Page 8 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

Frankie glanced around. ‘You’ll be the first one to try out the new bed. Updated plumbing and a fancy new en suite as well. Looks good, eh?’

Lily nodded. ‘It does,’ she lied.

Because although the king-size bed looked extremely comfortable, it seemed to be the only thing in the room that was. She couldn’t work out why.

‘Well, I’ll leave you in peace,’ said Frankie. ‘The kitchen’s just off the main hall. Come and find us whenever you’re ready. Dinner will be in a while.’

After she had left, Lily took another look around once more, trying to work out what the room was missing. After all, it was a good size with two out of the four walls made out of wooden logs, the other two newly plastered. Also, the downlighters and polished floorboards might look in place in a fancy hotel in a city, but out here in the forest, it felt a little barren. A little too severe for the softness of the spectacular setting outside. The only furniture was a divan bed which was steel grey and again felt a little too modern. The bedroom didn’t feel like aplace to relax in, which was crazy because the outside view was mesmerising.

She wandered over to stand next to the huge window. The lake stretched out in front of the hotel, almost lapping at the bottom of the veranda on the floor below. The water sparkled, even on a dull afternoon. At its edges was lush tall grass and reeds swaying in the breeze. The forest surrounded everything, making the whole place feel private, protected and special.

Of course, somewhere in the forest was her abandoned hire car. She grimaced to herself. She was already regretting not taking out the full insurance. That would probably be the last of her meagre savings gone, she realised. After all, there was no way she was going to get her deposit back on it, seeing as how it was currently stuck in a muddy pond!

She turned around and looked at the room once more, wondering what kind of budget she would have to work with. Then she frowned to herself, once more asking herself whether there was trouble regarding the finances given the odd comments that she had picked up on. She hadn’t even worked out what commission she would receive yet.

But putting the money issues aside for a moment, she let her mind wander, imagining how she would redecorate it and make it warmer and more cosy. Her imagination immediately ran riot, thinking up a style of cosy warmth and soft muted colours which would work perfectly, she thought, with a thrill of excitement.

She would keep the wooden wall behind the bed as a feature. The rest of the room she would freshen and lighten up to bring in some much-needed colour to the room. It also needed warm rugs to make it cosy, soft furnishings too. But also a touch of elegance here and there, such as lamps and perhaps even a desk with some books.

With a satisfied nod, she smiled to herself. Oh, yes. Doing up Maple Tree Lodge was going to be so easy, she decided. Just perfect for her new portfolio of her very own company.

With a little dance of excitement, she headed over to her bag to get showered and ready for dinner.

4

Ben was still getting over the last, somewhat eventful, hour. First of all, he had argued with his grandad. Storming out ready to go somewhere, anywhere, other than Maple Tree Lodge, he had managed to narrowly avoid a head-on collision. Finally he had ended up with a gorgeous redhead in his arms!

But even that unexpected treat didn’t make him feel any better as he followed his grandad into the large kitchen, their earlier disagreement still weighing heavily on him. He hated that they couldn’t get along at the moment when they had always been so close, until the past six months.

At least the kitchen had a cheery atmosphere. It was the beating heart of the whole place and where the family had gathered as usual for dinner. The aroma of home cooking filled the air as his mum Faye was taking a freshly baked loaf of bread out of the oven to accompany the pie she had made. Nearby, his sister Hannah was drizzling water icing over a cherry cake. His grandmother Dotty was knitting by the fire and his grandad had just sat down at the head of the long oak table that filled the other side of the room.

Only one person was missing from the family. Ben glanced at the empty chair at the other end of the long table and walked straight past it. He couldn’t sit there. It was his dad’s chair. Perhaps in time but it was still too early, still too strange a time for them all.

It had been almost six months since the family had lost his dad and yet, deep in their grief, they were all still struggling to find a path forward without his presence among them. Earlier on, Ben had suggested a family meeting before dinner to try and move the business in the right direction but between the knitting, baking and home cooking, he didn’t think the Ritz was going to be worried about the competition for hotel reservations.

Ben tried to find some positivity from somewhere as he sat down. He still had his mum and Ben was grateful for her quiet strength, although the unexpected loss of her husband had undoubtedly taken its toll.

He watched her as she chopped up some herbs at the large island in the middle of the work area. She had always been softly spoken, happy to be in the background, but these days Faye was even more withdrawn, her smile not quite so frequent as it had once been. Now fifty-seven, her short blonde hair was tinged with a few grey hairs but despite keeping her slim figure with frequent walks around the lake, she was a little slower and sadder these days.

‘Shall we try and hold this meeting before our guest comes downstairs?’ said Ben. ‘Frankie’s just showing Lily to her room so now’s a good time to discuss the business whilst it’s just us family.’

‘Business meeting,’ Ben heard his grandad mutter from the other end of the long oak table. ‘Never needed business meetings in the old days.’

‘Was that before or after we stopped receiving bookings?’ asked Dotty, his grandmother, in a mild tone.

Dotty was an exuberant character, or had been until the loss of her son. Suddenly her zest for life had become far more muted, so much so that she had even let her hair dye grow out and now that her hair was grey, she appeared much older all of a sudden. And yet, once in a while, she showed a steely glint in her soft blue eyes and even sharper observations.

Faye placed a jug of water on the table and sat down at the table.

‘What’s all this about Lily’s car?’ she asked, looking concerned as she looked across at her son.

‘It’s pretty much embedded in the small pond, from what I could see. It’s going to need towing to get it out of there,’ Ben told her. ‘I’ll try the winch on it in the morning.’

He looked around the table and realised that his sister had not yet sat down. Hannah was still fussing over her cake but glanced up when she felt her brother looking at her.

‘What?’ said Hannah, with a shrug. ‘You don’t want a dry cake for dessert, do you?’

She was trying to avoid any kind of responsibility as usual but he desperately needed her support. Ben sent her a beseeching look of desperation which she must have felt as she finally joined the family at the table and sat down with a huff.