Page 60 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘See you later,’ called out Pete as his brother headed off.

Josh had agreed to help out behind the bar to allow Belle her night off.

Pete was beginning to enjoy seeing his brother on a daily basis. His mum and Grandma Tilly too. In addition, he was beginning to enjoy standing behind the bar each evening and talking to people. He realised that he had actually been quite isolated and lonely in Singapore.

The only slight fly in the ointment was that people often talked about his dad. It had hurt so much initially, but perhaps the pain was easing a little with each passing mention.

He wondered what his dad would make of him buying The Black Swan. Would he have approved? Pete hoped so.

He knew that Belle had tried to persuade him to talk to Josh about the letter that he had found, but there had never been an opportune time. And besides, he was still apprehensive about upsetting his brother.

He looked up at the façade of the inn once more. It was time to tear out the old memories and feel of the place and bring in the new. He liked to think that he was breathing new life into this old place.

At that moment, he saw Belle through the windows cleaning the tables for opening time. She was still unsure about the restaurant, but he was hoping that its success would help her see differently.

Of course the restaurant wouldn’t fail. Failure, as NASA said, wasn’t an option.

Not when there was so much else on the line as well as the inn, he thought, flicking another glance towards Belle.

33

Belle was deep in thought as she left the inn that evening to head to Grandma Tilly’s bungalow.

The Black Swan sign coming down had affected her more than she cared to admit. It wasn’t even The B ck Sw n any more. The inn had been stripped of its identity and she felt as if hers had gone with it.

She snuggled her face further down into her scarf against the cold wind. The rustling of dried leaves crunched under her boots as she walked along the riverside.

At least her ideas for doing up the lounge seemed to have gained Pete’s approval. The old lampshades with the fringes had been thrown out, along with the faded wallpaper, the threadbare rugs and the stained velvet that had covered the bar stools. It was now a blank canvas and the years of old stale cigarette smoke had finally cleared.

Despite all her tension, she was looking forward to spending the evening using her sewing machine and chatting to Grandma Tilly.

However, she had barely sat down with her mug of tea when the doorbell went.

Belle and Grandma Tilly looked at each other in surprise.

‘Who on earth can that be?’ asked Grandma Tilly, getting up from her armchair.

To Belle’s surprise, there sounded like quite a few voices at the front door, most of which she recognised. But she was still amazed when Grandma Tilly came back into the living room, closely followed by Amber, Lucy and Molly.

‘What are you all doing here?’ asked Belle.

‘We could ask you the same thing,’ said Lucy, sitting down next to her.

‘How did you know I was here,’ said Belle.

‘We followed you,’ said Molly, looking sheepish.

‘Only because we were worried about you,’ added Amber, quickly.

Belle sighed and looked at Grandma Tilly. ‘It looks as if the cat is out of the bag,’ she said.

Grandma Tilly nodded. ‘I’d better get some more biscuits,’ she said.

A little later, everyone was settled in the small living room and still waiting for answers from Belle and Grandma Tilly.

‘So what’s going on?’ asked Amber, looking at the sewing machine.

‘That’s mine,’ said Belle. ‘I was just helping out with the quilts, that’s all.’