Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall Read online

  ‘He picked me up,’ said Lily, relishing the memory. ‘And then he met my parents. The whole awkward meet-up thing. He turned up on his motorbike! Can you imagine Mum’s face?’

  ‘Oh my God,’ said Annie, agog. ‘How did you get on the back of the bike in your long dress?’

  ‘With difficulty,’ Lily told her, rolling her eyes. ‘I wasn’t impressed. Moaned a lot on the way. But then he pulled over halfway to the Hall and told me that he’d changed his mind about going out, full stop. That he couldn’t take me to the prom after all.’

  She gulped at the memory, of how hard his eyes had been as he’d told her that he had never cared for her.

  Annie looked confused. ‘Why did he bother picking you up if he was going to dump you?’

  Lily shook her head. ‘I have no idea. I don’t know if it was because I was moaning about the bike and my dress. I thought he’d been in a funny mood when he’d picked me up, but figured it was because of meeting my parents. Anyway, I stropped off to the prom on my own. Told him to get lost.’

  ‘That’s terrible,’ said Annie. ‘What did you do? I hope you carried on without him at the prom and had an amazing time.’

  ‘I wish,’ said Lily, with a grimace. ‘You know what utter bitches sixteen-year-old girls can be. It was my fault. I had told them all about my hot date, and when he didn’t show up they thought that I had made it all up. After all, they’d never seen him with me. Nobody had. So I spent the evening being laughed at and ended up going home early in tears.’

  ‘Poor you,’ said Annie, shaking her head.

  Lily closed her eyes. Her mum had been so cross that she had never told them about her bad-boy date. But her dad had held her close and told her that it would all turn out alright.

  But it hadn’t.

  If only she hadn’t made such a big drama out of getting dumped. If only she had picked herself up and not been a bitter, sobbing wreck the whole of the next day. Perhaps then her dad wouldn’t have suggested that they all go out for pizza that night as a treat. Then they wouldn’t have been on the roads at the same time as that stupid young lad who had stolen a car and gone for a joyride. And then the car accident wouldn’t have happened…

  She lived with the guilt every second of every day. The harm she had caused her family was so overwhelming that she would never get over it.

  Annie reached across the table and squeezed her hand. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’

  Lily gulped away the tears. ‘The car accident happened the day after. You know, the one that injured my dad so badly.’

  Annie’s eyes widened as she realised. ‘Oh no! How awful for you all.’

  But it had been a turning point as well. Lily had decided over that wretched, sad, awful summer that her life was not working being left to chance. That fate had had its opportunity and had failed miserably. She had decided there and then that she needed to be in total control in order to stand a chance at happiness in the future.

  ‘So, you need a temporary housekeeper,’ she said, trying to look more cheerful. ‘I promise I won’t break down in tears every day.’

  Annie nodded, recognising the obvious change in subject. ‘Look, we just need someone to sort everything out. To give us a bit of a hand, really. What do you think? Do you want to help us out? We can pay.’ Her face dropped. ‘Not an awful lot, unfortunately, because we’ve used all our money to get the house straight.’

  ‘I just need to know what kind of things we’re talking about job-wise,’ said Lily. ‘I’m good at paperwork.’

  ‘That would be great. I can’t seem to keep track of the household stuff. Even the groceries. There’s so many of us coming and going. It’s hard to keep a handle on it all. Sam pays the household bills but there’s so much else involved with running such a massive place. I was completely useless at it.’

  ‘It didn’t work out so badly, as it turns out,’ said Lily, smiling.

  Annie gave her a rueful grin as she rubbed her baby bump. ‘No, it didn’t. Look, I know it’s not very glamorous. Not like those fancy parties you were used to organising.’

  Lily thought back to finding Mark with the other woman, but quickly dismissed the thought from her mind.

  ‘Although we do have a few of Sam’s bands and singers popping in and out on a weekly basis,’ added Annie, waggling her eyebrows.

  Lily grinned. ‘I remember them from the wedding. It all sounds very glamorous.’

  Annie laughed. ‘You obviously haven’t met Hazy Memory. They’re definitely not at all sophisticated.’

  ‘What about the cleaning?’ asked Lily.

  Annie held up her hand. ‘I promise that you won’t have to clean anything. Megan’s niece has just finished her exams. She’s going to help us out as well. If you could supervise her, that would be great. Erm, what else? I know! You’re OK with dogs, aren’t you?’

  Lily looked around. ‘Dogs?’

  ‘Well, dog, singular. Eleanor and Tom have got Dylan. He’s over most days. Arthur adores him,’ she added in a whisper.

  ‘Dogs are fine,’ Lily told her, hoping it wouldn’t entail too much extra work.

  ‘Well, we know we can trust you because we know your family so well. It will only be Monday to Friday. There may be the very odd weekend, but hopefully not.’

  It wasn’t as if she had a wild social life at the weekends, thought Lily. She and Mark had tended to head to the supermarket to restock and then they’d watch various box sets on the TV. For a second, she felt the sharp pang of his betrayal before she quickly brushed it aside.

  ‘So, what do you think?’ asked Annie, looking hopeful.

  Lily was sorely tempted. She needed the money to help out her family.

  ‘Jack was only here for a meeting, wasn’t he?’ she asked, suddenly fretful about running into him every day.

  ‘Sam hasn’t seen him since they were at school,’ Annie told her. ‘They’re not close mates or anything. He was just here for a meeting. You won’t have to see him again.’

  Lily felt grateful for that. Jack belonged in her past and had stirred up enough pain in her life. She didn’t have time to dwell on all of that.

  ‘Look, if you want a break from your mum you could even move in,’ said Annie. ‘We’ve got loads of spare bedrooms.’

  Lily took a deep breath. ‘That might help. The box room is pretty tiny and we’ve only got one bathroom. I’ll see how hysterical Mum gets when I tell her. OK,’ she added. ‘I’ll give you a hand for a while.’

  ‘That’s great,’ said Annie, looking relieved. ‘It’s really just going to be a little bit of admin and a small amount of organisation. That’s all.’

  Lily smiled, but she was going to take it more seriously than that.

  She might not be trained in anything but she could organise a place like Willow Tree Hall, couldn’t she? After all, she was responsible. Practical. She’d had to be, because ever since her world was shattered at the age of sixteen she had made sure that her adult life was steady and reliable.

  Dull, whispered a voice deep inside. She instantly shrugged it off. Safe, she reminded herself. Safe kept her from being hurt.

  ‘Oh, we’re going to have such fun,’ Annie was telling her, laughing.

  Lily was thinking that fun wasn’t the priority. She was actually looking forward to sorting out whatever mess lay inside Willow Tree Hall.

  But she knew that she was good with lists. She planned her life, didn’t she? OK, it hadn’t exactly turned out incredibly, but she could organise things and people. At least, she hoped so.

  She had handled large events for over a thousand partygoers. How hard could it be to organise one family?

  9

  Lily told her family about her new job over dinner that evening.

  ‘A housekeeper?’ Celia looked stunned as she served up the shredded chicken. ‘Up at the big house?’

  Willow Tree Hall had always been referred to as the ‘big house’. It held both a sense of awe and respect mixed together.

  ‘I thought it would tide me over whilst I look for something else.’

  Her mother nodded, knowing that her daughter’s income would help. But she still looked confused. ‘So you’re a cleaner now?’

  Lily shook her head. ‘Apparently Megan’s niece is starting in the next week or so as a sort of maid, I think. So she’ll do that kind of thing.’

  ‘A chambermaid,’ said her mum.

  Lily looked at her, surprised.

  ‘I watched Downton Abbey just like you did,’ said her mum in a prim tone.

  Lily frowned. ‘I don’t think it’s really like that.’

  ‘They’re just normal people,’ said her grandad, reaching across the table for a buttered roll. ‘Nothing to fret about.’

  ‘Still, a housekeeper role is a huge responsibility,’ carried on her mum, looking pleased. ‘Like Mrs Hughes. You’ll keep the whole place going. Afloat, as it were.’

  ‘Sounds more like the Titanic,’ said Lily’s dad, with a wink.

  ‘I hope not,’ said Lily, feeling a little more nervous now.

  She decided to Google the job requirements after dinner and was startled to read up on how much it entailed. Apparently, the main aim of a housekeeper’s role was to ‘maintain a clean, sanitary, comfortable and tidy environment for a private household’.

  Lily made a face as she looked at the screen. Clean? Well, she could ensure that Megan’s niece kept it all looking nice. Tidy? She lived for neat and organised, didn’t she?

  She glanced around the box room. Well, she normally did. Current circumstances didn’t help, as everything had to be squeezed into one tiny room. She hadn’t mentioned the possibility of sleeping at Willow Tree Hall yet. She would see how the first few days went. But the thought of a normal-sized bedroom and an en suite was tempting.

  The other jobs that the housekeeper role entailed interested her more. She needed to ensure that groceries and household supplies were maintained to adequate levels. Fireplaces needed to be lit. But seeing as it was August, and summer was still going strong, that could be ignored.

  To plan and cook meals for her employer? That made her sit up straighter in a slight panic. She had many gifts but cooking wasn’t one of them. But Annie hadn’t mentioned cooking, so that was fine.

  Anyway, she was certain that she could totally handle it. After all, she had checklists. She would be fine.

  She turned up the following day at nine o’clock sharp in the morning. She waited outside the front door for about five minutes until a blond man appeared from around the side of the building, carrying an empty coffee mug.

  ‘Hey. You must be Lily,’ he said, by way of welcome. ‘I’m Will.’

  ‘Hi,’ she said, shaking his hand.

  Will was a slimmer, blonder version of his elder brother, Sam.

  ‘You can just go on in, if you dare,’ he told her.

  ‘I would, but it’s locked,’ said Lily.

  ‘Nobody’s used it yet probably. It’s still early. You’d better come around to the back door, then,’ said Will. ‘That’s the one everyone uses, anyway.’

  Lily followed Will into the kitchen, where she found what appeared to be most of the family. In fact, she could hear them all before she saw them, such was the crescendo of noise that was created.

  ‘Will!’ called out Sam from the head of the long kitchen table. ‘Settle this argument once and for all, would you? I caught a fourteen-pound carp in the river when we were younger, didn’t I?’

  Will laughed. ‘I think you’ve added ten pounds too many to that estimate, bro.’ He picked up the kettle and, finding it empty, went to the sink to refill it. ‘By the way, I found our new housekeeper if anybody wants to say hi.’

  A chorus of welcome bubbled up from the table.

  ‘Welcome,’ said Sam, jumping up to shake Lily’s hand. ‘I didn’t get a chance to say hello properly yesterday.’ He looked along the table. ‘So, do you know everyone?’

  ‘More or less,’ said Lily, blushing at being the centre of attention.

  ‘That’s the senior end,’ said Sam, nodding at the other end where Arthur and Rose sat.

  ‘I’m not sure I relish being referred to as “senior”,’ said Rose, making a face. ‘Darling, I’m middle-aged at best.’

  ‘At seventy?’ murmured Arthur, getting up.

  ‘My dear brother, it’s sixty-five and you know it,’ said Rose, with a smirk.

  ‘Welcome to Willow Tree Hall,’ said Arthur, smiling as he turned to face Lily. ‘You’ll find us quite a noisy bunch to contend with.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ Lily told him softly.

  ‘Sweetheart,’ said Rose, leaping up to hug Lily. ‘It’s been too long. I’d forgotten how beautiful your red hair is. Do you think I could get away with that colour?’

  ‘Well, I don’t see why not if you’re only middle-aged,’ said Arthur pointedly.

  Rose held up a heavily bejewelled hand. ‘Darling, you know I knock off a couple of years for luck. It’s not good for my sex life, otherwise.’

  A groan went up around the table.

  ‘Moving on,’ said Sam, in a loud tone above the hubbub.

  ‘As quickly as possible, please,’ added Will, coming over to the table with a mug of coffee.

  ‘Quite,’ said Sam. ‘This is my younger brother, Will, and his far lovelier wife, Skye.’

  ‘We met yesterday. Hi,’ said Skye, looking up from her phone. ‘I’m so glad you took the job.’

  ‘Do you know Eleanor?’ continued Sam. ‘She works at the stable block in one of the workshops.’

  ‘I think “work” is being a bit optimistic,’ said the good-looking man sitting next to Eleanor.

  ‘Watch it, buster,’ said Eleanor, giving him a nudge with her elbow before smiling up at Lily. ‘Hi. You were in the year below us at school, weren’t you?’

  Lily nodded. ‘Yes. I’ve heard that your business is doing so well.’

  Eleanor had begun Eleanor’s Apothecary, creating homemade creams and soaps and, according to local gossip, it was going from strength to strength.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Eleanor. She glanced at the familiar-looking man next to her. ‘This is Tom. You might know him as global superstar Tommy King, but to us he’s just the carpenter.’

  ‘Hi,’ said Tom, with a shy nod.

  Lily smiled in reply trying not to look goggle-eyed at the famous singer.

  ‘Unfortunately for us,’ said Will, sitting down opposite them. ‘I’m desperate for an electrician and all you know is wood.’

  ‘And a few songs as well,’ added Sam. ‘Tom’s been taking a year off away from the limelight.’

  ‘And I’ve spent all of it helping Will do up one of the old barns,’ said Tom.

  Will shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’d have hired someone to do it instead, but your charges are much more reasonable.’

  ‘I’m doing it for free!’ said Tom.

  ‘Exactly,’ said Will, grinning.

  ‘Who have I left out?’ asked Sam, frowning.

  ‘Just me,’ said Annie, appearing at the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘How can you forget someone that fat?’ said Will, who promptly received a clip around the ear from his big brother.

  ‘She’s not fat,’ said Sam. ‘She’s beautiful.’

  ‘Apart from my ankles,’ said Annie, sitting down and putting her feet up on the bench. ‘They’re most definitely fat.’ She looked up at Lily. ‘Give me five minutes to recover from the walk downstairs and I’ll give you the tour.’

  Lily had found the family warm and welcoming. Surely it would be a piece of cake to organise them all?

  True to her word, Annie led Lily across the large entrance hall a few minutes later to show her around the house.

  ‘This is the west wing,’ began Annie, as they walked through a large doorway on the opposite side of the hall. ‘Here’s the drawing room.’

  It was a large, elegant room painted in soft green, with oak floorboards, comfy-looking sofas and chairs. The large sash windows overlooked the front grounds. There were framed photographs, antique ornaments and candlesticks everywhere. It felt homely, warm and welcoming.

  ‘Isn’t it nice?’ said Annie. ‘We tend to all end up in here or the kitchen most evenings, apart from when the weather’s warm like at the minute and then we’ll be on the patio.’

  They walked back into the corridor and into the next room, which was the library.

  A long wall was covered from floor to ceiling with a vast number of bookcases filled with classics. There was also a full-size snooker table, which looked to have been used recently, although one end was propped up with more books.

  ‘This room’s not been renovated yet?’ asked Lily, nodding at the cracked plaster and haphazard oak floorboards.

  Annie shook her head. ‘We ran out of money. Besides, everyone seems to quite like it like this. But all the windows are new so it’s not so draughty. And the fireplaces were all swept last winter.’

  On the opposite side of the corridor was Arthur’s study, which was also a little threadbare but had a lovely view over the grounds at the back of the house.

  Sam’s office was next door, which apparently was the old music room.

  ‘Very apt,’ said Lily, noting all the piles of records and CDs amongst the paperwork.

  ‘He still manages a few bands and singers,’ Annie told her. ‘But he’s taking on more and more of the estate work as Arthur gets that little bit older.’

  ‘What about Will?’ asked Lily. ‘I thought he worked abroad?’

  Annie shook her head. ‘Not any more. He and Skye live in a lovely cottage in the grounds and Will is the estate manager. He’s currently doing up one of the barns to hire out for weddings.’ Annie sighed. ‘We’re always looking for more ways to try and keep out of the red.’

  They walked to the room at the end of the corridor and through the double doors.

  ‘You might remember this from our wedding reception,’ said Annie, smiling in memory.

  ‘It’s such a beautiful room,’ said Lily, looking around in wonder. The gilt-edged paintings that decorated the room filled the place with colour, and the touches of gold on the frames made the whole place shine.