‘To be honest, I don’t know any other attractive women in the area I could ask, so I’m thrilled you said yes.’
Gilly laughed. ‘I think I’d better end the call now,’ she said. ‘Ring me when you know the details.’
She went round the house in a haze of happiness, wishing she had someone she could tell about this rather surprising conversation. She didn’t want to tell Helena because she didn’t want to have to explain that she’d had the house valued. She would go mad with rage at her brother and sister-in-law. No, she just wanted to enjoy the anticipation. Going to a big local event with an attractive man was a real ego boost. She was going to savour every second of the event, and the run-up to it.
But Gilly’s joy was marred by the burden of knowing how much her house was worth. While it was lovely in some ways, was it fair of her to sit on a property valuable enough to give both her children sizeable amounts of cash and leave enough for her to buy a little cottage somewhere? Probably not.
She was researching high-end picnic options when her son rang her. ‘Martin? Is everything all right?’
‘Mum! Does there always have to be something the matter? I just rang for a chat. That’s OK, isn’t it?’
‘It’s very OK, darling, it’s just very unheard of. You’re always so busy!’
‘Yes, well, we have plans to change that. We’ve decided we need to reassess our lives. We just don’t get enough time together as a family.’
‘Oh, darling, that’s wonderful! Little Issi – I mean Ismene – won’t be little for long; they grow up so fast. You don’t want to have missed it. Either of you.’
‘I’m so glad you agree, Mum. So you’re thinking about our suggestion? You need to cut down on the hours you work too.’
‘Running my own B & B is hardly the same as a high-powered, full-time job!’
‘It is very hard work. You’re always saying so.’
‘Yes, it is hard work but I do love it.’
‘You could love it just as much if you did it a bit less.’
Gilly was aware that she was breathing too quickly. She knew what Martin meant and it was making her anxious. ‘Sorry, I’m not with you. I could cut down on the number of rooms I let but then I wouldn’t have a profitable business. Then it would just be the work without the money.’
‘What we’re suggesting is that if you sold Fairacres, and we bought the house we showed you online, you could run a couple of the extra rooms as B & B rooms and the extra income would mean me and Cress could work less intensively.’
Remembering what the hypnotherapist had told her after her divorce, Gilly did some measured breathing, making sure the outward breath lasted longer than the inward. ‘So you’re suggesting that I do the work and you get the money?’
‘Mum! Don’t go all mercenary on me! If you sold your house you wouldn’t need the money.’
‘I think I would, darling, because all the money would go into buying your house.’ This wasn’t quite true. If Leo’s valuation was correct, there’d be quite a bit left but she wasn’t inclined, just at this moment, to share this with her son.
He hesitated. ‘I’m sure not all of it. It must be a very valuable property.’
‘It was your childhood home, Martin,’ Gilly said. ‘It’s not just “real estate”.’
‘I know,’ he said soothingly, ‘but everything has its time, Mum, and we don’t need a childhood home any more. We need homes for now, when we’re grown up. And Helena needs somewhere for her loom.’
‘I’m not saying I won’t think about selling, darling, but I won’t be running a B & B in your house.’ Gilly was very particular about how she treated her guests and presented the rooms and she wasn’t going to risk Cressida telling her how to do it differently. And she would.
‘Fair enough!’ said Martin, not quite getting it. ‘It wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. You could still come to live with us!’ he said generously.
‘Or I could buy a little cottage somewhere, then you wouldn’t need a house with a granny annexe. Which would be much cheaper.’
‘Oh, but we need you on site – for Ismene. You know you’d love that!’
‘I’ve said I’ll think about it,’ said Gilly. ‘And that will have to do for now.’
But she was so enraged by his suggested plan that she had to have a cup of tea and one of the shortbread biscuits she continually made for other people, but never ate herself.
She was certain she was right not to tell Helena she’d had Fairacres valued – she might let slip about Martin’s call and then Helena might ring her brother and rant at him. They’d always got on well as children but since he’d married Cressida and Helena had stopped being the baby sister, relations were sometimes strained. Far better that Gilly should think things through on her own and make her own decision.
She decided to make sausage rolls for the picnic but didn’t go as far as making her own puff pastry. She mixed caramelised onions into the sausage meat though, which was a lovely addition. Then she made smoked salmon Scotch eggs before focusing on some little fruit tarts using her own frozen raspberries. While she baked she didn’t let herself think about selling her house, she just focused on providing the perfect picnic for two. Helena would have said she was providing for twenty-two, but baking kept anxiety away and she was good at it.
Leo collected her the next evening in a limousine. He looked extremely handsome in a dinner jacket and Gilly was very glad she was wearing a rather expensive full-length coat to go over her favourite dress. She felt dressed up but not overdressed, and, most importantly, a pashmina meant she wouldn’t be cold.
‘You look sensational!’ he said when he’d taken the picnic hamper from her and kissed her cheek.
‘You look pretty smart yourself,’ she said, trying not to hyperventilate. She hadn’t felt like this about a man since she’d first met her ex-husband, Sebastian. It was lucky she was no longer in her twenties and was now very sensible, she thought.
‘It’s so kind of you to come.’ He sat down in the back seat next to her.
‘The pleasure is all mine, really,’ said Gilly. ‘I had fun making the picnic.’
‘If I’d done it, it would have been sandwiches from M&S followed by one of those tubs of brownies or fudge bites or whatever they are.’
‘Which I happen to love!’ said Gilly.
‘Next time,’ he said. ‘But I’m looking forward to what you’ve brought with you.’
‘We are going for the cultural experience!’ said Gilly, laughing. She realised she was completely giddy with excitement and what could quite possibly be lust. Whatever it was, it was lovely and she was going to enjoy every second.
‘I can’t believe that apart from everything else, you are a sensational cook,’ said Leo a few hours later, on his second smoked salmon Scotch egg.
He had found a delightful place for them to eat in the garden room of the main house, with views over the lake and the woodlands beyond. ‘I’m not sensational,’ Gilly replied, trying not to giggle, having had two glasses of champagne. ‘I just have a knack with pastry.’