Finishing Touches Read Free

murmured as they climbed the stairs, arms entwined. She peeped into the darkened bedroom. Eighteen-month-old Tara lay wide-eyed, smiling up at
her mother. An unmistakable smell reached Karen’s nostrils. ‘Oohh, Tara!’ she groaned, scooping the baby up and heading for the bathroom. John was brushing his teeth.
    ‘Do you want me to change her?’ John asked, beaming down at his adored daughter.
    ‘No! You go and warm up the bed for me,’ Karen instructed, whipping off the baby’s nappy.
    ‘Sure thing, mein boss!’ John departed the bathroom, saluting.
    Tara gurgled appreciatively. ‘Ma ma,’ she smiled at her mother and Karen’s heart melted. ‘Da Da, La La.’ Her mother was getting her whole repertoire. La La was
everybody else whose name she couldn’t manage.
    ‘Go night night for mammy,’ she said sternly, gently laying her daughter in her cot when she was finished. Tara was full of beans; she’d never get her off to sleep. Just for
tonight, she’d give her a bottle to settle her down. She wanted a nice bit of nookey with her husband when they were both in the humour for it. It wasn’t easy with two children and
John’s demanding work.
    Swiftly, she prepared a bottle for the baby and settled her down. She brushed her teeth, gave herself a quick wash and flew down the landing to their bedroom. A familiar, rumbling sound
assaulted her ears and she opened the door to find her dearly beloved out for the count, his musical snores raising the rafters.
    ‘John . . . John!’ she whispered hopefully. Not a stir. She hadn’t the heart to wake him. He worked so hard for his family and he needed his sleep. Just her luck that he had
fallen asleep on her tonight. Sighing deeply, she slipped into her nightdress, slid into bed beside him, switched off the bedside lamp and put her arms around her sleeping husband, murmuring,
‘I’ll get you in the morning.’
    ‘You can go if you want, Martin. Don’t let
me
stop you,’ Jean Jordan said huffily, as she flipped through the latest issue of
Hello!
and
wished mightily that she had Princess Di’s figure and money.
    ‘It might be a good time to let bygones be bygones. That’s all I’m saying,’ Martin remarked diffidently, settling into one of the luxurious cane chairs in their
conservatory. The conservatory had cost him an arm and a leg, but Jean hadn’t given him a bit of peace until he had got it done. Now she wanted to get a patio and ornamental pool in the back
garden. Barbara had some sort of gazebo thing and Jean couldn’t bear to be outdone. Each of them was always trying to get one up on the other, despite the fact that they were so friendly, and
it was costing him a fortune. He wasn’t earning big bucks, despite what Jean might think. He was perfectly happy with the house and garden the way they were but when Barbara got something
new, Jean got fidgety. He wanted to go to this do of Cassie’s, to put the past behind him and start afresh. After all, Cassie
was
his sister and he felt that what had happened had
all been a big mistake.
    Cassie had spoken to him sharply a couple of times in the past for not doing more about the house for his mother. He had been furious, of course. It was easy for her to talk; she didn’t
have a wife and family to support, and a mother-in-law who clung to them like a leech. Despite the fact that she had two sons of her own, it was to Martin that Jean’s mother turned whenever
she wanted anything done in her house, and she
always
had something that needed doing. She came to dinner every Sunday and they took her shopping every Thursday night. He felt bad about
not having been able to help a bit more at home, but he was permanently up to his eyes and, besides, Jean would have ended up with a face on her if he had spent too long at his ma’s.
    ‘You’re very forgiving all of a sudden!’ His wife interrupted his musings. ‘Could it be the fact that you’re hoping Cassie might throw a bit of business your