Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor

by Faith Bleasdale

  ‘So you all lived together for a year?’ Gemma knew all this, but was interested to hear about it from Harriet’s perspective.

  ‘Yes, and of course we hadn’t lived together since childhood, so it was interesting to say the least. The year was tough for us all.’

  ‘In what way?’ Gemma asked, wanting to hear more.

  ‘Oh many ways. But that’s by the by. The upshot was that in the will, Dad stated that the house had to be kept in the family. So when Pip and Fred came up with the idea for opening the house as a hotel, Gus and I agreed, well eventually we did, because the house needs to be used and this seemed like a good way to ensure all the family could be involved.’

  ‘I agree, and it will very much be a family hotel,’ Gemma stated, trying to sound authoritative. She wanted to hear more about the year they’d spent together – it was intriguing – but Harriet was once more all business.

  ‘Quite, although none of us agree exactly how at the moment, which is why your job isn’t going to be easy. But enough of that. Right, well, I want to go through the details with you. The salary is fine. In fact, before Pippa hired you, I did the budget for set-up costs. I’ll give you a copy, and if you do a good job then you’ll be worth what we’re paying you.’

  Gemma felt more than relieved. Not only was she getting a good salary, much more than she used to earn, but also she was living rent-free, so in theory she should be able to ensure her nan’s care was covered until the house sale went through. She almost wanted to hug Harriet, although she was far too scared to do so.

  ‘I hope to prove to you that I am the person for the job,’ Gemma said, her confidence increasing.

  ‘Well if you’re not, you’ll be out. Sorry to be blunt, but this is our home, it’s our passion, especially Pippa’s, but it’s also a business. Somehow we have to make money, or at least not lose any. You see, I have taken over the running of the animal sanctuary, which we are expanding, but I also look after my father’s investment portfolio. I’m not going to pretend that any of us are in danger of poverty, I can’t apologise for the fact that my father was awfully rich, but at the same time Meadowbrook is important for the animals, for the village, for the family and for our future generations, so I will do all I can to protect it. And besides, I like to succeed, so the hotel has to be a success.’ She laughed, but she was obviously far from joking, and Gemma’s new-found confidence fled as quickly as it arrived.

  ‘So your role in the hotel?’ Gemma asked, hoping her voice wasn’t as shaky as she felt.

  ‘Finances. I’ll look after the money, which is what I do best. Gus isn’t bad, but he prefers to look after the gardens, and he also paints, so I’m not sure how much use he’ll be.’

  ‘So, you’re happy for me to carry on, trying to figure out how best to go about opening the hotel, for now I mean?’ Gemma asked.

  Harriet had shown her an almost human side. The way her features softened when she talked about her family was endearing. She was sure Harriet was ambitious and driven and even ruthless, but she seemed caring – she was hit with a wild notion they could be friends. But that was probably temporary insanity.

  ‘For now. But you see, we all have different ideas, which might be a problem. I see a luxury hotel for professionals wanting to get away from their day-to-day lives – I almost think a kind of corporate retreat. Freddie thinks it should be full of beautiful people who want to spend time watching him make cocktails and getting drunk. Pippa wants to help those who have had their hearts broken – I don’t know how on earth she thinks she’ll manage to target them, by the way, unless we become the anti-Tinder, and Gus wants it to be a creative place where guests can explore their artistic side.’

  ‘I see.’ She really didn’t.

  ‘Well you probably don’t.’ Harriet stared at Gemma, who felt exposed under her gaze. ‘And I’m not a tyrant, I do understand that this isn’t going to be easy for you and honestly, I do want to support you. But I’m hoping you’ll be able to see all that for yourself soon. I just want to reiterate: the house needs to maintain its personality. It also has to be beneficial for the village, Parker’s Hollow, and the community as a whole. My father’s memory needs keeping alive, and of course the animal sanctuary, the gardens, all have to be incorporated somehow.’

  ‘Goodness,’ Gemma started.

  ‘Oh yes, and Pippa has to feel as if she’s really achieved something. Fred as well to be honest.’

  ‘Wow.’ Gemma couldn’t help but stare at Harriet. She really did expect a lot. What she described wasn’t a hotel; it was a whole world.

  ‘Yes, wow, but if you’re as good as Pippa says you are then it shouldn’t be a problem, should it?’

  ‘Um, no. No, of course not.’ She shook her head.

  ‘Good, I’m glad we had this chat, and we’ve come to an understanding. Hopefully, we’ll be friends in no time.’

  ‘That would be lovely.’ Gemma was surprised that Harriet would want to be friends with someone like her, but she also felt her heart lift a bit. It might be possible, after all.

  ‘Right, what’s your favourite animal? After all, we want you to get started at the sanctuary for the full Meadowbrook experience. The alpacas are quite fun.’ Her lips twitched.

  ‘Really?’ Gemma’s eyes filled with horror.

  ‘No, not really, I’m teasing. The alpacas don’t like anyone much, although they seem keenest on Connor. Do you have a preference?’ Harriet spoke as if it were totally normal to be having this conversation.

  ‘The cats.’ She didn’t hesitate – after her tour, the cats were definitely the easiest and the least scary. She had never had a pet, not even a hamster. Her nan offered to buy her a goldfish once, but it hadn’t come to anything.

  ‘Great, I’ll put you on the feeding and petting roster. It’s very sad that our domestic animals are waiting for loving homes. Really, I wish we could re-home them all, but it’s a process, so we’re always looking for people to come in and spend time with them – they need affection and love, as well as food.’

  Again, Harriet took Gemma by surprise, she sounded so heartfelt.

  ‘I’d be delighted.’ She was delighted, because it wasn’t the alpacas.

  ‘Right, so tonight we’re all having dinner here at the house – we try to have a family meal once a week at least – so you’ll meet Connor, Gwen and Gus properly. Unfortunately Amanda can’t make it, but you’ll meet her soon. Tomorrow, in fact. The gardening club are due, so it would be great to spend time with them and Gus, getting to know the gardens.’

  ‘It all sounds great.’

  It did, Gemma thought, feeling a little cowed still, but she also felt a stirring of hope. Harriet was scary, she was confident, and she clearly knew what the purse strings needed to be doing, but at the same time, she seemed fair and reasonable. And if she needed to cuddle a few cats to keep her dream job then she would be happy to do so. She might feel a bit browbeaten and out of her depth, but she also would do anything to keep the job here at Meadowbrook and make it a success. She needed it. But more than that, she realised that she really, really wanted it.

  ‘This is fabulous, Gwen,’ Harriet said as they sat around the formal dining-room table. Gemma was overwhelmed by family mealtime at Meadowbrook. Her family meals consisted of herself and her nan and whatever was on special in the supermarket that day. Her nan wasn’t a bad cook, but she made traditional things, lots of mashed potatoes, vegetables and meat and nothing considered “foreign”. Tonight they were eating a pasta dish, which was made from scratch, even the pasta. Gwen always cooked the food for family night; she wouldn’t have it any other way. The sauce, which was tomato-based, was the nicest Gemma had ever tasted, and all the vegetables were grown at Meadowbrook. There was also home-made garlic bread, and a fresh salad – again from the Meadowbrook garden.

  ‘If you serve food like this, you’ll have people flocking to the hotel,’ Gemma said.

  There was an easy chatter around the room. Everyone, even Harriet,
was relaxed as she and Connor shared some affectionate looks and touches. Gemma still had her guard up, but sitting here, seeing how the family operated, she almost wanted to let her barriers down. Almost but not quite, hence why she tried to stick to comments only relating to the hotel.

  ‘Thank you, that’s what we’re hoping,’ Gwen said. ‘We thought it would be a feature that we serve as much food that we grow here as we can, and if we don’t grow it here, then we buy local products.’

  ‘What about meat?’ Gemma asked, noting there wasn’t any and nor had she had any since being here.

  ‘Well,’ Connor started, looking around the table, ‘we’re pretty much vegetarian, you know with the animal sanctuary and everything. Well I am anyway, as is Harry, but Pippa, Gus and Freddie eat some meat.’

  ‘Was your dad vegetarian?’

  ‘No, that was the irony of Andrew Singer: he rescued animals but he did eat them, well none from the sanctuary, of course, but from the local farm, and well, he justified it by not justifying it, really,’ Gwen explained. ‘Andrew made up his rules as he went along.’

  ‘Fred’s inherited that from him,’ Gus said.

  Freddie scowled but didn’t argue.

  ‘When I got involved with the animals, I just couldn’t eat meat anymore. I have to admit, I do eat fish sometimes,’ Harriet added. ‘So I have put a ban on rescuing fish in the sanctuary.’ She laughed again.

  ‘I’m the same,’ Pippa said. ‘Actually, I’m trying to be vegan, but it’s not easy because I really like cheese.’

  ‘I’ve learnt how to cook more vegetarian food,’ Gwen said. ‘And I’m starting to look into vegan baking – we need to get ahead of the times, I always think. It’s becoming ever so fashionable, after all.’

  ‘You’re right, it is,’ Gemma said. Her nan wouldn’t have coped well with her being vegetarian. Especially as when she was a kid, they ate a lot of meat from tins, which thinking about it might not have actually been meat. ‘It could be a great angle for the hotel too.’ Her mind started whirring. ‘You know, a vegan hotel. I’ll do some research, but I’m sure they’re not very common.’

  ‘We don’t want to scare guests off, though,’ Harriet pointed out. ‘I think perhaps we should offer a fabulous vegan and vegetarian menu, but we should cater for the carnivores too.’

  ‘And it will create goodwill locally if we buy meat, like Dad did from the farmers,’ Gus pointed out. ‘My daughter Fleur’s a vegetarian and she called me a murderer the other day.’ Gus shook his head. ‘But then sometimes any excuse to attack me …’ He focused on his plate.

  ‘And I’m largely vegetarian, although I am partial to the occasional steak,’ Freddie offered.

  ‘So not really veggie at all, mate.’ Connor grinned. ‘More like a flexitarian.’

  Connor was so lovely, Gemma thought, very different to Harriet, mainly because he wasn’t at all frightening. He was incredibly good-looking in a non-groomed, natural way, but he clearly only had eyes for Harriet, which actually made him even more appealing. He wasn’t quite Freddie-gorgeous, though, but then Gemma didn’t think anyone was.

  ‘OK, but we can definitely say we specialise in good, local, home-grown vegan food, it’ll be a good angle. I’ll put it down on my notes and do some research.’ Gemma continued to sound professional.

  ‘More wine, anyone?’ Freddie said, reaching for a new bottle and pouring it.

  Gemma had barely touched hers, and she noticed him glare at her before moving on past her glass.

  ‘The wine is lovely,’ she said, trying to placate him.

  ‘How would you know, you’ve barely touched it?’ he pointed out.

  ‘I’ve had some and it’s delicious.’ She felt herself colour.

  ‘Never trust a woman who doesn’t drink – that’s my motto,’ Freddie said.

  ‘Don’t we know it,’ Harriet joked. ‘Although after your last girlfriend, you shouldn’t trust a woman who does drink, either.’

  They all laughed, including Freddie.

  ‘Oi,’ Freddie objected. ‘But yes, you do have a point. Loretta drank like a bloody fish and was as untrustworthy as they come. Maybe I shall trust you after all, Gemma,’ he conceded.

  She shook her head. This family was mad.

  ‘Well, I’d like to propose a toast,’ Pippa said, raising her glass. ‘Welcome to Gemma, and here’s to the Meadowbrook Hotel.’

  Chapter 6

  ‘My God! It’s spectacular,’ Gemma breathed.

  She was wearing a pair of Pippa’s skinny jeans, which she felt and looked good in, an oversized black jumper, wellington boots that were in the boot room and were Gemma’s size, and a stylish Barbour jacket. Gemma had been transformed into “country”. Even Freddie had done a double take as he passed her in the kitchen.

  ‘Thank you.’ Gus looked delighted. He had the family nose, like Freddie, and his hair, greying slightly, was the same colour as Harriet’s. Increasingly she saw similarities between the Singers – looks-wise. Personalities were an entirely different matter.

  It was still intriguing how four children could be born into the same house, brought up largely the same way and yet be so different. As an only child, she would never have that experience. She often fantasised when she was younger about having a brother or sister. She would have loved to have someone, especially now, with her nan in such a bad way, but she didn’t, and she was cross with herself for dwelling on something that had never happened and never could.

  Gus was taking her on a walk in Meadowbrook Manor’s “back garden”. Which, unlike any back garden she had ever seen, seemed to stretch for miles and was surrounded by perfectly trimmed hedges, all the same height.

  ‘Do you measure the hedges?’ she asked with a smile.

  ‘No, Gemma, but they are all pretty much the same height – our hedge guy is a perfectionist.’ He smiled.

  The garden was dotted with beds full of different flowers and plants, leading to the award-winning rose garden, which was not in full bloom now but she couldn’t wait to see it when it was. There were a number of water features, which commanded attention, and a large fountain in the centre of the garden. At the very top, separated, were the vegetable gardens, fruit cages and a huge greenhouse. Gemma thought all it was missing was a maze. She wrote that down. But then, where would they put a maze and would they spend their time rescuing a drunk Freddie? She crossed it out.

  Gus showed her the benches next, which were recently added so that visitors could sit and enjoy the gardens from every vantage point. He also explained why they had chosen various flowers. It was obviously a lot of work, but it was so worth it.

  ‘But wow, I mean I have never seen gardens this beautiful in real life. Only on TV,’ Gemma gushed.

  She was struck, suddenly, by how much her nan would love to be here. This was the first part of her life that her nan wasn’t part of, that she couldn’t be part of, and whatever happened from here on in, it was just Gemma now. Oh, how she would have loved these gardens though.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Gus asked, his voice full of concern.

  ‘Nothing, sorry.’ She tried to brush a tear off her cheek. What the hell was she doing? This was beyond unprofessional.

  ‘Gemma, are you crying?’ His voice, so full of warmth, set her off and before she could help it, she was properly crying.

  ‘No,’ she sobbed.

  Gus led her to a bench, where he guided her to sit down.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said again.

  ‘Hey, I might be flattered that the gardens reduced you to tears, if they’re the right kind of tears, of course.’ He laughed.

  ‘Oh, but it is just the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen. You see, my nan loved gardening. We had a good-sized garden, of course nothing like this …’ She gestured with her arm. She had told herself to hold back personally at Meadowbrook, but she had to explain her behaviour. ‘As I told Pippa, my nan is in a home, she’s got dementia, and I miss her.’

  Gus gave her a brief but war
m hug. ‘Hey, I miss my dad, you know. Especially out here, as he loved gardening too. I talk to him while I work. I know your nan’s not dead but, well, it must be terribly difficult.’

  ‘It is, but you know, life goes on as they say.’ Gemma tried a feeble attempt at a laugh, which sounded more like a gurgle.

  ‘Yes, but you’re human and that’s what Meadowbrook needs, so if you ever need to talk, I’m quite a good listener, as are the roses I always find.’ Gus grinned.

  ‘That’s kind of you to say.’ He was possibly the kindest man she’d ever met, although that perhaps wasn’t difficult.

  ‘I mean it, and you live here as well as work here, so I hope we will all be friends.’

  ‘Even Harriet?’ Gemma said, before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Don’t be.’ Gus laughed. ‘Yes, I have a feeling, even Harry.’

  ‘But anyway, back to the gardens. How on earth do you get them this amazing?’ Gemma shook her head; she needed to steer herself back onto more stable ground.

  ‘It takes a lot of work, more than I ever imagined when I started working on them. Dad, well he loved the gardens and put his heart into getting them into shape, and we feel that it’s a tribute to him to continue his work. My partner, Amanda, who you’ll meet soon, deserves most of the credit, as well as our wonderful gardening club. But to be honest, I’m not sure how it will fit in with our guests, which is one thing I wanted to talk to you about.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Gemma detected some concern in Gus’s voice.

  ‘Well this hotel, we all have our doubts, apart from Pippa. But even Fred questions it sometimes. You see, who will want to stay here while there’s a bunch of old – by the way, don’t let them know I called them that – ladies in the gardens at least once a week, sometimes more. Our gardening club are very funny, they’re loud and well, perhaps not what you’d want if you’re looking for peace and quiet.’