Dream a Little Dream (The Silver Trilogy) (F) by Kerstin Gier Read Free Book Online

been listening at all ?” Florence stared at him, stunned. “They’re planning to move in here next month! Tell them we don’t have room for them! The gable room is Granny’s room, my old room is Dad’s office, the corner room is our guest room, and I’ve put all my winter clothes in the built-in cupboard in your room.…”
    “Flo, darling, do please listen.” The beads of sweat on Ernest’s forehead seemed to have grown a little larger. “I can understand that you feel you won’t have quite as much space to yourself, but—”
    “But what ?” spat Florence.
    Even in all this upheaval, I couldn’t help being grateful to her for having stopped being so grown-up and polite. I liked her a lot better with that hysterical voice and eyes flashing with fury. Mia and I were looking back and forth at her and Ernest as if they were playing tennis. Mom fixed her eyes firmly on the flower arrangement again, and Grayson was staring at his iPhone as if spellbound. Maybe he was Googling “patchwork family” and “first aid.”
    “—it wouldn’t be forever,” said Ernest. “Look, this time next year you twins will be moving out to study somewhere, then you’ll be home during university vacations at the most, and—”
    Florence interrupted him. “And so you won’t be lonely you’re bringing a woman and two substitute children into the house? Can’t you wait until we’ve left?”
    Yes, or even a few years longer.
    Now it was Ernest’s turn to sound chillier. “I realize that you have to get used to this new situation, as we all of us here do. But I have already made up my mind.” He passed the back of his hand over his forehead. “We just have to move things around a little. If Grayson moves into the gable room—”
    “Which belongs to Granny!” Florence was shouting in such a loud voice that the ginger cat jumped off the sofa and several feet into the air. He was quite a fat cat. “Have you told Granny about your plans? No, of course not! She’s on a cruise on the other side of the world—very practical, isn’t it?—and she doesn’t know the first thing about all this!”
    “Florence—”
    “Where’s she going to sleep when she comes to stay?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. Your grandmother lives twenty minutes away—she doesn’t need a room here at all. She can simply drive back to her own house after visiting us. But if you like, you can have the gable room, Grayson can just stay in his old room, Mia can have the corner room, and I’ll clear the study out for Liv.” Ernest smiled at Mom. “I work much too hard anyway. I’ll avoid doing that at home in the future.”
    Hesitantly, Mom returned his smile.
    “Wait a moment—if Liv and Mia are going to be on the second floor too, then who gets my rooms in the attic?” Florence looked penetratingly at Mom. “You, by any chance?”
    “No,” said Mom, sounding scared. “I don’t need much space. Honestly, as far as that goes, I can manage with very little. All I have is a few crates of books. No, your father thought the rooms up there would be just right for Lottie.”
    At this Florence went right off her rocker. “The nanny ?” she cried shrilly, digging her forefinger into the air so hard that she almost poked Mia’s forehead. “These two are far too old for a nanny … and I’m supposed to give up my attic rooms to her and share a bathroom with three other people? Honestly, this is the end!”
    “Lottie is much more than a nanny. She also does almost all the housework, the shopping, and the cooking,” said Ernest. “And as … well … a very important emotional factor, she cannot, at the moment, be excluded from these considerations.”
    “Meaning what?”
    “Meaning that we need Lottie,” I said quietly.
    “Not forever, of course,” Mom made haste to say. “You are quite right, Florence. Mia and Liv are indeed much too old for a nanny. Maybe Lottie will stay another year, maybe only six months.…” She saw Mia’s