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‘Hello, sweetheart. Amelia not with you?’ Stevie, Ben’s mother, set down the knife she’d been using to chop up some strawberries and circled the kitchen table to peck a kiss on Ben’s cheek while Rhys’s parents called their own greetings.
They were a bit thin on numbers, but he knew Ziggy and Daisy were planning on joining them shortly. He didn’t know about Hope, but Cam wasn’t down for the weekend so it was more than likely she’d drop in.
Ben shook his head. ‘She’s trying to finish an assignment for college tomorrow. I wasn’t going to come but she all but shoved me out the door.’ He laughed. ‘I swear I’m more nervous about her course than she is.’
‘Sometimes it’s best to give the ones we love a bit of breathing space.’ Stevie touched her son’s cheek and Rhys marvelled anew at how far the two of them had come since Ben had come back into their lives the previous year. ‘I’ll make up a pot of leftovers for you to take home with you. She’ll appreciate a hot meal.’
‘Thanks, Mum.’ Ben shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. ‘Right, what can I do to help?’
‘I’ve already offered and been told to stay out of the way, so grab yourself a beer and join us,’ Rhys told him with a grin as he pushed out the chair next to him in invitation.
‘Amelia’s getting on all right, is she?’ Zap rested his elbows on the table so he could speak to Ben. Rhys slid his chair back a bit further so neither of them had to talk across him.
‘Yes, yes, she’s fine. Better than fine, she’s loving every moment.’ Ben took a sip from his beer. ‘I’m the one with all the nerves. After all, I talked her into quitting work and giving her art a go.’
The door opened again and they turned to see Hope being all but dragged through the door by her two rambunctious black Labradors. ‘Look who I found,’ Hope said as she bent to unclip the dogs and they bounded towards the cushions, greeting their friends with excited barks and yaps. Ignoring the racket, Hope turned back towards the door with a smile. ‘Come on in.’
Looking a little nervous, Tasha entered the kitchen. ‘Hello, everyone.’
Rhys stood and went to greet her. ‘You made it, then? How’s everything at the lodge?’
‘Great.’ Her smiled warmed. ‘Better than great, it’s absolutely beautiful. I’ve sent another load of photos to my sister this afternoon and she’s positively green with envy.’
‘It’s great, isn’t it?’ Ben said as he came to his feet and offered his hand. ‘I loved living there, and I’m sure you will too. I’m Ben, by the way.’
‘Tasha.’ She frowned as she looked between Rhys and Ben. ‘You didn’t move out on my account, I hope?’
‘I was only using it temporarily and, besides, Rhys gave me the perfect excuse to move in with my girlfriend. Amelia’s not joining us tonight, but I’m sure you’ll run into each other sooner rather than later.’
‘I’ll look forward to it.’ Tasha glanced across to where Rowena and Stevie were working side by side at the kitchen counter. ‘I feel like I should’ve brought something when everyone’s going to so much trouble.’
‘No trouble at all,’ Rhys’s dad said with an easy smile as he got up and walked towards the fridge. ‘Take your coats off, ladies, and I’ll find you something to drink. I’ve got a very nice Italian rosé that should be chilled to perfection if I can tempt you to a glass? Or if you’d prefer something non-alcoholic I’ve got some cranberry and apple cordial in the cupboard.’ He bent to retrieve a bottle with a Juniper Meadows distillery label on it. ‘I know it’s not Christmas, but it’s not quite time to break out the summer fruits, I feel, don’t you?’
Hope had pulled off her coat and was holding her hand out ready to take Tasha’s. ‘I might treat myself to one glass of wine before dinner and then switch to cordial.’
‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll do the same, please.’ Tasha shrugged out of her quilted down jacket and handed it over with a grateful smile.
Rhys’s father handed her a glass of wine. ‘As my son seems to have forgotten his manners, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Zap, short for Zappa. And before you ask, yes, it’s a daft name but that’s what happens when your parents think they’re rebels, isn’t it, Stevie?’
Stevie glanced up with a grin. ‘Could’ve been worse, they could’ve called me Lulu.’
‘Or Twiggy,’ Zap added with a laugh.
‘Thanks, Dad,’ Rhys grumbled. ‘I was trying to give Tasha a chance to sit down before we started throwing names at her.’
Zap leaned over to kiss his cheek. ‘Just teasing.’ He pulled out a spare chair and waved Tasha towards it with a flourish. ‘Don’t mind me and my nonsense, dear. Please, make yourself at home.’
‘Thank you.’ Tasha settled herself in the chair and looked around. ‘This room is lovely.’ She touched the table, which was older than Rhys, and traced an old knot in the wooden top. ‘You can’t buy a finish like this.’
‘Three generations of my family were raised around this table,’ Zap said. ‘Ziggy and I used to hide under it when our grandfather was on the rampage.’ He laid a palm flat on the wood and his eyes grew distant for a moment. ‘Our cook, Mrs Haynes, never gave us away, and there was always a sherbet lemon for us in the jar she kept on the shelf. When we moved here from the Hall we decided to bring it with us.’
‘You lived in the Hall until relatively recently, then?’
Zap shrugged. ‘It depends on your definition of recent. When your family history runs back five hundred years then I guess thirty years is a blink of an eye. We moved out of the Hall after our grandfather passed away. The death duties almost wiped us out so that’s when we decided it was time to make the estate work for us and the easiest way to do that was to convert the Hall into a hotel.’
‘Mum—’ Rhys pointed towards Rowena ‘—and Stevie run the hotel and spa.’
Rowena came to stand next to Zap, who put his arm around her waist. ‘It’s so nice to meet you, Tasha. I’m Rowena. I’m excited to see what plans you have, especially around the glamping side of things. Perhaps when you’re ready we could chat about some spa packages?’
