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‘Was your dad vegetarian?’
‘No, that was the irony of Andrew Singer: he rescued animals but he did eat them, well none from the sanctuary, of course, but from the local farm, and well, he justified it by not justifying it, really,’ Gwen explained. ‘Andrew made up his rules as he went along.’
‘Fred’s inherited that from him,’ Gus said.
Freddie scowled but didn’t argue.
‘When I got involved with the animals, I just couldn’t eat meat anymore. I have to admit, I do eat fish sometimes,’ Harriet added. ‘So I have put a ban on rescuing fish in the sanctuary.’ She laughed again.
‘I’m the same,’ Pippa said. ‘Actually, I’m trying to be vegan, but it’s not easy because I really like cheese.’
‘I’ve learnt how to cook more vegetarian food,’ Gwen said. ‘And I’m starting to look into vegan baking – we need to get ahead of the times, I always think. It’s becoming ever so fashionable, after all.’
‘You’re right, it is,’ Gemma said. Her nan wouldn’t have coped well with her being vegetarian. Especially as when she was a kid, they ate a lot of meat from tins, which thinking about it might not have actually been meat. ‘It could be a great angle for the hotel too.’ Her mind started whirring. ‘You know, a vegan hotel. I’ll do some research, but I’m sure they’re not very common.’
‘We don’t want to scare guests off, though,’ Harriet pointed out. ‘I think perhaps we should offer a fabulous vegan and vegetarian menu, but we should cater for the carnivores too.’
‘And it will create goodwill locally if we buy meat, like Dad did from the farmers,’ Gus pointed out. ‘My daughter Fleur’s a vegetarian and she called me a murderer the other day.’ Gus shook his head. ‘But then sometimes any excuse to attack me …’ He focused on his plate.
‘And I’m largely vegetarian, although I am partial to the occasional steak,’ Freddie offered.
‘So not really veggie at all, mate.’ Connor grinned. ‘More like a flexitarian.’
Connor was so lovely, Gemma thought, very different to Harriet, mainly because he wasn’t at all frightening. He was incredibly good-looking in a non-groomed, natural way, but he clearly only had eyes for Harriet, which actually made him even more appealing. He wasn’t quite Freddie-gorgeous, though, but then Gemma didn’t think anyone was.
‘OK, but we can definitely say we specialise in good, local, home-grown vegan food, it’ll be a good angle. I’ll put it down on my notes and do some research.’ Gemma continued to sound professional.
‘More wine, anyone?’ Freddie said, reaching for a new bottle and pouring it.
Gemma had barely touched hers, and she noticed him glare at her before moving on past her glass.
‘The wine is lovely,’ she said, trying to placate him.
‘How would you know, you’ve barely touched it?’ he pointed out.
‘I’ve had some and it’s delicious.’ She felt herself colour.
‘Never trust a woman who doesn’t drink – that’s my motto,’ Freddie said.
‘Don’t we know it,’ Harriet joked. ‘Although after your last girlfriend, you shouldn’t trust a woman who does drink, either.’
They all laughed, including Freddie.
‘Oi,’ Freddie objected. ‘But yes, you do have a point. Loretta drank like a bloody fish and was as untrustworthy as they come. Maybe I shall trust you after all, Gemma,’ he conceded.
She shook her head. This family was mad.
‘Well, I’d like to propose a toast,’ Pippa said, raising her glass. ‘Welcome to Gemma, and here’s to the Meadowbrook Hotel.’
Chapter 6 (#u79d4e4dc-7419-51b3-b8bb-ddc2604e61f9)
‘My God! It’s spectacular,’ Gemma breathed.
She was wearing a pair of Pippa’s skinny jeans, which she felt and looked good in, an oversized black jumper, wellington boots that were in the boot room and were Gemma’s size, and a stylish Barbour jacket. Gemma had been transformed into “country”. Even Freddie had done a double take as he passed her in the kitchen.
‘Thank you.’ Gus looked delighted. He had the family nose, like Freddie, and his hair, greying slightly, was the same colour as Harriet’s. Increasingly she saw similarities between the Singers – looks-wise. Personalities were an entirely different matter.
It was still intriguing how four children could be born into the same house, brought up largely the same way and yet be so different. As an only child, she would never have that experience. She often fantasised when she was younger about having a brother or sister. She would have loved to have someone, especially now, with her nan in such a bad way, but she didn’t, and she was cross with herself for dwelling on something that had never happened and never could.
Gus was taking her on a walk in Meadowbrook Manor’s “back garden”. Which, unlike any back garden she had ever seen, seemed to stretch for miles and was surrounded by perfectly trimmed hedges, all the same height.
‘Do you measure the hedges?’ she asked with a smile.
‘No, Gemma, but they are all pretty much the same height – our hedge guy is a perfectionist.’ He smiled.
The garden was dotted with beds full of different flowers and plants, leading to the award-winning rose garden, which was not in full bloom now but she couldn’t wait to see it when it was. There were a number of water features, which commanded attention, and a large fountain in the centre of the garden. At the very top, separated, were the vegetable gardens, fruit cages and a huge greenhouse. Gemma thought all it was missing was a maze. She wrote that down. But then, where would they put a maze and would they spend their time rescuing a drunk Freddie? She crossed it out.
Gus showed her the benches next, which were recently added so that visitors could sit and enjoy the gardens from every vantage point. He also explained why they had chosen various flowers. It was obviously a lot of work, but it was so worth it.
‘But wow, I mean I have never seen gardens this beautiful in real life. Only on TV,’ Gemma gushed.
She was struck, suddenly, by how much her nan would love to be here. This was the first part of her life that her nan wasn’t part of, that she couldn’t be part of, and whatever happened from here on in, it was just Gemma now. Oh, how she would have loved these gardens though.
‘What’s wrong?’ Gus asked, his voice full of concern.
‘Nothing, sorry.’ She tried to brush a tear off her cheek. What the hell was she doing? This was beyond unprofessional.
‘Gemma, are you crying?’ His voice, so full of warmth, set her off and before she could help it, she was properly crying.
‘No,’ she sobbed.
Gus led her to a bench, where he guided her to sit down.
‘Sorry,’ she said again.
‘Hey, I might be flattered that the gardens reduced you to tears, if they’re the right kind of tears, of course.’ He laughed.
‘Oh, but it is just the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen. You see, my nan loved gardening. We had a good-sized garden, of course nothing like this …’ She gestured with her arm. She had told herself to hold back personally at Meadowbrook, but she had to explain her behaviour. ‘As I told Pippa, my nan is in a home, she’s got dementia, and I miss her.’
Gus gave her a brief but warm hug. ‘Hey, I miss my dad, you know. Especially out here, as he loved gardening too. I talk to him while I work. I know your nan’s not dead but, well, it must be terribly difficult.’
‘It is, but you know, life goes on as they say.’ Gemma tried a feeble attempt at a laugh, which sounded more like a gurgle.
‘Yes, but you’re human and that’s what Meadowbrook needs, so if you ever need to talk, I’m quite a good listener, as are the roses I always find.’ Gus grinned.
‘That’s kind of you to say.’ He was possibly the kindest man she’d ever met, although that perhaps wasn’t difficult.
‘I mean it, and you live here as well as work here, so I hope we will all be friends.’
‘Even Harriet?’ Gemma said, before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’ Gus laughed. ‘Yes, I have a feeling, even Harry.’
‘But anyway, back to the gardens. How on earth do you get them this amazing?’ Gemma shook her head; she needed to steer herself back onto more stable ground.
‘It takes a lot of work, more than I ever imagined when I started working on them. Dad, well he loved the gardens and put his heart into getting them into shape, and we feel that it’s a tribute to him to continue his work. My partner, Amanda, who you’ll meet soon, deserves most of the credit, as well as our wonderful gardening club. But to be honest, I’m not sure how it will fit in with our guests, which is one thing I wanted to talk to you about.’
‘What do you mean?’ Gemma detected some concern in Gus’s voice.
‘Well this hotel, we all have our doubts, apart from Pippa. But even Fred questions it sometimes. You see, who will want to stay here while there’s a bunch of old – by the way, don’t let them know I called them that – ladies in the gardens at least once a week, sometimes more. Our gardening club are very funny, they’re loud and well, perhaps not what you’d want if you’re looking for peace and quiet.’
‘I see.’
‘But at the same time they are crucial to our gardens and more than that, the gardens are important to them. It gets them out, it gives them so much, and we would never take that away from them.’
‘It’s going to be difficult to characterise this hotel, isn’t it?’
Gus had a point. If you’re paying a large sum of money to stay in a boutique hotel in the country, did you want squealing old ladies wielding trowels? Oh, goodness, how on earth was she going to pull this off?
‘The thing is …’ Gus said, showing her to a beautifully ornate garden bench and gesturing her to sit, ‘Meadowbrook is our father. But now we’re all trying to put our stamp on it too. Harriet loves the house and wants it to be successful – in Harry’s mind, being successful means making money. She’s not greedy, but still the hotel needs to be profitable because she doesn’t do anything that isn’t. Fred, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, wants a party hotel. He used to organise parties and club nights for a living, and was very successful for a while, although of course he drank most of his profits. And although he’s calmed down a lot, well a bit …’ Gus paused to scratch his head ‘… he wants the house to be full of fun. Pippa wants it to be a place to heal people, which as it’s not a hospital or rehab, we’re all a bit sceptical about. I know what she means, this place does make you better, it made us all better, and it’s a very special house for that, but as I said, you can’t suddenly open a hotel for broken hearts – everyone would think you were mad.’
‘Of course they would.’ Gemma smiled. ‘And you?’
‘I want Meadowbrook to be full of creativity. I worked in insurance before my father died – can you believe that?’ Gemma shook her head, although she knew this already. ‘Well, I did, and I was boring, miserable and grey. I looked grey, I thought grey, but then I started working on these gardens, and I felt something I hadn’t since childhood. I also started painting again – I loved art as a child and wasn’t bad at it, but Dad didn’t approve – that’s another story. So anyway, I kind of want to offer people the chance to garden, paint, bake with Gwen even, work with the animals, get the whole Meadowbrook experience. But then of course that’s not an easy thing to put into a package, is it?’
‘No, it really isn’t.’ Gemma felt her heart sinking. After conversations with each of the Singers she was feeling increasingly confused, baffled and totally at sea about what the hotel model could actually be.
‘Right, well you’ve got your work cut out for you. Oh look, there’s Amanda and the ladies – come on and I’ll introduce you.’
Gemma was crying again, but this time with laughter. The gardening club were the best bunch of women she had ever met, and they also sort of reminded her of her nan, before she got ill. Edie was immediately her favourite, as she took her to show her how she cultivated the amazing roses.
‘I’ve managed to grow some from scratch, and also some hybrids. See, I think of this one as the Singer rose.’ She showed Gemma a peach-and-red coloured rose, which was just starting to bud.
‘I am impressed, Edie,’ Gemma said. ‘This is incredible.’
‘Well I have loved these gardens for years, and I put my heart into it. It’s a real treat for me to get to work on them as well. I mean, who normally gets the chance? Andrew Singer let us all share these gardens, God bless his soul, and I’ll always love him for that. Oh, and I had a hip replacement last year too. I’m like a new person now!’ Edie gave a jump to demonstrate her fitness, then she grabbed hold of Gemma as she landed, almost taking them both down.
‘One day, do you think you’ll show me how to look after the roses?’
‘Of course I will, love, but now come on, meet the others.’
Gemma tried to remember names – she didn’t want to write them down as that seemed rude – but she started forgetting after she was introduced to Margaret, Rose and Dawn. There were ten of them altogether, including Edie, and each was as welcoming as Edie had been. She managed to enjoy hugs and excitement as the women vied with each other to show Gemma their part of the garden. And Gemma lapped them all up.
Amanda, an attractive woman with long red hair, tied back, wearing overalls, which she somehow managed to look good in, stood back and let the women enjoy their time, boasting about their work to someone new. Pride radiated from each and every one of them, and Gemma could see how magic Meadowbrook was yet again. These women largely lived alone in small homes and some lived in a retirement complex in the village. In Meadowbrook’s garden, they were given a new lease of life, and they worked hard in return. She also discovered many of them got involved in the Meadowbrook events. She could feel the community spirit radiating from everyone around her, and it made it feel as if Meadowbrook were wrapping around them all like a blanket. She tried not to blink back tears. This felt like family; she missed her nan more than she ever thought possible.
‘Hi,’ a voice said.
Gemma turned, hoping her eyes weren’t too misty, and found herself looking at Amanda.
‘I didn’t want to interrupt the ladies, but now they’ve turned their attention to tea and biscuits, I can say hello properly.’
She was attractive, her face a little weathered, which made sense as she worked outside. Although Gemma didn’t know Gus well yet, she could already see them as a good fit.
‘It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. And the wonderful job you do with the gardens,’ Gemma said, tears fully pushed back.
‘We’re all lucky to have this to work with …’ Amanda gestured around. ‘Anyway, welcome to Meadowbrook. As someone else outside the family, see me as an ally. They are all wonderful, of course I’m biased with Gus, but they are just so passionately wrapped up in life here, in the memory of their father, that they can seem a little …’
‘Tricky?’ Gemma offered.
‘Good way to describe them. Anyway, just so you know, if you ever need to chat, just give me a shout.’
‘That’s really nice of you.’ Gemma felt shy, a bit like being the new girl at school.
‘Not at all. Have they got you working at the animal shelter?’
‘I’m starting after the weekend – cats.’
‘Oh, good call. We have Fleur’s two kittens living with us now. They were here, but since Gus moved in with me and Fleur stays every weekend, it made sense. They’re pretty naughty though; although my daughter, Hayley, loves them too.’
‘It seems you’ve got a lovely family,’ Gemma said.
‘It’s been a lot of work but yes, we are all figuring it out. The girls get on really well, although Fleur is a bit older, fourteen, which can be a difficult age. Gus is wonderful and I couldn’t be luckier to have him.’
‘It sounds great.’
Gemma didn’t know what it felt like to love someone so much that your eyes actually lit up when you talked about them. She certainly didn’t feel that with Chris, did she? Her nan, yes, but then that was different. Chris, well, she wasn’t sure how she had let him dominate her for so long. And even then, he was the one who ended the relationship. She never saw it, did she? Now she was beginning to. She was learning that men weren’t all like Chris, who cared only about himself and treated Gemma like she was his own shabby doormat. Oh God, it was dawning on her more and more what a fool she had been.
‘Oh, there’s a downside, Gus’s ex-wife is a total bitch. She ran off with his friend, yet she continues to try to make his life hell. And poor Fleur, now she’s older, is caught in the middle. I can’t really say too much as it upsets him, but I don’t think his ex liked it when he inherited from his father, and she doesn’t like him being with me. But most of all, she hates that Fleur seems to prefer to spend her time over here at the moment. So, you know, nothing’s perfect.’
‘Meadowbrook seems as near to it as you can get, though,’ Gemma breathed.
‘Yes, yes, it really is. Come on, let’s go and get tea and you’ll hear all the village gossip.’
Amanda gave her arm a squeeze and led the way, and Gemma was more than happy to follow.
Chapter 7 (#ulink_9efa01b0-456d-5696-90ec-6ffefd4c0748)
Gemma sat cross-legged on her bed with her books and notes spread out in front of her. She had been at Meadowbrook just under a week, but she was already fretting that her focus wasn’t what it should be. Not least because she was going home tomorrow. She had toyed with the idea of splashing money she barely had on a second-hand car, but when she broached the subject with Pippa, she insisted that she borrow her car. Pippa said to think of it like a company car, yet another perk of the job.
She had to go to the bungalow, where she was reluctantly going to stay until Sunday evening to start sorting through some of her nan’s belongings. The process from her nan going into the home to her putting the bungalow on the market and now it being under offer seemed to have taken ages, but with the sale going through, she needed to be on top of it all.
Gemma wasn’t looking forward to going back. It was as if she had slightly lost herself in her new life, during the past few days at Meadowbrook, and now she was going to be reminded of her reality.
She was also cross about the way she was conducting herself. The way she was with Gus, showing him her vulnerable side. And Amanda had been so open and lovely that Gemma had told her more than she intended to. Nothing bad, just about her nan, but that was personal, and she was trying to be purely professional. She was terrified of being too open, of crossing the line, and in order to keep the lines clear she had to hold herself back. If she started letting them see her, too much of her, who knew where it would end? She couldn’t take that risk, although already she feared she was.
She was here to do a job, not make friends, but with Pippa’s insistence on them becoming “great pals”, Freddie’s attempts to loosen her up, and her fondness for Amanda and Gus, it was already proving difficult. Even Harriet seemed to be blurring the lines, by asking her questions about herself that Gemma didn’t really want to answer. Nothing awful, just about her upbringing and her schooling, friends, that sort of thing. But although to most people that would seem normal, Gemma wanted to keep all that to herself. She needed to keep her professional head on; she needed to keep her barriers up. She couldn’t afford to forget why she was here.
She was reading about hotel management, hoping her text books, whilst factual, would help her to put some of the nuts and bolts in place, when there was a knock at the door. She scooped the books up and shoved them under the bed.
