Her mind was refusing to accept what had just happened. That her husband, the one person she had believed would stand by her through anything, was really letting her down at a time when she had never needed his support more … Worse than that for Aidy was the fact that Arch hadn’t said one word in his own defence to his mother when she had been acting like he was a mere boy, and neither had he intervened when she had been using bullying tactics while dealing with his wife and her family. Aidy had long known Arch feared upsetting his mother, bowing to her demands whether he wanted to or not. She had always put that down to his respect for her; after all, Pat was his mother. But after tonight she realised that wasn’t the case at all. Arch was terrified of his own mother, to the extent of standing by and doing nothing while she unjustly abused his wife and her bereaved family. She felt a hand on her arm and turned her head to see her gran looking worriedly at her. ‘I’ve mashed you a cuppa, love,’ Bertha told her.
