Page 128 of The Reno
“Willa let it slip last week. I’m sure she mentioned it. I wanted to come up sooner, but I was at work. This is inconvenient, Katherine.” She said it like I’d asked her to come up here. “You wouldn’t pick up the bloody phone.” She huffed like the words took something out of her. She never swore. “But once Willa let the cat out of the bag, I understood why.” Mum sighed. “Really, Katherine. What on earth were you thinking? How much debt are you in renovating that shell of a house?” She glanced up at Liam’s house. “And renting while you do it? What a waste. I brought you up better than this.”
“I’m not renting—”
“Well, are you going to invite me in?” She put her hands on her hips.
I glanced at Liam, standing behind the door, trying to communicate with his eyes. His face went calm with a decision. He swung the door wider, revealing him next to me.
“Mrs Williams. I’m Liam Hunter.” He extended a hand. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
I could hear a tightness in Liam’s voice. He used it when he spoke to the Joneses. It was his voice reserved for snobby arses.
We were just lucky we’d got dressed and changed. But something about Liam’s still-wet hair and bare feet felt… intimate. Like he was used to being casual and half-dressed around me. And I knew Mum had got the gist by how she surveyed us from our toes to the top of our heads, her eyes assessing. Mum wore the same expression when I was sixteen, and my boyfriend was picking me up to seeThe Hunger Gamesat the cinema.
“It’s Ms Evans,” she replied. “And who exactly are you?”
“Liam—Liam is the builder working on the house.”
Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline.
“The builder,” she said with disdain. “The builder you’re living with.”
I ignored the last comment. “Liam has been great, Mum. He jumped on the job quickly, and it’s almost done now.” I glanced at Liam, needing backup. “Right?”
“It’s almost finished now, Ms Evans.” He shifted on his legs.
“A few more weeks, then it’ll be finished.”
“Weeks?” Mum said, alarmed. She shifted her gaze to me. “That’s what they always say, Katherine. Double it. It will take twice the amount of time they say it will.” Her eyes moved to Liam. “And double the cost, probably. How much is this costing,Katherine?”
Anger began to simmer in my chest at my mum’s poor form. I’d never seen this snobby side of her before. The way she looked down her nose at Liam. The scathing referral to “they” like Liam’s profession was inferior. I’d always thought Mum pushed me because of my disability. I’d thought she pushed me to overcome and persevere. But had it come from elitism? A disdain for professions that weren’t acceptable to her? She had certainly looked down on artists, but I’d figured that was because it was such an unstable career.
How hadn’t I seen this?
I stood ramrod straight. “Liam is a professional, Mum. He’s done this for years. I think he would know how long it will take to finish, especially when we are at the tail end of the renovation now. And I used the money left to me by Dad. I don’t see why you would need to know how much I spent. It’s my money to spend.”
My gaze turned cold, and Mum’s cheeks flushed red hot.
She sputtered. “Well. If the house is almost finished, why are you still living here?” she asked pointedly. “Surely you could live out of a room while it’s finished.”
I baulked. I could have moved back this week, probably. But I hadn’t wanted to.
“Liam offered his annexe.” I gestured outside. “I’ve been staying there.”
I could feel Liam’s eyes shift to me, and guilt burned in my chest. I should have just come out and admitted that we were together. I had planned to, eventually. But I hadn’t expected tobe ambushed. I needed to prepare my script perfectly and try to predict Mum’s retorts.
Mum’s eyes shifted over our clothes again.
“I just—I came around this morning to discuss more details about the house. Invoices, etcetera.”
Liam’s shoulders tensed at my words. Mum ignored my defence anyway. I deflated. I’d shown my cowardice for nothing.
Mum crossed her arms. “I had to find out from Brian and Sandra. They looked at me like I was a terrible mother for not knowing where you were. Why didn’t you tell me, Katherine? I told you this was a mistake. It’s a money pit. Your father had some grand plans about renovating the place, but it was a misplaced rose-tinted view of his childhood.” She shook her head. “And, of course, he had to drag you into it. Even from beyond the grave.”
“This wasn’t for him. It’s for me. So I can get some closure.”
Mum scoffed. “This wasn’t going to give you any closure. Selling it and being rid of it would have given you closure. Trust me. There was no need to come up here and dig everything back up.” She sneered at “up here”. “You need to put the house on the market and come back home. I’ve heard from Willa that she’s struggling at work, and you’ve just taken off and left her in the lurch. They might be selling—closing for good. What will you do for work then?” Mum pressed. “You need to think about your future, and trust me, it won’t be up here. Really, Katherine. Use your brain.”
Liam stepped forward, the warmth of his body behind me. He leaned his arms above me on the door frame. “Do not speak to her like that. Not in my house, not ever. If you’d let her getone word in edgeways, maybe she’d explain why she is here. And exactlywhyshe felt she needed to keep it from you. Amongst otherrevelations.” Liam levelled my mum with a knowing look, and alarm filled her expression.
