The Sister-In-Law(91)

I arrived early with homemade chocolate cake; the kids had had a hand in it and I wasn’t convinced that the explosion of smarties and handprints on the top would earn it a spot on Joy’s table. But I’d tell the kids it had pride of place and any uneaten cake would be sent home for them anyway, along with all other leftovers. Joy had to keep an eye on her weight – God forbid she ever rose above a size ten.

‘Joy, I came early because I wanted a quick chat,’ I said, as she busied herself with the best china on the dining room table which she’d had Bob move into the conservatory.



‘Lovely, dear,’ she said, with barely concealed disgust as I handed her the messy cake.

‘So, can we talk?’

‘Of course,’ she said. Clearly whatever I had to say couldn’t possibly be as important as her afternoon tea, so she continued to faff.

‘It’s about Ella.’

She almost dropped a teacup and, holding it to her chest, turned quickly to me. ‘What about her?’



‘Do you know anything about her family?’ I asked.

‘No, only that one minute she didn’t have parents, the next she did,’ she said spikily, wiping a cream jug with a tea cloth. ‘Bob really doesn’t know how to wash up,’ she muttered.

‘Do you remember Ella mentioning her sister?’ I pressed.

‘Oh, the one who walked into the sea? Yes, I remember, but, mind you, we never knew what was real with Ella, did we?’

I didn’t respond. Joy was trying to get me on side and suddenly happy to gossip about Ella, but in Amalfi she’d sided with her, and put obstacles in the way of any friendship we may have had.

‘Remember Carmel, the first girl that Dan had the affair with?’ I continued.

‘Oh darling, you’re not going over all that again, are you?’ She stopped what she was doing to look at me with a pained expression.

‘No,’ I said assertively, ‘I found out that Carmel was Ella’s sister.’

‘No!’ she said, then stood a moment, fork in hand. She seemed flustered, but continued to lay her cake forks in a neat line on the napkins. ‘Are you sure?’

I explained that Ella and Carmel’s mother had confirmed they were sisters and also said that Ella was filled with anger.

‘She wanted revenge,’ I said. ‘She hated Dan – and me of course, and wanted us to pay for what happened. It’s a shame that Jamie was a casualty – and you too, but she hated the Taylors.’

‘Revenge and hate are very strong words, dear. I think she must have just resented how close we are, what a happy family unit we’ve created. She could never have come between us though. That’s probably why she gave up,’ she said, continuing to bustle at the table.

‘No, it wasn’t that, Joy,’ I said. ‘Apparently she resented the fact Dan still had a family, a sibling and a happy marriage, when, because of him, she’d lost hers.’

‘I sensed the anger. She was a very dangerous girl, leading our Jamie up the garden path, saying those things about our Dan.’ She went pink with anger, just like Dan had when I told him. She hadn’t really heard what I’d said, wasn’t prepared to take on anyone else’s pain, just hers and Jamie’s and Dan’s. And it struck me –Dan’s actions and then Joy’s need to protect him had caused this.

But she hadn’t even acknowledged what I’d said regarding the two dead women – all she cared about was herself and her precious family.





CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT





I couldn’t believe Joy wasn’t moved by the news that Carmel took her life because of Dan. I even went on to describe Ella’s mother’s faltering voice on the phone. I asked her to imagine how it must feel for a mother to lose two children.

‘Oh I know. Terrible business,’ she sighed. ‘Darling, could you just pass me the sugar spoons, the tiny ones over there, so much nicer than big teaspoons, don’t you think?’

The ladies arrived, and Joy greeted them like she was the queen. They were all like her – silk scarves, fake smiles. I don’t know why, but I sat through an hour of tittle-tattle and macarons until I couldn’t take any more and offered to clear the table.

I smiled calmly, gathered some of the lipstick-marked teacups and took them into the kitchen, where I plonked them down, leaned against the kitchen oasis and took a big, deep breath.

‘Oh, so you’ve escaped?’ a voice said in the corner.

I jumped, but it was only Bob, calmly stacking plates into the dishwasher.

‘Oh, it’s all too much,’ I said, glad to have someone, anyone to talk to.

‘How about a nice mug of tea?’ he said, and I wanted to hug him.

‘That would be lovely. I’ve had enough fine china this afternoon to last a lifetime!’

He laughed. ‘Joy loves her fancy crockery – that china was a wedding present from an aunt of mine, cost an arm and a leg. “We can’t ask for that,” I said, “it’s too much money,” but you know Joy, she put it on the gift list and she got it.’

‘Mmm, Joy always gets just what she wants,’ I said, with a smile.

‘Yes, she can be quite… strong-willed, our Joy.’

I smiled in acknowledgement of this.