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Tasha waited until Rhys had jogged down the steps before actually closing the door. It was a bright morning, but Jack Frost had been busy in the night covering everything in the little garden behind the lodge in a glimmery blanket of silver and white. An empty bird feeder hung from the edge of the upstairs balcony that acted as a shelter for the deck. Tasha sat back at the table and made a note at the end of her to-do list to buy some bird food.
The lodge itself was cosy and warm even without the log burner lit and there were beautiful blankets draped over the end of the sofa and at the end of the bed should she need them. She stretched her feet flat on the ceramic tiles, luxuriating in the warmth from the underfloor heating. It really was a beautiful space and a million miles away from the utilitarian cubicle she was used to at SJW.
I could get used to this.
Smiling to herself, Tasha plugged in and booted up the laptop Rhys had left for her, opened the envelope of instructions and got on with setting herself up.
As lunchtime approached, Tasha had got the most pressing admin stuff out of the way. The IT guy had talked her through getting online and access to the various bits of the estate server she would need. It was an impressive set-up, much to her relief because that cardboard box Rhys had dumped on her table had really worried her for a minute.
Ziggy had pinged her several emails throughout the morning including one explaining how the payroll worked. She’d filled in the form with her new bank account details and sent it back. Given that SJW were still paying her, Tasha wanted to keep everything to do with her work at Juniper Meadows separate so she had a clear picture when it came to doing her tax return, so she’d opened a new account with an online bank.
She’d sent a few emails of her own to various members of the family detailing things she wanted to discuss and asking for suitable times to meet. Unsure if Graham had an email, she’d called him and they’d arranged to meet at the campsite after lunch to talk about the revised layout. All in all, she was pleased with how smoothly things were going for her first morning. The mobile phone Rhys had left with her rang and she glanced at the screen, expecting it to be him checking in but it was Hope’s name instead. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi! How’s it going? I just saw your email about Easter and I think it’s a great idea to collaborate. Are you free now? I thought we could have lunch at the café and do it face to face rather than ping emails back and forth.’
Tasha couldn’t help but smile at the bubbly enthusiasm in Hope’s voice. ‘Lunch would be great. I’m meeting Graham, but not until two.’
‘Great! I’ve got a call at two so we can have a leisurely lunch and go over everything in detail. I’ll see you in the café when you’re ready.’
‘Okay, see you there.’ Tasha gathered her notebook, the diary for the campsite, half a dozen pens, her work and personal phones and slung them all in her little backpack. Having locked the patio doors behind her, Tasha decided she’d better update Rhys and retrieved the work mobile.
Just checking in. Laptop all set up and I’m meeting Hope for lunch and Graham this p.m. at campsite. T.
Tucking the phone back in her bag, Tasha made her way along the path through the woods towards the car park. Once the weather improved she might think about getting herself a bike. It would be great exercise for one thing and a lot safer than trying to negotiate the busy city streets she was used to. She’d always half admired, half feared the Lycra-clad road warriors who zipped in and out of the traffic and instead had stuck to the safety of the stationary bike in the gym in the basement of her apartment block. Until the weather improved she would have to make the most of her online fitness subscription, which allowed her to stream a variety of exercise classes directly to her television.
As she exited the trees, she checked the car park. Hers was the only car in sight. Not for much longer. The thought of the campsite humming with noise and activity and the sounds of children laughing filled her with nervous excitement. There was a hell of a lot to do, but she would get there. As she reached her car she realised what was missing. There was no bike rack and she wondered how many of the campers used them. Fishing a pen out of her pocket, she scrawled a reminder on the back of her hand.
Hope was waiting for her at a table by the window and she rose with a welcoming smile as Tasha dropped her backpack on one of the empty chairs and unzipped her coat. ‘How’s it all going?’ Hope asked as Tasha sat opposite her.
‘Good.’ When Hope raised an eyebrow, she laughed. ‘No, really, it’s great. My brain is buzzing a bit with all the things I want to do.’
‘Which aren’t always necessarily the things you need to do,’ Hope said with a knowing grin.
‘I’ve resisted the urge to get on Pinterest and build glamping mood boards,’ Tasha replied. ‘So far!’
‘Oh God, don’t! You should see the one I made when I was planning the Easter light trail. We did a couple for Hallowe’en, and another one at Christmas, and now I am obsessed!’ They both laughed. ‘Right, let’s get some food, shall we?’
Tasha reached into her backpack for her purse. ‘My treat. It’s the least I can do for you making me feel so welcome yesterday.’
Hope smiled. ‘We’re so excited to have you here. I’ve been worried about Rhys for a while because he’s had so much on his plate. As for paying, you can put it on account as this is a working lunch. Come on, let’s speak to Penny and she’ll set you up a work and a personal tab.’
Five minutes later they were seated once again, with sandwiches, drinks and individual pots of fruit salad. Tasha took out her notebook and opened it to a clean page. ‘Can you talk me through what events are planned for over Easter?’
‘Of course. Well, there’s the light trail for starters. That’s one of the main attractions and will be up and running for the whole two weeks of the school holidays. We follow one of the existing walking trails – has Rhys told you about them?’
Tasha nodded. ‘He mentioned them briefly at the interview and showed me the display board at the campsite, but I haven’t had a chance to check them out for myself.’
‘They’re all accessible from the path that leads to the lodges. If you turn left instead of right and walk past my place, you’ll pick up the green one. We colour code them green, amber, red by level of difficulty. None of them are particularly strenuous. The difficulty is distance-based and we’ve designed them to interlink so people can shorten or extend their loop depending on their mood on the day. Ben runs the red one most mornings so if you’re looking for a running partner I’m sure he’d enjoy the company.’
Tasha shook her head. ‘I’m not much of an outdoor runner. I’ve always preferred the gym.’
‘Me too. Oh, while I remember you’ll need to see Rowena about an access card for the one at the hotel. Rhys told you that you can use it, right?’ Tasha nodded. ‘Great,’ Hope continued. ‘We try to stick to quieter times, but I’ve never had a problem getting a machine in there.’
‘I was thinking about getting a bike.’ Tasha held up the back of her hand and showed Hope the scribbled reminder. ‘Do campers bring their own? Because I was wondering about whether it’d be worth installing a bike rack in the car park.’
‘We get a few people out and about on them. Lots of our guests use Juniper Meadows as a base to go and explore further afield, but I’m always looking for ways we can encourage them to make the most of the estate. Can you mention it to Graham when you see him? Ask him to have a think about a couple of cycle routes too that we could map out for guests and tell him I’ll follow up with him about it.’
‘So that’s a yes to a cycle rack, then.’ Tasha added it to her to-do list. ‘What else will be happening? There was a conversation last night about an archaeological dig. Is that something guests can get involved in?’
