Chapter 15
Having spent a busy Saturday with her friends, shopping and then going to the local cinema, Sunday morning was a more low-key affair. Especially as Beth and Ella had to catch a train later that afternoon to head home in time for work in the morning.
Lily felt better for the break away from work, despite the pressures of the deadline beginning to creep up on her. She had managed to catch up properly with all her friends and was even beginning to relax for the first time in a long time, she felt.
‘How are you getting to the train station?’ asked Faye when they all gathered around the long table for breakfast.
‘Frankie says her godson has offered us a free lift,’ replied Ella.
‘Wow.’ Hannah blinked a few times, appearing surprised. ‘What did he want in return?’
Lily laughed. ‘You sound just like your brother, all suspicious!’ she said.
Hannah smiled. ‘Rightly so, where Del is concerned.’ She looked at Ella. ‘Don’t tell me, he wants you to sort out some marketing or some such thing.’
‘Well…’ Ella’s voice trailed off as she realised it was true. ‘Actually, he did mention something about his taxi service website needing a makeover.’
‘Ha! Told you so,’ said Hannah, sinking onto a stool and sipping her coffee. ‘He means well but if Del gives you a favour he expects one in return. Unless he wants a date instead?’
‘Eww, no!’ Ella made a face. ‘I mean, he’s a nice guy but no! Not my type. Besides, I only like a man if he’s like my weekends: gone by Monday morning. ’
Lily smiled at her friend. Ella had long since declared that she would never find Mr Right but was happy to consider quite a few Mr Wrongs instead.
Ella looked at Hannah. ‘Maybe he’s your type instead?’ she teased.
Hannah shook her head so strongly her blonde hair swung about her face. ‘Oh, no. Not Del. He’s almost family! Anyway, I’m sworn off all men for the foreseeable future.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Walter, coming into the kitchen. ‘So I won’t be getting any great-grandchildren any time soon?’
‘Ha!’ laughed Hannah. ‘You’d better have a word with Ben instead, Grandad.’
‘Humph,’ said Walter. ‘No chance there either.’ He shook his head. ‘You youngsters have no idea about love and romance.’
‘Not much chance of that around here,’ said Frankie, following him into the kitchen to place a shopping bag on the counter.
‘And on that note, I’m going to get dressed.’ Hannah stood up and stretched. ‘I’m so sleepy today.’
‘A bit of fresh air would wake you up,’ said Walter.
‘I think it might,’ replied Hannah. ‘Do you know, we still haven’t shown Lily around the lake. Good as time as any, I reckon.’
Ella and Beth nodded their approval.
‘What do you say, Lily?’ asked Hannah.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ replied Lily.
‘Great!’ Hannah looked pleased. ‘Meet you in the entrance hall in a while.’
As Lily was the only one who had got dressed for breakfast, she was able to quickly grab her wellies and coat from upstairs before heading outside.
It was such a beautiful day, she thought, taking a deep breath in. The early gloom had disappeared and there was nothing but a wide-open blue sky mirrored in the water across the lake. There was no sound of traffic, no congestion, no people, she realised. Just her and nature.
‘Not bad, is it?’ said Walter, coming to stand next to her.
‘It’s lovely,’ said Lily. ‘The colours are amazing.’
She looked across once more to where the maples were now wearing their autumnal splendour, coloured deep shades of red and gold scattered all around the surrounding forest.
‘I think it’s my favourite season when it’s like this,’ said Walter. ‘But then again, I say that about every season here.’
‘How long have you lived here?’ asked Lily.
‘All my life,’ he replied. ‘Never wanted to be anywhere else, to be honest.’
‘I can see why,’ she told him.
‘Which makes me all the more puzzled as to why folks don’t want to come here,’ carried on Walter. ‘I mean, look at it.’
He had a point, thought Lily. ‘I agree,’ she said. ‘But perhaps Ben’s new ideas will help bring in the guests once more.’
Walter’s good mood faded. ‘He shouldn’t be here. He should be off living his life,’ he muttered.
Lily was surprised at the fierceness of his tone. ‘Maybe he wants to be here,’ she told him. ‘After all, this is his home too. Some of us don’t have one of those, not a permanent one in any case.’
Walter looked at her with piercing blue eyes.
‘I guess not.’ He turned back to look at the lake.
‘Maybe you’re right. This place is certainly in his blood.
When he was young, he loved working with the timber.
He understood the importance of taking care of the land.
That we’re just caretakers. You don’t own it.
It belongs to nature.’ He sighed. ‘He and I used to spend hours together in my workshop.’
‘Maybe that’s where he got his love of architecture from,’ she told him.
Walter huffed. ‘He’s got a rare talent,’ he said, with a proud look on his face. ‘Hate to see him wasting it out here in the middle of nowhere.’
‘But as you said, it’s his home,’ Lily reminded him.
Walter sighed heavily but didn’t reply.
Before she could ask him any more, she saw Hannah, Beth and Ella walking towards them and, after a short greeting, Hannah’s grandad walked away.
‘What was that about?’ asked Hannah, as they all began to walk the circuit of the lake.
‘He was telling me how much Ben used to love helping in his workshop,’ replied Lily.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Hannah, nodding and smiling in memory. ‘You could only lure him out of there with food sometimes.’ She took in a deep breath of the crisp cold air. ‘Hate to see him and Grandad so far apart after everything that’s happened this year.’
Beth reached out and linked arms with Hannah, giving her a squeeze.
‘You must miss your dad very much,’ said Beth.
Hannah nodded. ‘Oh, yes,’ she said, breathing out a sigh. ‘I miss his hearty laugh and the way he was always there with a warm hug. But most of all,’ she hesitated before carrying on, ‘most of all, I miss how we all were so much happier back then.’
‘How has it changed?’ asked Lily.
‘Take Grandad and Grandma for a start,’ Hannah told her.
‘Grandad tries so hard to prove that he’s up to running the hotel when he clearly isn’t because he’s nearly eighty and allowed to be tired some of the time.
Grandma seems to have lost her spirit as well.
Mum’s so sad too. And Ben? Well, he’s so busy I’m not sure he’s even had time to grieve these past few months. ’
‘And what about you?’ asked Ella. ‘You’re important as well.’
‘Me?’ Hannah gave her a small smile. ‘I just try and help in my own small way. Cake helps, I’ve been told.’ Her face dropped. ‘Not that it’s any use, I’m sure.’
Lily looked at her friend, hearing the pain in her voice. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t come and see you sooner. I should have made the time to come and see you when you were hurting so bad.’
‘Thanks but it’s fine,’ said Hannah with a small shrug. ‘We all know how busy you are.’
They carried on walking but still Lily felt guilty that she’d been so busy with work that she hadn’t seen quite how much Hannah was struggling with her grief.
‘Maybe I should start wild swimming again,’ said Hannah, looking out across the water. ‘Grandma always used to as well when the weather was warmer but it’s been a few years now since we bothered, to be honest.’
Ella shuddered. ‘Isn’t it a little cold for that at the moment?’
‘It clears the mind,’ Hannah told her. ‘And it’s probably better for me than baking all the time.’
‘Are you kidding?’ said Beth, giving her a nudge with her elbow. ‘I’ve tasted your chocolate cake and it’s amazing.’
As usual, Hannah shrugged off the compliment and led them over a narrow wooden bridge.
They carried on around the lake and Lily found there was a beautiful view whichever way she looked.
Out across the lake, the bullrushes nodded gently in the soft breeze with the call of the moorhens as they bobbed about on the water.
In the forest that hugged the path all the way around, squirrels leapt from tree to tree, gathering up the acorns that were scattered across the leaf-strewn floor.
Underneath the horse chestnut trees, glossy conkers lay amongst the amber leaves that had already fallen from its branches.
They crossed another wooden bridge on the opposite side of the lake as they headed towards the boathouse.
It was another building made up of layers of logs but this time it was set over the water on large timber stilts.
Underneath the floor of the boathouse, Lily could see a rowing boat tied up in one of the three docks underneath.
‘I can show you my boating skills, if you like,’ said Hannah, with a laugh.
‘I’m staying with my feet firmly on terra firma, thank you very much,’ Ella told her with a shudder.
‘I spent those three weeks in the Antarctic studying the southern skies,’ said Beth. ‘I’m pretty good in a canoe. You know, with someone else helping.’
‘Don’t look at me!’ said Lily, laughing.
They were all giggling and linking arms as they walked back towards the hotel. It had been an absolute tonic to see her friends again, thought Lily. How much stronger she felt for being together with them once more.
She just wished that she could share the secret plans she had for the hotel with them all. But perhaps it was better this way for the time being, she told herself.