“Don’t need a daughter like this!” shouted Barbara Hamilton, shaking a crumpled piece of paper. “You’re a disgrace to this family! How will I look people in the eye?”
“Please calm down, Mum,” pleaded Katie, standing in the kitchen doorway with red-rimmed eyes. “Let’s just talk properly.”
“What’s there to talk about?” Her mother’s voice rose higher. “Dropped out of college, can’t find a proper job, and now this? Got tangled up with some bloke, the shame of it!”
Mrs Davies from next door peeked cautiously into the hallway, hearing the shouting. Barbara spotted her curious glance and got even angrier. “See? The whole neighbourhood knows!” She threw the paper onto the table. “Twenty-five years I’ve raised you, given you everything, and this is how you repay me!”
Katie picked up the dropped sheet, smoothing it with trembling hands. It was their notice of marriage registration. Her notice.
“Mum, I’m happy,” she tried to explain. “Liam’s a good man, he loves me…”
“Good man?” Barbara let out a bitter, angry laugh. “Divorced with a kid, no steady job, ten years older than you! Sounds like a right gold-digger to me!”
“That’s not true! Liam works, he has his own car repair shop…”
“A repair *shop*?” her mother scoffed. “A lock-up garage, you mean! You planning on smelling petrol and motor oil your whole life?”
Katie sank onto a chair, her legs going weak. She’d rehearsed this conversation for days, hoping for understanding. None of it was going to plan.
“Mum, I’m not a child. I’m twenty-five.”
“Exactly!” Barbara exclaimed. “At your age I was married to your dad, working in the NHS, saving for our flat. What are you doing? Drifting about goodness-knows-where with goodness-knows-who!”
“Dad left you too,” Katie whispered instantly regretting it.
Her mother’s face went rigid with rage. “How dare you! Your father passed in that accident! He never abandoned us!”
“Sorry, Mum, I didn’t mean…”
“Yes, you did!” Barbara paced the tiny kitchen like a trapped animal. “You want my life? Left alone with a child? This Liam already wrecked one family!”
“They divorced by mutual consent. It just didn’t work out.”
“Oh, didn’t *work out*!” Her mother sat opposite her, leaning in. “But it’ll work with you? Do you even realise what you’re getting into? He’s got a child from his first marriage! Maintenance to pay! What will *you* be left with?”
Katie stayed silent, rubbing her temples. Her head throbbed from the yelling, a dull ache in her chest. She’d dreamt of telling her mum about her happiness, of wedding dress shopping together…
“So where’d you even meet him?” Barbara pressed. “Some dodgy pub?”
“At Megan Dawson’s birthday. Remember her? I told you.”
“Megan Dawson!” Her mother threw her hands up. “That one on her third engagement? Lovely friends you keep!”
“Mum, what’s Megan got to do with it? Liam was just tagging along with his mate…”
“Just *tagging along*? Men like him don’t ‘just tag along’. They find girls like you on purpose.”
Katie jumped up. “Enough! You don’t even know him!”
“What’s to know?” Barbara stood too. “I see it in you. Worn out, lost weight, dark circles. *This* is happiness?”
“I lost weight worrying! I knew you’d be against it!”
“Of course I am! I didn’t work two jobs to raise you just to hand your life over to the first bloke who fancies you!”
The doorbell rang. They froze, listening. “Him?” Barbara hissed.
“Yeah, we planned to meet.”
“Not a chance! He’s not stepping foot in my house!”
“Mum, please! Just chat to him. You might change your mind.”
“Never!”
The bell rang again, insistent. “Kate? It’s me,” came Liam’s voice from the hallway.
Katie looked at her mother, pleading. “Mum. Five minutes?”
Barbara hesitated, curiosity finally winning. “Let him in. Five minutes. Then he goes.”
Katie opened the door. A tall man, mid-thirties, dark hair and tired eyes stood there holding white roses. “Hello,” he said, stepping in. “Barbara? I’m Liam.” Katie’s mum scanned him head to toe: jeans, leather jacket, calloused hands. Just as she’d pictured.
“Hello,” she replied stiffly, ignoring his outstretched hand.
“These are for you,” Liam offered the flowers. “Katie talks about you a lot.”
“Save the charm,” Barbara snapped, but took the roses. “Kitchen.”
They sat at the small table. Liam seemed calm, but Katie saw the tension in his shoulders.
“So. You want to marry my daughter,” Barbara began bluntly.
“Yes. I love her.”
“Love her. Can you provide for her?”
“I can. I’ve got work, steady income.”
“In that lock-up.”
“It’s a proper workshop,” Liam corrected. “Got three permanent mechanics.”
“Pay maintenance?”
Katie flushed. “Mum!”
“I do,” Liam answered calmly. “And I will. He’s my son.”
“Right. What will my Katie live on?”
“Barbara, I get your worries. I don’t plan to use Katie. I want to take care of her.”
“Fine words. What about the first wife? Took care of her too?”
Liam paused. “We married young, reckless. Turned out we were chalk and cheese. She wanted luxury, I was starting my business. Constant rows… Best to part ways.”
“I see. So it’ll be different with Katie?”
“It will. Because we suit each other.”
Barbara stood, went to the window. “Katie, step out. This bloke and I need a minute.”
Katie reluctantly left. Barbara sat facing Liam, meeting his gaze. “Listen close. Katie’s my only child. Worked my fingers to the bone for her, dreamed she’d marry well. What exactly are you offering?”
“My love, loyalty, a family.”
“Talk’s cheap. Where will you live? My council flat?”
“Nah. Got a two-bed flat rented. I’ll add Katie to the lease.”
“Rented. Brilliant. What about your own place?”
“Saving the deposit for a mortgage. Hoping to get one in a year.”
Barbara shook her head. “A year? Maybe. What if you can’t? Katie drift between rented rooms forever?”
“I’ll manage,” Liam said firmly.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Got loyal clients, business is growing. I don’t drink or gamble, every penny’s for the family.”
“Bet your first wife thought the same.”
Liam sighed. “Barbara, I understand. Give me a chance to prove I won’t let Katie down.”
“And if you do? She comes back heartbroken? With a kid?”
“I won’t.”
“Promises are easy.”
Katie came back in.
Margaret lay awake listening to the unfamiliar silence of the flat where just Kate’s breathing should have been, praying fiercely her daughter’s leap of faith wouldn’t end in the kind of shattering heartbreak she knew all too well.
