The Son-In-Law Read Online Free PDF

the police, but it turned out Theo had been invited to a friend’s house and had forgotten to tell her, so it’s lucky she didn’t.
    ‘Don’t worry, Hannah,’ I said, trying to cheer her up. ‘It was just someone from the theatre, or school, or . . . I dunno. Could have been lots of people.’
    ‘What did this man look like, Ben?’ she asked.
    Ben couldn’t answer because his mouth was bulging with pizza.
    ‘You’re a greedy little pig, Ben,’ I said. His face fell, and I felt guilty. I don’t like to hurt his feelings even though he is a spoiled brat. We three have to stick together.
    Gramps leaned under the table again. ‘Come on out, young man. It’s all right. You’re not in hot water.’ Once Theo was back in his chair, Gramps turned to face him. ‘Now tell me. Did you know this man?’
    ‘No,’ mumbled Theo. ‘I dunno. Anyway, shut up, Ben. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t get in his car or take any sweets. He said I had fancy footwork and it would have been rude not to say something back, wouldn’t it? You do want us to have good manners, don’t you, Gramps?’
    Gramps blinked. ‘Er, we don’t want you to be rude. That’s quite right.’
    ‘What if he was a talent scout? ’Cos if he was, Bigmouth Ben ruined my big chance.’
    ‘You’re our champ,’ said Gramps, putting his arm around Theo’s shoulders. ‘But perhaps you could describe this talent scout for me?’
    Theo looked even more shifty. ‘Oh, I dunno. I think I’ve seen him around somewhere. He looked a bit like, um, like that man over there, cooking the pizzas.’
    We all looked. Antonio’s chef was slaving away by the big oven. He looked about as old as Hannah—sixty-something—and he was completely bald under a chef’s hat. He never stopped smiling, as though he loved playing with pizza dough. Actually, he looked as though he was made of pizza dough.
    ‘No, he didn’t! He wasn’t at all like that!’ scoffed Ben. ‘He was much much much thinner and much younger. That over there is an old fat man!’
    ‘Shush,’ I muttered. I could feel myself blushing.
    ‘He was thinner ,’ screeched Ben. ‘And he had lots of black hair. And he had round glasses like Harry Potter.’
    Hannah stared at Gramps. Gramps stared at Hannah. Then Gramps did something really strange. Without a word he got up out of his chair, made his way around the table with his old man’s walk and knelt on the floor beside Hannah. He took her hands in both of his and pressed them to his cheek.
    ‘I think we should call the police,’ whispered Hannah. I wasn’t supposed to hear, so I pretended I hadn’t.
    ‘Less aggressive to write to his solicitor,’ said Gramps. ‘Warn him off.’
    ‘I hardly think he’s in a position to accuse us of aggression.’
    She added something about someone having to go back and finish their sentence. I wondered if she meant Ben, who’s always stopping halfway through his sentences, but that didn’t seem to fit the conversation.
    Suddenly, Gramps leaned forward and wrapped his arms right around Hannah’s chest, which was seriously humiliating because a waitress arrived at that moment to take our plates. I hadn’t seen her before, but like all Antonio’s waitresses she was (a) very pretty and (b) totally dressed in black.
    ‘Gramps!’ I hissed. I was totally mortified, but the waitress didn’t seem bothered at all.
    ‘Gran and Grandad taking you out are they?’ she asked.
    ‘Birthday treat?’
    ‘Er, no,’ I said. ‘I was in a play and—’ Ben was fluttering his long eyelashes at her. ‘I’m four and a half,’ he squeaked. ‘Four years and a . . . half one!’
    ‘Four and a half!’ She pretended to be flabbergasted, the way adults always do, which is feeble because there’s nothing clever about it. We’ve all been four and a half. If Ben had been a hundred and four and a half, that would have been worth bragging about. ‘Wow, what a grown-up boy! You’ll be at school soon, then.’
    ‘In