He made it sound so simple.
‘But if we do that, without being exonerated, there’s a chance we could still lose donors and the investigation could do so much damage that we’ll never be able to re-home any pets.’
‘Pay this bloody bloke off and get him to say that he was mistaken, that’s what I’d do. Clearly, he just wants money.’
‘It just seems so wrong,’ Pippa protested.
Harvey made it sound like any other business deal.
‘Life is wrong sometimes, Pippa. Now, can we talk about something else, please?’
His voice was sharp and Pippa was startled.
‘Sorry if I’m boring you,’ she snapped.
‘Don’t be like that, it’s just I’ve come all this way to see you and I don’t want to talk about a bloody dog. I want to talk about us and you and how gorgeous you are.’
His voice softened and so did she.
‘Actually, it’s all I’ve been talking about, so I don’t want to talk about it anymore, either,’ she conceded, feeling tired, suddenly, of everything. Including arguing with people. ‘Let’s take the wine to bed.’
The hotel was in good hands and now, as Harvey enveloped her in his arms, so was she.
She checked the hotel was all right as Harvey slept. She’d had a lovely night in the end and managed, with Harvey’s help, to put all thoughts of anything but him to the back of her mind. The hotel was all set up for breakfast, it would seem. Gemma was on late duty and she shooed Pippa back to bed.
‘This is your weekend off.’
‘I took last weekend off, this seems greedy,’ Pippa laughed.
‘You deserve it; you’ve worked so hard. Go and have fun while you can.’ Gemma hugged her.
‘You don’t think that Brooke’s right and I’m a horrible person?’ she asked yet again as the insecurity crept back.
‘No. No, I don’t. I think that it’s a complicated situation, but we’ll talk about it another time, when you don’t have a handsome man waiting for you in your bed.’
‘Which is most of the time, Gem.’
Pippa made coffee while trying to keep out of Vicky’s way in the kitchen and she took them back to her apartment. She placed the cups on the bedside table and then kissed Harvey gently on the shoulder.
‘Morning,’ he said sleepily, slowly opening his eyes and stretching.
‘Hey,’ she replied. She felt happy this morning. It might be fleeting but she was going to revel in it. ‘I made coffee and then I thought we could go into Bath for brunch. I know it’s lovely here, but I need a day away from the hotel. Away from everything.’
‘Sounds good to me. Maybe I can buy you something. Not only do you deserve it but it might just cheer you up.’
‘Harvey, I don’t need you to do that,’ she said.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had bought her a gift. Actually, she could, it was Hector…
‘I want to. You’re going through a tough time and you’re lovely. You make me happy. That’s reason enough for me.’ He kissed her insistently.
‘In that case … Oh, and just a heads-up, we’re going to the pub tonight with some of my family.’
Harriet hadn’t been distracted quite enough by the Lucky situation, after all. She’d demanded they meet Harvey at some point and the pub seemed like the safest bet. It would only be Harriet and Connor – Gwen would be babysitting – Gus and Amanda. Freddie and Gemma were on hotel duty. Fleur was with Alfie and didn’t want to join the ‘boring olds’, and Hayley was with her dad. With it being the six of them, Pippa hoped it wouldn’t be too uncomfortable; although she fully expected Harriet to ask far too many questions. But, of course, it could have been worse.
‘I can’t wait to meet your family. Your brother, Freddie, was a right laugh,’ Harvey said.
‘He’s working here tonight but we’ll have a drink with him before we go.’
‘That’s a shame. His girlfriend – Gemma, isn’t it? She seemed very sweet, too, and the American, is she going to be there?’
‘No, she’s not,’ Pippa said, thinking about how Brooke would probably be doing her best to keep Hector occupied that weekend.
And then she felt guilty. Brooke was just being nice – her harsh words to Pippa were out of concern – and she was taking care of Hector. Pippa would probably have to apologise to her, after all.
‘She was fun. A couple of my boys took a shine to her; talked about her quite a bit when they got back to London, in fact.’
‘Well, she did have a little fling with, what’s his name? The red-haired guy, I think.’
‘Rob. Good lad. Anyway, when I first met her I thought you and she were alike. I guess you’re both blonde,’ he laughed.
‘No, she’s nothing like me.’ Pippa decided to end the conversation by kissing him.
So this was how it felt to be a normal couple, Pippa thought as she and Harvey strolled around Bath arm in arm. They’d been for an early lunch – it turned out that brunch was a little optimistic by the time they’d finally got out of bed – and now they were shopping. Harvey insisted on buying her a pair of beautiful gold earrings from her favourite Bath jeweller, and she was both touched and delighted.
As they looked in the shops, which was a good way to find out about his taste in things – conservative when it came to clothes and jewellery, it seemed – they chatted easily about their lives, their pasts, their likes and dislikes. There was nothing awkward about the time they spent together and conversation flowed easily. Although Harvey kept glancing at his phone, he hadn’t done any work since they’d been together, which was a definite improvement on last weekend.
‘I love this city,’ Harvey said. ‘You know, when I slow down, which I need to do one day, I could see myself living here.’
‘You could? Really?’ Pippa perked up.
She knew it was far too early to think long term, although as Pippa didn’t do casual, she couldn’t help herself. But the fact he lived in London and she in Somerset was something that bothered her slightly.
‘Yes, I have no idea when I’m going to scale back on the old job, but I’m not going to be running at this pace forever. Unless I want to run into an early grave. Although I’m not quite over the hill yet.’
‘And in the meantime, we could easily date like this, couldn’t we? You know, weekends?’ she said without thinking.
Pippa needed lessons in playing it cool, but it was a bit late for that.
‘Don’t see why not.’ Harvey shrugged then, pulling her close to him, they carried on walking.
Pippa knew she shouldn’t get carried away; it hadn’t done her any favours in the past. With Edward she even saw them both running the two hotels together, after only a couple of dates, so she needed to take things slowly. But she couldn’t help but picture them together, having many more days like this in Bath, spending their evenings at Meadowbrook with the family. It felt right. It definitely felt right, right now.
Pippa tried not to feel nervous as she got changed for the pub. She decided on a pair of jeans, a fitted black jumper and knee-length boots. It was beginning to get warmer. Spring was fully on them and she could almost feel summer approaching; although so far April had been quite chilly. Harvey was on his laptop in the living room, which she didn’t mind as he’d been so attentive so far, and anyway, she needed space to do her hair and make-up. She’d handed Harvey a nice glass of wine while he worked and he’d suggested going to the bar for a pre-dinner drink, but Gemma had texted Pippa to warn her that both Hector and Brooke were there, so she’d dissuaded him. She wanted to avoid both of them. There was no way she was letting Brooke be rude to her in front of Harvey. She’d hatched a plan to sneak him out of the back door then walk down to Harriet’s and Connor’s cottage so they could all go to the pub together. She hoped her sister was on her best behaviour. Gus and Amanda would be lovely, but Harriet, well, she could be a pit bull. Although, of course, she and Harvey would have loads in common, so Pippa was hoping that they�
��d bond over the city.
The Parker’s Arms was busy, but then it was every Saturday. Pippa had booked a table for the six of them, tucked away. She was thankful that William wasn’t there, but then he normally went to the pub at lunchtime and in the early evening, so they were unlikely to have a confrontation. Pippa, Harvey, Harriet and Connor sat down and waited for Gus and Amanda, greeting various people they knew from the village while trying not to get engaged or drawn into conversation. For one night, no one wanted to talk about the Lucky situation.
‘Shall I get drinks?’ Connor asked.
He’d been perfectly friendly to Harvey so far, but it was clear that an animal-loving vet and a city boy didn’t have much in common. Especially as Harvey had already – and embarrassingly – confessed he didn’t like any animals. Connor didn’t trust anyone who didn’t like animals.
‘I’ll help you,’ Harvey offered.
Connor paled.
‘We’ll have a bottle of Sauvignon,’ Harriet said as she pushed Connor towards the bar, Harvey at his heels.
‘Poor Con. Never did know how to deal with city boys,’ Harriet observed.
‘Not like you, then,’ Pippa said. ‘What do you think?’
‘He’s nice-looking, good bod, not your usual public schoolboy type. A bit old for you, Pip, as usual, but he seems OK so far.’
‘Wow, OK, that’s high praise coming from you,’ Pippa teased.
‘But, I know his type, married to the job, and I also know my sister. I’m not sure that you’d actually cope with it in the long term.’
‘Harry, it’s early days, so let’s not worry about that yet.’ Pippa tried to sound light, but it was as if Harriet were voicing her thoughts.
‘Are we late?’ Gus asked, bounding up.
‘No, but if you go to the bar right now, you’ll catch Connor with Harvey,’ Harriet said.
Amanda sat down as he did so.
‘You guys all right?’ Pippa asked.
‘Yes. Fleur’s at Alfie’s tonight, so one of us, probably Gus, has to stay sober so we can collect her later. God, wait until Toby’s a teenager, Harriet, you end up as a glorified taxi service.’
‘Thank goodness that’s ages away. I want him to stay a baby forever – you know, so I can protect him.’
‘I know. The hardest thing about being a parent is seeing how they get more independent. You’re proud of them, of course, but you hate the idea at the same time,’ Amanda laughed as the men returned with the drinks.
‘What are you ladies talking about?’ Gus asked.
‘Children,’ Pippa said.
‘Do you have children, Harvey?’ Gus asked.
‘Yes, teenagers. One’s at uni and the other’s finishing sixth form. They only see me when they have to or want something. Bloody kids.’ He glanced at the horrified faces around him. ‘But I love them to bits, of course, and we’re getting closer now they’re growing up. At least I’ve done my bit with breeding; I don’t need to worry about that anymore.’
Pippa nearly spat out her wine. Harriet glanced at her with concern. Thankfully, Harvey was oblivious, as he was talking about the ‘real ale’ he was drinking.
‘Nice, and smooth. I like this one. I’ll come here again,’ he said. ‘I do like a good local.’
‘It’s a pretty decent choice,’ Connor conceded.
‘We’ve got teenagers, so we know what you mean.’ Amanda turned the subject back.
‘They cost a bloody fortune. My ex, she wanted more kids, but I told her that I’d never get to retire if we did, so two was enough. There’s school fees, then all the stuff they want to do for five minutes, like the violin and the flute, then it’s all cars and houses. Neverending, the amount they want these days. Thank goodness they might actually be getting jobs in the next few years; otherwise I’d never get to retire,’ he laughed.
Pippa could hardly breathe. Of course they hadn’t had a conversation about kids, they weren’t anywhere near that point, but Pippa wanted to be a mum. She was desperate to be a mother. Not necessarily in the next few weeks, but definitely in the next few years. Never wasn’t an option. But then perhaps Harvey sounded set on this because he was single and if they fell in love, then he’d change his mind…
‘Won’t you miss work if you retired?’ Harriet thankfully changed the subject.
‘I’m not going for a few years yet. I’ll probably trade my own account even then. It’s in the blood, isn’t it? Don’t you miss it?’ he asked.
‘Sometimes I miss the buzz a little,’ Harriet said carefully but at the same time grasped Connor’s hand to reassure him. ‘But with my life now, Connor, Toby, my family, the hotel, the sanctuary, there’s always so much going on and I love it. It’s a different buzz, but actually I think a bigger one.’
Connor leant across and kissed her.
‘Yeah, not sure I’ll be like that, but as I say, I can do private trading to keep my hand in.’
‘Do you have any hobbies?’ Gus asked.
God, Pippa thought, this sounded like a job interview.
‘Nah, I don’t have time. I played golf once but it was a waste of time. I have to go to the gym so I don’t get too fat, but I don’t have much spare time apart from that.’
Pippa smiled reassuringly at Harvey, but she didn’t know why. He didn’t seem phased by all the questions.
‘Didn’t you enjoy Gus’s painting class when you came?’ Amanda asked.
‘It was OK, but I only did that, and the bloody baking, for the others. I can’t be doing with all that arty stuff normally, but it was good for the staff. I wanted the team to bond and actually, it worked a treat. Really, you should thank me. I’ve told other department heads at the bank and they’re all talking about booking. If you get a flood of them, I’ll expect commission.’
‘Tell you what, you can date our sister as your commission,’ Harriet offered.
‘Are you pimping me out?’ Pippa asked. She laughed, hoping that it sounded light-hearted.
The problem was that here, in this situation, Harvey sounded a bit arrogant or something and Pippa wasn’t loving it. He didn’t even compliment Gus; in fact, he almost dismissed him.
‘Anyway, Gus’s painting workshops are wonderful, as are Gwen’s baking classes. The guests love it.’
‘Yeah, well, it worked a treat, as I said, for the bonding. I didn’t need to get too involved as I’m the top dog anyway.’
‘Oh, you really are,’ Harriet said and Pippa tried to ignore the sarcasm that she could hear in her voice.
Steve, the owner of the pub, came over to take their order, which they normally went to the bar to do.
‘I wanted to come over and offer our support again. I know you wouldn’t have re-homed that dog if there was anything wrong with it. And if you ask me, that William has a lot to answer for. I let him drink here still and, by the way, he’s a big drinker, but I wouldn’t trust him. I just wish there was something I could do.’
‘Thanks, Steve.’ Connor stood up to shake his hand. ‘That means a lot.’
They all placed their orders and Steve left. It had left a bit of a sombre attitude over the table.
‘Just pay the bloke off,’ Harvey said. ‘Get him to sign something saying he’ll keep quiet and then it’ll be over.’
‘It’s not that simple,’ Connor snapped.
‘No, it’s not,’ Gus said. ‘Although he’ll sign papers, some might see it as an admission of guilt on our part and it could do irreparable damage to the animal sanctuary.’
‘Look, this guy’s probably a bit of a chancer, but by the time you’ve finished paying the bloody solicitors you’d have been best paying him off in the first place. So, maybe a few people don’t want to adopt from you for a while, but you know, people have short memories, they’ll move on. Job done and maybe we can talk about something else.’
Pippa saw both Gus and Connor glance at each other. A look that said they weren’t too keen on Harvey. Not again. Pippa’s family never liked the men she date
d. Of course, before they had good reason, but she really thought, hoped, that Harvey was different. Although tonight she was seeing him through her family’s eyes and she wasn’t too keen, either. Normally, when you introduced a new person they made an effort to be interested in other people, but not Harvey. It was like he was a different man when they were alone and Pippa was feeling confused.
‘You’re quite opinionated, aren’t you?’ Harriet said and Pippa wanted to put her head in her hands.
‘I just tell it like it is, that’s all. But I can see how important this animal thing is to you. I thought if you could get it to go away then you could put it behind you.’
He sounded mildly contrite and Harriet seemed to back down a little.
‘So, you live in Central London?’ Amanda asked, changing the subject.
‘Yes, Notting Hill. A bit poncy but I like it.’ He grinned. ‘It’s convenient and there’s plenty of good places to eat. I’m a bit of a fan of city life, to be honest; couldn’t live in the middle of nowhere like you.’
‘I can’t wait to visit your place,’ Pippa said, trying to ignore the open-mouthed gapes of their dinner companions.
Thankfully, the food came and then they all concentrated on their plates as if they were the most interesting things in the world.
Chapter Twenty-five
‘Right, so our solicitor’s come back to us and said his solicitor – a man who’s probably got a qualification online, by the sound of him – has asked for one hundred thousand pounds to make all this go away,’ Harriet explained as they held an early morning meeting at Meadowbrook.
‘Oh my God!’ Freddie said as they all paled. ‘That’s ludicrous.’
‘It is ridiculous. There’s no medical report to support anything he’s saying,’ Connor stormed.
The problem was that no one was interested in the story of how William hadn’t even needed as much as a plaster because as Hector said, who let truth stand in the way of a good story? The journalists were loving how the famous sanctuary, run by four ‘spoilt’ siblings, was under threat owing to negligence, possibly due to the wild parties thrown up at the house under the guise of the hotel … or something like that.
The Ticket to Happiness Page 22