What rascals been in here? Lily snapped, her voice trembling with anger. Call your family, bring them round and set this place straight. I wont be cleaning up after them. Im already tired of washing the sheets after your friends, who have taken to staying the night at our cottage.
Your mother called, Samuel said over dinner, his fork clinking against the plate. She and her relatives are planning a weekend barbecue.
Good for them, Lily replied coolly. Let them go, weve got nothing to do with it. She had never liked her motherinlaw, Margaret.
They want to use our cottage, Samuel explained. They dont have one of their own, and Ive got a job at the garage on Saturday. He said it as if it were the plainest thing in the world. I told them we cant go to the cottage this weekend, so Mum asked for the keys.
With little choice, Lily agreed, though she later regretted it. When the following weekend Samuel and she finally drove to the cottage, Lily froze at the sight before her. The place looked as if a storm had passed through.
The berry bushes were trampled, the floor was dusty, a lone pot of yesterdays stew sat on the stove, and the kitchen window hung without curtains. Lily could not grasp what had happened. Her husbands parents were already in their sixties.
She poured out her frustration to Samuel.
What rascals been in here? Call your family, bring them round and set this place straight, she fumed. I wont be cleaning up after them. Im already tired of washing the sheets after your friends, who have taken to staying the night at our cottage.
Perhaps youre overworking yourself, Samuel suggested. Toss it in the washing machine, take it out, and hang it to dry.
Next time youll do it all yourself! Lily snapped. Are you satisfied with the state of our cottage and garden?
Samuel never called anyone. Lily stopped speaking to him for a spell, but eventually they reconciled. They had only been married two years, a union forged in love, though Lily sometimes wondered if shed rushed. They had no children yet.
Life went on as usual work, house, work, house. Weekends were spent walking or taking friends out into the countryside. Everything changed when Lilys own mother remarried and moved to another town. The family cottage fell to Lily.
Suddenly Samuels relatives began to adore her. One after another they asked to stay at the cottage; after all, barbecues taste best in fresh air.
Cousins, secondcousins, uncles, aunts, even Samuels grandmother turned up, all eager for the river, the open fields and a grill. Samuels friends joined them too. They arrived with overnight bags, and Samuel set up the grill as usual. Lily grew weary of the endless stream of guests, yet she did not wish to sour the relationship with Samuels family. Something had to change.
Now, as the weekend approached, Lily felt a strange anticipation. When Lily and Samuel married, his mother was already advanced in years. She had given birth to a son quite late, and there was also a sister, Mary, ten years older than Samuel, who hailed from a village and believed everything was communal.
Mary and Margaret would haul everything to the cottage creams, shampoos, sponges, even Lilys indoor slippers. Then the motherinlaw phoned again, asking Samuel for the cottage keys. This time Mary planned to bring her boss for a holiday and a barbecue.
Lily was not asked for her opinion.
Give the keys to Mum, Samuel said, remembering Lilys reaction to the previous visit but saying nothing about it.
Realising she had to act, Lily, with Samuel now oddly on the opposite side, weighed her options and called her own mother to complain.
Will call you back, her mother replied curtly.
In about twenty minutes Lily phoned again and told her mother that her sister and brotherinlaw would be coming to the cottage for a while. Dont worry, her mother said. Aunt Eleanor will sort it out.
Lilys heart leapt. She had always been uneasy about Aunt Eleanor; as a child she had been sent to stay with her each summer, memories that lingered. Eleanor Borrows was a stern but capable woman.
That evening Eleanor called.
Ah, my dear niece, youve been so quiet. Ive been waiting for you to ring. She asked, How should I handle them with a little scare or outright firmness? She laughed merrily, already plotting.
Lily shivered. Did you tell them the cottage is yours? Eleanor asked.
Cant recall, but they all seem convinced it is, Lily admitted.
Dont fret, love, well make it right, Eleanor reassured.
The following Sunday, a furious Margaret called Samuel. You sold the cottage? Wheres the money? Why didnt you tell us?
It turned out that on Saturday Mary had arrived with her boss, and Margaret with her husband. A picturesque group of five was already grilling on the plot.
What are you? gasped Margaret, her voice trembling.
And you, who are you? replied the woman who claimed ownership of the cottage, her tone sharp. Im the lady of this property; I dont know you. How did you get the keys?
Margarets sister tried to explain the family connections and the lending of the keys, but the selfstyled landlady stared displeased, and Mary stumbled over her words. The other guests fell silent.
In the end the keys were taken from Margaret, and she was politely asked to leave and not return, lest they have to investigate where those spurious keys had come from.
From a distance Lily heard Margarets shriek over the handset. Samuel was bewildered, unable to say a word.
Hand the phone to your wife, Samuel handed the receiver to Lily. The cottage isnt yours! the motherinlaw declared, almost ceremoniously.
Did you even ask? Lily tried to stay calm. Do you think everything around us belongs to you?
Do you realise Mary invited her boss to the cottage? She could be laid off, and youd be blamed for it, Margaret huffed. Im not responsible for that.
Then why am I here? Aunt Eleanor is just on holiday, you never asked me, Lily retorted. Buy your own place and enjoy it there.
Samuel, pale, said, After this, I wont go back, nor will my relatives.
It was the first time they truly quarreled. Samuel felt hurt. Mary lost her job. Ill never forgive you for this, he said. My family loves you, but youve deceived us.
Lily was convinced Marys dismissal had another cause. Suddenly she realised she didnt truly miss any of them. Their marriage had reached a dead end.
Mother, I think Im divorcing Sam, Lily whispered.
Decide for yourself, youre an adult now. Where will you live? Ive let my flat go. Go to Eleanors, her mother advised.
Thank you, Lily replied, surprised. I suppose Ill rent a flat.
Lily filed for divorce, moved into a rented flat, and never returned to the cottage.
The memory of that longago summer, of the endless barbecues, the clatter of mismatched guests, and the stubbornness of a cottage that belonged to no one but herself, remains a quiet lesson that some places, however beloved, are not worth sacrificing ones peace.
