on like this, especially if Jeff didn’t have a reliable car. And now there was this flipping bedroom tax to be finding. If they didn’t, they’d have to move out of the house they’d lived in all their married life to make room for a family with kids. Never mind that her kids still needed a place to call home, and if she didn’t have somewhere for Ryan when he came out, she didn’t even want to think where he might end up.
Don’t fret yourself about that now, Josie, worry about it when the time comes, and plenty could happen between now and then.
Fortunately, she’d got her bonuses before Christmas, and she’d been lucky at Aldi too, which meant they’d sat down to a lovely roast goose on Christmas Day (something they’d never had before), with roasters, spicy red cabbage and deliciously sweet garden peas. For afters they’d had a slice of the fruitcake she’d got for a pound, and a dollop each of brandy cream. She’d even managed to pick up a box of crackers for 99p, which they’d had fun pulling before the meal started so they could wear the paper hats while they ate and told each other the corny jokes.
It had all gone off pretty well, she thought, with everyone on their best behaviour, mainly thanks to Jasper, who both her mother and Jeff’s father seemed to think of as something close to royalty. The fact that he’d brought wine had helped, of course, and the way he’d lavished drinks on them during their hilarious evening at Chanter Lysee hadn’t done him any harm either. What had really impressed everyone, though, was when he’d performed ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ with Lily, which might have won them top prize had Bob not decided to award it to Josie and Jeff for their rendition of ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ (always fraught with more feeling on Josie’s part than on Jeff’s, she thought). So they’d gone home with a lovely box of Lindt chocolates and a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream, which her mother had managed to polish off on Christmas Eve.
‘What are you like?’ Josie had complained, when she’d come back from Aldi to find Eileen slumped in front of the telly with an empty bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. ‘And you know we don’t allow smoking in here, so put that out.’
‘Oh for God’s sake,’ Eileen had groaned. ‘You’re always having a go about something. Loosen up a bit, will you?’ Though Eileen was still a reasonably glamorous woman, in a mutton sort of way, with good legs, a generous bust and a beehive-type hairdo that, she claimed, kept her on trend, she rarely looked her best when drunk. In fact, considering how much she boozed and smoked, it was a bit of a miracle she was still alive, never mind able to look halfway decent. As for blokes, Josie didn’t know of one that had lasted more than six months, and given the state of most of them she could only feel glad when they went.
‘This is my house, Mother,’ she’d declared, ‘so if you want to stay here you have to live by my rules. No smoking, and definitely no more drink tonight. Look at you, you’re an embarrassment to yourself. I can’t believe you’ve drunk the lot. That sherry was supposed to be for tomorrow morning. I’ve invited some neighbours round for a glass and now we don’t have anything to give them.’
‘Bullshit,’ Eileen slurred. ‘I saw all the wine your son-in-law-to-be brought in with him.’ After a rowdy hiccup followed by a cough, she wheezed, ‘Can you lend me a tenner, kiddo? Just till I get paid.’
‘No, I can’t, I don’t have it and even if I did you’d only go and spend it up the pub, so forget it. You’ve had enough. I’ll get Jeff to see you home when he comes back.’
Eileen looked mutinous. ‘What’s wrong with me staying here for the night? Ryan’s not going to be using his room, is he? So I can sleep there.’
‘No you can’t,’ Josie shot back, furious that her mother could be so insensitive as to treat the one big
Don’t fret yourself about that now, Josie, worry about it when the time comes, and plenty could happen between now and then.
Fortunately, she’d got her bonuses before Christmas, and she’d been lucky at Aldi too, which meant they’d sat down to a lovely roast goose on Christmas Day (something they’d never had before), with roasters, spicy red cabbage and deliciously sweet garden peas. For afters they’d had a slice of the fruitcake she’d got for a pound, and a dollop each of brandy cream. She’d even managed to pick up a box of crackers for 99p, which they’d had fun pulling before the meal started so they could wear the paper hats while they ate and told each other the corny jokes.
It had all gone off pretty well, she thought, with everyone on their best behaviour, mainly thanks to Jasper, who both her mother and Jeff’s father seemed to think of as something close to royalty. The fact that he’d brought wine had helped, of course, and the way he’d lavished drinks on them during their hilarious evening at Chanter Lysee hadn’t done him any harm either. What had really impressed everyone, though, was when he’d performed ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ with Lily, which might have won them top prize had Bob not decided to award it to Josie and Jeff for their rendition of ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ (always fraught with more feeling on Josie’s part than on Jeff’s, she thought). So they’d gone home with a lovely box of Lindt chocolates and a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream, which her mother had managed to polish off on Christmas Eve.
‘What are you like?’ Josie had complained, when she’d come back from Aldi to find Eileen slumped in front of the telly with an empty bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. ‘And you know we don’t allow smoking in here, so put that out.’
‘Oh for God’s sake,’ Eileen had groaned. ‘You’re always having a go about something. Loosen up a bit, will you?’ Though Eileen was still a reasonably glamorous woman, in a mutton sort of way, with good legs, a generous bust and a beehive-type hairdo that, she claimed, kept her on trend, she rarely looked her best when drunk. In fact, considering how much she boozed and smoked, it was a bit of a miracle she was still alive, never mind able to look halfway decent. As for blokes, Josie didn’t know of one that had lasted more than six months, and given the state of most of them she could only feel glad when they went.
‘This is my house, Mother,’ she’d declared, ‘so if you want to stay here you have to live by my rules. No smoking, and definitely no more drink tonight. Look at you, you’re an embarrassment to yourself. I can’t believe you’ve drunk the lot. That sherry was supposed to be for tomorrow morning. I’ve invited some neighbours round for a glass and now we don’t have anything to give them.’
‘Bullshit,’ Eileen slurred. ‘I saw all the wine your son-in-law-to-be brought in with him.’ After a rowdy hiccup followed by a cough, she wheezed, ‘Can you lend me a tenner, kiddo? Just till I get paid.’
‘No, I can’t, I don’t have it and even if I did you’d only go and spend it up the pub, so forget it. You’ve had enough. I’ll get Jeff to see you home when he comes back.’
Eileen looked mutinous. ‘What’s wrong with me staying here for the night? Ryan’s not going to be using his room, is he? So I can sleep there.’
‘No you can’t,’ Josie shot back, furious that her mother could be so insensitive as to treat the one big
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