Page 33 of Obedience

‘Is it a woman?’ Elaine said quickly, as though having a sudden moment of bravery and wanting the words out of her mouth as fast as possible.

‘No!’ Greta protested, shaking her head adamantly.

Elaine, clearly on a charm offensive, decided now was the time to say her piece. ‘Muriel wouldn’t want this life for you, Greta—’

‘Elaaaine,’ Edward interrupted, stretching the word in a cautioning tone.

‘Well, she wouldn’t!’ she retorted, looking back and forth between her husband and daughter.

‘Oh Jesus, not this again,’ Greta muttered under her breath as she stood from the dining table, her arm outstretched, gesturing towards Edward’s empty plate. ‘Are you done, Dad?’

‘Yes, thank you, G,’ Edward replied, handing it to her with both hands, while shooting her a wink of solidarity. ‘Don’t listen to your mother. You grieve how you need to grieve.’

‘Eddie, it’s been five years. Muriel would not have wanted—’

‘Mum!’ Stopping just shy of a shout, Greta exhaled a long breath. A reminder to herself that she respected and loved her mother very much. ‘Leave it, please.’

Elaine held her hands up in a surrendering motion before moving them to the napkin on her knee, bringing it to her face to dab at the corners of her mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said with a shake of the head. She placed the napkin on the table, her arm remaining over it as she fidgeted with the material in her fingertips. She held Greta’s gaze before turning to her husband. ‘I’m sorry. Okay?’ He accepted the apology with a nod. ‘I just want the best for you, Greta. We both do.’

‘I know you do, Mum, but honestly, everything is fine.’

After gathering the last of the crockery, Greta retreated into the Quaker-style kitchen, but not before she caught Edward shooting Elaine a look, earning him a belligerent shrug and a silently mouthed ‘What?’ in return.

In the quiet of the Didsbury kitchen, Greta put the plates by the dishwasher. Pressing her palms into the wooden surface, she leaned her weight into it as if the wood were the only thing keeping her upright.

‘Is everything okay, G?’ Edward asked tentatively from the doorway.

Greta turned to her father, a half smile on her lips, as his kind eyes beamed back at her. Despite his casual attire, green chinos and a blue plaid shirt, his grey beard and bald head didn't hide a single one of his seventy-four years.

‘Oh, Dad.’ Greta dropped her head and rubbed at her forehead as Edward moved across the kitchen with his arms reflexively outstretched.

‘Come here,’ he said, as he gently scooped his daughter into a hug. ‘I’m not going to badger you, unlike your drill sergeant mother.’ Greta huffed a burst of air through her nose in amusement. ‘But I’m here. No matter what’s happened. Okay?’

Greta turned her head to the side on his big chest, her ear level with his heart.

‘It is a woman, Dad, but I can’t—’

‘I knew it!’ Elaine exclaimed from the doorway.

‘Elaine! For Pete’s sake. Leave it!’ Edward all but yelled, his exasperation at his wife’s persistence and insensitivity now palpable.

‘I will not leave it,’ she asserted. ‘I will not watch my girl live like this, Edward!’

The tremor in her mum’s voice made Greta’s gut wrench. As her dad let her go, she leaned back on the kitchen sideboard, arms crossed over her chest in a futile bid to close herself off from the conversation.

‘This wall, Greta, this bloody armour of yours, enough!’ Elaine demanded, her voice now strong and adamant.

‘Wall?’

‘Yes. Wall!’

‘Mum don’t speak to me like I'm a child. I’m nearly fifty for Christ’s sake!’

‘Greta,’ Edward warned softly.

Greta dropped her head, a repeated apology spilling out in mutters. She sucked in a long, ragged breath, filling every millimetre of space in her lungs.

‘There is a woman,’ Greta began, unable to ignore the smile tugging at her Mum's lips. ‘But we can’t. I can’t… It just can’t. It’s complica—’