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Authors: Anne Brooke
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mad – not yet anyway. But a wedding list isn’t only about the couple, you know. What if you have visitors to stay and they ask for toast. You don’t want to look mean.”
Olivia smiles and pours her mother a fresh cup of tea from the pot. “We wouldn’t look mean. We’d toast the bread under the grill.”
Her mother laughs. “That’s what your grandmother used to do before they invented toasters. I always said you and my mother were alike.”
“Maybe. But without her northern accent – you know we lost that when you moved south to marry Dad.”
“That’s it. Blame me,” her mother replies. “But don’t think you can change the subject so easily. I want to make sure you understand the purposes of a wedding list. It’s there so you can buy all the basics, either as new or as spares for the ones you already have.”
As she’s talking, Olivia’s mother takes the list again and peers over her glasses at it. This is serious, Olivia can tell, so she braces herself for whatever motherly advice is about to come her way. Sometimes she may even act on such advice. Though this is something she will never admit to anyone, not even Kieran. Whether this is one of those occasions remains to be seen.
“I mean,” her mother continues. “I’m not sure if people will know what a welly bag is, let alone a hedgehog shoe scraper. Are you planning on lots of walks in the countryside when it’s raining? I thought you usually kept the outdoor life for when it’s sunny.”
“Yes, that’s true. But you know how much Kieran likes to be tidy – I think he’s planning to take a firmer stance against me throwing my stuff all over the place once we get married. He also hates mud on the floor, so I imagine he’s hoping that if we get a cute shoe scraper, it might encourage me to leave the mud outside.”
“Hmm, I see,” her mother says. “Tell him from me: good luck with that! I never succeeded in house-training you during the first eighteen years of your life so I’m not convinced he’s going to succeed now. Time will tell.”
Olivia rolls her eyes. She’s sure her mother will never forgive her for treading mud over the new living room carpet when she was just fifteen years old. It had taken several weeks, two hires of the carpet cleaning machine, plus a fair amount of Olivia’s pocket money before it was restored to its original state again. Almost. Setting that low point of her childhood to one side. Olivia has to admit her mother may be right. All the boot scrapers and bag-tidies in the world won’t be enough to clear up after her, probably.
She will have to discuss the list with Kieran again. It’s strange how the things she assumes will be simple about getting married can suddenly become clouded with unseen problems. She sighs and takes another gulp of tea. Her mother smiles.
“Look, darling,” she says as she pats Olivia’s hand. “I’m not saying you and Kieran shouldn’t be the people you are, because that’s a wonderful thing. I’m sorry if I was negative about your list. I’ve just spent the whole morning shopping for a Mother of the Bride outfit and there’s nothing in town I like. It’s frustrating, but I think I’ll wait for the new season clothes to be in. Still, that’s nothing to do with the list – it’s a good list, but you need to put more basic items on it so the guests can have a range to choose from. Anyway, you won’t want ten hedgehog scrapers, will you?”
Olivia laughs. “No, I suppose not, although all those hedgehogs might well discourage the postman from bringing me any more council tax bills so it wouldn’t be all bad. Look, Mum, I know you’re right, and I’ll chat it through with Kieran tonight and make it a list to die for, don’t you worry. I’m sorry about the shopping though. Tell you what – why don’t we go together and make a day of it one weekend? It will be fun, and I can buy you cake as well. What’s not to like?”
“Sounds wonderful,”
Olivia smiles and pours her mother a fresh cup of tea from the pot. “We wouldn’t look mean. We’d toast the bread under the grill.”
Her mother laughs. “That’s what your grandmother used to do before they invented toasters. I always said you and my mother were alike.”
“Maybe. But without her northern accent – you know we lost that when you moved south to marry Dad.”
“That’s it. Blame me,” her mother replies. “But don’t think you can change the subject so easily. I want to make sure you understand the purposes of a wedding list. It’s there so you can buy all the basics, either as new or as spares for the ones you already have.”
As she’s talking, Olivia’s mother takes the list again and peers over her glasses at it. This is serious, Olivia can tell, so she braces herself for whatever motherly advice is about to come her way. Sometimes she may even act on such advice. Though this is something she will never admit to anyone, not even Kieran. Whether this is one of those occasions remains to be seen.
“I mean,” her mother continues. “I’m not sure if people will know what a welly bag is, let alone a hedgehog shoe scraper. Are you planning on lots of walks in the countryside when it’s raining? I thought you usually kept the outdoor life for when it’s sunny.”
“Yes, that’s true. But you know how much Kieran likes to be tidy – I think he’s planning to take a firmer stance against me throwing my stuff all over the place once we get married. He also hates mud on the floor, so I imagine he’s hoping that if we get a cute shoe scraper, it might encourage me to leave the mud outside.”
“Hmm, I see,” her mother says. “Tell him from me: good luck with that! I never succeeded in house-training you during the first eighteen years of your life so I’m not convinced he’s going to succeed now. Time will tell.”
Olivia rolls her eyes. She’s sure her mother will never forgive her for treading mud over the new living room carpet when she was just fifteen years old. It had taken several weeks, two hires of the carpet cleaning machine, plus a fair amount of Olivia’s pocket money before it was restored to its original state again. Almost. Setting that low point of her childhood to one side. Olivia has to admit her mother may be right. All the boot scrapers and bag-tidies in the world won’t be enough to clear up after her, probably.
She will have to discuss the list with Kieran again. It’s strange how the things she assumes will be simple about getting married can suddenly become clouded with unseen problems. She sighs and takes another gulp of tea. Her mother smiles.
“Look, darling,” she says as she pats Olivia’s hand. “I’m not saying you and Kieran shouldn’t be the people you are, because that’s a wonderful thing. I’m sorry if I was negative about your list. I’ve just spent the whole morning shopping for a Mother of the Bride outfit and there’s nothing in town I like. It’s frustrating, but I think I’ll wait for the new season clothes to be in. Still, that’s nothing to do with the list – it’s a good list, but you need to put more basic items on it so the guests can have a range to choose from. Anyway, you won’t want ten hedgehog scrapers, will you?”
Olivia laughs. “No, I suppose not, although all those hedgehogs might well discourage the postman from bringing me any more council tax bills so it wouldn’t be all bad. Look, Mum, I know you’re right, and I’ll chat it through with Kieran tonight and make it a list to die for, don’t you worry. I’m sorry about the shopping though. Tell you what – why don’t we go together and make a day of it one weekend? It will be fun, and I can buy you cake as well. What’s not to like?”
“Sounds wonderful,”
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