“Sure, don’t I have a key?” the older woman reached into her pocket and held it up as if Karen had never seen a key before. “I got Shane to cut one in case any of us ever needed it when you’re not home – like tonight, for instance. It came in very handy altogether. Otherwise I would’ve been stuck out in that rain.”
Unperturbed, Nellie happily returned to tidying up. “You really shouldn’t leave noodles dry out overnight, you know,” she scolded. “It’s impossible to shift them. I’ll have to soak those plates overnight.”
“Nellie,” Karen said, through gritted teeth, “I’ll be tidying the place myself tomorrow. There’s no need for you to be putting yourself to any bother.”
“But love, why do it tomorrow when you can do it today?” the older woman said sweetly, but with a distinct edge to her tone.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Karen replied, trying to keep her voice level, “but if I wanted the place tidy, it would be tidy or if I prefer to leave it messy then I’ll leave it messy.”
Nellie flinched as if she’d been slapped.
“Well...” she said huffily. “If I’d known how strongly you felt about someone trying to help, Karen, I wouldn’t have bothered.” She perched on the edge of the sofa as if afraid to sit down for fear of getting the remains of yesterday’s dinner on her clothes. “There’s a pile of washing-up in the sink and I thought I’d save you having to do it - since you seem to have an aversion to housework. Even so,” she continued as Karen’s blood pressure rose even further, “it’s not for me to decide how you want to keep your house. However, Shane happens to live here too and I’m not at all happy about my son living in filth.”
Her jaw dropped. “How dare you call me filthy? I work long hours and can’t be mopping up every little crumb when I get home. Shane is well able to do it either. Regardless, it’s my house.”
“If it wasn’t for me, dear, you wouldn’t have a house,” Nellie countered sharply.
Karen struggled to keep her anger in check. She couldn’tbelievewhat she was hearing. She tried to calm down before she said something to the older woman that she’d really regret.
She could almost hear her dad’s voice in her head telling her to count to ten like he always did as a little girl when he sensed her temper rising. She felt her heartbeat quicken with rage. This wasn’t the first time that Nellie had tried to undermine her either.
During another one of her visits, Karen had found her sweeping the kitchen floor, claiming that ‘with that colour linoleum it needs to be swept every day, not just once a week’. And on another occasion, she had taken down the curtains from the spare room, protesting that she’d have them ‘washed and ironed in no time’. Karen had been livid but hadn’t mentioned either incident to Shane.
This time though, swords were drawn. She’d murderhim for giving the Quinns a key. There was no way she was going to have his family crawling all over the place whenever they felt like it. She wouldn’t have her own family do that. She’d never be able to relax in this house again if she thought that any of Shane’s motley crew could arrive in on top of them at any minute.
It was out of order and Karen would be damned if she was going to put up with it. She’d have it out with him when he got home. In the meantime, she supposed she’d have to mollify Nellie; otherwise, they’d soon be at one another’s throats.
She took a deep breath and tried her utmost to sound amiable. “I know you’re only trying to help. And to be fair, the house isn’t usually so untidy. But I’ve had a very hard week, I only just got home from work and to be frank, the last thing I wanted was visitors tonight – you know what I mean,” she added quickly, when Nellie looked huffy. “All I wanted to do was chill out for the evening instead of going on a cleaning frenzy. I was just surprised to find you here, that’s all.” Her voice softened. “Forget about the plates and the washing-up – I’ll get rid of the newspapers and we’ll have a cuppa, alright?”
So much for her relaxing glass … Karen duly picked up discarded newspapers and put them into the refuse sack. Then she went into the kitchen to put on the kettle, noting that the cupboards were wide open and Nellie had put what looked like every dish, plate and piece of cutlery they owned soaking in piping hot water in the sink.
A fresh burst of annoyance erupted. Obviouslythought she’d give their ‘filthy’ kitchen a good spring clean while she had the place to herself, Karen fumed as she filled the kettle with water. The kitchen wasnotfilthy. Nor was she. Untidy maybe, but not dirty. If that wasn’t good enough for Mrs Quinn or her darling son – tough. They’d just have to go take a running jump.
She felt a surge of misdirected annoyance towards Shane and tears smarted behind her eyes as she reached for the box of teabags she kept (still in the box, not some fancy jar) in the cupboard. She’d thought that owning their own home and planning a future together would be fantastic, but so far it was turning into a complete disaster.
His overbearing family’s involvement; what with any one of them arriving on the doorstep at any time, constant digs about having children or setting a date for the wedding - all of it was bit by bit driving a wedge between them.
Karen knew for certain that she didnotwant to marry Shane if it meant being routinely saddled with his family too.
She went back into the living room with a cup of tea for Nellie and a bottle of wine for herself, thinking that if the ‘oul bag said anything about her drinking, she’d throttle her altogether.
However, they appeared to have reached an impasse, because her future mother-in-law was sitting quite happily in front of the television watching theLate Late Show.
Karen handed her a cup of tea and plastered a smileon her face. So much for her grand plans for a cosy evening. Hopefully, Shane wouldn’t be out too late.
“Any nice biscuits with it, pet?” Nellie asked, smiling beatifically. “It’s good manners to offer a visitor something extra too.”
Karen harrumphed. She’d get Nellie her precious biscuits and then she was going straight to bed.
She’d confront Shane in the morning. This time she’d have it all out with him, no holding back. Definitely.
Without A Doubt.
36
The next morning Karen awoke with a start and opened her eyes. What was Shane doing banging around in the kitchen so early on a Saturday?
She looked groggily at the alarm clock. Almost eight AM. Then she felt movement beside her in the bed. Obviously not Shane making all the noise then. She hadn’t heard him come in the night before.
