complicated.
6
There was no way she could put it off. It worried her in the night, chewing at her like a puppy at a bone. Like it or not, Laura was going to be stepmother to Douglas’s children and she their grandmother,
step
-grandmother, Alice kept reminding herself, as if that somehow excused her from having much to do with them, not that she’d met them yet, but she would soon, for they were coming to tea at the weekend.
The children lived – except for occasional weeks with their mother when she found the time from her high-powered job – with their father, so that meant that Laura would be their main carer. Douglas earned more money than she did and, in his own way, was climbing high in his profession. Up until now, Elspeth, his mother, this exceptionally tidy, organized woman and nutritional expert, and the maternal grandparents, of whom Alice knew nothing except that they lived in Surrey, and various babysitters helped out while he was at work. The arrangements sounded complicated and were no doubt expensive, so it was hardly surprising that when they married, Laura would be expected to take over, though Douglas’s mother would surely want to keep her beady eye on them in case her new daughter-in-law inadvertently poisoned them or brought too much excitement into their lives.
Laura enjoyed her legal job, but she was not a high-flyer, happy to coast along while the more ambitious people scrabbled past her on their way to the top. She would still want to work and, no doubt, wanted her own money, so, as various friends had pointed out, if she were not careful, Alice –living near by – would be landed with the children, perhaps share their care with the
real
grandmother, who, by the sound of her, would disapprove of her. She’d better quickly find herself something more consuming to do than ferrying occasional bales of fabric to Suffolk to be transformed into curtains and cushions.
Alice made a shopping list of the ingredients she needed for the tea party with Douglas’s children. She’d cook with the normal flour, eggs and butter she always used. After a quick read of Laura’s list of things the children were allergic to – strange additives she’d never heard of, which reminded her of chemistry lessons at school with all those initials and numbers she’d never got the hang of, she saw they were clear of those. She enjoyed making cakes, she hadn’t made any for ages and she looked forward to spending the afternoon surround by the warm, comforting smell of baking.
Alice learnt to bake long before she left home. ‘Bought’ cakes and scones tasted stale and bland, and her mother thought it a sign of laziness to buy them. Julian used to tease with one of his twinkling smiles, saying he only married her for her baking skills.
Concentrating on cooking for her first meeting with her future step-grandchildren, helped to soothe her nerves. She made fruit scones, cupcakes topped with whirls of pale coloured icing, shortbread biscuits and some chocolate crispies, which were Laura’s favourite. These were a sort of superior chocolate-covered cornflakes, with added butter and coconut and good, dark chocolate. She cut them into squares and put a thick layer of chocolate buttercream on top, she also made some cheese and ham sandwiches.
She laid the table, tensing herself for this meeting, worried about the children now and how they would feel meeting her and what if
she
didn’t like them? That could be worse than them not liking her.
There was a bustle of arrival and she heard Laura say, ‘Come on, come into the house,’ as if she were luring the children into a witch’s cottage. She went to greet them, wondering what she was going to see.
Zara – who was forbidden Coca Cola and various other concoctions, as it made her hyper – was a pretty child with sparkling blue eyes and blonde hair and seemed very together. She probably took after her mother, Alice thought as, at her father’s request, Zara
6
There was no way she could put it off. It worried her in the night, chewing at her like a puppy at a bone. Like it or not, Laura was going to be stepmother to Douglas’s children and she their grandmother,
step
-grandmother, Alice kept reminding herself, as if that somehow excused her from having much to do with them, not that she’d met them yet, but she would soon, for they were coming to tea at the weekend.
The children lived – except for occasional weeks with their mother when she found the time from her high-powered job – with their father, so that meant that Laura would be their main carer. Douglas earned more money than she did and, in his own way, was climbing high in his profession. Up until now, Elspeth, his mother, this exceptionally tidy, organized woman and nutritional expert, and the maternal grandparents, of whom Alice knew nothing except that they lived in Surrey, and various babysitters helped out while he was at work. The arrangements sounded complicated and were no doubt expensive, so it was hardly surprising that when they married, Laura would be expected to take over, though Douglas’s mother would surely want to keep her beady eye on them in case her new daughter-in-law inadvertently poisoned them or brought too much excitement into their lives.
Laura enjoyed her legal job, but she was not a high-flyer, happy to coast along while the more ambitious people scrabbled past her on their way to the top. She would still want to work and, no doubt, wanted her own money, so, as various friends had pointed out, if she were not careful, Alice –living near by – would be landed with the children, perhaps share their care with the
real
grandmother, who, by the sound of her, would disapprove of her. She’d better quickly find herself something more consuming to do than ferrying occasional bales of fabric to Suffolk to be transformed into curtains and cushions.
Alice made a shopping list of the ingredients she needed for the tea party with Douglas’s children. She’d cook with the normal flour, eggs and butter she always used. After a quick read of Laura’s list of things the children were allergic to – strange additives she’d never heard of, which reminded her of chemistry lessons at school with all those initials and numbers she’d never got the hang of, she saw they were clear of those. She enjoyed making cakes, she hadn’t made any for ages and she looked forward to spending the afternoon surround by the warm, comforting smell of baking.
Alice learnt to bake long before she left home. ‘Bought’ cakes and scones tasted stale and bland, and her mother thought it a sign of laziness to buy them. Julian used to tease with one of his twinkling smiles, saying he only married her for her baking skills.
Concentrating on cooking for her first meeting with her future step-grandchildren, helped to soothe her nerves. She made fruit scones, cupcakes topped with whirls of pale coloured icing, shortbread biscuits and some chocolate crispies, which were Laura’s favourite. These were a sort of superior chocolate-covered cornflakes, with added butter and coconut and good, dark chocolate. She cut them into squares and put a thick layer of chocolate buttercream on top, she also made some cheese and ham sandwiches.
She laid the table, tensing herself for this meeting, worried about the children now and how they would feel meeting her and what if
she
didn’t like them? That could be worse than them not liking her.
There was a bustle of arrival and she heard Laura say, ‘Come on, come into the house,’ as if she were luring the children into a witch’s cottage. She went to greet them, wondering what she was going to see.
Zara – who was forbidden Coca Cola and various other concoctions, as it made her hyper – was a pretty child with sparkling blue eyes and blonde hair and seemed very together. She probably took after her mother, Alice thought as, at her father’s request, Zara
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