‘Puppy number two,’ said Xanthe gaily, as she wrestled with the packaging. ‘Oh look, look … isn’t it divine?’ She held up the picture on the front of the roll.
‘One hell of a repeat on that,’ said Jim.
‘I know,’ said Xanthe, ‘but isn’t it gorgeous.’
Jim stepped forward and picked up one of the rolls, studying it. ‘Beautiful quality.’
‘It bloody should be at that price,’ said Izzy. ‘I’d be terrified of messing it up.’
‘Oh, Jim’s brilliant at wallpapering,’ said Jeanette.
‘Are you?’ squealed Xanthe, as if that was the most exciting thing she’d ever heard.
‘I can turn my hand to most things,’ he said. ‘I think we can patch that roof and get it fixed up today, if you don’t mind Duncan running me to the builder’s merchants.’
‘Did you hear that, Izzy?’ Xanthe’s eyes bored into her. ‘Roof repairs and decorating.’
‘I heard,’ said Izzy, hating the way that her mother assumed she had all the answers.
Xanthe turned to Jim. ‘Izzy says you’ve been camping down by the loch. Are you on holiday?’
Jim and Jeanette did what Izzy was now thinking of as theirMidwich Cuckooact, as they glanced uneasily at each other.
‘No,’ said Jeanette, as Jim said, ‘yes.’
‘Well, what is it?’ asked Xanthe with her trademark impatience.
‘We’re…’ started Jeanette, as Jim said, ‘We’ve…’
‘Are you planning to stay in the area?’ Xanthe looked from one to the other with bright-eyed animation.
‘We were,’ said Jim, ‘but we’ve lost the tent.’
‘And you’ve got nowhere to stay,’ said Xanthe, giving Izzy a look full of meaning.
‘Mmm,’ mumbled Jim as Jeanette ducked her head in what looked to Izzy like embarrassment.
‘Mum,’ Izzy snapped, seeing where this was going.
‘Well, it’s obvious to me.’ Xanthe tilted her nose up in regal style. ‘You should both stay here. We need extra help. Many hands make light work and all that.’
Jeanette twisted her hands and looked at her husband, hope shining in her eyes, and how could Izzy resist.
Izzy glared at her mother, although it was a very good idea. ‘First you have to explain what’s going on. Can I trust you? Have you robbed a bank? Murdered someone? Burned a house down?’
Jeanette shook her head vehemently. ‘No!’ she protested. ‘Nothing like that.’ Her face creased into a sudden, spontaneous smile and she laughed. ‘When you put it like that, it’s nothing bad.’
Jim put an arm across her shoulder. ‘It’s not that bad.’ He dropped a kiss on Jeanette’s hair.
‘We got married,’ explained Jeanette. ‘Our families don’t approve, so we ran away.’
‘We thought we’d live as cheaply as possible. Find casual jobs, but it turns out no one wants to employ you without a proper address.’
Izzy refrained from suggesting that was quite obvious to anyone with half a brain. The pair of them were clearly besotted with each other and seemed to have had a complete lapse of common sense. ‘And do your parents know where you are?’
‘No! And we don’t want them to. They know we’re well and safe but that’s all. They’ll only try and split us up, again. And I can’t bear it.’
‘We got married on Jeanette’s eighteenth birthday,’ said Jim, as if that explained everything.
