286 wivesbehavingbadly

. " your mother could have said no ."
an impatient noise sped down the line  ." don't you know by now  that muni puts up with everything  ?"
"i'm not sure i agree , poppy ."
" she has  sme crazy  idea that dad would want  her to look out for them .i've told her she shouldn't stand for it . richard  says you should make your own arrangement ."
despite my best inentins , i was stung by the last . our occasional rueful  exchanges had seemed to indicate that richard and i understood each other ." dose he really ?"
"um . well , we both agree ."
it was a fair bet that richard had said  nothing of the sort . " poppy ..."  i said  ." i'm ding the best i can , thing are difficult at the moment . and the boys are more important than anything else ."
"and ?"
" i was affraid that might lose my job if  i didn't turn up ."
even to say  the words caused sweat to break out  on my top lip.
"can't you  negotiate  ? there 's legislation for this kind  of contigency ." pause ." i wouldn't stand for it , minty ."
" i expect yu would if you had to  ." my knees was had turned  sharky ." there is theory  , and then there is practice ."
"oh , for  goodness sake ."
i glanced round the kitchen . without eve , it was showing signs of neglect . there was dust  on the windowsill , spilled coffee grounds  by the rubbish  bin , and a couple of dirt saucepans waiting for attention beside the sink .
 " by the way , two things  . poppy . i don't think it would do good if i intervened in filly . sam situation . i got a polite brush -of from sam .