Page 76 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

Ben gave a start. ‘You did?’

He rushed out of the lounge and into the reception, just in time to watch Lily step forward to greet their first guests. When another group of people followed almost immediately behind, Ben went to meet them. At least this time he recognised the faces.

‘Welcome to Maple Tree Lodge,’ he said, with a warm smile.

He instantly relaxed. He knew the Connolly family already as he had gone to school with the two brothers standing in front of him. ‘Ryan, Ethan, glad you could come,’ he said, shaking their hands.

‘Nice to see you, mate,’ said Ryan, stepping forward. ‘Thought I’d check out our competition.’

Ben had heard that there were now a couple of Airbnb railway carriages that Ryan and his fiancée Katy had renovated to hire out.

‘Of course we were going to come,’ added Ethan, Ryan’s brother, before shaking his hand. ‘We wanted to see what you’ve done with the old place.’

‘Well, we took inspiration from what you’ve done with the Cranfield,’ Ben told him with a grin.

After Ryan and Katy had updated the nearby railway station into a successful coffee shop and restaurant, Ethan had completed the family success story with overhauling the steam engine, making Cranfield a now much-visited local attraction.

‘Then I know how much hard work and money this has taken,’ said Ryan, looking around. ‘This looks great.’

‘Thanks,’ said Ben. ‘Look, come in and I’ll show you around.’

But as he said that, he glanced over their shoulder and saw Dodgy Del.

‘Del?’ he said, surprised to see him.

‘Our cousin tagged along,’ drawled Ethan, rolling his eyes. ‘Hope you don’t mind but we can’t seem to shake him off.’

‘No need to be so mean after all I’ve done for you all,’ said Del, looking almost insulted.

‘Done?’ said Ryan, laughing. ‘You’ve nearly destroyed most of our hard work a number of times!’

‘You too?’ asked Ben, with a sigh. ‘I thought it was just us.’

‘No, Del’s catastrophes are not just limited to Cranley,’ said Ethan. ‘He can cause chaos wherever he goes.’

‘Charming,’ muttered Del, before looking at Ben. ‘And you owe me, mate.’

‘How on earth do I owe you after all the electricity you’ve been stealing for your bloomin’ taxi service?’ asked Ben.

‘Because I’ve put the word out for you all,’ he said, glancing over his shoulder. ‘Pulled in a few favours and, well, see the results for yourself.’

Ben peered over Del’s shoulder and gasped in shock. There was a long stream of cars weaving their way through the woods towards the car park which was already over half-full. Masses of people were climbing out of their cars, all intent on seeing the hotel’s renovation.

Ben turned to Del in awe.

‘Looks like you owe me a nice big drink after all those insults,’ said Del, with a wide grin. ‘I’ll be at the bar if anyone needs me.’

39

Lily found that the preview evening for the hotel rushed past in a blur.

She had only seen Ben briefly since the beginning of the night, looking particularly handsome in his suit and tie. He had been standing in the reception when she came down the stairs, watching her. For a brief moment he smiled at her and the world had closed in so it had felt as if it were just them. Then he was swallowed up by the arriving crowd and had vanished out of sight.

The crowd had grown bigger by the hour as more and more local people had arrived, to their relief. Wherever she went, there was a crush of people.

The lounge was popular as everyone took advantage of the roaring fires. They also braved the cold night air to stand on the veranda, taking in the floating lights and oohing and aahing at the view across the lake, lit from above by the full moon. The night was clear and crisp so the roaring fires in both the lounge and the snug made it feel cosy and warm back inside.

Everyone loved the relaxed vibe of the snug where Frankie’s delicious and thankfully not too strong cocktails went down a treat, alongside several spirited games of snooker and darts.