Chapter 21
Sitting down by the fireplace in the lounge, Ben could feel Frankie’s strong cocktail seeping through his veins, relaxing him until the stress of the past few weeks and months finally went away.
At least temporarily, he thought, glancing at his grandad who was sitting opposite him. There was still no guarantee that Walter would agree to Lily’s ideas for the whole hotel. Stress was replaced with nerves as to how he would react.
But the alcohol also gave him the strength to bring up the subject, especially when Lily came to sit down on the sofa next to Walter. Safety in numbers, he told himself.
‘So Lily had some different ideas as to decorating the rest of the hotel,’ began Ben. ‘Not just the bedrooms.’
‘I see.’ Walter’s grey eyebrows joined together in a frown.
Ben was a little pleased to see Lily take a nervous sip of her own cocktail before turning to face his grandad.
‘You see, Walter,’ she began. ‘I’ve been thinking that it’s all about adding textures.
The wood is beautiful and natural, of course.
But on the floor, it feels a bit cold and noisy, to be honest. I know rugs would work downstairs here, for instance in front of the fireplace, but upstairs in the bedrooms, we need carpets.
You want it to feel soft and relaxing. Especially under bare feet. ’
‘Carpets?’ repeated Walter, looking surprised.
‘It’s a bedroom,’ she reminded him. ‘And it would be a good noise excluder as well. On top of that, each room needs some texture and colour to make it more warm and inviting. Working with what we’ve got, for example.
I mean, think of that amazing view of the lake.
Plus the forest all around us. It’s just enhancing what Mother Nature has already given us. ’
There was a long silence before Walter finally gave a nod of his head. ‘Sounds good. You know, those people you used to work for must be idiots to let you go.’
‘Thanks,’ said Lily.
Ben was flabbergasted. ‘I’ve been trying to get you to agree to carpets for months!’ he spluttered.
‘Yes, but she said it better,’ said Walter, giving Lily a nudge with his elbow. ‘Besides, she understands about this place, don’t you?’
‘Well, I understand it a bit more having been actually in the lake this afternoon,’ she replied, laughing.
‘You wait until next summer,’ Walter told her. ‘When there’s a heatwave and that water is cool, clear and delicious. There’s nothing like it.’
‘It can’t have been any colder than today,’ said Lily, still smiling.
‘Come and join us, Lily,’ called over Dotty, who was sitting at the table where a large jigsaw was spread out. ‘We need all the help we can get over here.’
Ben watched her as she walked away, those long legs encased in slim jeans, her red hair swinging around her shoulders. She really was one of the most attractive women he had ever met. He dragged his attention back to his grandad now it was just the two of them.
‘So how bad is it?’ asked Walter softly.
Ben gave a start, was his grandad implying that he had a crush on Lily?
‘The books,’ said Walter, a smile twitching on his mouth. ‘How bad are our finances?’
It was the question that Ben had dreaded his grandad asking and yet, in a small way, it was a relief to finally meet Walter’s eyes with the truth.
‘That bad?’ said Walter.
Ben glanced around but the rest of the family were all deep in conversation over the other side of the large room. So he felt safe enough to draw out the letter from the hotel chain from his pocket. He’d been carrying it around like an unexploded bomb for weeks now.
‘I’ve been holding on to this for months,’ he said, holding the letter out for his grandad to take. ‘But I shouldn’t have kept it from you. It was wrong of me.’
Walter took the envelope and opened it up. Ben waited for him to read it, wondering how his grandad would react.
But apart from noticing his grandad’s trembling hand as he handed the letter back to Ben, Walter was calm.
‘Well, thank you for finally telling me the truth,’ said Walter.
‘I’m sorry it isn’t what you wanted to hear,’ Ben told him.
‘And you want to sell to them?’
Ben was aghast and looked at his grandad, feeling horrified. ‘Of course not!’ he said quickly. ‘I haven’t replied and hopefully will never need to. Maple Tree Lodge is not for sale.’
Walter sagged with relief. ‘That’s a lot of money to turn down,’ he muttered.
‘I know.’ Ben grimaced. ‘We can get by without it, I reckon. But we do need to make some changes around here because then I honestly think we might have a fighting chance now, whatever happens,’ carried on Ben.
‘With the renovations and Lily’s ideas for decorating, it gives the hotel the best hope that I think we’ve had in ages. ’
Walter nodded and then cleared his throat. ‘I agree,’ he said. ‘I want to thank you, however this works out.’
Ben stared at his grandad in shock but couldn’t find any words.
‘But when all these updates are done then you must move on. It’s time for you to live your life, not mine. Or your father’s,’ added Walter.
‘You don’t want me here?’ Ben found himself asking. Was the distance between them so great now? he wondered.
‘What I want is for you to carry on living just like you did before,’ said Walter.
In the short silence that followed, only the creaking and cracking of the logs on the open fire filled the air.
‘What if I don’t want to leave?’ asked Ben eventually.
‘Why would you want to stay here?’ said Walter, with a grunt of humour. ‘All those fancy places you designed. You must be climbing the walls being stuck here. You’ve got a real gift,’ he carried on. ‘All that training, all those hours of studying you put in. I was so proud of you. We all were.’
Walter went to carry on but Ben held up his hand. ‘I need to tell you something,’ he began. ‘That architects’ firm in London? All those fancy places I designed? They didn’t fill my soul, not like here. Not like home.’ Ben sighed. ‘The reality wasn’t what I expected.’
Walter gave a sad smile. ‘Life never is, son,’ he replied.
‘But Lily said something to me this afternoon,’ said Ben, remembering her words. ‘About how I could help redesign this place. Not the hotel,’ he said quickly, at his grandad’s alarmed expression. ‘But perhaps we could put in planning permission for some lodges.’
‘Lodges?’ Walter’s grey eyebrows shot up in surprise.
‘Private places for people to stay in,’ carried on Ben. ‘Wood framed. Reflecting the look of the rest of the place. There’s a real demand for this kind of thing from what I’ve heard.’
To his amazement, his grandad broke into a smile. ‘You know, your father had the same idea, I seem to remember.’
‘He did?’ Ben was touched.
But his grandad’s smile faded. ‘You’re never supposed to outlive your own children.
That’s not the way things should be. The guilt has weighed heavily on me that I couldn’t see how ill the pressure of the business was making him.
And I’m sorry I’ve taken out my frustrations on you.
But I don’t want you to become as stressed as your father was.
I don’t want this place to swallow you up either.
And I don’t want to lose you. I love you too much. ’
Ben’s throat grew thick with emotion. ‘I love you too, Grandad,’ he replied.
‘What I’m saying is that I want you to follow your own path, not mine or your dad’s,’ carried on Walter.
‘If that takes you away from us then so be it. We’ll miss you, of course.
But if you’re happy, truly happy, then I can make my peace with that.
’ Walter’s voice began to falter and Ben could hear the true emotion coming through.
‘Because that’s all I ever wanted for you. To be happy.’
‘The trouble is that I wasn’t,’ Ben confessed. ‘And, despite us not getting along so well recently, I’ve really enjoyed being home. I’m not saying that the hotel isn’t worrying me but if we can work together, I think we can save it for all those future generations you were talking about.’
‘What about your own dreams?’ asked Walter. ‘They’re equally important.’
‘What if saving Maple Tree Lodge is my dream too?’ said Ben, suddenly filled with emotion.
The silence stretched out as they locked eyes, his grandad’s tear-filled ones staring back at him.
‘You need to be sure,’ said Walter.
‘This place is in my bones, my soul,’ Ben told him. ‘Perhaps I had to leave to discover that what I really wanted was to be at home.’
Walter’s shoulders relaxed, as if the stress and worry that he had been hanging on to for so many months, even years, finally left him.
‘I was talking with Lily about why I became an architect in the first place,’ said Ben. ‘About building great places that are here for generations to come. Like our hotel.’
Walter nodded. ‘Longevity. Something we can both agree on.’
‘I want to keep it for the future,’ Ben told him in a fierce tone. ‘Protect it. For our family’s future.’
‘You’ll save this place,’ said his grandad, nodding his head. ‘I can feel it. You’re a hard worker, you’re bright, you’re more than capable. You can do anything you set your mind to.’
‘Even save our home?’ asked Ben, suddenly feeling nervous.
‘Even that,’ said Walter. ‘You won’t be alone either. If you can let an old man help you out once in a while.’
‘We’ll save it together, Grandad,’ said Ben. ‘I promise.’
‘Me too, lad.’ Walter gave his hand a squeeze. ‘Me too.’
Ben looked down at the letter he was still clutching in his other hand and made a decision. He reached forward and threw it into the flames, leaving a brief crackle and then it curled up into ashes.
Walter nodded his approval as they both looked at the fire.
Finally free of the letter, Ben could feel the tension leaving him. Change was coming to Maple Tree Lodge at last. And he was so grateful for Lily for being the catalyst for it all, he thought, glancing at her once more.