Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor

‘I don’t see why you’d have to. This room isn’t going to be used by guests, so as long as it’s a functional office, you can have it as you want it. You might need to reorganise if more than one person needs to work in here. It might be nice actually, make you feel that your father has a place in the hotel.’ Gemma hoped she hadn’t overstepped the mark.

‘I hadn’t thought of it like that. Yes, you’re right, I like that.’ Harriet almost smiled at her, and she sensed a little thawing. Gemma nodded. ‘Right, well I suppose that’s by the by. I wanted to speak to you because I doubt very much Pippa has given you the background.’ The thaw had frozen over again.

‘Perhaps only a potted history,’ Gemma admitted.

‘My sister is bright, beautiful and enthusiastic. She is committed to this project, more than any of us, but we have all decided to support her. Did she tell you about her divorce?’

‘A bit, yes,’ Gemma admitted.

‘It knocked Pippa’s confidence, so she needs this. She’s never been a career woman but now she wants to be, and I for one want to make sure that happens. And of course, none of us want to see the house empty, and apart from Pip and Fred, none of us want to live here. Did you hear about last year?’ Gemma shook her head, although she had. ‘Right, well you know our father, Andrew, died suddenly, and it was a terrible shock to us all.’

‘Yes and I’m sorry.’ Gemma thought she could see a tear glistening in Harriet’s eye. She liked the tiny human glimpses she got from her, but she wished there were more of them.

‘Right, well yes, but anyway, that was when I came back from New York. My father, who had, shall we say, eccentric ideas, made a will, which meant all four of us had to live here, in this house, for a year. And we had to keep the animal sanctuary open, which is his great love – was, I mean – or we would forfeit our inheritance.’

‘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 warm 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.’

‘I see.’

‘But at the same time they are crucial to our gardens and more than that, the gardens are important to them. It gets them out, it gives them so much, and we would never take that away from them.’

‘It’s going to be difficult to characterise this hotel, isn’t it?’

Gus had a point. If you’re paying a large sum of money to stay in a boutique hotel in the country, did you want squealing old ladies wielding trowels? Oh, goodness, how on earth was she going to pull this off?

‘The thing is …’ Gus said, showing her to a beautifully ornate garden bench and gesturing her to sit, ‘Meadowbrook is our father. But now we’re all trying to put our stamp on it too. Harriet loves the house and wants it to be successful – in Harry’s mind, being successful means making money. She’s not greedy, but still the hotel needs to be profitable because she doesn’t do anything that isn’t. Fred, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, wants a party hotel. He used to organise parties and club nights for a living, and was very successful for a while, although of course he drank most of his profits. And although he’s calmed down a lot, well a bit …’ Gus paused to scratch his head ‘… he wants the house to be full of fun. Pippa wants it to be a place to heal people, which as it’s not a hospital or rehab, we’re all a bit sceptical about. I know what she means, this place does make you better, it made us all better, and it’s a very special house for that, but as I said, you can’t suddenly open a hotel for broken hearts – everyone would think you were mad.’

‘Of course they would.’ Gemma smiled. ‘And you?’

‘I want Meadowbrook to be full of creativity. I worked in insurance before my father died – can you believe that?’ Gemma shook her head, although she knew this already. ‘Well, I did, and I was boring, miserable and grey. I looked grey, I thought grey, but then I started working on these gardens, and I felt something I hadn’t since childhood. I also started painting again – I loved art as a child and wasn’t bad at it, but Dad didn’t approve – that’s another story. So anyway, I kind of want to offer people the chance to garden, paint, bake with Gwen even, work with the animals, get the whole Meadowbrook experience. But then of course that’s not an easy thing to put into a package, is it?’

‘No, it really isn’t.’ Gemma felt her heart sinking. After conversations with each of the Singers she was feeling increasingly confused, baffled and totally at sea about what the hotel model could actually be.

‘Right, well you’ve got your work cut out for you. Oh look, there’s Amanda and the ladies – come on and I’ll introduce you.’

Gemma was crying again, but this time with laughter. The gardening club were the best bunch of women she had ever met, and they also sort of reminded her of her nan, before she got ill. Edie was immediately her favourite, as she took her to show her how she cultivated the amazing roses.

‘I’ve managed to grow some from scratch, and also some hybrids. See, I think of this one as the Singer rose.’ She showed Gemma a peach-and-red coloured rose, which was just starting to bud.

‘I am impressed, Edie,’ Gemma said. ‘This is incredible.’

‘Well I have loved these gardens for years, and I put my heart into it. It’s a real treat for me to get to work on them as well. I mean, who normally gets the chance? Andrew Singer let us all share these gardens, God bless his soul, and I’ll always love him for that. Oh, and I had a hip replacement last year too. I’m like a new person now!’ Edie gave a jump to demonstrate her fitness, then she grabbed hold of Gemma as she landed, almost taking them both down.

‘One day, do you think you’ll show me how to look after the roses?’

‘Of course I will, love, but now come on, meet the others.’

Gemma tried to remember names – she didn’t want to write them down as that seemed rude – but she started forgetting after she was introduced to Margaret, Rose and Dawn. There were ten of them altogether, including Edie, and each was as welcoming as Edie had been. She managed to enjoy hugs and excitement as the women vied with each other to show Gemma their part of the garden. And Gemma lapped them all up.

Amanda, an attractive woman with long red hair, tied back, wearing overalls, which she somehow managed to look good in, stood back and let the women enjoy their time, boasting about their work to someone new. Pride radiated from each and every one of them, and Gemma could see how magic Meadowbrook was yet again. These women largely lived alone in small homes and some lived in a retirement complex in the village. In Meadowbrook’s garden, they were given a new lease of life, and they worked hard in return. She also discovered many of them got involved in the Meadowbrook events. She could feel the community spirit radiating from everyone around her, and it made it feel as if Meadowbrook were wrapping around them all like a blanket. She tried not to blink back tears. This felt like family; she missed her nan more than she ever thought possible.