Finding Home by Kate Field (read book .txt) 📗

Mim finished stacking the shelf while Lia wandered round touching and inspecting everything in the shop. She paused at the pick ‘n’ mix sweets and helped herself to a couple. She put a finger to her lips, her eyes sparkling.

‘You’ll get me sacked,’ Mim said, laughing. ‘She probably knows—’

She broke off just in time when she heard a warning creak from the stairs.

‘Swallow quickly,’ she hissed to Lia, who obliged and stuck out her tongue to show her mouth was empty. She was still laughing when Janet shuffled in.

‘What’s going on?’ Janet asked. ‘Why aren’t you working?’

‘I am.’ Mim waved her duster. ‘I’ve cleaned and restocked all the tinned soup and vegetables. What do you think?’

‘Hmm.’ It wasn’t high praise but Mim had realised by now that it was the best she was going to get from Janet. Janet looked at her watch. ‘Your thirty minutes has started. Don’t be late.’

Mim grabbed her coat and hurried Lia out of the shop. They headed across the road to the footpath that led down onto the beach.

‘What happened there?’ Mim asked. ‘Janet didn’t acknowledge you at all. I thought the Howards were her favourite family. She gushed when Corin went in.’

‘It’s a mystery, isn’t it?’ Lia laughed. ‘I can’t explain why I don’t have the same effect on women as my gorgeous, unattached older brother. ‘

‘Urgh.’ Mim pulled a face. ‘You’re not telling me she fancies him?’

‘Of course she does, darling. Who doesn’t? Apart from me, obviously, because that would be totally gross.’

‘I don’t.’

‘Oh, are you a lesbian?’ Lia looked at Mim with interest as they walked across the pebbles. ‘You should go and visit Olly in London. His boyfriend manages one of the best gay bars in town.’

‘I’m not a lesbian,’ Mim said, and immediately regretted the confession when Lia grinned and carried on.

‘So what’s wrong with Corin?’ she asked. ‘I mean, have you seen his eyelashes? I would literally die to have those long, dark lashes. He’ll get under your skin in the end. He always does.’

‘He won’t be getting under, over, or anywhere near my skin, thank you very much,’ Mim replied. ‘I’m not looking for anything like that.’ And if she were, she wouldn’t be looking in Corin’s direction. He was friendly enough but she wasn’t convinced that any substance lay beneath the surface charm. He didn’t seem to do much apart from take Dickens for a walk and drink pints in the Boat. She supposed he didn’t need to when he had family money to rely on. Yet he seemed totally unaware of how privileged he was, judging by his words at New Year. He made her laugh but she could never be seriously interested in someone like that. She smiled to herself. It was never going to be an issue. Why would the son and heir look twice at her?

‘It’s probably just as well,’ Lia said, ‘because he’s shown no sign of finding a partner. He’s a confirmed bachelor, to Mummy’s great despair. She’s been waiting for him to carry on the family name for years.’

To Mim’s relief, Lia changed the subject and spent the next twenty minutes talking non-stop about her holiday while Mim munched on the sandwich and banana she’d brought for her lunch. Lia’s exploits were totally alien to anything in Mim’s experience. The only beach she’d ever known was this pebbly one under her feet, not the endless stretches of white sand that Lia described. The only hotel she’d known was Gordon’s, where the age of the average guest was sixty and no one had asked for a cocktail in the ten years that Mim had worked there. It was endlessly fascinating to hear about such a different type of life.

‘You must go one year, if you can,’ Lia said, when she finally reached a break in her stories. ‘You’d adore it, darling.’

‘I probably would,’ Mim agreed. ‘But I’ve never had a holiday, so I’d love anything. When I was growing up, it would have seemed like the best adventure in the world to stay in your parents’ caravans for a few days.’

‘Would it?’ Lia looked thoughtful as they made their way back up to the village. ‘It is a shame they’re standing empty in that case.’

‘Why does no one use them?’

‘Oh, it was one of Daddy’s Grand Ideas,’ Lia said, giving the words definite capital letters. She laughed. ‘He always has a scheme on the go, of one sort or another. For the past few years, he’s been determined to become the Dyson of irons. I don’t know what went wrong with the caravans. I’ll have to ask Mummy.’ She paused as Mim reached the door of the shop and opened the door. Twenty-nine minutes had whizzed by in Lia’s company. Mim couldn’t risk being late. ‘You’re not working tomorrow, are you?’ Lia asked. ‘I’ll pop round after breakfast. I’ve had the most brilliant idea!’

Mim had enjoyed a swim with Heather and Karen, eaten breakfast, stripped and washed her sheets and made a start on cleaning the outside of her caravan by the time Lia showed up the next day. It was technically after breakfast, she supposed, even though hers had been several hours ago and she was already thinking about lunch. Perhaps time ran at a different pace in the big house?

‘What are you doing?’ Lia asked, as she joined Mim at the front of the caravan. Mim looked at the sponge in her hand and the bucket of soapy water at her feet. Wasn’t it obvious?

‘I’m cleaning,’ she said. ‘The windows are filthy.’

‘I’ll mention it to Mummy. Our window cleaner can do that for you. It will ruin your nails.’

‘Too late for that,’ Mim said cheerfully, inspecting her short nails. She’d spent ten years at the hotel putting her hands in much worse than soapy water. It was no use being vain now. Lia looked horrified.

‘I’ve had the most amazing idea,’ she said, while Mim continued to wash