She collected her shopping bags having bought a pair of earrings for Gemma, a necklace for Harriet, a cake cookbook for Gwen and some overpriced baby clothes for Toby. Then she wandered into a small secondhand bookshop and saw they had a shelfful of Dickens. Hector liked Dickens. He said he’d discovered him late in life but for some reason he enjoyed reading the classic books, which Pippa couldn’t quite understand. She liked reading but was more into contemporary romance than classics. She picked up a leatherbound copy of Great Expectations. She had to get it for him, knowing how much he’d love it. Then she felt guilty and went and found presents for Gus and Freddie. At least that killed time.
She went to the small pub that they’d picked out for lunch when Harvey had dropped her off. She was ten minutes late but was relieved to see him waiting for her.
‘I’m so sorry about this morning,’ he said, taking her hand and stroking it.
‘You say that a lot,’ Pippa replied.
She’d always been a bit of a pushover in her relationships, she knew that, but she wasn’t sure that was who she was anymore and it definitely wasn’t who she wanted to be.
‘I know, let me make it up to you. We’ll have lunch and then there’s a beautiful walk around here I thought I’d take you on. Get some fresh air and also give us time to get to know each other. I’ve booked dinner at the hotel so then we can have an early night.’
‘I guess,’ Pippa shrugged. He was difficult to remain angry at and what he was suggesting did sound perfect. ‘But you have to promise me, no more work until after we leave tomorrow.’
‘That I can promise,’ he said and he went to get some menus.
‘Do you date much?’ Harvey asked as he held her hand on one of the local walks that he’d researched.
It was a lovely clear day and there were a few other people walking nearby, but for Pippa she felt as if they were the only two people in the world. He fixed her with such an intense look, as if he really wanted to get to know her, and she clutched his hand, feeling secure as well as happier and freer for the first time in ages.
‘No, I’m hopeless. You know you say you’re married to the job, but I am too, since opening the hotel. I don’t trust easily, you know.’
‘I know.’ He fixed his eyes on her. ‘I do know and I accept that it’ll take time to trust me. I’m not the easiest person – not only the job, but I’m intense about life, too – and as you’ll learn, I struggle to sit still. But I’d very much like the chance to show you that I might be worth it.’
Pippa melted. He sounded so earnest as they stood in the middle of a field, the countryside blossoming all around them, that everything melted away and for her it was the two of them.
Once again, they found themselves wrapped in each other’s arms in bed. It had been the perfect day. They’d walked for miles, the countryside was beautiful and the day was springlike. Conversation flowed and Pippa didn’t think about Meadowbrook or her family once.
They’d returned to the hotel ravenous and ate a delicious home-cooked pie in the restaurant, paired with a lovely wine, before retiring to bed. Straight to bed. They were barely through the door than Harvey was taking her clothes off and Pippa had no objections. She wondered how easy it would be to fall in love with him and she worried that she was already on her way. Pippa didn’t do casual. Never had and probably never would.
‘Come down to Meadowbrook next weekend,’ Pippa suggested. ‘I can’t leave the hotel two weekends in a row but we’re fairly quiet and you can meet the others.’
She was jumping the gun, she knew, but with their situations, him in London, her in Parker’s Hollow, not to mention their work, she knew she needed to see if this was going somewhere, and quickly.
‘I’d love to,’ he said and kissed her.
Yes, she decided, she probably was going to find it easy to fall in love with him, but then all signs pointed to him feeling the same.
Harvey was open with her. He’d told her about the pain of his divorce, his regret that he didn’t have a closer relationship with his children and his desire to have a second chance. He wanted to settle down again but he refused to do so until he met the right woman. In Pippa’s head, she was already the right woman. They’d talked late into the night and although she was tired, she wanted to know everything about him and tell him everything about her. She’d never found it so easy to talk to a man, or at least a man who wasn’t family or Hector. She certainly hadn’t had this ease with Mark, for she was always on her guard with him, and being with someone like Harvey only emphasised that. She’d never felt so desired, so wanted and so interesting as she did with Harvey.
At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she awoke when it was light, the sun streaming through the window. She rolled over but there was an empty space next to her. She sat up, startled, and saw that not only was Harvey not there, but nor was his stuff. He’d left. She blinked in confusion and then saw a note lying on the bedside table. She picked it up:
Had a wonderful time! You’re some woman! I woke early fretting about this report and thought it would be better if I went back to London to the office to get it finished. I’m sorry if you feel I’ve skipped out on you, but I’ll see you at Meadowbrook next weekend and know I’ll be thinking about you all week. x
She wiped tears away. How could it be so magical and so bloody awful at the same time? She barely knew the man, but her emotions swung between anger and bliss like an out-of-control pendulum. She brushed off her tears and decided to see if Meadowbrook could sprinkle its magic on Harvey. If it did, then maybe it would work, after all. With more questions than answers, she decided to shower and dress then head home. There was nothing here for her now.
Chapter Twenty-three
Pippa drove angrily towards Meadowbrook. She’d sent Harvey a text saying it was wrong of him just to leave. He replied with an apology, saying he’d make it up to her at the weekend. Should she give him one more chance, despite the fact that much of the weekend had left her disappointed? But then, after all, when it was good, it was very good. She just didn’t quite know how their first weekend together could be so confusing.
She decided she’d talk to Gemma about it, get her sensible take on the situation. Gemma wanted Pippa to find happiness, so any advice from her would definitely come from a good place. She felt marginally happier having made this decision. She also needed to check the hotel bookings for the weekend. She was fairly sure that they were full and although Harvey could stay with her in her apartment, she had to ensure the staff were all in place so she didn’t spend the weekend working, which after this weekend with Harvey would serve him right but wouldn’t exactly help her become any clearer about how their relationship would progress. Or even if it should progress.
The hotel was deserted when she walked in. Which was strange because it was still early and they had a group of four couples that weekend, all celebrating a birthday. She hoped Freddie hadn’t scared them off. They were due to stay for lunch, if she remembered rightly.
‘Ah! Vicky, where is everyone?’ she asked as she headed to the kitchen.
‘Hi, Pippa, we didn’t expect you back yet. Our guests are taking a walk before lunch. We gave them a map for the walk around the lake and back, so I’m just preparing lunch.’
‘And where are my family?’ she asked.
Typical Freddie, slacking off. He was supposed to be in charge. Obviously the staff could cope, but that wasn’t the point.
‘They’re all down at the sanctuary.’ Vicky looked at her feet. ‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a bit of a crisis, I think.’
‘I just drove past and didn’t see anything remiss,’ Pippa said.
She’d glimpsed the cows lazing happily in the field as she drove past, as well as the alpacas and the ponies grazing with Gerald – in fact, all had seemed totally normal.
‘I think maybe you should get down there. Hector and Brooke are there, too.’
Pippa headed off feeling sligh
tly panicked. What was going on?
She found everyone in the sanctuary office. Harriet was at the desk, Connor was pacing, Gus, Amanda, Freddie, Gemma, Hector and Brooke were all stood around; Gwen and Gerry were even there. No one looked happy and the room seemed to shrink with all of them in there.
‘You’re back?’ Freddie stated, ashen-faced.
‘Oh God, what’s happened?’ she asked.
‘Lucky,’ Harriet said and burst into tears.
Connor went to hug her. Pippa spotted Lucky cowering by Gwen’s legs; she was petting him and whispering in his ear.
‘What happened?’
‘That horrible man William brought him back and said he’d bitten him,’ Brooke burst out, sounding both angry and on the verge of tears.
‘Connor?’ Pippa asked.
Connor shook his head.
‘Pip,’ Gus started calmly. ‘William rushed in this morning with Lucky. He claimed that Lucky bit him for no apparent reason. Lucky seems distressed, but William explained that when he bit him, he shouted quite aggressively, which terrified Lucky. William showed us his wound, which he’s making a fuss about, and he left Lucky here, saying he was going to the hospital to have it checked out.’
‘It doesn’t even need stitches!’ Connor said. ‘It was just a surface wound – nothing, really. Just a nip.’
‘He said he’s going to sue us for not warning him about the dog’s aggression before he adopted him,’ Freddie finished quietly.
‘But Lucky’s a softy,’ Pippa said.
She carefully went over to Lucky and gave him a stroke. He whined but let Pippa stroke him.
‘I told him when he adopted Lucky that the only thing that he should worry about was loud bangs, like guns or fireworks, which we know set him off, but there’s been nothing like that,’ Connor said. ‘It was an unprovoked attack. I just can’t quite believe it … Did I get it wrong?
‘The thing is, that if he sues us we could be finished.’ Harriet finally looked up.
Toby was sleeping peacefully strapped to her chest, blissfully unaware of the situation.
‘I don’t believe it,’ Brooke stormed again. ‘I don’t believe that it was unprovoked,’ she continued.
‘We’re insured, aren’t we?’ Gus asked.
‘Yes, but that’s not the point,’ Harriet said. ‘William’s saying he’s going to go to the papers, he wants us shut down. Oh God, imagine the bad publicity. None of our animals would ever get re-homed. They could even revoke our licence and we might have to close.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Pippa asked tearfully.
But no one seemed to know. Hector came and put his arm around her, which felt warm and comforting, so she nestled into his shoulder and cried.
After everyone, herself included, had calmed down, it was decided that Lucky would go and stay with Gwen and Gerry for the time being. No one believed the dog was aggressive; although if William carried out the worst of his threats, the poor dog could end up being put down. The idea of that further devastated them all. Lucky wasn’t very lucky right now.
Harriet and Freddie were going to work on damage limitation, because they had to brace themselves for adverse publicity, and Gus and Amanda were going to go and see William, who lived near them in the village, to see if they could reason with him. No one seemed to feel very hopeful, but it was worth a try and sending the calmest members of the family to try to negotiate was sensible. It was clear that everyone in the office was both devastated and afraid.
‘I’d better get up to the hotel,’ Pippa said finally. ‘One of us should be there.’
‘Yes, thanks, Pip,’ Freddie said.
‘Brooke, do you fancy going out for lunch somewhere?’ Hector said.
Pippa turned in surprise. ‘You can have lunch at the hotel,’ she suggested.
‘I’d rather not,’ Brooke said. ‘I’m so upset, it might bring the other guests down and I don’t want to ruin their stay. Thanks, Hector, that would be really great. It’d be good to get away for a bit and maybe we can think more clearly there.’
‘Sure thing,’ Hector said.
Gus and Amanda left to go and see William while Gwen and Gerry took Lucky. Connor took Toby from Harriet and followed his mum, and Hector left with Brooke.
‘I’ll come and help you,’ Gemma said, putting her arm around Pippa.
Pippa nodded but didn’t quite trust herself to speak. She linked arms with Gemma as they walked back up to Meadowbrook Manor.
‘So, I know this is all a mess, but do you want to tell me about the weekend?’ Gemma asked. ‘We could do with something to distract us.’
‘It was interesting. The village was beautiful, the hotel gorgeous – really romantic, in fact. The only problem was that Harvey wasn’t always as romantic as the surroundings…’
Pippa took comfort in telling Gemma everything that had happened. By the time she reached the house, she’d exhausted the story.
‘What can I say? After all, he did warn you he was a workaholic and he wasn’t joking,’ Gemma said.
‘Yes, but our first weekend together, our first real date? Not only is he late, but then he skips off back to London without even having breakfast with me.’
‘He’s definitely not married?’
‘No, divorced. He’s a legit workaholic.’ Pippa’s head felt a bit clearer after voicing it all out loud.
‘Do you think he’s worth persevering with?’ Gemma chewed her lip anxiously.
Pippa knew she, herself, could be quite difficult if people told her their opinions and she didn’t want to hear them. Gemma had seen that first hand when Pippa had dated Edward, something Pippa still felt guilty about. Pippa was stubborn and it hadn’t helped her in past relationships, but then she was headstrong and didn’t like being wrong, even when she was.
‘I don’t know. My heart says yes, my head says no. And the problem is that I normally go with my heart, which is probably why I’m single.’ Pippa tried to laugh but, unfortunately, it sounded more as if she were choked.
‘Why don’t you give it this weekend? I’ll help out at the hotel so you can take a bit of time to get to know him and see how it is on your turf,’ Gemma suggested.
‘Yes, you’re right. I’ve got nothing to lose at this stage by giving him another chance. I just wish all this with Lucky wasn’t going on as well. It seems a lot.’
‘Oh, Pip, it’ll all work out; it always does one way or another.’
‘I’m so glad we’ve got you, Gem,’ Pippa said and she let her friend hug her while more pent-up tears decided to flow.
She was pleased that the hotel was pretty much running itself at the moment, but she knew that she needed to step it up a bit. After all, rooms needed refreshing before the busy season started, there was painting to be done, new bedding to buy, and they also had to decide on an advertising strategy for the next few months. But for now, for the next couple of weeks at the very least, she was going to try to focus on the animal sanctuary and what they could do to save it. Because when she’d gone back to her apartment on her own that evening and had had time to think, she realised how serious it was.
The fact was that Harriet wasn’t really talking to her and when she messaged her, she only sent one-word answers to her texts. Freddie was proving equally elusive, saying as he’d worked all weekend, he wanted to take some time off. And Gus and Amanda had got nowhere with William, who was still threatening to sue and go to the papers. They had no idea what to do next. Harriet had warned them not to offer him money until she’d had a chance to consult their solicitor the following day, because if they offered him cash that might be seen as an admission of guilt. The sanctuary needed to survive – the animals depended on it. That was the number-one priority.
Hector and Brooke still hadn’t come back to the hotel and Pippa had no idea where they’d got to. She almost called Hector to ask him but then decided against it. It really wasn’t her place to track them down. But it all felt like one giant mess and she also
felt alone in her thoughts. She had no idea what to do.
She decided an early night was in order after a shower, but as she tried to get to sleep she couldn’t stop thinking about Lucky … and the sanctuary … and her family – her mind was whirring. It had all been going so well for them, this couldn’t ruin it. Her father would be devastated if anything happened to his beloved sanctuary.
Pippa wracked her brains for a solution. Should she go and see William herself? Should she suggest hiring a PR company to help them? Should she quickly rally the village, the community? Or should they wait and see what this awful man was actually going to do? Maybe he’d calm down in a day or so and it would all blow over … Pippa suddenly felt lonely. Yes, she had a big family and she had friends, but tonight, while sleep was eluding her, she felt ridiculously lonely and more than a bit scared.
Chapter Twenty-four
Pippa couldn’t remember a worse week. Not for a long time, anyway, and definitely not since the hotel had opened. Thankfully, the hotel had been quiet all week; although at the weekend it was full and next week they had a number of bookings. Pippa had organised extra staff to carry the load while they dealt with the sanctuary situation. From when William had first threatened to sue, things had gone from bad to worse.
William had wasted no time in making as big a fuss as possible. Although he hadn’t even needed stitches, he was making out that he was practically mauled to death. He’d immediately engaged a solicitor to represent him, a very aggressive one, possibly on a no-win, no-fee basis. Simon Hawker, the solicitor, called up the sanctuary to say how his ‘client’ was going to sue for injuries and also for distress caused by re-homing the pet that he’d grown attached to only to have to give him back after the ‘vicious attack’. He didn’t ask for an exact sum of money, but the implication from the hungry solicitor was that they wanted a big payout.
He’d also called up the local paper, who’d been clambering around the sanctuary, asking for quotes and taking photos. It was chaos. Especially as they had to rein Connor in to stop him from threatening the press with … well, it was best not to repeat the threats. Mike from the sanctuary had tried to reason with them, but although it was a big local story, once they’d got photos and the Singers’ ‘no comment’, they’d gone off to write it up. It had also been on the local radio and the threat was that if it carried on, the story might garner wider interest.
The Ticket to Happiness Page 20