Page 21 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

Lily thought back to finding Mark with the other woman, but quickly dismissed the thought from her mind.

‘Although we do have a few of Sam’s bands and singers popping in and out on a weekly basis,’ added Annie, waggling her eyebrows.

Lily grinned. ‘I remember them from the wedding. It all sounds very glamorous.’

Annie laughed. ‘You obviously haven’t met Hazy Memory. They’re definitely not at all sophisticated.’

‘What about the cleaning?’ asked Lily.

Annie held up her hand. ‘I promise that you won’t have to clean anything. Megan’s niece has just finished her exams. She’s going to help us out as well. If you could supervise her, that would be great. Erm, what else? I know! You’re OK with dogs, aren’t you?’

Lily looked around. ‘Dogs?’

‘Well, dog, singular. Eleanor and Tom have got Dylan. He’s over most days. Arthur adores him,’ she added in a whisper.

‘Dogs are fine,’ Lily told her, hoping it wouldn’t entail too much extra work.

‘Well, we know we can trust you because we know your family so well. It will only be Monday to Friday. There may be the very odd weekend, but hopefully not.’

It wasn’t as if she had a wild social life at the weekends, thought Lily. She and Mark had tended to head to the supermarket to restock and then they’d watch various box sets on the TV. For a second, she felt the sharp pang of his betrayal before she quickly brushed it aside.

‘So, what do you think?’ asked Annie, looking hopeful.

Lily was sorely tempted. She needed the money to help out her family.

‘Jack was only here for a meeting, wasn’t he?’ she asked, suddenly fretful about running into him every day.

‘Sam hasn’t seen him since they were at school,’ Annie told her. ‘They’re not close mates or anything. He was just here for a meeting. You won’t have to see him again.’

Lily felt grateful for that. Jack belonged in her past and had stirred up enough pain in her life. She didn’t have time to dwell on all of that.

‘Look, if you want a break from your mum you could even move in,’ said Annie. ‘We’ve got loads of spare bedrooms.’

Lily took a deep breath. ‘That might help. The box room is pretty tiny and we’ve only got one bathroom. I’ll see how hysterical Mum gets when I tell her. OK,’ she added. ‘I’ll give you a hand for a while.’

‘That’s great,’ said Annie, looking relieved. ‘It’s really just going to be a little bit of admin and a small amount of organisation. That’s all.’

Lily smiled, but she was going to take it more seriously than that.

She might not be trained in anything but she could organise a place like Willow Tree Hall, couldn’t she? After all, she was responsible. Practical. She’d had to be, because ever since her world was shattered at the age of sixteen she had made sure that her adult life was steady and reliable.

Dull, whispered a voice deep inside. She instantly shrugged it off. Safe, she reminded herself. Safe kept her from being hurt.

‘Oh, we’re going to have such fun,’ Annie was telling her, laughing.

Lily was thinking that fun wasn’t the priority. She was actually looking forward to sorting out whatever mess lay inside Willow Tree Hall.

But she knew that she was good with lists. She planned her life, didn’t she? OK, it hadn’t exactly turned out incredibly, but she could organise things and people. At least, she hoped so.

She had handled large events for over a thousand partygoers. How hard could it be to organise one family?

9

Lily told her family about her new job over dinner that evening.

‘A housekeeper?’ Celia looked stunned as she served up the shredded chicken. ‘Up at the big house?’

Willow Tree Hall had always been referred to as the ‘big house’. It held both a sense of awe and respect mixed together.