her little wet mouth.
Then she had to unpack her meagre possessions, get some shopping in for their tea tonight and . . . Oh yeah. She still had Iris’s cot, all in bits, in the boot of her car, to reassemble. Bugger. She wished more than ever that she’d taken Dom up on his offer now. She hadn’t a clue how to fit the damn thing together.
She heaved a sigh and set to work.
Chapter Four
Love Ain’t Here Anymore
Saturday, 14 June 2008
‘I can’t believe you said no. Are you completely insane?’
Katie could hear Georgia puffing smoke down the phone and found herself flinching away from the handset as if coils of the stuff might start filtering through the holes. ‘I don’t think so,’ she replied, considering. ‘Just . . . freaked out. It was a bit of a shock.’
‘God,’ Georgia said. ‘I can’t believe it. You really said no?’ She sounded incredulous. Appalled, even. Katie could imagine her dark eyebrows shooting into a ten-to-two position. ‘Why? What’s got into you?’
Katie snorted. ‘What’s got into me?’ she echoed. ‘Since when did you become Ms Happy-Ever-After? I thought you were on my side, that marriage was a waste of money and . . . and a pointless charade, or whatever it was you said?’
‘Oh yes, I agree with all that – for me, anyway,’ Georgia said. ‘But you – you’re the marrying kind, Kate. In the nicest possible way, obviously . . .’
‘You mean, I’m the sensible, traditional type while you’re the bohemian free spirit,’ Katie put in sarcastically.
‘Well, no, but . . . Yes, kind of,’ Georgia conceded. Georgia didn’t just give you the truth, she beat you round the head with it sometimes. ‘It’s just . . . I don’t know. I’d have thought you’d have said yes, that’s all.’
‘Well, I didn’t. I said no. So there you go. Maybe I’m not as predictable and sensible as you think.’
‘I never said—’
‘How about you, anyway, how’s work?’ Katie asked, to change the subject. The disastrous proposal had thrummed around her head ever since Steve had asked That Question. It was like radio static, crackling away in the back of her mind, irritating, niggling.
Georgia sighed. ‘Yeah, it’s good, but . . . Hang on—’ There was a muffled whooshing noise, like waves breaking on a beach, and Katie guessed she’d put her hand over the receiver. Then came the faint strains of Georgia snapping petulantly at some poor sod or other, ‘Look, I’m on the phone! All right, keep your hair on!’, then she came back on the line. ‘Sorry about that. Aaaargh, the joys of nutters in Euston,’ she said. ‘I’m only off up north for my sins, aren’t I? I’d better go. Train leaves in a few minutes and I’m still out here with my ciggy. Speak to you soon.’
Before Katie could even say goodbye, Georgia had hung up. Strange , Katie thought. Off up north? Surely Georgia wasn’t actually going to visit her family for once, was she? As far as Georgia was concerned, family life was further down the relevance scale than the breeding habits of woodlice, say. She’d had to be persuaded (by Katie) into inviting her family to her wedding, even! She’d said they would hate it, so what was the point?
‘The point is that they’re your family!’ Katie had argued. ‘You’ve got to invite them!’
Georgia had caved in eventually, but only two weeks before the wedding itself, in the hope that none of them would be able to make it. Obviously, they’d cancelled all their plans and come Down South for their Georgie’s Big Day though.
It had, admittedly, been a mistake. The poor clan of Knights had been unilaterally shunned by the wild-eyed bride with the same kind of contempt reserved usually for a dog turd on the pavement. Katie had tried to make up for Georgia’s shocking rudeness by over-compensating on the niceness front to them, to the point where they seemed to think she was rather odd, a stalker possibly. ‘Who is that girl?’
Then she had to unpack her meagre possessions, get some shopping in for their tea tonight and . . . Oh yeah. She still had Iris’s cot, all in bits, in the boot of her car, to reassemble. Bugger. She wished more than ever that she’d taken Dom up on his offer now. She hadn’t a clue how to fit the damn thing together.
She heaved a sigh and set to work.
Chapter Four
Love Ain’t Here Anymore
Saturday, 14 June 2008
‘I can’t believe you said no. Are you completely insane?’
Katie could hear Georgia puffing smoke down the phone and found herself flinching away from the handset as if coils of the stuff might start filtering through the holes. ‘I don’t think so,’ she replied, considering. ‘Just . . . freaked out. It was a bit of a shock.’
‘God,’ Georgia said. ‘I can’t believe it. You really said no?’ She sounded incredulous. Appalled, even. Katie could imagine her dark eyebrows shooting into a ten-to-two position. ‘Why? What’s got into you?’
Katie snorted. ‘What’s got into me?’ she echoed. ‘Since when did you become Ms Happy-Ever-After? I thought you were on my side, that marriage was a waste of money and . . . and a pointless charade, or whatever it was you said?’
‘Oh yes, I agree with all that – for me, anyway,’ Georgia said. ‘But you – you’re the marrying kind, Kate. In the nicest possible way, obviously . . .’
‘You mean, I’m the sensible, traditional type while you’re the bohemian free spirit,’ Katie put in sarcastically.
‘Well, no, but . . . Yes, kind of,’ Georgia conceded. Georgia didn’t just give you the truth, she beat you round the head with it sometimes. ‘It’s just . . . I don’t know. I’d have thought you’d have said yes, that’s all.’
‘Well, I didn’t. I said no. So there you go. Maybe I’m not as predictable and sensible as you think.’
‘I never said—’
‘How about you, anyway, how’s work?’ Katie asked, to change the subject. The disastrous proposal had thrummed around her head ever since Steve had asked That Question. It was like radio static, crackling away in the back of her mind, irritating, niggling.
Georgia sighed. ‘Yeah, it’s good, but . . . Hang on—’ There was a muffled whooshing noise, like waves breaking on a beach, and Katie guessed she’d put her hand over the receiver. Then came the faint strains of Georgia snapping petulantly at some poor sod or other, ‘Look, I’m on the phone! All right, keep your hair on!’, then she came back on the line. ‘Sorry about that. Aaaargh, the joys of nutters in Euston,’ she said. ‘I’m only off up north for my sins, aren’t I? I’d better go. Train leaves in a few minutes and I’m still out here with my ciggy. Speak to you soon.’
Before Katie could even say goodbye, Georgia had hung up. Strange , Katie thought. Off up north? Surely Georgia wasn’t actually going to visit her family for once, was she? As far as Georgia was concerned, family life was further down the relevance scale than the breeding habits of woodlice, say. She’d had to be persuaded (by Katie) into inviting her family to her wedding, even! She’d said they would hate it, so what was the point?
‘The point is that they’re your family!’ Katie had argued. ‘You’ve got to invite them!’
Georgia had caved in eventually, but only two weeks before the wedding itself, in the hope that none of them would be able to make it. Obviously, they’d cancelled all their plans and come Down South for their Georgie’s Big Day though.
It had, admittedly, been a mistake. The poor clan of Knights had been unilaterally shunned by the wild-eyed bride with the same kind of contempt reserved usually for a dog turd on the pavement. Katie had tried to make up for Georgia’s shocking rudeness by over-compensating on the niceness front to them, to the point where they seemed to think she was rather odd, a stalker possibly. ‘Who is that girl?’
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