A Home Like Ours by Fiona Lowe (feel good books .txt) 📕

on the internet, it’s there forever. It only takes one journalist to dig it up and it’s back again to haunt you.’

‘But I didn’t do it.’

‘The law doesn’t care. Geoff’s masculinity’s been mocked on your Facebook page.’ A long sigh crackled in the speaker. ‘I’m really sorry, Helen. I’ll write you a glowing reference and talk to Lee at Boolanga Real Estate. She’ll look after you.’

Helen managed to push out a ‘Thanks’ through a tight throat.

‘And don’t give up, hey?’ Vivian added. ‘This is just a temporary setback. You’ll see!’

‘How? I’ve lost my job and my home.’

‘I know it looks hopeless at the moment, but this fiasco’s shown me Geoff’s true colours. I’m done giving him my support. Boolanga needs a mayor who puts community first, not himself. I’m going to run for mayor.’

‘But that’s a year away.’

‘Depending on what other stunts he pulls, it could be closer. Either way, I promise that once I’m mayor, I’ll put the focus squarely back on the community and transparency.’

Helen remembered her conversation with Len at Boolanga Signs. ‘Does the shire only do business with Boolanga Signs?’

‘No. Jobs are open to tender.’

‘So if the best quote came in from Sign On, the shire would pay for the sign?’

‘That’s how I understand it works. Why?’

‘You might want to do a bit of digging into how many signs the mayor’s rowing mate has overcharged ratepayers for.’

There was an audible intake of breath. ‘My fellow councillors would be very interested in that sort of information.’

‘Interested enough to bring a motion of no confidence in the mayor?’

‘Hopefully! If you hear anything else, let me know. Meanwhile, stay strong.’

The line went dead and Helen looked up into Jade’s eyes, surprised to see the bright light of anger.

‘What a prick!’ Jade said.

‘You won’t get an argument from me.’

‘At least one good thing—’

‘Don’t even think about saying something like adversity is a gift.’ Helen glared at Bob. ‘Or an opportunity.’

‘Wouldn’t dare. Make you a cuppa?’

His kindness pulled at the barely holding seams of her control. ‘What about one of your Irish coffees?’

‘I only carry a hip flask for night fishing.’

‘Lucky I’ve got a bottle of whiskey in the pantry for emergencies.’

They trooped inside the cottage. Jade sat at the table and put Milo at her feet, giving him Helen’s measuring spoons to play with and suck on. Bob boiled the kettle and Helen retrieved the whiskey, sloshing it into a mug.

Bob frowned.

‘What?’ Helen snapped. ‘Suddenly you’re a wowser?’

‘No. I’ve just never seen you this rattled before.’

‘You ever been evicted, Bob?’ Jade asked.

‘Got close once during the drought in the eighties, but we managed to hold on.’

‘Holding on’s not the same,’ Jade said.

‘Holding on means there’s still hope.’ Helen’s voice trembled despite her determination to sound calm.

‘I hated it when the letter finally came,’ Jade said quietly, looking nowhere in particular. ‘Whenever it arrived, I’d be dumped at Gran’s. It’s bullshit that grandmothers are all soft and cuddly. Every time I stayed, she’d tell my mother, “You chose to have the damn kid, you look after her.” If I didn’t do all the chores she’d threaten to call child protection. Weeks would go by and when Mum finally turned up to collect me, Gran would give her a bill. I visited my grandmother before she died and she told me I owed her five hundred bucks.’

‘But you had a roof over your head and a bed. You weren’t sleeping in a car or on the streets,’ Helen said.

‘I did once, when Gran refused to take me.’

Bob muttered something that sounded a lot like swearing and added whiskey to his own coffee. He took a gulp. ‘You’re not going to be homeless, Helen.’

‘And why are you so confident?’

‘I’ve got a spare room for a start.’

‘I’m not moving in with you!’

‘Jeez, Helen. Keep your hair on,’ Jade said. ‘No one would care. It’s not like you and Bob would be getting it on. You’re too old. But if you’re that worried about your reputation—’

‘My reputation? Remind me what year we’re in again?’

‘Jade’s been reading Anna Karenina,’ Bob said.

His eyes twinkled, spinning delight around her and she laughed, momentarily forgetting that her hard-fought security had just been pulled out from under her, leaving her in a precarious situation. Old memories stirred—the addiction of attraction, the giddiness of new love—and quickly turned rancid in her belly. She dropped her gaze, berating her foolishness. What the hell was wrong with her? She was too old for this sort of nonsense.

‘Anna Karenina? Then she knows that depending on a man only ends in tears.’

‘That’s a bit rough on poor Levin,’ Bob said.

‘Yeah. He and Kitty ended up happy.’ Jade dangled the spoons in front of Milo. ‘If you don’t want to use Bob’s spare room, I s’pose I could help.’

‘I didn’t realise you have three bedrooms?’ Helen said.

Jade’s expression turned cagey. ‘You can have Milo’s room for a hundred and twenty dollars a week plus half the electricity.’

Ah! The offer, under the guise of help, suddenly made sense. Jade was struggling financially—of course she was. That bastard Corey probably didn’t give her much. You don’t know that. But her gut told her it was true. Could they help each other? Could she live in a house with Jade let alone an almost toddler? She’d avoided children for so long but this would throw her right into Milo’s path. Did she even have a choice?

‘You want me to pay half the electricity?’ she said. ‘There’s two of you and one of me.’

‘Milo doesn’t use much.’

‘I bet you wash more of his clothes than your own each week.’

‘Yeah, but that’s at the laundromat.’

Helen ran through her finances. She could ask Con for more shifts at the café, but there were no guarantees, especially as his daughter was working as much as she could to pay for a trip to Greece.

‘I’ll pay a third of the electricity and bring my washing machine.’

Jade tinkled the spoons, mulling over the offer. ‘Only if the extra electricity costs less than what I’d spend