LITMIR.BIZ

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or at least trying to. Hilary, John, the vicar’s wife, helped out regularly, as she was a keen baker, too.

      The good news was that the hotel wasn’t running at a huge loss. To Harriet’s dismay, it hadn’t made a profit yet, either, but then as Gemma pointed out, hotels never made money in the first year, which had almost satisfied her. The fact that the hotel was doing OK was enough. For now.

      Pippa sat at her desk in the office going through the bookings. Everyone had left, the housekeeping staff were turning the rooms around and Pippa was nursing her persistent hangover with a much-needed cup of tea while making notes to ensure that during the coming week she was on top of things.

      Growing up, with her three siblings and their father, not to mention Gwen and Connor, who were there most of the time, Meadowbrook had felt alive. But when one by one her siblings left – first to boarding school, then university, before going off to jobs in various places – it was just Pippa, the baby of the family, her father and Gwen. They’d filled the house with people: her father’s friends, the village community and Pippa’s school friends, who’d practically lived there when they were teenagers. When Pippa left Meadowbrook to marry Mark, she’d felt a stab of guilt – no, more than a stab of guilt – about leaving the house with just her father and Gwen. But she’d visited often and her dad never complained about being lonely. He kept busy and that was when he’d started the animal sanctuary.

      Pippa felt tears surface. She still missed him and she wished he was with them; although she felt his presence in the house every day and that was why she’d always take care of Meadowbrook. It was the one place she could feel her father and she never wanted to lose that feeling.

      Pippa wiped the tears off her face furiously as there was a knock on the office door. Gus appeared with a big smile. Mainly calm – apart from when it came to his teenage daughter – and level-headed, he was the most sensible of the siblings. He was also creative; although he’d been an insurance salesman before he managed to find his true passion: painting and gardening.

      ‘Why the tears, Pip?’ he asked, chewing his bottom lip anxiously.

      ‘I was thinking of Daddy. I’m not sure how I got there but with the party, it was emotional. You know, we’ve kept this place open for almost a year and it’s all going well, but I miss him. I wish I knew what he thought of it.’

      ‘I know.’ Gus came over to where Pippa was sat and bent down to hug her. ‘He’d be so proud of you, you know. All of us, but especially you.’

      ‘Thanks, Gus. Oh! by the way, Hector’s coming to stay. He needs to finish his new book.’

      ‘It’ll be nice to have him back. Anyway,’ he hopped awkwardly from foot to foot, ‘I need to get the details for my painting workshop. And Amanda said to complain about the lack of gardening interest.’ His lips curled in a slight smile.

      ‘Gus, it’s winter. Who wants to garden in the winter?’

      ‘Amanda!’ they both said and laughed.

      Gus’s wife, Amanda, lived for her gardens. She was even out there in the snow, protecting her plants. But although the gardening courses were popular – funnily enough, especially with the younger generation – they weren’t in demand in the winter, when bookings had all but dried up.

      ‘I’ll sign Hector up,’ Pippa joked. ‘That’ll keep her happy.’

      ‘She’s got enough to do, really,’ Gus groaned. ‘Not only with existing clients, but she’s also taken on a new client. A rich family have bought a crumbling old manor house near Bath and they’ve got acres of grounds that need restoring. The house, too. Amanda hasn’t met them yet, but I think they might be Russian billionaires from the sound of it. Probably Mafia or something like that.’

      ‘Tell her to be careful, then. Although it sounds like a great project.’

      ‘She says it’s all grand statues and water features at the moment. But I’m worried she’s overstretching herself.’

      ‘Let Amanda do what she wants to do, Gus. Don’t clip her wings.’

      Gus’s first marriage broke down because his then wife ran off with one of his friends, but afterwards she’d said that Gus had suffocated her by trying to please her all the time. Gus could be a bit like that. Unfortunately, he was the sensitive member of the family and their hard-to-please father didn’t really do sensitive. So Gus had spent most of his childhood trying to please their father, something their father recognised later in life and apologised for, but Gus was still battling with insecurity as a result. Amanda made him happier than he’d ever been, but old habits died hard.

      ‘I know, she’s happy, we’re happy, and I need to remember that. You know what a nightmare I can be!’

      ‘Exactly. Right, here’s your next two painting workshops.’

      ‘Any sign of Freddie?’ Gus asked.

      ‘No. Gemma dragged him home a couple of hours ago but that hangover isn’t going anywhere soon.’

      ‘Typical Fred.’

      Pippa laughed. The Singers had settled into themselves and for four siblings who were so close, they were all so utterly disparate. Harriet the boss, Gus the sensitive one, Freddie the fun one and her … Pippa was still trying to find herself. She was on her own now for the first time, she was working for the first time and she was getting to know herself for the first time, but she still had a lot to learn. She might be in her thirties, but she felt as if she was only just now discovering who she really was.

       Chapter Five

      Pippa was absorbed in reading the latest edition of Hotels, a trade magazine, in the office, when she heard the front door bang open and raised voices. The noise startled her and she jumped. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was later than she thought. She must have been miles away.

      ‘Are you here?’ Freddie boomed, bursting into the office as she stood up.

      ‘Fred,’ she greeted.

      ‘Pippa, gorgeous as ever.’

      Hector, with his floppy, public schoolboy dark hair, and his favoured look of chinos and a cable-knit sweater, stepped forwards and engulfed her in a hug. He was tall, well-toned – he liked his fitness – with a smile that lit up rooms. His body was often featured in magazines as being a ‘hot bod’ and his blue-green eyes were the subject of many a crush. Hector, with his boyish good looks, wouldn’t have been out of place in a Hollywood film.

      As she felt his arms around her, Pippa couldn’t help but smile. It was so familiar, hugging Hector; he’d become one of her closest friends over the years. Pippa didn’t have many friends. She had her family, the villagers and Gemma. All of her girlfriends had been lost when she was married – Mark didn’t approve of her mixing with anyone he hadn’t chosen for her – and that made her sad, but now she knew she should count herself lucky.

      ‘Welcome back, Hector. Hope the drive with Freddie wasn’t too bad?’ Pippa arched an eyebrow.

      Freddie had offered to pick Hector up from the train station in Bath. It gave him a chance to drive his Porsche outside the village and also to catch up with Hector, with whom he was firm friends.

      ‘It was great. Honestly. I’m so happy to be here,’ Hector gushed. ‘Missed the old place. America was nice but crazy busy and you know, just before I was due to leave I didn’t think of my flat in London, I thought of here.’

      ‘Right, first things first, welcome drink,’ Freddie announced. ‘Come on through to the bar.’

      ‘It’s only four o’clock,’ Pippa pointed out. ‘And I’ve got to organise food for you for tonight.’ Pippa knew that she shouldn’t be thinking of work but she always did.

      ‘Honestly, Hector’s

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