Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor

by Faith Bleasdale

  Gemma loved hearing these ideas, loved seeing how it brought the village together, loved being a part of it, it was all so endearingly mad, but it wasn’t part of her job. She would help, yes, she would even try to enjoy it, but did she need to be in every meeting?

  Although she was slightly disappointed by not going, they were a lot of fun, after all. Crazy but more entertaining than television.

  She sat cross-legged on her bed, surrounded by paperwork. She typed all her notes up and lost herself in ideas for the hotel. She didn’t hear the knock on the door and when it opened, Harriet’s face appeared and she jumped.

  ‘Sorry,’ Harriet said. ‘I took the gamble you weren’t prancing around naked.’

  ‘No, luckily I don’t prance very often.’

  ‘Working hard?’ Harriet, for the first time ever, sounded uncertain.

  ‘Yes, come in,’ Gemma said.

  Harriet carefully moved a sheet of paper and perched on the edge of the bed.

  ‘What can I do for you?’ Gemma asked.

  ‘Well, it’s Pippa. You know, for someone I adore and am related to, she’s a bloody idiot when it comes to men.’

  ‘Aren’t we all?’ Gemma said.

  ‘Well, actually, until Connor, yes, I wasn’t blessed by making the best decisions. But Pippa seems to put every man she’s in a relationship with on a pedestal. First Mark and now this Edward guy. And I wondered what you thought about him.’

  ‘Well, when I met him, which was only brief, actually, he seemed OK. A bit older than I would go for, but Pippa seemed to like him, and he was quite charming.’ Gemma decided to tread carefully; this was one of the lines she tried so hard not to cross.

  ‘I just wish she’d let us meet him, so I can get a bit of an idea about him.’

  ‘Maybe you should insist on it?’ Gemma suggested.

  ‘Not that anyone ever listens to me, but I might.’ Harriet smiled.

  ‘Harriet, one thing I have learnt is that everyone listens to you.’ Gemma pointed her pencil at her, then blushed. Bloody line-crossing again. ‘But I don’t think you should worry – Pippa talks about him a lot to me and it seems that she is taking it slowly. I don’t think they’ve even had a sleepover yet. Maybe you need to learn to trust her a bit more?’

  ‘I tell you what, if you get him to come to dinner, then I’ll back off.’ Harriet raised her eyebrows.

  ‘OK, but let me figure out the best time to do it. I don’t want to upset either of them.’

  ‘Honestly, Gemma, I think I’m almost getting used to having you around.’ She squeezed her shoulder, and for once Gemma didn’t flinch as if she were going to be hit.

  Chapter 16

  Gemma was trying hard not to laugh. She had definitely found her sense of humour. They were all collected in the hallway waiting to head out. It was the day of the Easter event and Gemma’s first taste of a Meadowbrook event. It was a bright spring day, but still fairly nippy. Gemma was wearing her smartest jeans, a blouse and jacket – she looked and felt good; she wasn’t even nervous about selling raffle tickets. Poor Freddie was huffing and moaning. His Peter Rabbit costume was undoubtedly cute, with a blue jacket, a bag slung across his back and the big rabbit head in his arms, but of course it was anything but “Freddie”. It at least gave Gemma a first taste of seeing Freddie anything but self-confident.

  ‘I don’t think I can breathe in this head,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, Fred, you’ll be fine – there are holes for the eyes and mouth,’ Pippa pointed out. ‘And I haven’t complained about my costume.’

  They both turned to look at her. She was dressed in a red dress and jacket, as Peter Rabbit’s friend, and she managed to pull it off; somehow managing to be both cute and gorgeous. Although she only had rabbit ears, not a full head, to be fair to Freddie.

  ‘Why couldn’t I do what you did and just have a bit of the outfit?’ he huffed.

  ‘Because you’re the star, Fred. Now stop complaining and let’s get moving.’

  They reached the field, where an incredible job, transforming a sizeable chunk into Mr McGregor’s garden, had been done. Gemma was impressed at how much work had gone into it; the family and the committee had gone to town. Everyone pitched in, and Gemma had been drawn into the Meadowbrook community. She could see it working for the hotel for the first time, rather than against it.

  Connor and Harriet were both waiting for them. They had brought Agnes, the blind sheep, and her lamb, Abigail, into the field, where they were both munching the grass. They were tame and the children loved to pet them both. The tiny ponies – Cookie, Clover and Brian – had been given bunny ears, which they didn’t seem to mind, as they chomped at the carrots they’d been bribed with. However, Gerald, the donkey, stood at the back of the field, looking longingly at the huge fake carrots that Gerry had made out of papier-mâché. According to Gwen, Gerry had spent hours making them, and he was proudly showing them off to anyone he could.

  The goats, Piper, Flo, Romeo and baby Kayne, were in the next field; they were friendly enough but didn’t like crowds. Although Freddie said the goats were in some kind of ménage à trois, it was Piper who’d given birth, and Romeo was the proud father. Poor Flo was a third wheel, Gemma thought.

  The alpacas were busy ignoring everyone, safely tucked in their paddock. The cows were a safe distance away, as always, and the pigs were doing what they usually did, either lying down or eating. Apart from Geoffrey – who was now not only Gus’s favourite, but everyone’s. He was so friendly, and Gus said he might bring the children over to meet him later if they wanted. Apparently, Geoffrey was very fond of children and didn’t even try to eat them.

  While everyone busied themselves with their particular tasks, Gemma took a tour. In the tea tent, Gwen presided over some gorgeous cakes, which made Gemma’s mouth water. Hilary had a stand for her quiches, which looked delicious. There were tables set with cloths around, and drinks were tea and coffee with a small bar serving Pimm’s and cider. Fraught parents were often grateful to pay a lot of money for a drink, Freddie had explained to her.

  ‘Gosh, must practice being grumpy,’ Gus, aka Mr McGregor, said.

  He was wearing brown trousers, a blue shirt, beige waistcoat and a hat. Amanda came up behind him.

  ‘Don’t forget your rake,’ she said, handing it over to him. ‘Gemma, how are you?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘Good, thanks. What are you up to today?’ Gemma regretted that she didn’t see as much of Amanda as she would have liked, but she seemed to be really busy with her business and her daughter, Hayley, who seemed to do a lot of out-of-school activities.

  ‘I’m with you on raffle tickets and on standby if the refreshment tent gets busy, so hopefully we can have a good gossip.’

  A couple of teenage girls came up – one was tall with dark hair and was striking, the other looked like a mini version of Amanda.

  ‘This is Fleur and Hayley,’ Gus said. ‘And this is Gemma, who is helping with the hotel.’

  ‘Oh, Gemma, I’ve been dying to meet you. Aunt Pip talks about you all the time,’ Fleur said.

  She definitely had something of the Singer look. And the Singer confidence, Gemma decided.

  ‘Well, it’s lovely to meet you. I was hoping to see you at the house sometime,’ Gemma said warmly.

  Fleur had Gus’s colouring, but she must have had her mother’s features; it was clear she was going to be a heartbreaker. Gus cleared his throat uncomfortably.

  ‘God, don’t say that in front of Dad,’ Fleur said, rolling her eyes and sounding like a teenager. ‘I’m busy, I’ve got schoolwork and you know, a social life, which Dad doesn’t seem to understand.’

  ‘Oh I’m sure, but hopefully you’ll come up when you can and see what plans we have for the hotel,’ Gemma said quickly.

  ‘You used to love going up to Meadowbrook,’ Gus said sadly.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Dad, how many more times? I’m busy. And you don’t live there anymore. I have your house, the sanctuary to
visit, not to mention Mum nagging me that I’m not home enough. God, I’m only one person! Come on, Hayley, let’s go and look after the ponies.’

  Hayley trotted off after Fleur, also rolling her eyes. Gus put his arm around Amanda.

  ‘I’m so sorry about her,’ he said to Gemma.

  ‘Oh, she was very polite to me, really.’

  ‘She’s fourteen; all hormones and hating her parents,’ Gus explained.

  ‘She’s a bit harsh to both Gus and her mother – thankfully, I seem to be exempt. Honestly, Hayley’s a year younger, but she’s learning teenage behaviour fast.’ Amanda laughed.

  ‘Oh God, now I feel so guilty – my daughter is ruining your daughter,’ Gus said, and Amanda shook her head.

  ‘You know, I was a horrible teenager, so I am guessing this is karma. What were you like, Gemma?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘Oh, you know, pretty typical. Boy bands, crushes, nothing too bad.’

  Gemma felt desperate to change the subject. She had been such a serious teenager, she didn’t behave badly; in fact, she’d never behaved badly in all her years. She had a couple of friends, but they didn’t spend time together out of school. They didn’t smoke, drink or even kiss boys. They did talk about boys a bit, they weren’t totally atypical, but they didn’t expect any boy to ever notice them. And they didn’t.

  ‘Hopefully, we’ll survive the next few years then.’ Gus grinned. ‘And at least Fleur loves animals. She might not go up to the house much these days, but when she stays with us she does come to the sanctuary to see the animals. She says she wants to be a vet like Connor, which we are encouraging.’

  ‘Oh there you are, Gemma.’

  Gemma turned to see Edie, Rose, Doris and Margaret approach, all wearing bunny ears. They did look quite comical, but sweet.

  ‘Are you going to show Amanda and me the ropes with the raffle tickets?’ Gemma asked, somehow feeling relieved to get away from talk about her past.

  ‘Oh yes, we’re the bunny girls,’ Edie said, handing a pair of bunny ears to Amanda and her.

  ‘Hugh Hefner would be turning in his grave.’ Freddie suddenly appeared behind them, draping his arms around the older ladies.

  ‘Oh, young man, I’ll have you know I could have been a Playboy Bunny in my day,’ Doris said, waggling a finger at Freddie.

  Gemma didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  ‘I’m sure you could.’ Freddie looked a little scared as he backed away.

  ‘Right, we’ve got ten minutes to gates open, let’s get this show on the road.’ Gus clapped his hands together, and they all went off to their various posts.

  Amanda and Gemma were a little bit busy gossiping, so when Edie came over to tell them off for not selling enough tickets, they both promised to try harder.

  ‘We don’t really need to, though,’ Amanda said as Edie walked away. ‘Look at her.’ They both glanced over to where Edie was press-ganging people into buying tickets. ‘But I guess we should try.’

  ‘How about we try the refreshment tent?’ Gemma suggested.

  She was enjoying herself. In the outdoors, with Amanda for company, watching everyone enjoying Freddie’s impression of Peter Rabbit wasn’t a bad way to spend a day. She’d almost forgotten she was wearing rabbit ears.

  The refreshment tent seemed to be a good idea. Not only did they get a glass of Pimm’s, but Amanda also introduced her to more of the villagers and especially younger residents – under sixty anyway – she hadn’t met before. There were quite a few families, and she soon discovered that the Meadowbrook events had such a good reputation now that people came from further afield. They even managed to shift most of their tickets.

  ‘Shall we go and watch Gus and co?’ Amanda suggested, both with a second Pimm’s in their hands.

  ‘Sure.’ Gemma followed her out.

  It was a huge success, she could already tell as she watched Freddie/Peter Rabbit with Pippa by his side lead a number of children around the garden, with Gus/Mr McGregor trying to chase them. She couldn’t help but feel impressed, and as Amanda went to check on Fleur and Hayley, she watched them, totally absorbed.

  ‘He’s surprisingly good with kids.’

  Gemma turned to see Harriet at her shoulder.

  ‘Who?’ Gemma felt her face flush.

  ‘Fred, of course. He’s doing a great job.’

  ‘Oh yes, they seem to be having a great time, the children I mean.’

  ‘Oh really.’ A smile curled at Harriet’s lips. ‘I thought you were staring at Fred – did you even notice the children?’

  Gemma was shocked. What on earth? ‘I was watching all of them,’ Gemma objected, feeling as if she were the same colour as her drink.

  ‘Oh come on, Gemma, I’m pretty sure that you have a little crush on my younger brother,’ Harriet teased.

  ‘I certainly do not.’ Gemma tried to sound as indignant as she could as she burnt with embarrassment. What the hell?

  ‘Right, course not.’ Harriet laughed, and she put her arm around her.

  Gemma felt angry, then she felt scared. Did she have a crush on Freddie? Was that what this was? All the clumsiness, all the awkwardness, how tongue-tied he made her feel. And then the other night when they had dinner together she had been irrationally happy. Until she’d fallen in the bush. Perhaps that was why she was so scared of the effect Meadowbrook was having on her.

  ‘I don’t. Harriet, I am here to do a job, and I’m not thinking about anything else.’

  Although Gemma was terrified of Harriet, she was more terrified of having feelings for Freddie. For so many reasons. Not least that he wouldn’t, didn’t, give her a second glance unless he was either insulting her or laughing at her.

  ‘Oh lighten up, Gemma, I’m not accusing you of anything. My brother is a good-looking man; if you did have a little crush it wouldn’t be the end of the world.’ She shrugged.

  ‘Well I don’t,’ Gemma snapped. ‘Anyway, he wouldn’t like someone like me,’ Gemma pointed out.

  ‘That doesn’t mean you don’t fancy him.’ Harriet laughed; then, seeing the frown on Gemma’s face, she stopped. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, I’m only teasing. Sorry, please don’t get upset. Anyway, what do you think of the event?’

  ‘It’s really amazing. You’ve all done a great job.’ Gemma began to calm down.

  ‘It’s so great – I mean look at the effort that’s gone into it – and we’re making loads of money for the sanctuary. We’re so lucky to have such a great community, you know.’

  ‘It’s funny, but I wouldn’t have put you down as a “community person”,’ Gemma said, still annoyed by her earlier comments.

  ‘Me neither. I didn’t have a community in New York, but here, well I love being part of one. I’ve changed a lot since being back at Meadowbrook.’ She sounded a little wistful. ‘You might not think so, but I’m even softer now.’ Harriet grinned and then she broke into a broad smile. ‘I might not have mastered warm, but by next year …’

  ‘You’re softer when you talk about your family, Connor and the animals, even the village,’ Gemma conceded.

  ‘I know we must seem a bit intimidating, I get that, especially me, but you seem to be doing a good job, so maybe you can soften up a bit too.’ Harriet arched her perfect eyebrow.

  ‘You don’t think I’m soft?’ Gemma was surprised.

  ‘No, you aren’t hard either, but it’s not that simple. I think you’re very guarded and formal most of the time, actually. I still haven’t fully figured you out, by the way.’

  ‘Oh—’ Gemma was intrigued by this view of her, when Pippa interrupted them.

  ‘What are you two doing huddled over here?’ Pippa asked.

  ‘Just having a chat,’ Harriet said. ‘Pip, you’ve done another fabulous job, by the way,’ she added.

  ‘Oh it’s been great, really enjoyed it. Goodness knows how we’ll top it next year but anyway, I came to say the morris dancers are about to do their closing performance, and John will never for
give you if you don’t both come and watch it.’

  ‘Freddie, the idea was to let the kids find the Easter eggs, not you,’ Harriet said as later they were all collapsed on sofas and chairs in the drawing room.

  Freddie was making his way through a mountain of chocolate, and Harriet was on the sofa, snuggled up to Connor. Gus and Amanda were also cuddled up, and Pippa sat next to Gemma. Gwen and Gerry had brought tea and leftover cake; they were all exhausted. Although Gemma didn’t feel as if she’d done much, she was as well. She had helped put all the animals away, as well as lending a hand to clear up the catering tent, and she’d got involved in another long conversation with John, the vicar, about the history of morris dancing. Which still left her feeling none the wiser.

  ‘Right, I vote we get a pizza delivery tonight,’ Connor suggested.

  ‘We’ve just eaten a mountain of cake, Freddie has worked his way through goodness knows how many chocolate eggs, and you want pizza?’ Harriet asked.

  ‘I really do, it’s been hungry work today.’

  ‘Where are Fleur and Hayley?’ Gwen asked.

  ‘In the snug watching TV,’ Gus said. ‘I’ll go and ask them what they want. They’ll definitely want pizza,’ he said.

  A phone buzzed, and Pippa reached and took it out of her pocket.

  ‘Oh it’s Edward – he wants to know if I fancy a drink, so count me out,’ she said. Pippa stood up. ‘I’ll see you later, don’t wait up.’

  ‘More pizza for us then.’ Connor smiled as he waved her off.

  ‘Honestly, I’m not sure I can eat another thing,’ Gemma said, feeling full of chocolate, cake and happiness.

  ‘Me neither. Gemma, do you fancy a long run tomorrow around the estate?’ Harriet asked.

  Being alone with Harriet, having to try to keep up with her superior pace, looking dowdy next to her high-fashion workout clothes?

  ‘I’d love to,’ she heard herself saying. Look how far she’d come, Gemma thought.

  Chapter 17

  ‘Happy birthday,’ Pippa shouted, making Gemma jump as she walked into the kitchen.