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Back Reluctantly Home Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  55. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When she turned around, pot of tea in hand, she could see Joan’s eyes trained on her stomach, her lip slightly curled.

‘There’s not much to see yet,’ she commented scornfully. ‘That’s a blessing, at least. Heaven only knows what the neighbours will say when they realise the shame that you’ve brought on this house.’

Evelyn put the teapot down on the table with enough force that a little splash of tea bounced out of the spout and on to the Formica mat.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Joan,’ she snapped. ‘It’s 1979, not 1929. Who cares what the neighbours think? I haven’t done anything illegal. I am having a baby. Millions of women do it all the time.’

‘When you can afford your own house, then you can disregard what your neighbours think, but whilst you’re living under my roof then you’ll show due respect.’

Ted bristled. ‘I thought the house belonged to all three of . . .’

Evelyn shook her head at him to silence him. He was right, of course, but no good would come of picking fights. Evelyn really wanted this to work out and she would do what she needed to to win her sister round.

‘Listen, Joan,’ she tried more gently, ‘I know this is a lot to take in and believe me, it’s not what I wanted to happen . . .’

‘You should have thought of that before you opened your legs,’ muttered Joan.

Evelyn sucked in a breath and ignored her. ‘But we are where we are, so why don’t we all just try to get along, shall we? There’s no point us fighting all the time. Let’s just make the most of it. And you might even like having the patter of tiny feet running about the place when the time comes.’

As the words left her lips, Evelyn thought of the glass cabinets filled with china ornaments, the precious books that her father had never let them touch, let alone read. From the little she had seen of the house so far, it looked as if Joan hadn’t changed a thing. It was still the least child-friendly place you could imagine.

Still, she was here now. In time, she could change things herself, introduce a new way of living in the space. She had no money, but perhaps she could persuade Joan to make a few improvements, bring the house up to date. It might even be fun.

‘You respect my way of doing things,’ Joan said, ‘and keep out of sight, and everything will work just fine.’ And then she went back to her crossword.