Chapter 10
Sleeping in a bed rather than on the sofa, Beth had a much better night’s sleep and even slept in until mid-morning.
With Noah using the empty room in the family quarters, Lily had given her one of the hotel guest bedrooms to use, now that so many were empty.
It was the end of the weekend but also the storm warnings had put off quite a few customers.
As she lay in bed, Beth could hear the rain and wind lashing against the window.
Monday morning. It was time to start looking for a new job.
In fact, if she had lost the magazine column as well as her waitressing job, she needed two to make ends meet.
Although the thought of having to leave Maple Tree Lodge depressed her.
It felt like a bubble away from the harsh realities of the outside world.
The outside world which contained cheaters like Jeremy.
She sighed to herself. Another broken relationship.
She was stacking up quite a few. Perhaps when her life was settled she would ensure that she chose a more suitable partner next time.
If there was to even be a next time, she reminded herself.
Maybe she really was better off alone, she thought.
But even that gave her no comfort. She had always dreamed of a happy ever after, of living a long and happy life with the man of her dreams. She loved romance and love and all the happiness that could bring.
But at that moment, it all seemed even further out of reach for her.
After getting dressed in her favourite flared dungarees and a striped pink jumper, she trudged downstairs, dreading the moment when she would have to leave later on.
However, her depressed mood came to an abrupt halt when she discovered not only Lily and Hannah in the kitchen waiting for her, but Ella as well.
‘What are you doing here?’ shrieked Beth, rushing over to give Ella a hug.
‘Got the first train out of Manchester this morning,’ Ella told her, squeezing her tight before stepping back. ‘I called in a sickie. I’m due a few days off. I’ve worked the past three weekends and was desperate to see you all.’
Where Beth’s career had never really taken off, Ella’s skills with marketing had been truly successful.
So much so that she had recently become an account manager for a large social media firm.
If that didn’t give her enough to do, Ella was now also an influencer in her limited spare time.
Her lifestyle blog, where she not only curated beautiful looks but also shared invaluable advice on marketing, was becoming successful in its own right and Ella had plans to take it onto the next level and finally become her own full-time boss.
‘Poor you,’ said Beth. ‘You must be shattered.’
If she was, Ella didn’t show it. As always, Ella was immaculately dressed, despite it being a non-work day, in a short grey knitted dress, as well as knee-length brown boots which matched the wide belt which cinched her small waist. With her subtle make-up and perfect hair, Ella was a total contrast to Beth’s own vintage style.
But as always, Beth was grateful to see one of her favourite people because Ella had a heart of gold.
‘I needed to make sure you were okay,’ Ella told Beth, giving her a onceover with her eyes. ‘And are you?’
Beth sank down onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
‘Yes and no,’ she replied. ‘I mean, another relationship is over and all that.’ Beth rolled her eyes at herself.
‘But I guess, more pressing at this moment in time is the matter of income. I need to move out of that horrible flat but if I’ve lost my magazine column on top of the restaurant shutting down, I’m going to run out of money fast.’
Ella shook her head before sitting down next to her. ‘There is no reason why you should lose your magazine column just because he’s a lying cheater. That’s wrongful dismissal.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Hannah, nodding furiously, sitting on the opposite side of the table and surreptitiously breaking up a croissant to feed to Tiny the dog who was sprawled under the table.
‘Why should you get punished instead of him?’ asked Lily, heading over to the coffee pot on the counter.
Beth shrugged her shoulders. ‘I know,’ she said, blowing out a sigh. ‘But between the waitressing job finishing and my tenancy coming to an end, I need to sort my life out. It’s all such a mess.’
‘Okay,’ said Ella, with a forceful nod. ‘Don’t bundle it all up together. The four of us can work it out. Right? First of all, where are you going to live?’
‘And does it have to be another awful room in the middle of London?’ asked Lily, screwing up her face in distaste as she handed Beth a mug of steaming hot coffee. ‘Because we’ve seen where you’ve been living and I normally feel I have to bathe in sanitiser afterwards.’
Ella shuddered. ‘Agreed.’
‘My budget isn’t exactly going to afford me the Ritz,’ Beth reminded them.
‘Who needs the Ritz?’ asked Hannah. ‘Anyway, talking of hotels, why don’t you just stay here?’
Beth looked at her generous friend. ‘Because I can’t afford your room rate,’ she told her. ‘However tempting.’
Hannah shook her head. ‘I’m not talking about as a hotel guest. I’m talking about you staying in the spare bedroom in the family quarters. After all, you’re family.’
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ said Lily, nodding.
For a brief, glorious moment, Beth was tempted. To live at Maple Tree Lodge was a dream come true. But it wasn’t a practical solution, however wonderful it sounded.
‘I can’t,’ she told them.
Hannah’s face dropped. ‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘The room would be free.’
‘Exactly.’ Beth looked at her friend’s kind face. ‘It’s not right. I can’t just stay here indefinitely like some kind of freeloader.’
‘Who said you’d be freeloading?’ said Lily, laughing. ‘We always need help around here with cleaning and tidying up the rooms.’
‘And you can give me a hand in the Boathouse Café,’ added Hannah.
‘So you’d be paying for your keep in kind,’ said Ella, with a nod. ‘Right, that’s bed and board sorted and you’re staying here for the foreseeable future until you’re back on your feet again.’
‘Now wait a minute,’ began Beth, shaking her head. ‘I haven’t agreed that I’m going to stay here next.’
‘Don’t you want to stay here with us?’ asked Hannah. ‘Tiny still has real abandonment issues if you’re thinking of leaving any time soon.’
The bump underneath the kitchen table as the enormous dog, hearing his name, stood up and hit his head made everyone smile, including Beth.
‘You know the answer to that already,’ replied Beth, reaching out to stroke Tiny’s head as he appeared from under the table. ‘But it still feels like I’m getting nowhere with my life.’
Lily held up her hand to quieten her. ‘Life happens. Coffee helps,’ she added, reaching out to pick up her mug of coffee. ‘Now, let’s get our hive mind on and work out what you can do for a job next.’
Ella nodded in agreement. ‘One hundred per cent agree,’ she said. ‘You need to take control like I’m doing. As soon as I’ve reached 250,000 followers I’m branching out on my own and leaving my job because that’s the next step in my plan.’
‘And what is your plan?’ asked Lily.
‘World domination,’ replied Ella, with a grin. ‘I’m going to make it a beautiful, stylish place and ban Crocs forever.’
‘I love my Crocs,’ said Hannah.
Ella frowned at her. ‘For the sake of our friendship, I’m going to forget you ever said that,’ she told her, before turning to look at Beth. ‘Right. It’s time to earn a living from that big brain of yours.’
Beth sighed. ‘I’ve tried, honestly I have, but nobody wants me or my PhD,’ she said.
‘Then they must be mad,’ said Hannah, reaching out across the table to squeeze Beth’s hand.
‘I agree,’ said Lily, before turning her head. ‘Hang on. I think there’s someone at reception. I’ll be right back.’
As Lily left the kitchen, Beth leant down to stroke Tiny’s fur as he slumped against her feet. However, she slowly became aware that Ella was scrutinising her in a measured way.
‘What?’ she asked. ‘Have I got something on my face?’
Ella shook her head. ‘No, I was just thinking how we can market you,’ she replied. ‘It’s my job so let me run with this for a little while. You’re young, bright and when you’re not dressed in those awful dungarees, you’re smoking hot too.’
‘They’re vintage Levi’s,’ protested Beth.
Ella shuddered. ‘You’re not going to make me love them so let it go,’ she said. ‘We need a way to show people how bright you are so you can reveal that scary amount of knowledge you’ve got going on all the time.’
‘Well, I tried that with my blog,’ began Beth but she didn’t get to finish.
‘That’s it!’ declared Ella, her eyes gleaming. ‘I forgot about your blog. What’s it called again?’
‘Starry Skies,’ replied Beth, bringing out her phone to bring up the blog.
‘Hmm, let’s remake that into Beth’s Starry Skies so that you’re the focus,’ said Ella, tapping her chin in thought. ‘How many followers have you got?’
Beth grimaced. ‘About twenty and I think four of those are my best friends,’ she told her.
‘Okay.’ Ella nodded. ‘Well, I can work on the algorithms so that you start to gain some traction out there.’
‘That sounds great.’ Beth nodded thoughtfully. ‘I mean, it would be my dream to make a living from using my knowledge.’
‘Show me what it looks like,’ said Ella.
Beth handed over her mobile and Ella’s excited face dropped a little.
‘Okay, well, this isn’t going to work,’ she said. ‘It needs to be dreamy and romantic, like you. It’s pretty dull to look at. Where are the visuals? Those sparkly stars in the sky and all that.’
‘I haven’t really got any,’ Beth told her. ‘I just look at the stars, not take photos of them.’
‘You know who could do that for you?’ said Hannah, with a grin. ‘Grandma.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ replied Ella. ‘Dotty takes amazing photos.’
Hannah’s grandmother had been a photographer in her youth and continued to take landscape photographs of Maple Tree Lodge and its grounds which decorated the walls of the hotel.
‘We’ll get Grandma on the case,’ said Hannah, clapping and causing Tiny’s tail to thump on the floorboards at the excited voices.
‘And once the blog looks good then your followers will come, I promise,’ added Ella.
‘But I still don’t understand how I’m going to make a living from that,’ confessed Beth.
Ella rolled her eyes. ‘The trouble with keeping your eyes on the skies is that you don’t see all the potential here on planet Earth,’ she replied, with a grin. ‘Well, let me break it down for you…’
As Ella began to explain about earning money from a blog, Beth found herself filled with grateful relief to have such wonderful best friends. They were her life, her comfort blanket, her family and she loved them.
Unfortunately, her good mood didn’t last very long when Lily came into the kitchen frowning.
‘There’s a visitor for you at reception,’ she said, looking at Beth.
Beth was stunned. ‘For me? Here?’ she asked. ‘Who is it?’
Lily grimaced. ‘It’s Jeremy.’