So I walked down the hall, barefoot and dripping, knowing that towels were kept in a linen basket just outside the living room. I moved towards the door and, I don’t know why, hesitated before knocking, and just as I lifted my hand to do so, I heard my name mentioned. My instinct naturally was to hang on, to try and hear what came next – looking back, I suppose I didn’t completely trust Joy, and I certainly didn’t trust Ella.
‘—But she’s a good mother,’ Joy was saying. It was the ‘but’ that preceded the comment that bothered me. What could possibly have been said before that? And by whom?
‘Oh, I’m sure she is. I’m sure she’s a wonderful mum. Your grandchildren are super adorable,’ Ella oozed. ‘And Dan, he’s a great dad,’ Ella’s cutesy little voice added. ‘Alfie’s so like his dad, isn’t he?’ She continued with the small talk, the flattery.
‘Oh, he’s the spitting image,’ Joy gloated. ‘Dan was just like Alfie at his age too. I’m a proud mother and grandmother.’
The conversation then moved on to Ella’s travels, and how she knew Jamie was the One – ‘As soon as I saw him, I knew, I just knew. He has the most amazing eyes, like blue pools.’
Christ, I almost puked. She went on about how wonderful he was and I could almost imagine Joy’s chest rising in pride, and when she asked if Ella would like another gin, I realised my new sister-in-law didn’t need any help from me in being welcomed into the family, and right on cue she said, ‘Joy, I feel so lucky, not just to have met Jamie, but to be part of this family.’
‘And we’re delighted to have you,’ Joy answered. A clink of ice, a thank you from Ella, another gin.
Unable to take any more of Ella’s creeping, I was just about to leave, when I heard her say, ‘And you’re not bossy at all.’
‘Bossy, dear?’
‘Yeah, Clare said you were super bossy and not to let you take over, but I just don’t see that, Joy.’
I almost died on the spot. I had said this but only when cajoled into it by Ella. To me it had been a bonding thing between two sisters-in-law, but repeated to Joy it sounded so mean.
‘Oh, I’m sorry she feels that way,’ Joy said, and I could imagine her pinched lips; this would have hurt her. ‘I try to help – in fact I think I’ve helped her quite a bit. She’s obviously misinterpreting my help as being bossy. But I have never tried to take over…’
‘Of course not. I can see that, Joy. Clare’s lovely – but so insecure, it must be like walking on eggshells for you, and for Dan too.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had this urge to rush in and explain myself. I knew Joy and I knew how this would make her feel about me; our relationship had been built on years of me being careful not to upset her, only to be smashed in one sentence.
‘I do worry about Clare and Dan,’ Joy conceded, and I held my breath, hoping she wasn’t going to tell this new girl all about my mess of a marriage. ‘Clare especially. She’s a little fragile… on the defensive at the moment, especially with someone as attractive as you.’
‘Oh gosh, I’m not a threat to anyone.’
‘No, of course not.’ There was a pause, and then she said, ‘I hope you don’t think I’m bossy, Ella?’ she asked, returning to the subject. The comment had clearly hit a nerve.
‘Not for a minute. In fact, I think you might be the best motherin-law a girl could have… especially as my own mother isn’t here any more.’
‘Oh love, Jamie mentioned that you had no family. You’re young to be without a mother, when did you lose her?’
There was a silence, and then Ella said in a broken voice, ‘Years ago.’
‘Oh no. And your father?’
‘The same…’ This was followed by silence, until eventually Joy spoke.
‘Well, darling, I’m glad I can be here for you – I’m glad we all can.’
I imagined Joy putting down her glass, walking over to hug her, a new daughter, another motherless girl she could take under her wing and shape into the daughter she’d never had. Slowly, and quietly, I moved away from the door and tiptoed upstairs, leaving pools of water on the wooden floor. I didn’t even go back to wipe it up. Terrible of me really, even though it crossed my mind that it was dangerous and someone might slip on their way upstairs after too many gins. I felt so upset and frustrated, crushed to think that Ella had almost forced me to agree Joy was bossy and was now using it as a complete quote from me.