‘Thank you. Did I forget to tell you I was going out?’ Pippa said.
‘You didn’t mention it, no. Where are you off to?’
In the five weeks Gemma had been here, Pippa didn’t go out, apart from the local pub, or to Harriet’s, and occasionally to see Gus and Amanda.
‘Oh well, I don’t want to make a fuss, but I’ve got a date.’
‘A date? Who with?’
They started walking down the stairs together.
‘Edward, from the hotel, you know.’ She blushed. ‘He’s taking me for dinner in Bath, which will make a lovely change. I’m actually quite excited. I haven’t had a date since the divorce, well, before that, unless you count the odd date night with my ex-husband.’ She laughed.
And Gemma did have to admit, she seemed to radiate happiness.
‘Well, I hope you have a lovely evening.’ Gemma gave her an impulsive hug. She’d never initiated a hug before, and Gemma had no idea why she’d done so.
Freddie was in the drawing room, making drinks.
‘Ah, just the people. I think I’ve perfected the Meadowbrook signature cocktail,’ he said, brandishing a glass. ‘Come and have a taste.’
Pippa strode in and took a sip.
‘You know, Fred, that’s not bad. Try it, Gem.’
Gemma did as she was told. It was nice, fruity, not too strong, either.
‘Oh wow, that is good,’ she said.
‘You know, I’ve used blueberries from our fruit cage, and I’m going to do a raspberry version. I can’t tell you what else is in it, because I’d have to kill you,’ he joked.
‘Freddie, you might have to tell someone, otherwise you’ll have to be at the bar at all times,’ Gemma pointed out, taking another sip. It was delicious as the cool liquid slid down her throat.
‘Good point. I will tell someone but not yet. Oh, and I am not having Edie be my cocktail waitress, by the way; she seems to think the job’s hers. Anyway, shall I make us all some more, just to make sure that I can repeat the success?’
They all heard the doorbell.
‘Who’s that?’ Freddie asked. Any of the family always came round the back entrance.
‘Oh, I have a date, didn’t I tell you?’ Pippa said. ‘Anyway, Gemma will explain.’ She dashed off before anyone had a chance to speak.
‘Right, well,’ Freddie said, looking around the room. Gemma shuffled from foot to foot. Awkwardness filled the enormous drawing room. ‘So, who’s the bloke?’
‘A guy we met from a neighbouring hotel.’
‘I hope she isn’t dating the enemy,’ Freddie said.
Gemma hadn’t thought of that.
‘No, I don’t think so. His hotel is totally different, nothing like Meadowbrook.’ Gemma chewed her lip. Should she have worried about Pippa going off with Edward?
‘Yes, but Pippa doesn’t have the best taste in men.’
‘Who does?’ Gemma said without thinking. Freddie looked at her in surprise. ‘Anyway, I’ll just go and get something to eat and leave you to it,’ Gemma said, wanting to run away.
‘Or we could go to the pub for dinner,’ Freddie suggested. ‘I mean, I’m famished after all this genius cocktail-making and I don’t feel like cooking.’
‘Really?’ Gemma asked.
‘Why not?’ He shrugged.
‘OK.’ Gemma smiled.
Part of her felt terrified at the thought of them being alone for an evening, especially as she would be expected to make conversation; she was glad she’d had that cocktail now. Another part liked being around him. It was so confusing. She went to get her coat and shoes, while Freddie waited by the front door, which he held open for her.
‘Are you all right to walk? It’s just that I’m not sure how much alcohol I’ve had.’
‘Sure, at least it’s not raining,’ Gemma said. Way to go, talk about the weather, she chastised herself.
They made their way down the drive and she had a brainwave.
‘Shall we see if Harriet and Connor want to come?’ Even Harriet would be better than being alone with Freddie.
‘Oh no, Harriet’s dragged him to see some play. Poor guy was dreading it, but he likes to keep my sister happy.’
‘That’s sweet.’
‘Yeah, but four hours of some dreadful modern play aimed at the middle classes who think they’re intellectual would test any relationship.’ He laughed. ‘But she went with him to some godawful vets’ convention where they talked about fleas for hours, so he owes her.’
‘You see, that’s how relationships should work, isn’t it? Couples should be able to do things they might not want to do for each other,’ Gemma mused, thinking of Chris again. ‘You know, compromise.’
‘Well, maybe. When I dated Loretta, my last ex, we liked the same things, so that never came up. Although, we both liked fast living, so we were probably both too pissed to think about anything else.’
‘Well, they do say opposites attract, don’t they?’ Gemma persisted.
‘I guess, which means I should be with a woman who doesn’t drink, has no sense of humour and hates parties,’ Freddie quipped. ‘God, sounds like I should be dating …’ He stopped suddenly and looked intently at his feet. Gemma felt herself turning red, from her toes to the tips of her ears. ‘Well, maybe not everyone should date their opposite,’ he added quickly.
‘No,’ she agreed, suddenly feeling miserable.
Freddie held the door open and greeted some of the regulars, who Gemma now recognised. They went to the bar, where the landlady, Issy, greeted them warmly.
‘What are you drinking?’ Freddie asked.
‘White wine, please,’ Gemma said.
Since being at Meadowbrook, she was definitely getting a taste for wine, and maybe now cocktails. Hah, perhaps she wasn’t so opposite to Freddie, after all. After six months here, she might even be able to drink more than him. No, now she was being silly.
‘You go and find a table, and I’ll grab the drinks and a menu.’
Gemma found a table near the bar and drummed her fingers on the table nervously. How was she supposed to cope being on her own with Freddie? Why had she agreed to come? The whole thing unsettled her.
‘Right, Gemma, I’m going to have a steak, which I always have when I’m not with my judgemental family. What would you like?’ Freddie asked as Gemma glanced at the menu.
She had lost her appetite, so she picked the first thing she saw.
‘Fish pie, please.’
‘Right you are, I’ll order. And I’ll get more drinks, just in case.’
He was gone a short time and came back with two more glasses of wine, white for her and red for him.
‘So, Gemma, why don’t you tell me about you,’ Freddie asked, not sounding as if he were teasing her for once.
‘What do you want to know?’
Gemma dreaded opening up, but she also almost couldn’t help herself when she was here. Despite her determination to keep herself closed off, she had let them all know more about her than she wanted to; it was the Meadowbrook effect.
‘Look, I know nothing, apart from you live in Bristol, work in hotels and, according to Pippa, are like that woman on telly.’
‘What woman?’
‘The Hotel Inspector, I think she’s called. Anyway, I mean about your life before you came here.’
‘There’s not much to tell, really. I’m not really like the Hotel Inspector.’ Gemma paused, she did watch the show though, and she’d probably learnt quite a lot from her. ‘I do love the hotel business, though,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve always wanted to open a hotel from scratch, so this is a dream job.’
‘Do you have a boyfriend? I mean, I presume not, as we’ve not seen hide nor hair of one since you’ve been here, but you do disappear at times, so maybe …’
‘No, I visit my nan, in the home.’ Gemma felt her cheeks colour. This was why she didn’t want to do this – she didn’t want to have to talk about herself. In fact, she needed to put a stop to it now.
‘I’m pretty boring, which I’m sure you already know.’ She almost challenged him with her eyes.
‘No, Gemma, I’m sure you’re not boring.’ He cleared his throat and sounded serious. ‘It’s sad about your nan. I miss my dad so much and, well, I barely remember my mum, so I sort of understand. What about your parents?’
‘I don’t have any. My dad left when I was born practically, and my mum went off four years later. My nan brought me up.’
‘God, that’s hard, I had no idea. Have you not seen either of them since?’
‘No, nor heard from them. I always thought it must be my fault, that they left because I was so awful. My nan always tried to make me feel otherwise, she really did, but you can’t help …’
‘The same with us, only having dad around growing up – I mean he loved us very much, and he was wonderful, but you always think there’s something missing. You know, not having a mum.’ He looked so sad, she wanted to reach out to him.
‘Oh God, I know exactly what you mean.’
They held each other’s eyes and Gemma felt something changing between them.
‘But you know, we were luckier than most. But anyway.’ Freddie looked so serious, Gemma had never seen this side to him, and she felt tears threatening her but she didn’t want to cry.
‘Hey, Freddie, I’m interested to hear about your club nights. Pippa said you used to run the best ever.’ She felt the need to change the subject for both of them.
As Freddie flushed with pleasure, she thought she’d probably dodged a bullet. They were both on safer ground now.
‘Well, we did have quite a reputation. Mind you, it was fun, but goodness knows how we survived it. I mean night after night, party after party …’
He launched into an explanation of what he did and every time he paused, Gemma asked him another question. The spotlight was well and truly off her, and she was determined to keep it that way.
After a third, or maybe fourth glass of wine, which was enough to make her just a little bit tipsy, and a delicious fish pie, Gemma and Freddie made their way back. It was warmer and lighter now, being March, and Gemma felt a little excited about spring at Meadowbrook.
‘Freddie?’ she said.
‘Um.’
‘Thanks for dinner tonight, I really enjoyed it,’ she said, giggling. She felt herself trip, so she reached out to lean against a wall.
‘Oh, you’re quite welcome. Gemma, where are you?’
‘Arghhh,’ Gemma screamed. It was a hedge, not a wall, and she was now in it.
‘Very welcome.’ Freddie laughed as he grabbed her and pulled her out. ‘Bloody hell, Gemma, I have never met anyone as klutzy as you.’
As she tried to brush leaves out of her hair she didn’t answer him – she was too busy feeling like a total fool.
Gemma got herself into bed. She had said an awkward goodnight to Freddie at the door; she wanted to be alone with her humiliation. It seemed every time she thought she was making progress, or at least managing to behave like a normal human being around him, she would do something stupid, and as he said, she was so clumsy. But why? They’d had a great conversation today, she felt a barrier coming down between them, but then she had to go and make a fool of herself. If only she hadn’t lost her footing and fallen into a hedge, or walked into furniture every time she saw him, or tripped over his favourite chicken …
She had to remember why she was here, why she’d applied for the job, why she’d thanked every single one of her lucky stars when she got the job. It was time to remember who Gemma Matthews really was and to put all this nonsense to bed. She couldn’t let them get to her; she couldn’t afford to be distracted. There would be no more drinking, falling over, worrying about being liked – no, from now on it would be all about the job.
She was about to turn the light off and settle down to sleep, when there was a knock on the door. Pippa put her head round.
‘Oh good, you’re still awake.’ She came in and settled on Gemma’s bed.
‘How was your date?’ Despite her tiredness, she did want to know.
‘Ah, it was lovely. Oh, Edward is so charming and funny. And you know, he told me all about the hotel business. He was so helpful. Anyway, I had a fun night and we’re going out again next week.’ She giggled like a schoolgirl and Gemma couldn’t help but join in.
‘I’m so happy you had a nice time.’ Gemma meant every word.
‘And now maybe we can find someone for you. I’ll ask Edward if he’s got any dashing single friends.’
‘Honestly, Pippa, I’ve got enough going on with this hotel. I can’t even think about men.’ She meant it; if only she could get the image of Freddie out of her mind, that is.
Chapter 15
‘So, all the legal issues are being handled, and there are no problems as far as we can see. Freddie is studying for his licence, Gwen is looking at menus, and Pippa is looking into getting each of the rooms ready.’ Gemma looked up at the room.
Almost another month had passed, and she had managed to keep her head down a bit as they fully welcomed spring. She told Pippa she had so much work to do, which she did, but also she was worried about being drawn into a world where she didn’t belong. She needed to be careful. And she was amazed at how much work she was getting done.
‘I thought we’d start with the attic rooms, which need the most work,’ Pippa said. ‘They are all doubles, but we need to sort out the bathrooms. There are only two bathrooms for five rooms. Those two can be joined to two of the rooms, which leave three that are in need of an en suite. I’ve got Roger coming over later to have a look.’
‘Who’s Roger?’ Gemma asked.
She had been delighted to hand over the actual building and design to Pippa, who said it was her forte. It certainly wasn’t Gemma’s.
‘A local builder who specialises in older properties. He’s worked here before, and so he knows it pretty well,’ Harriet explained. ‘And he also knows what restrictions there are. He did mine and Connor’s cottage, so he’s pretty much part of the family.’
Gemma nodded. Of course he was.
‘Right, well, it’s really happening,’ Gemma said. ‘Well, we still have a long way to go, but at least we are seeing progress.’
‘And as well as studying for my licensing exam, I’m also getting the garden room cleared out and opened up,’ Freddie added. ‘Then Pippa and I are going to design a bar.’
‘I can see it now,’ Harriet said. ‘It’ll be a lovely bar.’
‘And we are only opening to residents?’ Gus asked, frowning.
‘Don’t worry, Gus, we’ll let you and Amanda in,’ Freddie joked.
‘Yes,’ Harriet replied, ignoring Freddie. ‘I think that if we open it up we might get all sorts of people who our residents might not want to mix with.’
‘Are you talking about Edie?’ Freddie laughed.
‘We love Edie, she’s family to us, but if she moved into the bar – which, let’s face it, she would – then it might hinder our business,’ Harriet replied with a smile.
Gemma laughed. She was trying so hard to keep at arm’s-length but at the same time, she felt so drawn to their lives.
‘And also it keeps goodwill with the pub if we don’t take any of their customers,’ Gus pointed out.
‘Exactly, and perhaps it might be quiet at times, but that’s where we try to operate the other side of the business – private functions. That’s something that Freddie is going to look into as well,’ Gemma said.
‘I just worry that we’re aiming at people with money and the house will lose its soul,’ Pippa sighed.
‘But that won’t happen, because Meadowbrook will attract lovely people. It’s not just about money,’ Gemma explained. ‘It’s about people coming here because they want to, because they’ll hear great things about it, because they feel that they want a creative break, but you can’t just open the doors to anyone, sadly.’
Gemma knew that, for example, she would never in a million years be able to a
fford to stay here, but as Harriet kept reminding her, it needed to turn a profit. And of course she knew how it worked: if you didn’t price high then it wouldn’t seem exclusive enough – people had to aspire to stay.
‘Edward says that we’ll have to offer huge discounts in the beginning to attract people.’
They all turned to Pippa. Since her first date, they had heard a lot of “Edward says”, but they hadn’t met him, apart from Gemma. Harriet tried to get Pippa to bring him to a dinner, but she said he was too busy. She was enjoying his company, though, and telling Gemma all about it, but she was, sensibly, Gemma thought, taking things slowly this time.
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,’ Harriet said.
‘Oh damn, is that the time?’ Freddie said, glancing at his watch. ‘We’ve got the Easter event committee turning up any minute.’
‘Right, well, we’re finished here for now,’ Gemma said, trying to sound professional. ‘While you guys have your meeting, I’ll type up the minutes.’
‘You don’t want to join us?’ Pippa asked.
‘I think my time is best spent doing this,’ Gemma said. ‘Anyway, I’ve been to the other five meetings.’
The implication was clear. Gus and Freddie chuckled.
‘God, Gemma, was that a joke?’ Freddie teased.
They were taking a long time, far too long, to get the event sorted, although the theme had been decided on: Peter Rabbit. There was a film out and it was on TV again. Gemma wondered how Beatrix Potter would feel about that, but it would prove popular with the children and hopefully make a lot of money.
They were recreating Mr McGregor’s garden – Gus was going to play him – and have lots of games based around the children helping Peter Rabbit to steal carrots and dodge the grumpy man. This would include the traditional Easter egg hunt, a game of hide-and-seek with the Easter bunny – Gerry – and a big picnic at the end. It all sounded so idyllic, so like a childhood should be, and Gemma was almost looking forward to it. Especially as it transpired that she wasn’t expected to don a costume, but to sell raffle tickets with some of the ladies. At the moment there was a debate about who would be Peter Rabbit, but it looked as if it would end up being Freddie; although he objected on the grounds that he was far too tall.
Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor Page 12