Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor

Chapter 8

Gemma pulled off the wellington boots she was becoming accustomed to and adjusted the socks that nearly came off with them. She let herself in the back door, having taken a hike up to the lake to clear her head. She’d been here for almost three weeks, and although it was still overwhelming, the place was becoming familiar. As was the family. In very different ways.

Pippa was still on a mission to make Gemma her best friend. They were spending practically all their evenings together, and Pippa was undoubtedly lovely: warm, open, friendly and interested. She told Gemma all about their upbringing at Meadowbrook, the tragedy of losing their mother when Pippa was barely a toddler, how Harriet had stepped up to the role of matriarch of the family, and how awful it had been when she had to go to boarding school. Gemma had been filled in on the history of the Singers, and it gave her a clearer picture of who she was working with; although she wasn’t sure that Harriet would be pleased at quite how much Pippa was sharing with her.

At the same time, Gemma still wasn’t as forthcoming in return. She chose carefully what she said to Pippa – it was necessary to hold part of herself back for so many reasons. She was honest, though, as she talked her about her nan’s dementia, about Chris and also, without meaning to, she’d said a bit about her parents leaving her. Pippa liked to ask about Chris, in the way that it bonded them with his similarities to Mark. Gemma couldn’t help but be more open than she had ever intended, and she enjoyed Pippa’s friendship in a way she never had with anyone else.

Her relationships with the rest of the Singers varied from person to person. Gus was her favourite after Pippa, but then he was the least demanding on her time. As well as the gardens and his paintings, he had Amanda and the two girls to keep him busy, so he left the details of the running of Meadowbrook largely to the others. But Gus was funnier than he appeared, and he was easy to be around. When she thanked him and Amanda for the flowers, they brushed it off as if it were nothing, rather than one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her.

Gemma saw him at the animal sanctuary and, of course, in the gardens with Amanda, where they always tried to involve her. Increasingly, Gemma was beginning to appreciate the gardens as a way to make her feel relaxed, so she was trying to get more involved, letting them teach her a little about plants and flowers.

In the sanctuary, Gus liked to work with the pigs, and he explained how fond he was of them as he introduced her to them. They had five pigs now: Napoleon, Cleopatra, Geoffrey and Bubble and Squeak. They were enormous and Gemma found them quite intimidating; four were from homes where they were supposed to be domestic micropigs who turned out to be fully grown. How could so many people be duped like that? Probably served them right for trying to be fashionable with their pets; although, of course, it was the animals who suffered in the long run.

Not that the Meadowbrook pigs exactly suffered. They had lots of room, a lovely shelter, plenty to eat – as Gus explained, it was all organic, which meant they probably ate better than she did. They were very content and well looked after, so at least they had happy endings, even if they were anything but micro. The final pig, Gus had told her, was his favourite – although out of earshot of the others; apparently, pigs were sensitive. This was Geoffrey, a pig who was used for breeding and had been retired to Meadowbrook. According to Gus, Geoffrey was the warmest, most loving pig he had ever met. Gemma didn’t get too close; she just took his word for it. But Geoffrey did seem to be enjoying his new retirement home.

She was getting used to being with the cats, and was happy to feed them, pet them, talk to them and get to know them. Connor had introduced her to each of them, showing how caring he really was, as they patiently went to each one, making sure they spent time petting them all.

There were fifteen cats at the moment, and an old man called Albert was her favourite. He wasn’t the friendliest – in fact, he hissed at her quite a bit – but he was a big tabby who looked as if he had a permanent scowl. For some reason, Gemma was spending her time trying to win him over. She felt as if he needed a friend, even if he didn’t know it. She also had a ridiculous notion that if she could win him over, she might be able to do the same with Harriet.

She realised that at Meadowbrook they were all a little potty about the animals – they all had names, personalities and were talked about as if they were people – but she also found that she was quickly doing the same. Albert, her grumpy old man, was now one of her favourite things about the place.

Harriet was perfectly polite to her, but she definitely hadn’t thawed totally, and still treated her with suspicion. Harriet asked a lot of questions and although Pippa did the same, Gemma always felt Harriet wanted to trip her up. She knew she might be paranoid, but it was just how she felt.

And Freddie clearly thought she was an idiot. It didn’t help that she turned into a klutz around him, always banging into things, or stammering, unable to get her words out. It wasn’t the image she wanted to project, but she found him so intimidating, in a different way to Harriet. She was getting used to drinking more now, although it still wasn’t enough to impress Freddie. The problem was that she wished she could be more like him, and deep down she knew she also wished that he liked her a bit more.

The house was eerily quiet as she made her way into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. She did so and then went to take it upstairs. She wondered if anyone was home. Meadowbrook felt wrong when it was empty – too big, too quiet – and she could see that the house needed filling with people. She understood more why they thought a boutique hotel would be perfect.

She heard voices coming from the study and although she knew she shouldn’t, she paused. Hoping that whoever was in there wouldn’t suddenly come out, she put her ear to the door.

She heard Freddie’s voice. ‘Look, Harry, she might come home anytime, so perhaps we shouldn’t be talking about her here.’

‘We’re not doing anything wrong,’ Harriet countered. ‘I’m just saying that she’s been here for a few weeks, and I’m not sure what she’s done in that time.’

Gemma felt her heart sink into her thick woollen socks.

‘Well I think she’s done loads,’ Pippa said loyally. ‘She’s getting a real feel for the place, and she’s great with the cats.’

‘That’s all well and good, Pip, but she’s meant to be helping us come up with a model for the hotel, and as far as I can see she barely even mentions it,’ Harriet continued.

‘I’m not sure that’s fair, Harry. I think she’s getting a feel for the place,’ Gus mumbled. ‘She is interested in the gardens, and as Pippa said, the sanctuary. I think you’re being a little harsh, Harry.’

‘And she hasn’t even tried to talk to me about the cocktail bar,’ Freddie huffed.

‘But—’ Pippa started.

‘No, Pip, I know you think she’s your friend, but she is here to do a job. Right, my proposal is that her month’s trial is up end of next week, so we ask her to present her ideas to us in a professional way. We need something concrete, so if they’ve got substance, if she’s got substance, we’ll know then.’

‘But that’s so not fair,’ Pippa argued.

‘Why not?’ Freddie asked.

‘Because I really like her,’ Pippa said weakly.

‘You really liked your husband and look where that got you,’ Freddie pointed out.

‘Fred, that’s unnecessary,’ Gus said.

‘Sorry,’ Freddie mumbled.

‘Anyway, I didn’t like him that much.’

Everyone laughed.

Once again, Gemma marvelled at their relationship. They bickered, yes, but they were so close, and they loved each other. They were all so different but they supported each other. And Gemma was reminded, starkly, that she was an outsider. Literally, as she couldn’t pull herself away from the door.

‘So we’re agreed then,’ Harriet said.

‘Not exactly,’ Pippa huffed.

‘Look, Pip, I hope she works out, I really do, and I’m glad you two get on so well, I’m just saying that perhaps if we get her to do a presentation for us, then we’ll have a clearer idea about her proposals for Meadowbrook and if she even has any. I’m not doing this to be horrible, but it is business at the end of the day.’ Harriet sounded kinder.

‘We are paying her a decent salary, after all,’ Gus concurred.

Gemma liked him a little bit less.

‘Yes, and if we’re ever going to open this hotel, we need to get plans underway,’ Freddie stated. ‘Sooner rather than later.’

Gemma balked – it wasn’t as if he seemed to do any work, after all.

‘Well, I suppose asking her to present her ideas isn’t too bad. After all, I am confident she has loads of them,’ Pippa conceded. ‘But let me tell her. You guys – well not you, Gus – but you two will probably scare her off if you do it.’

Gemma scurried away before she got caught.

Her heart pounded as she shut the door. She had known she wouldn’t be able to pull it off. But then she had to – she had no choice. They were going to ask her to present her ideas. She didn’t have any, well she did, but she didn’t have anything like a clear plan yet. She’d have to get one done and quickly.

She propped herself up on the bed, the bed that might not be hers for much longer, and sipped her cold tea. Then she pulled her books out from under the bed and opened one entitled A Practical Guide to Opening a Hotel, and began to read.

Chapter 9

‘Ow, Fred, you kicked me,’ Pippa shouted.

Freddie glared from across the table. Gemma let herself glance, briefly, at him. She had a good idea of what was coming but, of course, she kept quiet. They were having breakfast, and Gemma couldn’t shake the conversations she’d overheard yesterday. This always happened to her, didn’t it? No one thought she was ever good enough. Gemma tried to breathe – drowning in self-pity doesn’t do anyone any good, she heard her nan’s voice saying.

‘Sorry,’ Freddie mumbled, ‘it was an accident.’

‘Gemma, the thing is that Harry and the others, well me too, of course, but not me as much as the others—’

‘Pip, spit it out,’ Freddie interrupted.

‘Sorry.’ Poor Pippa looked both uncomfortable and distraught. ‘The thing is that well, of course, you have your month’s trial, which I didn’t want, but anyway, we were wondering if you’d be able to give us a presentation at the end of it, so we can all sort of see where we are with the hotel planning so far.’ Pippa looked down, unable to meet Gemma’s gaze.

For selfish reasons, Gemma might not be thrilled about it, but of course they were perfectly within their rights, actually sensible, to do this. She just needed to pull the presentation off in order to keep her job. And at the moment, she was still pretty unsure if she could.

‘Of course, I was going to do that anyway,’ Gemma fibbed. ‘At the moment, I have so many ideas that they all need putting in some kind of order, which was my next step, so no problem.’ She smiled broadly. ‘But also, Pippa, I’ve made a list of five of the nearest small hotels in Somerset, and I thought we could visit them all – research purposes. I want to show you what’s already out there. Mostly so we make sure we do something different, stand out.

‘And, Freddie, we need to have a proper chat about the bar you’re planning. I have already started looking into the licences and legalities, but it would be good if we could start talking through the details.’ She felt her leg shaking under the table, but she hoped she sounded professional.

‘Of course,’ Freddie replied, surprise lacing his voice.

‘Great.’ Gemma smiled. ‘So, Pippa, how about today for the hotel visits? No time like the present.’

‘Oh, I’d love that,’ Pippa squealed in delight. ‘And we get to spend the day together!’ She really needed to take “boss” lessons from Harriet.

‘And I’ll start putting down my bar ideas today as well,’ Freddie said. ‘Then we can have a meeting.’ He seemed to have a found little bit of respect in his voice too, as he gave her one of his gorgeous smiles, which almost made her melt.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.