Well Groomed Read Online Free

beside her. She clutched her gin and tonic – smeary glass, too – to her fur chest, unwilling to place it amidst such contamination. Whilst fearfully dishy, her grand-daughter’s Irish partner was rather odd. It was now after one and he still hadn’t dressed.
    Niall, who had built a large fire that was smoking slightly more than he was in Tash’s absence, was tugging on his fifth Camel Light and wandering round in his striped dressing gown, getting under Pascal’s feet as he tried to make them both a strong black coffee. They were now out of instant and the filter machine had broken weeks ago, so he was forced to improvise with grounds through a tea towel, generating a great deal of gritty brown mess.
    ‘I wonder where Tash has got to now?’ He looked up fretfully as there was a commotion of motorised clanks outside, followed by the sound of a car being reversed into a wheely bin.
    This was soon replaced by the banging of car doors and the excited chattering of children. The next moment, Sally’s pretty, rose-cheeked face was peering through the frosted windows and Matty, loaded down with baby equipment, elbowed his way through the front door.
    ‘Hi, all.’ He dropped a massive packet of nappies in at the door and scratched his head under his crocheted hat. ‘Something smells good. Christ!’ He caught sight of his grandmother and tried not to look too horrified.
    Etty glowered back at him. They had never been the best of friends.
    ‘Matty darling!’ Alexandra sprang up from the sofa and rushed across the room to hug him which Matty, despite stiffening slightly, took in festive good humour.
    ‘You look great, Mother.’ He grinned, taking in the usual impracticality of her heavy silk jacket, bottle green wool trousers and high suede mules.
    ‘’Lo, everyone!’ Sally appeared through the door carrying Linus in his carry cot, her messy honey-blonde mane already falling out of its scrunchy, grey eyes merry, denim dress covered in baby food. ‘Merry Christmas! The kids are busy peering at the puppy in the Mercedes. Isn’t it a bit cruel leaving it there in the cold?’
    ‘Probably warmer than it would be in here,’ Niall laughed, greeting his friend Matty with an affectionate arm around the shoulders and kissing Sally on both her pink cheeks.
    ‘Christ, the puppy – I quite forgot!’ gasped Alexandra, rushing outside to rescue her present and welcome her grandchildren.
    ‘Get dressed, you lazy slob.’ Matty grinned at Niall, pleased to see him looking so well. ‘Tash still in bed?’
    ‘Why does everyone think that we spend our entire time in bed?’ Niall sighed, wandering back to his coffee-making.
    ‘Because you more or less do,’ Sally pointed out, kissing Pascal hello and making a tentative approach to Matty’s grandmother. ‘Hello, Etty. What a lovely surprise – we didn’t expect to see you here. Are you well?’
    ‘Closer to death than ever, ma chérie .’ Etty, still wearing her bearskin hat, peered up from her gin. ‘Xandra and James came to Scotland to rescue me from ’aving to spend anozer Christmas with Cass and ’er ’orrible ’usband.’
    ‘Pascal, Grandmother.’ Matty smiled weakly.
    ‘I thought he was called Michael?’ Etty gave him a cursory welcoming nod. ‘You look too thin, Matthew.’
    ‘Cass’s husband is Michael,’ Matty said patiently, watching as Niall, clutching his coffee, wandered up the narrow, twisting staircase to get dressed, followed by what appeared to be a large white turkey. ‘My father is called James, Grandmother. Mother and he have been divorced for years. She’s married to Pascal now.’ He pointed to his step-father, who was grumpily teaching Polly how to peel sprouts. ‘Xandra and Pascal came to rescue you from Scotland.’
    ‘That’s what I said, you stupeed child.’ Etty stretched up a creased, rouged cheek. ‘Now give me a kiss and bugger off and wash your hands – zey’re filthy.’
    ‘I had to change a tyre.’
    Sally tried