Chapter 8
Lily was still sitting at the kitchen table in shock when Hannah came into the room.
‘Morning,’ she said, with a yawn. ‘I totally overslept. Must have been Frankie’s strong gin measures.’
Lily smiled, despite feeling wretched after her conversation with Ben. ‘Morning,’ she replied. ‘Frankie does pour a strong drink, that’s for sure.’
‘She used to be a barmaid so I guess she’s got the knack for it.’ Hannah headed over to the warm coffee pot on the side and poured herself a large mugful. Then she joined Lily at the table, still yawning.
‘What have I missed?’ she asked, before taking a sip of her hot drink.
‘Your mum, Frankie and Dotty have headed into town to do some shopping,’ Lily told her. ‘Walter’s around somewhere. And Ben and I have shared our ideas for decorating the hotel.’
Hannah’s pretty face lit up. ‘Great! So he’s going to hire you?’ she asked.
‘I think so,’ began Lily tentatively.
She thought back to Ben’s ideas. All minimalism and no charm. Totally wrong, in her mind. It was the complete antithesis of what she had been creating in her mind. But if it got the job done and that was what the customer wanted, what else could she do?
‘But we still need to agree exact budgets, timelines and the rest of it,’ she carried on. ‘I’m going to show Ben some sketches on my laptop later. So I’ve got a bit of work to do before then.’
‘Oh, you’ll be fine,’ said Hannah, still beaming. ‘I’m so glad it’s going to be you helping us. It’ll be such a great help to everyone knowing that you’ve got the right skills for it. It’s going to look wonderful, I’m sure.’
Lily really wasn’t so sure and was feeling more and more disheartened about her first solo project before it had even begun.
After breakfast, Lily walked outside with Hannah, hoping the fresh air and wonderful view would enliven her mood. She was feeling a little despondent despite the possibility that she might just have her first solo commission.
Walking around the back of the hotel led them to the shoreline of the lake where there was a long stretch of sand onto which the water gently lapped.
As they stood next to the lake in the sunshine, Walter came along the path towards them.
‘Lovely day,’ he said, by way of greeting.
‘Been for your walk?’ asked Hannah.
Walter nodded. ‘Oh, yes,’ he replied. ‘My morning walk around Dragonfly Lake always makes the day a little better.’
‘Dragonfly Lake?’ Lily looked back at the water. ‘What a wonderful name!’
Walter smiled. ‘My grandmother’s idea, apparently,’ he said. ‘She thought the lake should have a proper name.’
‘It’s lovely,’ said Lily. ‘Not that I know much about them.’
Walter came over to stand next to her before pointing at the nearby bank. ‘See there? That blue on the tallest reed.’
Lily squinted at the bunch of reeds until she saw it. ‘There!’ she exclaimed. ‘I can see one!’
In the rays of the early-morning sun, a double set of gossamer wings glinted.
‘It’s so pretty,’ she said, entranced by the bright blue body and sparkling wings. Now she was looking more closely she could see a couple more amongst the reeds.
‘They can’t take off until their wings are dry,’ Walter told her. ‘Watch now. They’ll slowly climb up as the sun warms everything up.’
They watched in peaceful silence for a while until the dragonflies began to flap their wings. As Walter had promised, they edged upwards on the reeds until finally taking flight.
Lily watched in amazement as the blue dragonflies darted around the reed beds and across the water.
‘That was amazing,’ she said, before grimacing. ‘My daily commute is a little more crushed on the tube in rush hour. No room for dragonflies or even space to breathe normally.’
‘You’re still going into the office?’ asked Hannah.
Lily shrugged. ‘My current bedroom isn’t big enough to set up as a work from home environment,’ she replied. ‘So I have to sit on the bed. I mean, I can work anywhere but the office helps. Especially as one of my housemates seems to run an all-day party club.’ She rolled her eyes.
As she spoke, she realised that now that she had lost her job, wherever she was going to work and live in the future, she would need a little more space in her next home.
‘Poor you,’ said Hannah, wrinkling up her nose. ‘I don’t miss housemates like that. Apart from you, Beth and Ella, that is. They were the best of times.’
Lily smiled and nodded. ‘They were,’ she agreed, finding herself wistful at the time spent with her best friends. ‘Thankfully I won’t miss my ghastly housemates after next week when the lease runs out. I’m outta there!’
‘Where are you moving to next?’ asked Hannah.
‘I’ve been so busy that I haven’t worked it out yet,’ she confessed. ‘That’s a job for Monday when I get a free moment.’
‘You’re such a workaholic,’ said Hannah, shaking her head. ‘You work so hard. No wonder you’ve got such a great career whilst mine didn’t even begin.’
A great career? Lily tried not to baulk in front of her friend.
‘What about this, er, what did my grandson call it? Interior design, was it?’ asked Walter. ‘Aren’t you going to be decorating the hotel?’
Lily held up her crossed fingers. ‘I hope so,’ she replied. ‘We just need to finalise plans later today.’
‘You’ll be fine,’ Hannah assured her.
‘I agree,’ said Walter. ‘So why don’t you move in here whilst you work on the place?’
Lily looked at him in amazement. ‘Here?’ she stammered.
‘Why not?’ he told her.
‘Grandad, that’s a great idea,’ said Hannah, her face lighting up as she looked at Lily. ‘It’ll be so lovely! You can get all the peace and quiet here whilst you sort out the interiors. Then it’ll give you time to find your next home.’
Lily immediately felt wary. Mixing work and home life was never a good idea, she reminded herself. Before wondering what on earth home life actually looked like as she had no idea.
‘Best of all, we’ll get to see each other every day,’ added Hannah, her eyes gleaming.
Lily desperately didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings but it was hardly a professional set-up. ‘I don’t know,’ she began.
But, for once, Hannah was being quite forceful.
‘I do,’ she said, in a stern voice. ‘You can keep your room here. It’s not like we’re going to be full any time soon.
I think it’s a brilliant idea. Let me grab my phone.
I’m going to ring the girls! They can come and visit and we’ll all be together at last! ’
As Hannah dashed off, Lily was left frowning to herself, deep in thought.
‘It’s not the worst idea I’ve had,’ said Walter, breaking into her muddled thoughts. ‘After all, if you’re here then Ben won’t be able to turn the hotel into some monochromatic soulless conference place, will he?’ He gave her a pointed look.
‘Conference?’ she stammered.
‘One of his worst ideas,’ said Walter, his mouth going into a thin line. ‘I mean, can you imagine? Thankfully that was a no-go from the start.’
Lily thought back to Ben’s decorating plans and realised that he hadn’t strayed too far from the soulless conference hotel idea, contrary to what Walter was thinking.
Walter was still studying her. ‘So what do you think about the place?’ he asked.
‘Me?’ She tried to look on the positive side of things. ‘Well, I think that if I knew this amazing lake was here then it would be nice if other people could enjoy it as well. Not just the hotel occupants. Hopefully all the work we’ll be putting in will do that.’
Walter frowned. ‘You think you can help with all that with just some paint and curtains?’ he said, before raising his eyebrows.
Lily smiled. ‘Interior design is a bit more than that,’ she told him.
‘It’s about space and light. How a room is going to be used.
The feel of the place. Textures and layers.
’ She stopped and looked at Walter in earnest. ‘But yes, I can do all of that with my designs. They can make a real difference. I wouldn’t lie to you. It’s too important.’
He raised up his chin. ‘You get it. The importance of the place. I like that.’ He gave her a nod. ‘So what did you have in mind?’
For a moment, Lily let her mind wander. ‘A feature wall of wood in each bedroom. Then against a backdrop of the warm oak and neutral tones, I would add hints of colour in the soft furnishings. Greens, taupe and blues to reflect the outside. Bring it indoors. With touches of character as well.’
Then she realised in horror that she had been speaking out loud and, worse than that, she had given Walter her true ideas for the design.
‘Maybe you’ll do an all right job after all, if you can make all that happen,’ Walter said, giving her an approving nod. ‘I warn you though. If you stay here for too long, you’ll never want to leave.’
She smiled at him. ‘I promise you, Walter, that I will be able to leave at the end of the project.’
‘We’ll see,’ he told her, with a knowing smile. ‘Anyway, sounds as if you’ve got a busy day ahead so you’d best get started.’
As he walked away, Lily realised that both Walter and Ben had completely different visions for the hotel and that she was firmly stuck in the middle of their ongoing argument.
Whatever happened in the future, someone was going to have to give way and it wouldn’t help mend an already fractured relationship between the two men.
Despite all of her worries, she allowed herself a small shake of the head. Walter might have been right to agree with her design ideas but he was completely wrong with the notion that she would be staying once the project was complete.
She might be staying at Maple Tree Lodge for a little while longer. But whilst the thought of getting any closer to the family unsettled her, for a brief moment she was surprised to find herself almost relishing the thought.
She also found herself hovering outside for a few more moments to enjoy the glorious view before turning away and heading indoors to get started on her designs.