Page 49 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘But that was him!’ said Lauren, goggle-eyed. ‘Stark naked!’

Lily nodded. ‘It was, but we still have work to do.’

Lauren also nodded, but Lily wasn’t sure if any of her words were sinking in.

Still, she thought, as she ushered the cleaner downstairs and out of the way of any naked rock stars, at least she now knew that all those rumours about Mick’s legendary sexual prowess were most definitely true.

The house felt full to capacity that afternoon. In addition to all the extra guests, Rose was hosting a WI gathering in the drawing room and they required constant tea and serviettes for all the cakes being served.

‘We must still infiltrate the council, just in case!’ Rose was saying, as she paced back and forth and Lily went back in with more serviettes. ‘Thank you, Lily.’

‘I’ve heard about that Councillor Jones,’ muttered another woman. ‘He’s a terrible flirt.’

Rose’s eyes gleamed. ‘Excellent! He’ll be powerless against me.’

There was a short silence. ‘Don’t you think you might be a tad too old for him, dear?’ said one of the other women.

‘Nonsense!’ said Rose, looking affronted. ‘Anyway, he’ll be no match for me. Now, what shall we use for taping the conversation, because we’ll need proof, I assume?’

Lily left them drawing up their battle plans and quietly closed the door.

‘Have you seen my grandsons?’ asked Arthur, coming into the corridor from his study.

‘They’re setting up the stalls in the front grounds,’ Lily told him.

‘Good, good,’ said Arthur. But then he wandered out of the patio doors leading to the back garden.

Perhaps she had said back and not front garden by mistake, thought Lily as he walked away. But there were no stalls being set up out the back, and never had been from what she remembered.

She spotted her grandad also heading across the back grounds, and wondered why he was working that day when he never normally did at the weekend.

Turning to look at the front of the hall, she saw that most of the tables had now been set up. There was a stage being organised so that Mick and the band could sing a few songs. Rows of fairy lights were being strung around the trees and candleholders placed everywhere.

She was about to turn back towards the house when she was interrupted by Annie.

‘Ah! There you are!’ said Annie, rushing across. ‘Is there any Sellotape anywhere?’

And so it went on for the rest of the day.

Lily hardly had time to do her own chores, let alone deal with all the queries regarding the fete, which she knew nothing about.

An hour or so later, she answered the front doorbell.

‘And who are you?’ snapped the short, dark-haired man standing on the doorstep.

Perhaps he was a stallholder who had arrived a day early.

‘I’m the housekeeper,’ she told him in an imperious tone. ‘All queries regarding the fete are to be dealt with by Mr Harris. You’ll find him in the grounds. If you require anything else, please do not ring this doorbell again but use the one by the back door for staff.’

‘Staff! Me?’ The man suddenly cackled with laughter. ‘I’m practically bloody family! Annie! Sam! Where the heck are you?’

‘What’s all the shouting about?’ said Mick, coming to stand next to Lily by the front door. ‘Oh, it’s you, mate!’

‘She thinks I’m staff!’ shouted the man, pointing the finger at Lily.

‘You’re not anything but a pain in the neck,’ said Mick, before stepping forward to give the stranger a hug. ‘You’ve put on a pound or two, haven’t you, chubby?’

‘Stress eating,’ the man told him, taking a step backwards. ‘Mind you, that’s nothing compared to your grey hairs.’