‘Yes,’ said Gilly, knowing it was also a busy one for her. She flicked through to June. There was a booking for every single weekend. ‘July?’ she suggested, hoping there’d be a vacant weekend in it.
‘I can’t understand why you’re booked up so early,’ said Leo, sounding a bit cross, possibly because the cat had jumped up again and was heading for his lap. ‘It’s only April!’
‘These clients have been coming for years,’ explained Gilly, setting Ulysses gently on to the floor. ‘They like to book well ahead to make sure of getting their favourite rooms.’
‘Well, could you ask them to rebook so they all come on the same weekend and you have a weekend free?’
‘Not really,’ said Gilly. ‘They’ve been coming on those weekends for years and there wouldn’t be room for them all at the same time.’ She realised she was repeating herself. ‘The weeks are freer. Why don’t we go midweek?’
‘I can’t go midweek. I work.’
‘September is a lovely month,’ said Gilly, dismissing the thought that she worked too at the same time as she fielded her cat who seemed determined to get on Leo’s lap. ‘Let me pencil in some dates for us to go away then.’ She quickly did so.
‘I’m sorry to be so impatient,’ Leo said. ‘I just want to take you away. If you sold this house and retired, you’d be freer.’ He got up from his chair and swiped at the cat hairs that had landed on him in spite of Gilly’s efforts to protect him.
Gilly laughed and realised it had sounded rather brittle. ‘That would be a rather drastic way of solving the problem,’ she said. ‘And it would take a lot longer than until September for it to be accomplished.’
‘I could expedite it. I’d have a buyer for this house in a flash. In fact, I’ve got someone—’ He stopped abruptly, possibly noticing Gilly’s reaction.
‘No need,’ she said crisply. ‘I don’t want to move.’
‘Don’t be too hasty to reject the idea. Think of the advantages. You’d be freeing up capital for your children, just when they need it most.’
‘I promise I’ll think about it,’ she went on. ‘Would you like more coffee?’ She got up, desperate to stop this horrible conversation. ‘I’ll make some.’
She was on her way back to the conservatory to check that Leo did actually want more coffee when the doorbell jangled. The old-fashioned bell was one of the things her clients particularly enjoyed and she opened the door with a smile. It was William.
‘I’m so sorry to trouble you, but Aunt Miriam thinks she left her hearing-aid batteries in the bedside drawer …’
‘Oh, easily done, I’m sure. I’ll pop up and look.’
‘I could go,’ said William.
‘It’s no trouble – I know which room Miriam was in. I thought I’d checked all the rooms before they left but I may have missed the bedside drawer.’
Gilly found the batteries and came back down the stairs. She paused. Leo had joined William in the hall and just for a second she had the impression that the two men were facing up to each other. Then as she arrived in the hall one of them moved but the tension still seemed to be there.
‘I was just saying what a valuable property this is,’ said Leo. ‘The market in this area is surprisingly buoyant. It’s a good time to sell.’
No one spoke for a few seconds – Gilly didn’t know what to say. Then William looked up at her and smiled very slightly.
‘Only if the owner wants to sell,’ he said firmly. ‘And I don’t think Gilly does.’
At first Gilly thought Leo was going to argue but he didn’t. But after William had gone, hearing-aid batteries safely in his pocket, Leo turned to Gilly.
‘Does your accountant always call you by your Christian name? You must visit him a lot, which rather implies things aren’t really working on a financial level. I can’t help thinking you’d be better off getting out of the B & B business and having a bit more spare time.’
‘I’ve got spare time now,’ Gilly said, although she hadn’t finished clearing the dining room or got the second load into the dishwasher, and then there were the beds to strip.
‘Sadly, I haven’t. But it’s been lovely to see you, Gilly.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘But now I must go and have a good look at that house of Martin’s. I’ll text you a time when I can take you out for lunch.’
‘Us boarding-house landladies always have time for lunch,’ said Gilly with a laugh, hoping he’d join in.
But he didn’t.
Chapter Twelve
Helena and Jago were making good progress on repointing the wall of the barn where Helena hoped to put her loom. They were up separate ladders on separate scaffolding towers putting lime mortar between tiny stone bricks. They’d been doing it for a couple of hours.
‘It’s kind of you to do this when you said you hadn’t got time,’ said Helena.
‘It was, but now I’m stiff and cold and want to stop,’ Jago replied. ‘Shall we call it a day?’
‘I feel I should press on but if you’re fed up you could go and make us some tea?’
‘OK. I have a few phone calls to catch up on. If you don’t mind carrying on on your own?’
‘Of course not. Hand me up the radio so I can choose my channel and I’ll be fine.’
Helena found something on Radio 4 to listen to – she needed talking not music if she was going to be doing something fairly mindless on her own – and carried on. Eventually she’d done everything she could without moving the scaffolding and climbed down. She was ready to call it a day now too and, having sorted out her equipment, went to find Jago.
‘Oh? Are you knocking off?’ he said. ‘I was just coming in with tea and snacks.’
‘I’ve done all I could reach. It’s just your corner now.’ She pulled out a chair and plonked herself down at the table. ‘How soon can I move my loom in?’
‘If you don’t mind being in a bit of a building site, whenever. The wall will have to be plastered. You’ll see that I took what you said about it looking like a prison to heart.’ He paused. ‘And the plaster will have to dry, before I can think about decorating. But that will take ages. If you don’t mind a bit of work going on around you, we can put it in next week.’
‘I don’t mind and its partly my fault.’ Helena took a piece of cheese on toast. ‘This is lovely!’
‘You deserve something nice. You’ve been working hard.’
‘Purely for my own ends,’ said Helena. She smiled, and then was embarrassed in case he read more than just heartfelt gratitude into the smile. ‘It’s going to be a wonderful space for a loom. Those huge doors looking out into the courtyard will make it magical in summer.’
She sighed happily. One of the joys of getting to know Jago so well while they pointed his wall together was that he now knew how to make her perfect cup of tea. ‘Although of course when you have a buyer for it I’ll have to find yet another home for my loom.’