Page 101 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

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On the way to Willow Tree Hall the following day, Lily realised that her dad was more nervous than he had let on to Jack on the previous day.

‘I still don’t know about this.’

Lily glanced over at her dad as she turned her car into the high street. ‘It’ll be fine,’ she told him for the fifth time since they had set off only a few minutes previously. ‘It’s just Jack. No one else. But he can’t do this on his own and we need to be able to press the apples to make lots of nice drinks for the album launch.’

‘There must be someone else who can do this,’ muttered her dad, fiddling with his prosthetic leg.

‘I think it’s nice that he thought of you,’ said Lily.

Her dad grunted in reply.

Better than nice, she thought. It was caring and thoughtful. And it made her fall in love with him a little bit more.

Lily turned the car into the long driveway leading up to the Hall.

‘Isn’t it lovely out here today?’ she said, trying to change the subject.

Her dad carried on fidgeting and didn’t reply.

She knew he was nervous. It had been a long time since he had left the house to do some actual carpentry work. It had been a few weeks since he had actually left the house at all, her mum had told her. But she thought it was a small but important step onto the road to recovery at last.

Lily gave up on the pep talk and enjoyed the view instead. The long leaves of the willow tree in front of the main hall were already tinged with yellow at the ends. Autumn would be here soon. The hedgerows were already turning brown and pale gold. The spectacular hints of reds and oranges would soon join them.

Lily parked the car in front of the Hall and was somewhat relieved to find Jack coming around the corner of the house to greet them.

‘Morning,’ he said.

Lily smiled. ‘Morning,’ she replied.

She wished her pulse would calm down whenever she saw him. She felt like a breathless teenager with a crush all over again. Perhaps it was just a crush, she told herself. Would that be so bad?

But as she watched Jack help her dad slowly and gently out of the car, her heart told her otherwise. This wasn’t a crush. This was affection. Real affection.

Not love, she reminded herself. Well, perhaps a little bit.

‘Good morning,’ said a nearby voice.

They looked up to see Arthur coming over. As ever, he leaned on his walking stick as he made his slow way over to greet them.

‘Good morning,’ mumbled her dad, fiddling with his crutches so that he could shake Arthur’s hand.

‘I was just saying to Jack that I might come along with you, if that’s alright,’ Arthur told them. ‘I like to get a small walk in each day and, to be honest, I haven’t seen the apple press in a very long time.’

‘That would be nice, wouldn’t it, Dad?’ said Lily, enthusiastically.

Her dad looked embarrassed. ‘I’m not very fast.’

‘Nor am I, Richard,’ said Arthur. ‘So we’ll let the youngsters go first and take our time, shall we?’

Nobody could ever say no to Arthur when he was at his most congenial, so Lily and Jack walked around the house and across the back grounds, letting Arthur and her dad make their somewhat slower journey behind them.

‘Dad’s really nervous,’ whispered Lily, once they were out of earshot.

‘I understand,’ said Jack. ‘Don’t worry.’

She sighed heavily, wishing that she could turn the clock back.