Chapter 20 #2
Michelle gave Claire a sour look, clearly intended to make her feel she was being very selfish and thoughtless inviting a friend to join them for the dinner she had spent all day preparing. ‘Well, I’ll leave you to it,’ Michelle said.
‘Yes, I’ve no doubt you will,’ Espie said cheerily.
Michelle’s smile wavered uncertainly. ‘Be good for Nana,’ she said to the children.
‘Don’t worry, I’m more than a match for these two,’ Espie said.
‘It’s great to have you home,’ Michelle said, stooping to give her mother-in-law a kiss on the cheek before they left. ‘Take care. See you all later.’
Bloody hypocrite, Claire thought, watching Michelle leave.
She’d hardly seen Espie for years before they’d had the children.
She had deliberately cut her mother-in-law out of her life, having decided she was a ‘toxic’ person who was a drain on her positive energy.
Claire knew this because Michelle had written about it in her column, casting herself as the martyred victim of a nasty, interfering mother-in-law.
This was based on a couple of incidents that had caused Michelle great offence.
First, Espie had organised a surprise party for Neil’s thirtieth birthday.
Even though she had planned nothing to mark the occasion, Michelle claimed that Espie had stolen her thunder and was trying to usurp her rightful position as the number-one woman in Neil’s life.
She was particularly needled that the party was a raucous, roaring success.
Neil had made the mistake of telling her he’d had the time of his life, and everyone was talking about it for months afterwards, praising Espie’s warmth and hospitality.
Second, Espie had visited Michelle on the day she’d given birth to Holly, eager to see her first grandchild – when, as Michelle told her readers, she had made it quite clear that the only visitors she wanted in the first few days were Neil and her own mother; she had told everyone else that, if they wanted to do something, they could stock up her freezer with food or do a bit of cleaning in preparation for her going home, instead of crowding into her hospital room and cluttering it with flowers and baby gifts.
Not long after she had taken Holly home, though, Michelle had changed her tune and decided Espie wasn’t so toxic, after all – not if it meant free babysitting on tap so she could enjoy child-free nights out and weekends away, and the ‘me time’ that was so precious to her as a new mother.
But she had still acted like she was doing it for the sake of family harmony, at great personal cost to herself.
Claire sometimes wondered how much of her own bullshit Michelle actually believed.
Back in the kitchen, Claire rang Luca, desperately hoping now that he would come. Would he think she was being clingy, trying to see him again already? Maybe it would be a good thing if she couldn’t get him, she thought, as his phone rang and rang. She was about to hang up when he answered.
‘Hey, sweetheart. What’s up?’
‘Hi.’ She felt a burst of happiness in her chest at the endearment – even though she knew he didn’t mean anything by it. ‘I was just wondering if you’d like to come for dinner.’
‘Still on a mission to feed me up?’ He chuckled.
‘I mean, you’re probably doing something else, but I just thought I’d ask. There’s all this food—’
‘No, that’d be great. Thanks.’
‘My whole family will be here,’ she said warningly, ‘so…’
‘Don’t worry, I won’t try to jump you in the middle of dinner.’
She laughed. ‘I was just warning you. In case you want to back out.’
‘I don’t.’
‘So, you’ll come? To dinner, I mean.’
‘Yes, I’ll come to dinner.’
‘Great. We’re eating at about six.’
‘Cool. See you then.’
Ronan and Liz arrived at five thirty, with Ben and Adam.
A tall, slender and very pretty woman, Liz was loud, overbearing and bossy.
But she was well-meaning and, unlike Michelle, there was no spite in her.
A problem-solver by nature, she was always cheerfully doling out unasked-for advice, suggesting places Claire might find a boyfriend or telling Espie about alternative therapies and diets she might try.
Ronan was so gentle and easy-going, he was completely overshadowed by his strident wife and rowdy sons.
Michelle and Neil returned shortly afterwards and Claire gave them all drinks in the sitting room while she put the finishing touches to dinner. She had just called everyone into the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
‘Who’s that?’ Liz asked, as they took their places at the table. ‘I thought we were all here.’
‘Claire asked a friend to dinner. Very unfair, I think, on Espie’s first day home,’ Michelle said, in a stage whisper, as Claire went to answer the door.
‘Hi.’ Luca bent and gave her a swift kiss on the lips. ‘Am I late?’ he asked, handing her a bottle of wine.
‘Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered – but thanks,’ she said, taking it from him. ‘No, you’re just in time.’
She stepped back to let him pass, and found Holly standing behind her in the hall with a sly grin on her face. She skipped ahead, as Claire led Luca into the kitchen. Michelle was making a great show of being helpful, pouring wine and fussing over Espie, while Liz barked orders at her family.
Everyone looked up as Claire and Luca came in. ‘Everyone, this is Luca,’ Claire said, then went around the table, introducing everyone in turn.
‘Well, Claire’s kept you very quiet, Luca,’ Liz roared, as he took a seat beside Claire. ‘I hope we don’t scare you off. Are you sure it’s wise throwing him in at the deep end like this?’ she said to Claire.
‘Sorry?’
‘I mean, we didn’t even know you had a boyfriend, and now it’s meet the whole family time.’
‘Oh, I don’t – I mean, he’s not—’
‘At least, I didn’t know,’ Liz continued.
‘Did anyone else?’ Everyone shook their heads.
‘You should have said something. I can stop trying to think of people to fix you up with now. Thank God!’ She laughed.
‘Because, honestly, I was running out of ideas. Ronan, you can tell that guy at work to stand down.’
‘He’s not my boyfriend,’ Claire said hastily, glancing at Luca. This had been a bad idea. She hoped he wouldn’t freak out. ‘We’re just friends. But don’t get that guy at work to stand up again,’ she whispered to Ronan, who smiled at her sympathetically.
‘But I saw you kissing in the hall,’ Holly said, with a cheeky smile.
Claire blushed. ‘It wasn’t that kind of kissing.’
‘Don’t be a tattle-tale, Holly,’ Espie said, as everyone settled and began helping themselves. ‘So, tell us all about yourself, Luca.’
‘What would you like to know?’
‘Well, what do you do? Let’s start with that.’
‘I’m an artist – a painter.’
‘I love doing painting!’ Holly said. ‘I didn’t know that could be a job.’
‘So you make a living out of painting?’ Espie said. ‘How marvellous!’
‘Well, not much of a living.’
‘Still, to be able to do something you love – I think that’s wonderful.’
‘So, how do you two know each other?’ Liz asked. ‘Cut up Ben’s meat for him, Ronan.’
‘Oh, we met at, um… night classes,’ Claire blurted out.
‘Night classes?’ Liz hooted. ‘I didn’t think anyone actually met at night classes.’
‘I didn’t know you were taking night classes,’ Espie said to Claire. ‘You’ve been holding out on me.’ She gave Claire a sly smile.
‘I only started going while you were in hospital.’
‘So what was the class?’ Michelle asked.
‘Um… art,’ Claire said.
‘Oh, so you were the teacher?’ Liz asked Luca.
‘Yeah,’ he answered, flashing a little smile at Claire.
‘I didn’t know you could paint.’ Ronan looked at Claire in surprise.
‘Well, I can’t, really. That’s why I’m going to classes.’
‘And what I teach Claire is more sort of… performance art,’ Luca said.
‘You can teach that?’
‘I’ve never taught it before, but I’m giving it a go.’
‘Anyway, I’m not very good,’ Claire mumbled, hoping they would drop the subject.
‘Claire’s too hard on herself,’ Luca told everyone. ‘She’s actually shown great aptitude.’
‘I try hard,’ Claire said, ‘but it’s more effort than talent.’
‘Well, you know what they say,’ Michelle piped up. ‘It’s 90 per cent perspiration and 10 per cent inspiration.’
Luca laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s certainly true. Claire puts a lot of sweat into it. But you’ve started coming up with lots of inspiration lately too,’ he said to her.
‘Maybe you could show us some of your stuff later,’ Liz said. ‘Give us a performance.’
‘Yeah!’ Holly clapped her hands.
‘Oh no!’ Claire yelped. ‘Um… I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
Luca laughed. ‘Claire’s still very shy about her talent,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t show her stuff to many people.’
‘She can’t be that shy about it,’ Michelle scoffed. ‘What about the rest of the class?’
‘Oh, I was giving Claire private tuition,’ Luca said, throwing Claire an intimate look.
‘Claire’s very private about her writing too,’ Michelle said to Luca. ‘Did you know she writes?’
‘Yes. I’ve read some of her stuff. It’s really good.’
Michelle looked at him aghast. ‘Well, you’re privileged! She never lets anyone see her writing. I’m a writer too, and I keep trying to persuade her to join a group with me, but so far the most I’ve seen of her writing is on Christmas and birthday cards.’
‘You and Michelle should help each other,’ Neil said bossily to Claire. ‘What’s the point in writing if you never let anyone read it?’
‘I will eventually – when I feel it’s good enough.’
‘You have to get it out there some time, Claire,’ Michelle said. ‘Get some feedback. Connect with people in the industry who can help you.’
‘And Michelle is really good at networking,’ Neil said. ‘She’s made lots of useful contacts.’
‘Claire will take the publishing world by storm when she’s good and ready, won’t you?’ Espie said, smiling at Claire.
‘Well, you can’t just sit back and hope someone’s going to break into your computer and discover you,’ Michelle said. ‘You have to get out there and chase it.’