Two For Joy Read Online Free PDF Page A

mollified her somewhat. She was very vain about her baking prowess. Still she’d been unable to let the matter rest and had to have the last word. ‘It’s all right now, but when you’ve got two old women on your hands you’ll only have yourself to blame. Mark my words!’ she sniffed. Oliver gave an inward sigh and refrained from comment.
    When he’d moved into the house with Noreen six months ago, she’d been horrified.
    â€˜Couldn’t you at least wait until you’re married! You’ll be the talk of the parish,’ she berated him, bereft that he was leaving her alone, and incensed that he would give people in the town an opportunity to talk and point the finger.
    â€˜Ma, people don’t think that way any more, and besides, I don’t like to leave the house empty,’ Oliver explained patiently.
    â€˜Well, I think that way and I’m not people!’ she said wrathfully. ‘Let that Noreen one go and stay in it.’
    â€˜She doesn’t want to stay in it on her own, she’d be a bit nervous,’ Oliver had replied unthinkingly, until he’d seen the expression on his mother’s face and realized that he’d put his two big feet in it and given her a heaven-sent opportunity.
    Cora rallied triumphantly. ‘Oh, and I suppose you don’t mind leaving me here on my own. I might be nervous too, you know. Does madam ever think of that?’
    Oliver groaned silently at the memory. Women, they were masters at manipulation. He’d assured Cora that she was welcome to come and live with them. There was plenty of room in the house. She’d even have her own bathroom, but she wasn’t having any of it and had been in martyr mode ever since.
    Her non-appearance at the wedding was not a complete surprise. The sciatica had got worse; she demanded that he get the doctor for her, even though he was up to ninety trying to get himself sorted. The doctor had given her more painkillers and anti-inflammatories and told her to put a pillow under her knee. He’d wished Oliver good luck on his nuptials and told him not to worry, that she’d be fine. Oliver had considered cancelling the honeymoon, worrying that she’d be unable to look after herself, and when he’d said this to Cora he’d seen the look of triumph on her face.
    â€˜You’re a good son to me, Oliver. Thank you. As soon as I’m better you can go off somewhere.’
    Noreen had nearly had a fit. ‘Get someone in to mind her. We’re going to Malta and that’s the end of it,’ she pronounced grimly. ‘She’s only putting it on. I’m a nurse. I know these things.’
    â€˜I can’t go and leave her with strangers,’ Oliver muttered.
    â€˜Well, get one of your brothers to stay a bit longer. You shouldn’t have to shoulder all the burden. It’s not fair. I know, it happened to me,’ she said bitterly before slamming the kitchen door and walking off in a huff. She’d slept in one of the spare rooms that night. Putting him on notice that she wasn’t going to budge an inch on the issue. He’d felt like calling the whole blinking thing off at that stage and going to live in the Portakabin on the site, where there were no demanding, huffy women to harass him.
    In the end his Aunt Ellie had stepped in and announced that she’d stay and look after Cora but that she was going to the wedding and would leave after the meal to get home to her. His mother was furious, but couldn’t refuse the offer and Oliver had felt a wave of relief wash over him. His life wouldn’t have been worth living if he’d chosen Noreen over Cora and vice versa. As it was he was treading a very tight rope between the two women, and he knew things weren’t going to improve. The older Cora got the more demanding she became.
    Oliver sighed deeply. He knew his mother was at home in her big brass bed feeling hard done by