The Hotel at Honeymoon Station : A totally heartwarming romance about new beginnings

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘I hardly feel like a victim.’

  ‘You offered me friendship – and God knows we need friends in Honeymoon right now – and I threw it back in your face. I’m sorry… Forgive me?’

  ‘Of course – there’s nothing to forgive. And you’re really not that unpopular in Honeymoon.’

  ‘There’s Sid and his friends. They’re not exactly our biggest fans.’

  ‘Ah, I really wouldn’t worry about what they say; nobody else does. Everyone else likes you.’

  ‘That’s probably down to Tia.’

  ‘To be fair, she’s very popular in the pub.’

  Emma laughed. ‘I bet! So this field full of ghostly cows… when did you say you could take me to see it?’

  Aidan downed the last of his tea and handed her the empty cup. ‘Maybe I can do better than an empty field. How does a genuine Iron Age settlement sound?’

  Emma smiled, so glad the air had been cleared. ‘That sounds amazing.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘Tonight is perfect!’

  ‘What did you say was supposed to be here?’

  Emma looked across the expanse of meadow. There wasn’t a lot here apart from the usual things you’d expect to find in a meadow: grass, flowers, rabbit droppings…

  ‘Are you sure this isn’t your empty field?’ she asked.

  ‘What, the phantom cows? Honest, I have brought you to the right place – there was a settlement here. I mean, I know there’s not much of it left.’

  ‘There’s none of it left. I think we can safely strike this from your tour itinerary.’

  ‘You say that but don’t be too quick to judge. You know it’s my tragic tour? Well this is kind of tragic, right?’

  ‘As in it’s tragic there’s nothing to see?’

  ‘Now I’m offended!’

  ‘OK.’ Emma smiled. ‘I’m sold. Impress me.’

  Aidan began to walk. ‘See here? The bit that’s raised all along here… would have been the walls of a house. And here… there’s another.’

  ‘It just looks as if the field needs a good steamroller to me.’

  ‘You need to use your imagination.’

  ‘Well that’s where you’re going wrong because I don’t have one.’

  ‘I don’t believe that for a minute. Anyone who looked at Honeymoon Station and saw a hotel must have an imagination.’

  ‘That was Tia, I’m afraid.’

  ‘But you came on board; you must have seen something. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.’

  ‘I suppose…’ Emma began to wander the field, looking at the ground. ‘Well how do I know what’s just lumps and what used to be a building?’

  ‘Most of the raised sections would have been the site of something.’

  ‘What did they look like?’

  ‘Stone, I guess. Maybe mud. Maybe some straw roofs.’

  Emma narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re making this up as you go along, aren’t you?’

  He grinned. ‘Maybe the details. But there was definitely a settlement of some sort here; I know that for sure.’

  She smiled at him. The sun was low in the sky now, playing hide and seek with fast-moving cloud that kept changing the light, so that sometimes it was soft, and sometimes it was dark and epic. When Aidan was this animated he was twenty times more attractive, and she knew she’d be thinking about this moment later when they’d parted ways, trying hard not to but failing miserably. She’d never been interested in Iron Age mounds of earth, but when he talked about them she wanted to hear more – even if it was largely made up.

  ‘I suppose you’re going to tell me something awful happened to the village here,’ she said.

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ Aidan said cheerfully, ‘but they do say it’s haunted.’

  ‘By who?’

  ‘The chief of the tribe who was overthrown by a naughty nephew. He’s still trying to reclaim his land, even after all these years. Won’t stop haunting until someone gives it back.’

  ‘So why doesn’t someone just come here and tell him it’s his? Case closed.’

  ‘You know, I don’t think anyone’s ever thought of that.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous. It’s the most obvious thing in the world.’

  ‘To someone with half a brain cell, perhaps.’

  ‘To anyone with an ounce of practicality.’ Emma gave a wry smile. ‘I guess that would be me – no imagination but practical to the last. Kind of sad, right?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. You do it.’

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Tell the chief he can have his land back.’

  ‘Don’t be daft.’

  ‘Don’t you want to exorcise the land? What if your guests don’t like being haunted by an ancient chieftain as they walk around here?’

  ‘Now you’re just being silly.’

  ‘Come on, just say it.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I don’t want to do it. I’ve just been insulting his mounds; he might not take very kindly to me.’

  He laughed. ‘Maybe not then.’

  Emma gave him a coquettish look. ‘You do it.’

  ‘Chief!’ he called out. ‘It’s all yours! Now bugger off!’

  Emma giggled, and then a strange silence fell over the meadow. It was hard not to get caught up in the idea that something supernatural had just happened. On the horizon the tiny clump of rooftops that represented Honeymoon flickered in the light and shade of an ever-changing sky, and a flock of distant birds streamed across the heavy banks of cloud.

  After a moment Aidan broke the quiet. ‘How about I show you something you can’t fail to see? It’s a bit of a drive out; we’d have to go back to Honeymoon and get the van.’

  ‘Depends what it is.’

  ‘The Cerne Abbas Giant. Know it?’

  ‘Not really. Is it a real giant or just a field where a giant used to live? Because if it’s that, you could be showing me fields all day and I’d have no clue whether you were making any of it up.’

  ‘It’s a real giant alright. Carved into the hillside with his great big willy hanging out.’

  Emma laughed. ‘Seriously? This I’ve got to see!’

  ‘So how are you feeling about the hotel?’ Aidan asked as they began to walk back to the village. Twilight had turned the sky pink and the hedgerows had that intense evening scent, and Emma wondered how they were going to get to Cerne Abbas before it went dark. But he seemed so keen that she didn’t want to burst his bubble so said nothing. ‘Happy with how it’s going?’

  ‘I suppose so,’ she said. ‘Are you? You’re the expert.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s been too bad so far – I’ve certainly been on worse builds.’

  ‘I’m not sure that fills me with confidence but I’ll take it. It’s exhausting, I know that much.’

  ‘I think it’s coming along nicely. There – does that make you feel better?’

  ‘I wish it did. All I see when I look at it is work that will never end. We’re there every day and we never stop, and when we go home it looks exactly the same. It’s disheartening sometimes.’

  ‘It’ll come together all at once – at least it will look that way. One day, in the not-too-distant future you’ll get the exciting stuff in. Right now it’s all invisible but necessary work – foundations and walls and stuff. But when we start seeing changes at the end of every day, that will be encouraging for you, I promise. You’ll forget this depressing phase soon enough.’

  She nodded. ‘I suppose you’re right. Do all your clients complain as much as this?’

  ‘God no! You’re an absolute pain.’

  She gave a broad smile, her gaze on the ground as they kept pace beside each other. ‘I know it’ll be better soon and I know these things take time. I suppose I’m just nervous. I’ve never taken a risk like this before; it’s so out of my comfort zone I still can’t quite believe I made the decision to come to Honeymoon at all.’

  ‘Well
I’m glad you did.’

  She looked up to see him gazing warmly at her. His hand brushed against hers as they walked and for the briefest second she was seized by the maddest impulse to reach for it and grab hold.

  But as they reached the first lamp post on the road into Honeymoon, the thought was pushed out of her mind as a poster pinned to it caught her eye.

  ‘Seems not everyone is glad I’m here,’ she said slowly, going over to take a closer look.

  Cars!

  Pollution!

  Litter!

  Noise!

  Queues in shops!

  Swearing louts!

  Fights in the pub!

  Rising crime!

  If you don’t want these things in our village, take action!

  Say no to Honeymoon Station Hotel!

  Aidan ripped it down. ‘Sid… It’s got to be; it has his outraged fingerprints all over it.’

  Emma said nothing, but the conviction that if Sid felt like this then lots of others must do too grew in her. She’d feared it since they’d arrived but had been soothed by Tia and Aidan and Blake, and seeing little outright evidence apart from Sid’s grumbling, she’d persuaded herself that she was being paranoid. But this poster was no paranoia and, as far as she could logically tell, his couldn’t be the only voice of dissent. Even Darcie had told her how difficult life had been for her and Tariq when they’d first taken on the café, and that was the kind of business that would hardly change the nature of life in the village at all. There was no denying it, the hotel would change Honeymoon, for good or bad, and she could see why some people might not like that.

  ‘I’m going to see him,’ Aidan continued, rolling the poster into a tight tube as they began to walk again.

  ‘Don’t. We don’t know it’s him for sure and I don’t want to make things worse even if it is. It’s just one poster.’

  ‘Make that two,’ Aidan said, striding over to another lamp post and tearing a second poster from it. ‘Littering,’ he said, crushing this one, ‘I’ll show him littering! I’m going to shove these up his—’

  ‘He’s just trying to protect his home,’ Emma cut in.

  ‘It’s not for him to say who does or doesn’t live here or how they earn a crust. Don’t be swayed by this, Emma – there are plenty in the village who welcome the hotel. There’ll be jobs for a start – everyone’s got to make a living. And Sid’s attitude proves we need new blood in the village. He’d be more at home in that Iron Age dwelling we’ve just come from than here in the village with his stupid phobias of out-of-towners.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. He’s still entitled to his opinion. Maybe I should try to talk to him properly. I could ask him to meet me for lunch and explain exactly what we’re planning and try to put his mind at ease. When he sees it’s really quite a tiny hotel, he might—’ She spotted another poster and went to take it down. She could try, but it looked as if he was going to take some convincing.

  ‘He must have his own bloody printing press.’ Aidan frowned at the poster she’d just removed. ‘Where the hell did he get all these copies done? Certainly not in the village. Unless… the only person I know with a photocopy service is Nell, but she wouldn’t let him make these.’

  ‘Unless she didn’t know what they were for?’

  ‘I’d say it’s pretty bloody obvious what they’re for.’

  ‘But Nell wouldn’t…’ Emma’s dread deepened. Had they really gauged the mood so very badly? Could it be that even the people they considered allies weren’t as keen to have them in the village as they’d imagined? If Sid had recruited Nell to his cause – Nell who’d shown such pride in her family connections to the station and seemed so enthusiastic to see it beautiful again – then this was a battle Emma and Tia were sure to lose. If Nell had turned against them, they had no hope with anyone.

  It took less than five silent minutes to get to the shop, five minutes too long for Emma, whose thoughts were maudlin and pessimistic and not at all constructive.

  Despite the lateness of the hour, the door was open and Nell was behind the counter. She greeted them with a bright enough smile.

  ‘Where are you two off to tonight?’ she asked.

  ‘Nowhere,’ Aidan said tightly. ‘Not until we sort this out.’

  He slapped the poster Emma had taken down onto the counter. Nell’s smile faded as she read it.

  ‘Oh… that’s not good.’

  ‘They’re all over the village,’ Aidan said.

  ‘I expect it’s something to do with Sid.’

  Aidan gave a brusque nod. ‘That’s what we thought. But where did he get all the copies done?’

  Nell’s complexion suddenly lost half a dozen shades.

  ‘Oh, Aidan, I never… He came in wanting to use the copier but I didn’t stay with him. I never saw what it was… I’m ever so sorry – you know I would never—’

  ‘We know,’ Emma said gently, relief flooding through her. How could she have thought for one second that Nell would betray them like that? She’d been nothing but kind since they’d arrived in Honeymoon, and any fool could see she was a generous, tolerant person. Emma’s heart went out to the owner of Honeymoon’s everything shop – she seemed ready to burst into tears.

  ‘Emma, my love.’ Nell looked at her with watery eyes. ‘I’m mortified. I should have known that snake was up to something when he wanted to do his copies all by himself! I should have looked what he was up to!’

  ‘Don’t be,’ Emma said. ‘You mustn’t blame yourself. At least we know now who’s responsible. I’m going to talk to him.’

  ‘Give him a piece of your mind,’ Nell said.

  ‘I think I might get a better result trying to reassure him,’ Emma said.

  ‘There’s no knocking any sense into a head that thick,’ Nell said, drying her eyes.

  ‘I’ll be happy to try,’ Aidan said grimly.

  ‘He’s an old man,’ Emma said. ‘You can’t go around scaring him.’

  ‘Can’t I? That’s exactly what he’s trying to do to you.’

  ‘Tia and I will talk to him – I think it will be better coming from us; at least, we can try. After all, we’re the people he has an issue with and we need to convince him to trust us. I’ll go round and see him tomorrow. Nell…’ She turned to the shopkeeper. ‘Do you know which cottage is his?’

  ‘Hawthorne,’ she said. ‘Can’t miss it; has a big side garden where the others don’t.’

  ‘You won’t need to find his house,’ Aidan said, nodding at the entrance. ‘He’s here now.’

  Sid walked in, and as soon as he saw Emma his lip curled. She had to be impressed by his spirit – for such an old man his apparent loathing of her must have been taking quite a bit of energy.

  ‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said directly to her, not even acknowledging that there was anyone else in the shop.

  ‘Yes,’ Emma said as calmly as she could. She held up a poster. ‘Are these yours?’

  ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you,’ he said coldly.

  Aidan stepped forward. ‘Well maybe you can explain yourself to me.’

  ‘I’m a British citizen – I have a right to object when I don’t like something,’ Sid replied. ‘It’s called freedom of speech.’

  ‘In that case,’ Aidan said, ‘Emma has a right to settle where she likes and to make a living there as she sees fit. You’re so fond of reminding everyone of your rights as a British citizen – aren’t they the most important of all?’

  ‘Now, lads—’ Nell began, but Sid cut across her.

  ‘Respect for traditions, respect for your elders, decency, honour… those are British values that nobody around here seems to care about anymore.’ He jabbed a finger at Aidan. ‘Especially you and your brother, up and down the village chasing any bit of new skirt that arrives, helping them destroy the place I love! If this village is not to your liking the way it is, why don’t you get out!’

  Sid looked so furious Emma wondered if the effort might finally fini
sh him off.

  ‘Sidney Charteris!’ Nell shouted. ‘If you’re going to insult my customers then you’re barred from my shop – and I really mean it this time!’

  ‘I’m one of your customers!’ he yelled back.

  ‘Not anymore you’re not! Out!’

  He looked as if he might try to have the last word. But then he stepped back towards the door. ‘I’m going! I wouldn’t shop here if it was the last place on earth! Everything’s overpriced and out of date anyway!’

  He slammed the door as he left.

  ‘Out of date and overpriced,’ Nell huffed after his retreating figure. ‘Let’s see how you like having to go miles out to the supermarket!’

  Emma turned to her, vaguely alarmed at what she’d just seen – partly because she was worried that Nell might have another angina attack, and partly because it might have just made everything twenty times worse with Sid. ‘You’re not really going to bar him, are you? Not on my account?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Nell said gruffly. ‘He’d starve if I did because he’d never set foot in the supermarket. But I’ll let him stew for a day so he gets the message that he needs to behave when he’s in here. And I’m sorry about the posters… That’s the last time I let him use the copier.’

  ‘I’m sorry you had to have all this in your shop. I feel as if we’ve caused so much trouble since we arrived, I wouldn’t be surprised if people started to feel fed up with having us here.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ Nell said. ‘It’s certain people causing the trouble, not you. Personally I think Honeymoon needs your hotel – there’s no work hereabouts and the hotel will at least be something to help with that. Sid thinks driving you away will protect the village but he’s doing the opposite. If everyone keeps moving away to find jobs there’ll be no village left.’

  ‘Put that to him when you meet up with him,’ Aidan said.

  ‘Meet up with him?’ Emma said, looking faintly alarmed now. ‘I don’t think he’ll come to meet up with us now, not after what’s just happened.’