‘Mu-um, no, listen.’
‘You asked me to guess, so I’m guessing.’
Katie thinks this is hilarious and starts coming up with wild and crazy things that Eva might have done today. But I can see Eva is becoming irritated with our teasing.
Diane appears at the door. ‘Come in. I’ve just put the kettle on.’
‘Thanks, but we’re not stopping, Diane.’
‘Nonsense. Come in.’ She turns away and walks across the vast hallway, which could probably accommodate the whole downstairs footprint of our home.
I sigh and follow her into the house, kissing Eva’s cheek. ‘Tell me, then, Eva. What’s this thing I’ll never guess?’ I do a double take. ‘Have you had your hair cut?’
‘Yes!’ she squeals. ‘Just trimmed though. Grandma took me to her hair salon. Not a kids’ place but a proper grown-up salon with magazines and fancy biscuits.’
‘Very nice.’ Eva’s caramel hair has been styled and waved as though she’s an eighteen-year-old debutante. It actually looks awful, but Eva is so pleased with herself that I daren’t say what I really think.
‘And we went shopping!’ she cries, thrusting the carrier bags in my direction.
‘That’s not fair!’ Katie wails.
I inhale and try to stay calm.
‘Don’t worry,’ Eva says to her sister, ‘we bought you some things too!’
Katie’s eyes widen and the two of them go zooming off into the sitting room while I follow my mother-in-law into the kitchen.
‘Thank you, Diane, but you really shouldn’t spoil them like that.’ I don’t say what’s really on my mind – that Eva has been excluded from school as a punishment, and shouldn’t be given treats as though it’s a special occasion. I’m worried that she’ll go into school on Monday and start telling all her friends about her hair and new purchases. And I dread to think what will happen if it gets back to Rebecca. But I can’t complain too forcefully; Diane is doing us a huge favour by having her.
‘It’s nothing,’ Diane replies airily. ‘I already had a hair appointment in town and I thought Eva would enjoy getting her hair styled too.’ She fixes me with a stare. ‘You’ll have tea.’ It’s a statement rather than a question.
‘Um, yes, that would be lovely.’ I sit at the vast farmhouse table, conscious not to scrape my chair across the expensive slate floor.
‘Now,’ Diane says, spooning tea leaves into the pot, ‘Eva tells me she was being teased for wearing another child’s smelly PE kit, is this true?’
I permit myself an eye roll, as my mother-in-law’s back is still turned. ‘It wasn’t smelly. It was perfectly clean. It was just taken from the spares box, that’s all.’
‘Perhaps you need to employ some help, dear.’ Her gravelly voice grates on my nerves.
‘We’re okay,’ I say evenly. ‘It was just a one-off. Anyway, we already have Mandy, who comes in to clean once a week.’
‘Yes, but the shopping, the cooking, the washing… You know, it’s a full-time job. When the boys were younger, I had help and still I never stopped. There was always something to do. I don’t know how you manage the house and the children while you’re at work all day. It’s impossible.’
‘We manage between us. Robert’s at home most of the day to sort out the girls, in between clients.’
‘Yes, but he shouldn’t really have to worry about shopping and washing the girls’ clothes. It’s a bit demeaning for him, don’t you think? Emasculating, I think that’s the word.’
I’m fairly used to Diane’s old-fashioned attitude, but sometimes I really want to point out that we no longer live in the 1950s. ‘Robert doesn’t mind. We’re a team.’
Diane sniffs and pours milk into a porcelain jug.
I think it’s best if I change the subject. ‘I was talking to some of the mums today and it looks like I’ll have to get Eva a tutor.’
‘Nonsense! That girl is as bright as a button.’
‘I know she is, but apparently everyone tutors their children to get them into the grammar school.’
Diane raises an eyebrow. ‘The boys got into the grammar without any tutoring.’
