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

‘You literally won’t,’ Corin said, but he stood back and held open the door. ‘Stop crushing Mim and let her in.’

Mim flashed him a smile as Lia released her arm and she stepped inside the house. She hoped it wasn’t too obvious how awkward she still found physical contact. It was unfamiliar rather than unpleasant. She hadn’t been brought up with kind touches or with the hugs and kisses that Lia and her family exchanged so easily. She didn’t know how to respond – but she wanted to learn, and that was progress, wasn’t it?

The inside of the lodge wasn’t at all what she expected after the scruffy exterior. A small hall led through to a surprisingly spacious open-plan room containing a smart grey sofa and armchair, a table for four, and a compact, modern kitchen. The walls were painted a pale shade of grey that made it seem bright but warm, and a log burner in a stone hearth was pumping heat into the room. Dickens was curled up in a basket close to the fire. He opened his eyes briefly to inspect the new arrivals and Mim could have sworn he took one look at Lia and closed them again.

Lia immediately threw herself onto the sofa and wrapped herself in a blanket that had been folded neatly on the seat.

‘Is there any chance of a cup of tea?’ she asked, turning to smile at Corin.

‘Will you literally die of thirst if you don’t have one?’ he said. Lia laughed. ‘You wouldn’t be so thirsty if you didn’t talk so much.’

Lia stuck her tongue out at him.

‘It’s so unfair being the youngest in the family,’ she said. ‘I’m the butt of everyone’s jokes. Do you have any brothers or sisters to endure, Mim?’

‘No. It’s just me.’

‘That sounds delightful.’ Lia grimaced. ‘Sorry. I’m totally putting my foot in it today, aren’t I? Corin, did you know that Mim was brought up in care?’

‘No.’ He looked up from making the tea. ‘But perhaps it’s not something she wants to talk about.’

‘It’s not a secret,’ Mim said. She wasn’t sure how to take his tone. Was he closing down the subject because he found it embarrassing? She met his gaze. ‘I’m not ashamed of it. It wasn’t my fault.’

Corin crossed the room and held out a mug to her.

‘We’re the ones who should be ashamed,’ he said, ‘for having so much privilege and doing so little with it.’

It was the last thing she’d expected him to say, and she couldn’t interpret the look he gave her. It certainly wasn’t embarrassment or pity but something she didn’t have a name for, something that loosened knots inside her that she hadn’t even known existed. Lia broke the moment.

‘Now do you see why Corin is the perfect person to help?’ she said. Corin sat down on the armchair, long legs stretched out towards the fire and crossed at the ankle.

‘Help with what?’ he asked. ‘Or should I be afraid to ask?’

‘Our amazing plan to offer free holidays in the caravans to people who can’t afford a break. What do you think?’

‘I think you’re becoming more like Dad by the day with your ideas and schemes,’ Corin replied. ‘He must be thrilled.’

‘She’s not asked Bill and Bea yet,’ Mim said. ‘They might object.’

‘They won’t,’ Lia said. ‘Besides, Corin is the son and heir. All this will be his one day, including the caravans, so they won’t object if he’s behind us.’

‘But what about the rest of you?’ Mim asked Lia. ‘It seems unfair if everything goes to Corin. But I should keep my nose out,’ she added quickly. She didn’t want to sound like Janet, butting in with her blunt opinions.

‘I agree with you,’ Corin said. ‘It is unfair. But none of the others want it. Now, why don’t you tell me what you have in mind for the caravans?’

Mim sat back and drank her tea while Lia did all the talking. Her attention drifted as she looked around the room and noticed a few things that she had missed when she first walked in. There was a small bookcase in one corner, filled with books with colourful spines; she couldn’t read all the titles, but a couple of them mentioned South America. A roughly carved wooden bowl sat on the bookcase, and a couple of photographs stood on the mantelpiece, one showing a group of four people in front of a jeep and the other an amazing sunset. Neither looked like Devon, from what she had seen of it so far. She stole a look at Corin. Was there more to him than the shallow, rich man she had mentally labelled him?

‘Mim? Mim darling? Are you falling asleep?’ Lia’s voice pulled her thoughts back into the room.

‘Sorry.’ She smiled. ‘Perhaps I was drowsing after my swim this morning, and with the tea and the warm fire.’ She saw Corin open his mouth. ‘And no, I didn’t go swimming on my own before you ask. One of the women I swim with is Bobby’s sister.’

She had the satisfaction of seeing a look of interest flash over Lia’s face.

‘I know,’ Corin replied. ‘That wasn’t what I was going to say. You look as happy as Dickens when he settles in front of the fire. Are you finding the caravan cold? Does the fire not work?’

‘Are you saying I look like a short, hairy dog? No offence,’ Mim said to Dickens, as she noticed that he had sat up in his basket and was staring at her.

‘Only in the expression of contentment,’ Corin said. ‘But don’t dodge the question.’

‘I don’t know if the fire works,’ Mim admitted. ‘I haven’t tried it.’

‘You’ve been living in the caravan without heating?’ Lia pulled the blanket more tightly round her. ‘How have you not frozen to death, darling? Why would you do that?’

‘It’s still warmer than sleeping in the car.’ The surprise on Corin’s face stopped her. Perhaps he hadn’t heard that she had been