Starting afresh

No matter what Fran did, she couldn’t measure up to her sister-in-law’s sky-high standards

- Carolyn Lewis

What? Say that again!’ Ian lifted his head and cleared his throat. ‘Susan and Dave. They’ve bought the house next door.’

I hadn’t seen that one coming. ‘Why? Why next door to us?’ Even as the words left my mouth, I knew what the answer would be and I knew how negative I sounded.

Ian shuffled and his chair squeaked. We were eating supper at the kitchen table and it seemed he’d waited for this particular moment to spring the news on me. ‘You know they’ve been looking for some time. Downsizing now the boys have left home.’

Yes, I knew all that, but what I didn’t know was why here, next to us. But I kept my mouth closed, waiting for Ian to continue.

He looked at me. ‘They’ve always liked this road. Susan’s always said how quiet it is, how close to the countryside.’

Well, that bit was true, but she also said how small the houses were and the way she said ‘small’ wasn’t in a good, cosy way, or at least I hadn’t thought so at the time.

I pushed my food around my plate, realising my appetite had disappeared. Ian loves his sister and has always thought the world of her, but me... not so much, though goodness knows I’ve tried to be polite, to get to know her. You see, the thing is that Susan really does think she’s special, that she’s not like the rest of us.

I don’t mean that in an unkind way. Well, not really. Susan just somehow swans around.

Her husband, Dave, is a marine engineer, earns a lot of money and travels the world because of his job. And that means Susan doesn’t need to work full-time, if at all, to pay the bills.

I must admit, I was surprised that Susan and Dave would think about moving here. I mean it’s a nice area; it’s pleasant, neighbours are great, but it’s not grand in any way. Not like they’re used to.