‘And you proposed Jonathan to them?’
‘We had an open day. It’s where—’
‘I know what an open day is,’ Kim interrupted. During her years at Fairview they’d called it the meat market.
A selection of kids were chosen to be dressed up, taken to the main hall and paraded before couples who got to choose which child they’d like to have a chat with.
It was at one such market day that Kim had met Erica and Keith. She’d been ten years old and had already been in three foster homes. She’d glared hatefully at anyone who had glanced in her direction.
It had been Keith who had noticed her first. When she’d spotted his salt-and-pepper beard and unruly hair, she’d been reminded of a photo she’d seen of Albert Einstein, though he wasn’t as old.
She had been taken aback when he had glared back instead of just looking away and moving along.
Every so often he’d turn around and glare at her again and then smile. She only knew because she didn’t stop watching him from the moment he’d met her gaze.
Eventually, when most of the shoppers had gone and Kim was waiting for the signal to leave the hall, he approached her, holding the hand of his wife.
‘Hey there, I’m Keith and this is my wife, Erica. She reckons I’m unbeatable in a scowl-off. Wanna prove her right?’
She shook her head and gave him her filthiest look.
‘Ah, you’re scared. No problem, I can…’
She sat up straight on the chair and put a fist beneath her chin in a direct challenge.
No one called her scared, and she had known she could out scowl anyone.
Keith sat opposite.
Erica stood behind him with a warm expression on her face.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, she donned her best angry face and looked him right in the eye.
He met her gaze with his own scowl.
The room emptied around them. After what seemed like hours, her facial muscles began to tire. Her lower jaw started trembling with the effort of maintaining her set expression. Her eyes were watering because she refused to blink.
‘Aah, aah, atchoo,’ Keith cried, putting his hand to his nose. ‘Okay, you win,’ he said, and she finally relaxed her face. The muscles in her cheeks felt like jelly.
‘Well done, sweetie,’ the lady said to her with a wink. ‘I’m glad someone finally beat him, and I love your fighting spirit.’
Kim said nothing.
‘Maybe a rematch sometime?’ Keith asked.
She shrugged and left the room.
Within a week she was living in their home, about to begin the best three years of her life.
It was only later that she realised in that initial meeting she never opened her mouth once.
She couldn’t help wondering where Jonathan Pike would go now. Getting a good foster family had changed her life. Sadly for her, Keith and Erica had been killed in a car accident on their way back from a solicitor, seeking advice on adoption. At thirteen she was back in the system and on the conveyor belt for her next foster family.
‘Did the Dayneses want anything more long-term?’ Kim asked, thinking about the child they’d lost.
‘Oh no, that would never have been allowed because of their past…’ She stopped speaking as the colour flooded her cheeks. She had clearly said something she shouldn’t have done.
‘You’d already had dealings with the Daynes family?’