Finding Home by Kate Field (books for 6 year olds to read themselves .TXT) 📕

his eyes lingering on her hair, which for once was falling loosely around her shoulders. He smiled.

‘My invitation must have gone missing. We’ll have to stick to our plan to spend the evening in the Boat.’ He put some papers on the coffee table. ‘Olly has sent over the paperwork for the charity. I thought we could all sign it while Bobby’s here to act as a witness.’

Lia signed where he indicated and Corin held out his pen to Mim.

‘Your turn.’

‘To be a witness?’ Mim asked. ‘I thought you said Bobby was doing that.’

‘No, you’re signing as trustee of the charity.’ Corin looked from Mim to Lia. ‘Didn’t you know? Lia was supposed to have asked you.’

‘Sorry, darling.’ Lia grimaced at Mim. ’I was caught up in the work at the caravans and forgot about the boring legal bit. You, me, and Corin are the trustees. That’s okay, isn’t it?’

Was it okay? Mim had no idea what it involved and wasn’t keen to sign anything official without being clear what she was committing to. Corin must have sensed her hesitation.

‘Sorry, I thought you’d already agreed,’ he said. ‘We won’t spring this on you. I’ll print out some information for you about what it involves. We need to carry out the police check as well.’

‘Police check?’ Mim stood up and glared at him. ‘What are you suggesting? I’ve never been in trouble with the police. Just because I was brought up in care—’

Corin shook his head.

‘We all need police checks. It’s a legal requirement, not an accusation. There’s a declaration to complete too.’ He stopped talking but didn’t move, other than to rub the back of his neck with his finger, making the ends of his hair stick out even more. Mim watched him suspiciously, wondering what was coming next.

‘Is that everything?’ Lia asked. ‘We’re trying to watch a film.’

‘While we’re here, would you mind looking for the guarantee documents for the ride-on mower for Bobby?’ Corin replied. ‘They should be in the filing cabinet in the study.’

‘Do you need them right this minute?’

‘Tomorrow will be okay,’ Bobby said.

‘Why not now?’ Corin said. ‘Go on. It will only take a minute. Bobby will come with you to check it’s the right thing.’

‘Because I can’t be trusted to read a piece of paper,’ Lia grumbled, but she headed out of the room, Bobby trailing behind.

‘You need to brush up your acting skills,’ Mim said, when she was alone with Corin. She smiled, relieved that his obvious discomfort was only about this and nothing to do with her. ‘That was the most obvious piece of matchmaking I’ve ever seen.’

‘Matchmaking? Between Bobby and Lia?’ He looked astonished at the suggestion. ‘I really don’t think so.’

‘Why not? Is he not good enough for her?’

If anything, Corin looked even more astonished.

‘Quite the opposite. I wouldn’t wish her on him. She’d talk him to death. Literally,’ he added with a smile, which Mim couldn’t help returning. ‘I did send them away on purpose, though. Mum has asked me to speak to you.’

‘Has she?’ Mim sat down again, disturbing Dickens who had settled down on her blanket. ‘Should I be worried? Have I done something wrong?’

‘It’s nothing like that.’ Corin prowled round the room. ‘That would have been an easier conversation.’ He stopped and perched on the arm of a sofa on the other side of the fireplace to Mim. ‘It’s about the hotel you used to work at.’

‘What’s happened?’ Mim leant forward in her seat. ‘Is it bad news? Has it been knocked down? I thought the building was just being converted.’

She dreaded the answer; it would be devastating to hear that the closest thing to a home she’d known no longer existed. Corin shook his head.

‘Nothing like that. That would have been an easier conversation too.’ He picked at a loose thread on the sofa, not looking at Mim while he spoke. ‘You told Mum that you’d contributed towards the running of the hotel, but you didn’t inherit a share on Gordon’s death. Mum asked Olly to look into whether you could challenge that.’

Mim didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. She was too dumbfounded. Why had Bea done that, without even discussing it with her? What if Gordon’s daughter, Yvonne, found out, and started her accusations again? If she thought Mim was challenging the will, it would prove all the horrible things she’d said about her over the last ten years.

Corin ploughed on, rushing through the words as if he couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

‘Apparently, if you can say you were living as husband and wife with Gordon for at least two years, you might be able to contest the will.’

Mim stood up so quickly that Dickens rolled off the sofa.

‘You want me to lie?’ she said, her voice wobbling. She had thought these people were her friends; how could they so wholly misjudge her? ‘Do you all think so badly of me? That I’d do anything for money?’

‘No.’ Corin stood up and walked towards her. ‘No one suggested you should lie. Look, we’re not making any judgement. Your relationships are your own concern. But Mum described how devastated you were the other day talking about Gordon … and it’s not normal to put money into a business that isn’t yours unless there’s a good reason…’

‘My life hasn’t exactly been normal, or not by your standards.’ Mim brushed a tear off her cheek, frustrated with herself for letting her emotion show. She didn’t want pity. ‘There was a good reason and it wasn’t the one you seem to think. You’re as bad as Gordon’s daughter with your dirty minds and grubby insinuations. Yes, I loved him, but we weren’t lovers. He was thirty years older than me! He was my saviour, my mentor, and my friend. He gave me a chance when I had no one else to turn to. He gave me security. Helping save the business was the only way I could repay him. It is possible to have a relationship with someone