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

you,’ Mim said, when he put her back on the ground. ‘Sorry it took so long to get there.’

He laughed and kissed her and it was the best kiss in the world.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘How did you get here? Why didn’t you let us know?’ He smiled. ‘No. Don’t answer any of that. Tell me again what you said.’

‘That I’m sorry for taking so long?’

‘The other part.’

‘I love you.’

He kissed her again, for longer this time. Mim was about to say it a third time to see what would happen when he took a step back.

‘Are you staying?’ he asked.

‘I was going to but is someone else using the caravan? It’s been cleaned and there are flowers in it.’

‘They’re for you.’

‘But you didn’t know I was coming.’

‘I’ve put flowers in it since you went away, in the hope you would come back.’

Mim couldn’t reply to that. Love was proving to be the strangest thing. She didn’t know from one second to the next whether she wanted to laugh with utter joy or cry her eyes out. Corin grasped her hand.

‘Come to the house,’ he said. ‘I have something for you.’

That sounded intriguing. Mim stole another kiss and let him lead her to his house. There was an overnight bag and a box of Dickens’s belongings in the hall.

‘Oh,’ Mim said, dropping her own bag to the floor. ‘Have I interrupted? Were you going away?’

‘Yes. I was on my way to Lancashire.’ He slid an arm round Mim’s waist. ‘I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking about what I have and what I want. About what you might want. And then when Lia said that you were moping, I knew I had to try again.’

Moping? Mim suppressed a smile. Clearly Lia had been hard at work.

‘You were coming to see me?’ she asked. She grinned. ‘Have I ruined your grand gesture? Try it now and let’s see how you get on.’

He pulled her closer.

‘I was going to tell you about some changes to the family business. We’ve agreed that I’ll job share with Lia. She’s done fantastic work with As You Like It. We’ll both run the business when Dad retires.’

‘So you can carry on fossil hunting? That’s brilliant. I know how much you love it.’

‘I love you more,’ Corin said. ‘I’ve done this so we can split our time between Devon and Lancashire. I know you want to be with Lucas and I want to be wherever you are.’

He was going to do that, for her? Mim discovered another strange thing about love. It didn’t have any limits. Her feelings for Corin just kept growing.

‘That’s lucky,’ she said. ‘Because I want to be wherever you are. But you don’t need to give anything up for me. I’m moving back to Devon.’

‘For good? Are you sure? Lucas…’

‘Is a grown man and doesn’t need me watching him all the time. He’s looking forward to holidays down here as often as he can.’

Corin studied her, as if deciding what to do next. He smiled. ‘I think it’s definitely time for this.’ He went into the bedroom and Mim followed, laughing.

‘So this is what you meant when you said you had something for me… Smooth work, Dr Howard.’

‘It wasn’t. But hold that thought.’ Corin smiled at Mim in a way that made it difficult to think of anything else. He opened a drawer in a cabinet that sat under the window. It was empty. Corin took Mim’s hand. ‘This is for you. I want you to feel that you belong here. I want you to know that this will always be your home. This is for your emergency box, when you’re ready.’

Here came the tears again, hot on the heels of the laughter. Mim was undone. He understood her. He knew who she was, what she was, and what she needed. Everything she’d been through over the last thirty-four years had led to this moment and made it more precious than she could ever say.

‘I know it’s not much,’ Corin said, when Mim didn’t speak. She shook her head.

‘It is. It’s the Taj Mahal.’ She squeezed his hand and he answered with a smile that brought more tears. ‘Are you asking me to move in with you?’ she asked. ‘Just so we’re clear?’

‘I’m asking you everything. Move in with me. Marry me. Let’s make our own family.’

‘Are you sure you’re up for that?’ Mim asked, wiping away her tears. ‘Your children might have common northern accents.’

‘I’ll risk it if you’ll take the chance that yours might have posh southern ones.’ He smiled. ‘I love you, Mim. Nothing else matters.’

Mim leant against him and studied the cabinet. Some might see an empty drawer, but to her it was already full of everything she’d always wanted: love, understanding, security. Corin was solid and warm at her side, promising the future she had never dared to hope for, and there was only one possible response. She collected her emergency box from her bag, and emptied the contents into the drawer.

She was home.

THE END

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Acknowledgments

My thanks to all at One More Chapter for their hard work in bringing this book to publication. Special thanks to my editor, Hannah Todd, who championed the story from the first idea.

I hadn’t planned to write a book set in Devon, but after spending time there on holiday, I couldn’t resist writing about this beautiful part of the country. Corin’s fossil walk was inspired by a similar walk we took, led by Martin Curtis of www.jurassiccoastguides.co.uk. I’m siding with Mim rather than Lia, and think it’s a fascinating way to spend a morning, even though I was disappointed not to find an ammonite! Any mistakes