Chapter 6
Once dinner was over and the plates had been cleared, Ben leant back in his chair, feeling exhausted. He hadn’t had a day off in months and was willing to let the family concentrate on Lily and the conversation washed over him.
‘I still can’t believe your family built all of this,’ Lily was saying to Hannah, as she looked around the room.
‘Well, to be fair, it was already built,’ Dotty told her. ‘Walter and Tony, our son, just added a few more rooms, as well as the veranda.’ She shot Lily a grin. ‘I did help with that though. I’m great with a hammer and a bunch of nails.’
Ben smiled to himself. His grandmother had always had a passion for life, although the loss of her son had taken its toll. She seemed a little older these days, not wanting to socialise with her friends and staying in most of the time despite encouragement from everyone else.
‘Thankfully we’ve always had plenty of trees to use,’ added Walter. ‘Our very own builders’ merchants here on our doorstep.’
‘The wood certainly adds a lovely warmth to the place,’ replied Lily.
Walter nodded. ‘It does. I like to think that’s what my grandfather thought all those years ago.’
Ben waited in anticipation for the familiar story to be told.
‘Five generations of the Jackson family have lived here,’ began Walter. ‘In 1918, my grandfather bought the land. We’ve got fifty acres of woodland and a fifty-acre lake as well, you know. So he had lots of materials to start building himself a home for his family.’
‘Amazing,’ murmured Lily. ‘Which bit of the building was the original part?’
‘This here kitchen,’ Walter told her. ‘The reception hall was the sitting room in those days. Then he added the stairs and added the bedrooms upstairs.’ Walter pointed at the ceiling. ‘Then my father and me added the other wing, the lounge downstairs and more bedrooms.’
‘That must have taken a lot of work,’ Lily told him with a soft smile.
‘I was younger and fitter back then,’ he admitted.
Ben found himself surprised at his grandad’s admission that age had taken its toll.
‘I’m still cutting logs and doing my bit,’ he carried on quickly, with a glance at Ben. It was as if he didn’t want to admit that he couldn’t cope any more, thought Ben. That he needed to be helpful and necessary to the hotel.
‘I’m sure you are,’ said Lily.
‘But it was always about the trees and the lake for me,’ carried on Walter. ‘Tony, our son, loved working with wood, like me. Made this table and chairs, didn’t he, Ben?’
Ben nodded in response, taking a sip of his beer instead of looking at his grandad.
He’d practically grown up with a chisel in his hand, it felt.
And yet it had been years since he had cut down trees or worked with the wood to create anything.
Growing up, it had been his grandad, his dad and Ben busy in the outside workshop, chatting and laughing as they worked.
It had been a happy childhood spent mostly outside.
Now it was just him and his grandad and the gulf between them felt huge.
Feeling uncomfortable, Ben drained his beer and pushed his chair away from the table. ‘Well, I’ve got some admin to do in the office,’ he lied. But he stayed in his seat, reluctant to face up to the paperwork.
Most of the time he spent in the office was looking at the invoices for all the expensive work that had been carried out over the summer and worrying about the next payments.
Dotty yawned. ‘Time for us to wander back home, Walter,’ she said, looking weary.
They wished everyone goodnight and left soon afterwards to head back to the small lodge a few yards away.
‘How about a nightcap in the lounge?’ Hannah asked Lily.
‘I’d love it,’ replied Lily.
‘Great,’ said Hannah, standing up. ‘Just let me go and get a sweater. It’s colder tonight, isn’t it?’
Lily stood up, looking a little awkward as Hannah suddenly left the room. Frankie was helping Faye in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and setting up some breakfast things in the kitchen, which left Lily alone with Ben at the table.
‘Have you seen the lounge yet?’ Ben asked her.
She shook her head in response.
‘Oh, yes, show her the view across the lake,’ said Faye with an encouraging smile. ‘It’s a full moon.’
So Ben led Lily out of the kitchen, across the hallway and into the large lounge where he switched on the overhead lights.
The lounge had always been one of his favourite rooms. Perhaps it was the happy memories growing up of Christmas days spent in front of the tree or lively games of Monopoly which the whole family participated in.
The room hadn’t changed at all since he had grown up.
It always felt light and airy, with its high ceiling and oak beams. The large windows and new French doors framed the glorious view outside when it was daytime.
The huge chimney breast had been made with the same sandy brick stone used elsewhere and the fire that had been lit before dinner had begun to run low.
Ben went over to place another couple of logs on the fire before turning around.
In deference to the many workmen who had come and gone over the past few months, any decorations had been taken down with only the large brown leather sofas and oak coffee table remaining, positioned near the fireplace.
He then headed over to the French doors to open them up and show Lily the view.
And what a view it was, he thought, especially on a night like this.
The rest of the place might feel like a building site with wires hanging out the walls and scaffolding in the hallway but the view from the lounge offered nothing but serenity and calm.
The stars were magnified in the black sky above and, where the rain clouds had finally cleared, were mirrored on the still water.
As his mother had promised, the full moon shone down onto the lake, its reflection rippled from the gentle breeze that came across from the hills beyond.
Everything else, from the trees in the forest to the boathouse nearby, was in inky darkness.
For a moment, Ben and Lily remained silent as they looked at the view.
But when Lily went to step forward onto the veranda, Ben stuck out his arm to stop her.
‘Careful,’ he advised. ‘It’s pretty rotten down this end.’
She looked down and even in the semi-darkness, they could both see the gaps where the wood had disintegrated into the lapping water below.
‘Yet another job on my list to do,’ he said. Although his grandad was insisting that they replaced the long balcony in its original design of solid wood, whereas Ben’s instinct was to add some large glass panes to show off even more of the view from inside.
He felt Lily turn to look at him and, realising he was still holding on to her, quickly let go of her arm.
‘Have you always run the hotel?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘No, I became an architect instead,’ he replied.
She looked impressed but he knew that it hadn’t become the dream job he had been hoping for.
‘So you’re home for a while?’ she asked. ‘You’re taking a career break?’
He nodded. ‘The family needed me,’ he said simply.
‘Of course,’ she replied in a softer tone. ‘I’m sorry to hear you lost your dad this year.’
He nodded. ‘Thank you.’
The truth was that he hadn’t really had time to grieve for his dad.
He had come home to support his family and that support, overwhelming as it felt at times, had given him no time for emotions or to show weakness.
He had to stay strong for the rest of the family.
But sometimes he just felt exhausted by it all.
The responsibility for the family home and the livelihoods of everyone who depended on Maple Tree Lodge was all-encompassing. He was trying to protect both the past and the future for everyone and he still wasn’t sure it was enough.
‘Erm, I couldn’t help but notice that I’m the only one staying here,’ she carried on.
‘We’ve been having some major renovations,’ he told her. ‘They’re almost done and when they are, hopefully the guests will begin to return pretty soon.’
He had decided a while ago that he needed to treat the hotel like a business. It was the only way to deal with the mess and insecurity hanging over his family. He remained detached from it all, businesslike in all matters.
There was no time for play, women or otherwise.
Even his best friends had been moaning about not seeing him.
He had met Jake and Alex at university and they had remained close ever since, despite their hectic schedules.
Three months had now passed since he had seen them.
But whilst his single friends talked about their busy lives, Ben’s own life felt as if it were on hold.
Ben glanced at Lily once more and as she looked up, her green eyes locked with his.
He found, to his surprise, that he felt a jolt deep within.
A spark of something new and exciting. The romance of the stars and the lake obviously helped, he reminded himself.
Besides, romance seemed like something from a long time ago in his life.
Even his best friends teased him about his lack of dates these days.
All work and no play makes Ben a dull boy. But he had no time for any of that.
He looked away as he stared down at the water once more. So Lily was attractive, so what? He’d met pretty women before without having this kind of effect on him. Besides, this was someone who was there in a professional capacity as well as her friendship with Hannah.
‘I have to confess that I don’t know much about interior design,’ he told her, dragging his mind back to business.
‘Can we have a chat tomorrow morning about your design ideas and where they might fit in with my own plans for the hotel?’ He looked back into the lounge as Hannah wandered in.
‘I’ll leave you and Hannah to catch up tonight. ’
Lily nodded. ‘Of course,’ she said, giving him a smile before heading inside.
He glanced briefly at her long legs, shown off by her slim fitted jeans, before turning to close and lock the French doors.
As he crossed the lounge, he heard Hannah say, ‘Frankie’s made us a couple of her special cocktails. Cheers!’
Then he left the room and headed towards the office. His life suddenly felt very empty, devoid of dates and the life that had been full before he had returned home. He wanted that life back but with his partnership sold, there was nothing for him to return to.
So he was stuck here at the hotel but even then he wasn’t really in charge. It just felt like a terrible burden that he wanted to be rid of. But he couldn’t because he needed to take care of his family. He wanted to live his life and yet what life could he possibly have in the middle of nowhere?
He wanted freedom to make his own decisions and the lure of taking work away from there was tempting. But the thought of abandoning his family was too much to bear.
It surprised him to feel this stressed because he had always thrived under pressure, unlike Hannah.
But he knew that it was because this time, the project as he viewed it, was personal. Personal for him, for his family’s future.
He was trying to please his family but everyone still seemed extremely unhappy. He was failing, feeling trapped and out of control.
And he couldn’t see how on earth anything could change for the better, no matter how many new ideas he tried to come up with.
It felt as if time was running out for Maple Tree Lodge.