скачать книгу бесплатно
‘Well that sounds lovely, what good news.’ Her nan’s eyes shone. She gave Gemma’s hand a squeeze. ‘I’m very proud of you, you know.’
Gemma’s eyes filled with tears. It was small, tiny, but it felt as if she had been handed the world.
‘Yes, it’s a dream job, and the best thing is that it comes with accommodation, so when the bungalow sale goes through I won’t have to worry about where to live. And until then the salary means we will manage the fees more comfortably.’
Her nan’s eyes flickered at that.
‘The bungalow?’ she asked. ‘I don’t quite …’ She trailed off. She looked at the open packet of sweets in her hand as if she didn’t know what they were. And Gemma knew she had lost her for today. It happened like that sometimes – one minute she was there, the next, she couldn’t find her.
Sarah returned with tea and placed it down. Gemma picked up the mug and thanked her. Her nan was staring out of the window once again.
‘Are you all right?’ Sarah asked.
‘Oh yes,’ her nan replied. ‘My daughter was just telling me about her new job.’
Sarah looked at Gemma, who had gone from elation to sorrow. In one easy move.
‘You mean your granddaughter, love – it’s Gemma,’ Sarah said kindly. The staff at the home said that sometimes it helped to trigger memory if you corrected her, although Gemma could never bring herself to.
‘Oh yes, of course, my granddaughter,’ her nan said without a hint of recognition, and she popped another wine gum in her mouth.
Chapter 2 (#u79d4e4dc-7419-51b3-b8bb-ddc2604e61f9)
‘Here we are, love,’ the taxi driver said as he pulled up, got out of the car and held the door open for her.
Gemma eagerly stepped out, and an involuntary gasp escaped her lips as she could only stare, in awe, at the house in front of her. The house that she had craved so intensely to be inside was right here, in all its wonderful glory.
Despite the fact she had stared at the photograph of Meadowbrook daily, she still hadn’t been prepared for its actual magnificence. Nothing could have prepared her for that. Like an old-fashioned doll’s house that every little girl coveted. She had stared at the photo so many times it was tattooed on her brain. She had felt herself being drawn into it. She had studied the tall oblong windows as if she could see herself behind them. Peering out onto the circular drive, waiting for … well, she wasn’t sure what the “her” behind the window was waiting for, although whatever it was, in this house, it would come. She knew that it would come.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away, forgetting that the February drizzle was making her blonde shoulder-length hair frizzy and her best suit damp as she gaped, goldfish-like, at the place that would be her work and also her home for the next few months. How on earth had this happened? Part of her wanted to do a jig, another part to cower in the taxi forever.
‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ the driver stated. Gemma could only nod as she pulled her purse from her bag and held some notes out to him. ‘Best house in Parker’s Hollow, probably in the Mendips,’ he continued as they both stared at the Georgian manor house, which seemed, ridiculously, to be staring back at them.
In real life, the house was enormous. Grand, with impressive windows and an imposing front door. The drive and immediate entrance were immaculately kept, neat bushes lined up, and statues that looked genuinely aged, covered with moss, stood guard. The surrounding countryside, fields, trees, hedgerows complemented the house and even the air smelt different. A bird, or number of birds, squawked in the background as she gulped in the air; she was no longer in the city. She was in paradise.
‘Right you are, love,’ the driver said, bringing her back to the present as he handed over her change, and with a kindly wave he got back into the car.
Part of her wanted to run after the cab, part of her wanted to run up to the front door and burst into her new, albeit temporary, life.
Gemma tried to arrange her face into a smile, but the nerves that were jangling around meant she was unsure if it was a grimace. She gave herself a bit of a talking-to – something she had been doing a lot in the last few weeks – and she tried to smooth down her hair, which she now imagined was sticking up in all directions.
She was about to start her dream job. When she applied for it, back in December, she didn’t for one moment believe she would get it. It seemed like such a golden opportunity, she rationalised that hundreds of people, at least, would apply, and she wouldn’t stand a chance. But somehow, she was about to embark on a six-month contract, staying at Meadowbrook Manor, to act as their hotel consultant. Six months living at Meadowbrook, helping the family set up their new hotel, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. And it was her opportunity. She still couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe she deserved it. She didn’t deserve it.
She took a breath as she watched the taxi disappear completely from view. Inside the impressively stunning house, waiting for her, were her future employers: the Singers. She was anxious about meeting them all. The speed between the application, her interview with Pippa and her being here now was less than two months; therefore, she had barely had the chance to process what was happening. Even when she had told her nan about it, it still didn’t feel real. But, as she grabbed her suitcase and half wheeled, half hauled it up towards the front door, she knew what she’d been given was undeniably a gift. Now all she had to do was to do a good job and prove that Pippa was right to hire her. She hoped, prayed that she could do just that.
After all, there was no turning back.
Pippa Singer opened the door with a huge welcoming smile. Gemma couldn’t help but be happy to see her new boss. She was beautiful, warm, kind and unlike anyone Gemma had ever met before.
When, knees literally knocking, Gemma had walked into the coffee shop in central Bristol and gazed around, she immediately recognised the stunning blonde woman, who was sitting at a table nursing a coffee, as Pippa. Meadowbrook and the Singer siblings had quite an online profile, mainly owing to the work they did at their animal sanctuary. Pippa was not only beautiful, but when Gemma tentatively approached her, she had also acted as if they were long-lost friends. For a minute, Gemma’s nerves disintegrated, as she was mesmerised by this woman.
The interview flew by at an amazing speed. Pippa oozed warmth and kindness as she asked Gemma questions not just about her professional life, but her personal one as well. Pippa proved herself an open book, as she offered information about her family and Meadowbrook without Gemma having to ask a single question. She perhaps shared a bit too much information, Gemma thought. For her part, Gemma told Pippa how much she loved the house from the photo – now, she blushed slightly at the memory of how she had gushed about it having a personality and a soul. But Pippa had lapped all that up and said that she clearly “got” Meadowbrook.
Afterwards, back at the hotel where she worked in Bristol, she mulled it all over. It was the most unorthodox interview Gemma had ever attended – not that she had been to many – and when she got a phone call the following day saying the job was hers, she had to pinch herself a number of times. But Pippa had been adamant that she was perfect for the job, for Meadowbrook. She sent over an official offer, the start date being set for the first of February, which meant she had Christmas and January to sort everything out. She had been counting the minutes until she finally got to meet Meadowbrook in person, and she felt as if she spent the whole two months dazed and waiting for her phone to ring, only to hear Pippa say that she had made a terrible mistake, she meant to hire someone else. But that hadn’t happened.
‘Oh, Gemma, I’m so pleased you’re finally here,’ Pippa gushed, throwing her arms around her once again as if she were a long-lost friend. Gemma dropped her suitcase in surprise and then winced as it caught her foot. ‘Sorry, sorry, do come in.’ Pippa took the luggage and stood back to let her in. ‘I insisted on my siblings not being here; I didn’t want to scare you off before you even got to look at the place. But I have to warn you that once you’ve unpacked, they’ll be waiting for you. Everyone’s so excited to meet you.’
Pippa was breathless, and Gemma still hadn’t spoken yet.
‘It’s lovely to see you again,’ she finally managed, intimidation stabbing her, coupled with relief that she didn’t have to step straight into the lion’s – or Singer siblings’ – den.
As she stepped into the grand hallway she felt herself shaking slightly – she was in the house! Just as she imagined herself being. The entrance hall seemed as big as her nan’s bungalow, where she had lived all her life. With its polished parquet flooring, art dominating the walls, and the biggest vase of fresh flowers on an antique carved console table, it was unlike anything Gemma had ever seen. As Pippa grabbed her arm reassuringly, Gemma was rendered mute.
‘So, where shall we start?’ Pippa clapped her hands together. ‘I know, I’ll show you to your room. It was Harriet’s room, but she doesn’t live at the house anymore, so I thought I’d put you in there; it’s such a lovely room. Also, it’ll give you a feel for what the hotel might be like. God, can you imagine we are going to have paying guests here one day! I almost can’t believe it’s actually going to happen!’ Pippa was hopping around, she was so animated and effervescent, the human equivalent of champagne, Gemma thought.
‘I know, although of course there’s a long way to go,’ Gemma cautioned, trying to chase the blind panic away as it threatened to floor her. ‘But it’ll be lovely to see my room and get rid of my bags. Honestly, Pippa, I really want to thank you again – this is a great opportunity.’ Gemma sounded like a stranger to herself as she spoke. She needed to collect herself, to stop acting so weirdly lest she lose the job before she even started.
‘Oh no, thank you, I just knew that you were the one to help us from the moment I met you … no, before that, when I read your letter and CV, and I also know we are going to be the best of friends.’
Gemma was startled as Pippa engulfed her in a second embrace.
Settled into what was now her bedroom for the foreseeable future, she finally remembered to breathe. If Meadowbrook was to be her home for at least six months, while she helped the Singer family set up their hotel, she needed to think of it as such. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to the luxury she found herself in, but she was going to have to try. She needed to start embracing her good fortune rather than behaving like a rabbit caught in the headlights. After all, Pippa was so welcoming; she could only hope the rest of the Singers would be the same.
She unpacked her case; she hadn’t brought too much with her, some work suits and a limited casual wardrobe. She didn’t have far to go to the bungalow in Bristol if she needed anything else, but it felt presumptuous turning up with too much.
She went over to the floor-to-ceiling window of the bedroom, which looked out onto the front of the house. With views over the Mendips, she was mesmerised. It was as she imagined when she looked at the photo, the woman in the window. That woman was her, it was actually her.
She pulled all her books out of her oversized bag and put them away in the bedside table. They were text books she’d used when she took her hotel management course, and she was praying they would help her now. Because it was a dream job, yes, but also a rather big job, and she had no idea how she was going to manage … She pushed the negative thoughts away and thought about how she had got to this. Throughout her life, people had put her down, not her nan, but almost everyone else. This job was supposed to end all that, give her a new start. She was not only doing this for her nan, but she was also doing it for herself.
She knew she was far too cautious, and always had been. Gemma took the safest option when she could, owing to her upbringing, owing to an ingrained fear that never left her. Her nan, who had brought her up, and was her only family, tried her best to bolster her confidence, but her vulnerability dominated her life.
And now her nan wasn’t around, and Gemma felt alone. At first, the dementia wasn’t too bad. Gemma could juggle her college course and taking care of her nan, but in time it got worse. Hence the residential home.
Missing her nan was something that would never go away. Watching someone you love slip away from you, however it happened, was the most painful thing. She wanted her nan, the woman who she knew, the one who tried to encourage her, who made her feel loved. But, unfortunately, after visiting her, she often ended up feeling lonelier than ever.
Now, though, in Meadowbrook she was being offered a fresh start, and God knew she needed it badly. It was a gift, she thought again, as she wiped tears off her cheeks, and she needed to make it work. Those were her new mantras, and she would keep repeating them, until she believed them.
Chapter 3 (#u79d4e4dc-7419-51b3-b8bb-ddc2604e61f9)
A knock on the door interrupted her myriad of thoughts.
‘Hello,’ she said, and after a beat, Pippa appeared.
‘Is everything all right?’ she asked. She had pulled her hair back, Gemma noticed, and although dressed casually – jeans, a sweater – she still looked elegant. Gemma glanced down at her suit and wondered if she was overdressed. But then she was starting work, and her nan always said first impressions were crucial.
‘This room is stunning,’ Gemma replied truthfully. From the king-size bed with the upholstered headboard and luxurious bed linen, which felt how she imagined lying on a cloud to be, to the en suite bathroom, this was better than she could ever have imagined. ‘Honestly, if the rest of the house is like this, people will be beating your door down to stay here.’ She smiled, trying to sound confident, to sound like the Gemma that Pippa had hired, not the scared little girl she was a minute ago.
‘Oh! That’s so lovely of you to say.’ Pippa flushed pink. ‘It’s so important to me to make this work. You see, it’s sort of the only real job I’ve ever had, and I haven’t even really started yet! But I need to prove that I can do this, and I know you are the person to help me. Anyway, enough about that.’
Gemma was getting used to the idea that Pippa jumped from topic to topic. She had got an inkling of how much opening the hotel meant to her when they first met. Pippa explained how she had gone from living with her father – who had now passed away – to getting married in her early twenties to a man who had hurt her very badly. She didn’t know the full story, but Pippa was so open she assumed she probably would at some stage. And Gemma felt a huge responsibility to help her. She was determined to do so.
Gemma stood up. She caught her reflection in the large, ornate full-length mirror and it took her by surprise, for a moment.
She’d undergone a bit of a makeover before her job interview; a long overdue image change. Her dark blonde hair had been lightened and cut into shoulder-length layers, giving it the illusion of thickness. She started wearing make-up, only a bit, but it did brighten her up. Gemma had never thought of herself as attractive, mainly because no one apart from her nan ever told her she was. But not anymore. New job, new Gemma, and now all she had to do was to meet Pippa’s family and help them to open a hotel. How hard could it be?
She followed Pippa down the long, curved staircase, once again marvelling at the house and almost losing her footing. She couldn’t begin to imagine how it would feel to live in it, or to have grown up here. A fantasy life.
‘They’re in here, the dining room,’ Pippa said as she opened the door, stepping back to let Gemma go first.
Sitting around the most enormous dining table, she found herself looking at the rest of the family. She gulped and tried to find a smile.
The dining room was every bit as magnificent as she expected. She was so busy staring at a huge portrait of a handsome man, a beautiful woman with three small children and a baby, which she knew must be the Singer family, that she walked into the table.
‘Ow,’ she said, reddening and rubbing her hip.
‘Are you all right?’ Pippa asked as her family, all sat along one side of the table, looked at her with puzzled expressions.
‘Sorry, I was looking at …’ Words failed her.
Collecting herself, she concentrated on the siblings, who she felt she knew from her Internet research. Despite the fact that two of them had dark hair (Harriet and Gus) and one of them blonde like Pippa (Freddie), they shared familiar similarities. There was also an older woman, and another man with messy brown hair and a smile that almost put her at ease, who she assumed must be Gwen and Connor from details that Pippa had shared and she had committed to her memory.
Gwen was the family’s housekeeper and second mum. She was semi-retired but she still pretty much ran the domestic side of Meadowbrook. Connor, her son, was Harriet’s boyfriend, and they lived together in one of the cottages she’d passed on her way here. Gwen lived in the other. Gemma was piecing it all together in her mind, trying to keep track and concentrate. She needed to make sure she knew and remembered everything.
Freddie looked a bit like a male version of Pippa and was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen – he looked like a film star. The photo she had seen of him didn’t quite do him justice; he was even more gorgeous in real life. As he smiled at her, her knees buckled, but she grabbed the table to steady herself.
Next to him sat Gus, who was handsome in a more traditional way; hair flecked with grey, dark brown eyes and a serious expression. Harriet was undoubtedly attractive, well groomed and had an air of sophistication about her – they were a good-looking family. Intimidatingly so. Especially Harriet, whose demeanour was sharper and who was still eyeing Gemma with suspicion.
If Gemma were normal, she might have felt a stab of jealousy. Here she was, with no family except for a nan wasting away in a nursing home, and here were they, all attractive, living in luxury and having each other. But Gemma didn’t do jealousy. Envy maybe, but not full-blown resentment. It wasn’t in her nature.
‘This is Gemma Matthews,’ Pippa said with a flourish. ‘Gemma, from left to right, that’s Freddie, Gus, and Harriet.’ She paused and smiled. ‘And of course Gwen, who’s lovely and the best cook ever; she’ll help us to design all the menus for the hotel. And finally Connor, Harry’s boyfriend who runs the animal sanctuary and is also a vet.’
‘Hello,’ Gemma said. She was gripping the table so tightly her knuckles turned white.
There was a woof and a shaggy Old English sheepdog rushed out from under the table and bounded up to Gemma.
‘Oh, and not forgetting Hilda,’ Pippa said as Gemma bent down to stroke her.
Well the dog was friendly at least and gave her a chance to try to compose herself. Whether she was nervous, intimidated, terrified or a combination of the three she was unsure, but she needed to pull herself together. She hadn’t yet managed to get through an hour at Meadowbrook – how would she manage six months?
‘Sit down,’ Harriet commanded, sounding formal.
Gemma immediately did as she was told. She knew that Harriet used to work in investments in New York and had a reputation as quite a “ballbreaker”.
‘Right,’ Harriet continued. ‘Sorry to jump right in, but Pippa hired you before she actually told us she had even interviewed anyone.’ She didn’t sound delighted and Gemma felt uneasy at this piece of news.
‘But, Harry, you said I could take the lead with the hotel,’ Pippa objected.
‘Well yes, and I know we’ve been through this a thousand times, but Gemma needs to understand that it’s still a family business,’ Gus pointed out, although he smiled reassuringly at Gemma. ‘Pip, decisions this big should be shared.’
‘Exactly,’ Harriet added.
‘I agree,’ Freddie concurred. ‘The thing is, Gemma, that this is our hotel, not just Pippa’s, and I know my little sister is a little overenthusiastic about it but well, I also think that we should have met you before she offered you the job.’
Gemma felt her heart sink. They were going to sack her before she’d even had a chance to see the whole house at this rate. Perhaps she shouldn’t have unpacked.
‘Hang on,’ Pippa said. ‘Of course the hotel is a family business, which is why you are all here, but I am going to take charge, we agreed, so I think that I was perfectly within my rights to hire Gemma.’
As Gemma’s head swung between the siblings, she wondered just what was going on.
‘If you really believed that then why didn’t you tell us before you actually offered her the job?’ Harriet pushed. ‘Instead of just having her turn up.’ She smiled, slightly smugly, having made her point.
Gemma would not like to argue with Harriet.
‘It was a surprise,’ Pippa said, but she glanced down at the table a little shamefaced.
Gemma’s heart sank. Pippa didn’t have the blessing of the others to hire her, and she had done it without them because she didn’t want them to disagree with her. Which she had a feeling they would have done. She couldn’t imagine Harriet hiring her in a million years. Harriet would have hired someone more like herself, probably.
‘Oh, great way to run a business.’ Harriet’s voice was laced with sarcasm. ‘If only I’d managed to run a multimillion-pound trading desk by surprising everyone.’
‘Now hang on, this isn’t the same thing,’ Pippa argued. ‘And I know you wanted to be involved, but I thought as I would be working the most closely with the hotel consultant then I should have the final say.’
‘Well it is almost the same, because it’s our future,’ Freddie countered. ‘The future of our family home.’
‘And therefore we need to agree on the big decisions,’ Harriet persisted.
Gemma wondered if she should just leave. It was as if they had forgotten she was there.
‘Hold on,’ Gwen said. ‘Before you all descend into a massive argument in front of Gemma, and let’s face it, we’ve been through this enough times before she got here, perhaps we should give Pippa and Gemma a chance.’ Her voice was calm and reasonable, and Gemma wanted to throw herself into her arms. ‘After all, she’s here now.’
‘I agree,’ Connor said, earning himself a scowl from his girlfriend. ‘No, Harry, I mean I agree with you, Pippa shouldn’t have gone behind your back, but … So how about you let Gemma show you that she’s the right person for the job?’ He leant over and kissed Harriet’s cheek as she pretended to pull away from him without actually doing so. They were clearly in love – it was written over both their faces.
‘A probation period then,’ Harriet said.
Gemma groaned inwardly. It was like being given sweets and then having most of them taken away again.
‘That’s a good compromise,’ Gus reasoned.
‘One month.’ Harriet stared at Gemma, who looked at the table.
‘I’m OK with that.’ Freddie shrugged.
‘I guess that’s fair,’ Gus added.
‘Well, I suppose I don’t have a choice.’ Pippa didn’t sound very keen.
Nor was Gemma. She thought about the fact that she had left her job for this, and the fact that her nan’s bungalow would be sold soon and she would have nowhere to live. Not to mention the care home fees that needed paying. She needed this job. She had no choice but to do whatever it took to keep it. She decided to take a chance, to seize the day, something she had never done before, but something she vowed she would do from now on.
‘Can I just say,’ she started, trying to ignore the wobble in her voice, ‘I have given up a full-time job to come here, and I was overjoyed at the idea that I would get a chance to help you to set up a brand-new hotel, but if you aren’t able to agree with each other, I’m not sure how this is going to work.’ She paused as she felt all eyes on her. ‘I mean it is a family business as you’ve pointed out, and the future of your family home, so before we start, everyone needs to be on the same page.’
