn’t made much of an effort since moving back to Ireland. But it might be a good opportunity to talk to him again about what had happened at the playground.

She texted Amanda to ask if Theo would babysit and she texted straight back –Yes! It will do him good to look after others. Just leave him very clear instructions.

Lucy was not happy. She glared at Theo and then at her mother. ‘But you said we’d make cupcakes after dinner.’

‘I know, sweetie, but I completely forgot that I have to go to this work dinner with Daddy. It’s important to him.’

Her daughter crossed her arms. ‘Well, my cupcakes are important to me. You promised to make chocolate-chip ones with me tonight.’

Katie was treading carefully with Lucy, trying to get back into her good books. ‘I know, Lucy, but look, I’ve left instructions for Theo and he’s going to bake them with you.’

‘I don’t know Theo. He’s like a stranger.’

‘Stranger danger!’ Toby shouted, pointing to Theo.

Theo stood in the middle of the kitchen, looking mortified.

‘Kids, come on now. Theo is your lovely cousin from England and he’s being so nice babysitting you when I’m sure he’d rather be out with his friends.’

‘You said he doesn’t have any friends,’ Toby reminded Katie.

‘He’s not from England, he’s from Ireland, just lived in England for ages and ages.’ Lucy was all about the details.

‘He has a funny accent, though,la de la de la,’ Toby said.

Katie turned to Theo. ‘I’m so sorry. The kids are not normally this unwelcoming. They’ll settle down once I’ve left. Now, I do need you to bake cupcakes with Lucy. I’ve left everything ready and the recipe is very simple, I printed it out for you.’

‘Can you cook?’ Lucy eyeballed her cousin.

‘Well, my mum does the cooking in our house, but I’m sure we can figure this out.’

‘Your mum is a fabulous cook,’ Katie enthused. Katie knew Amanda prided herself on her cooking. When she was in London, she used to post her recipes on herInstagram page. Katie would look at them, admire them, then order take-out.

‘Granny doesn’t think so,’ Theo said.

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