Page 33 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘Is this what they call baby brain?’ asked Will, raising an eyebrow.

‘No, it’s me,’ said Lily, with a smile. ‘I’ve been reorganising the cupboards. The biscuits are here.’

She opened up the right cupboard and showed him inside.

Will lifted the biscuit tin up with a grunt and grabbed a couple of biscuits. ‘Did we need reorganising?’ he asked.

‘Absolutely,’ Annie told him. ‘I never got a chance when the kitchen was installed to think about where anything went.’

‘But it worked, didn’t it?’ said Will, before wandering out again.

Lily gulped and hoped she hadn’t overreached herself. Yes, it would take a little time for everyone to learn where everything was, she thought. But it was going to make their lives so much easier in the long run.

At five o’clock, Annie glanced over at the kitchen clock. ‘Well, I think you’ve done brilliantly today,’ she said. ‘You must be shattered.’

Lily glanced at her to-do list for that day. She had barely completed even a quarter of the tasks she had set herself.

‘I can stay on for a while longer,’ she replied. ‘There’s still so much to do.’

But Annie shook her head. ‘It can all keep until tomorrow,’ she told her. ‘Besides, it’s a beautiful evening. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than be here with us lot.’

It appeared that Annie wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Perhaps her hormones were raging a bit, thought Lily.

So she reluctantly said goodbye and headed out of the back door.

Annie was right, she realised. She had spent all day indoors and hadn’t been able to enjoy the warm sun at all. Summer was still in full swing and she wound down the windows of her car. As she drove home, the smell of cut grass and birdsong filled the air.

If there was one positive thing about being made redundant and having to come home, it was being able to enjoy the end of summer in her home village again.

She had enjoyed playing in the woods when she was younger. In fact, she’d always played outside with her friends. The smell of sun cream and melting ice lollies always took her back to her happy childhood.

But in her teens she had begun to feel restless. The need to run away had grown within her, as well as the feeling that something was waiting for her just out of reach. Agitated and full of teenage hormones, she had started to get into trouble at school for disrupting the class.

In fact, it had been when she had been heading home late from yet another detention that she had bumped into Jack down by the river. Literally, in fact. She had turned a corner and crashed straight into his hard chest. She had taken one look at his handsome face and knew that he was exactly what she had been waiting for.

But it had just been a silly crush, she had always told herself. Besides, after the accident, she had had to grow up fast. With her father needing a long recovery in hospital, her grandparents had stepped up to help. Her grandmother had become even more fierce, but Lily had grown closer to her grandfather during those long, difficult months.

Her mum had struggled with the massive changes brought about to her husband. Now the main breadwinner, she’d had to go full-time at the supermarket – a job she had never really enjoyed even when doing fewer hours.

So Lily had abandoned her plans to go to university. There was no way she could have left her family during the worst of times and, besides, her college academic results weren’t anywhere near good enough for a degree course. She had already begun to work in a bar to fund her college education, determined to contribute to the monthly bills as well. She had worked hard ever since.

Now she needed a job again, and this was the only one on offer. But the housekeeping role was beyond anything she had ever done. She was used to organising one-off events, not people. And certainly not extended families.

Her nerves were still rattled from the uncertainty of it all. But it would all work out fine, wouldn’t it?

But the following morning started badly.

She had to wait ages to get into the bathroom once everyone else had finished in there. Then she needed to go out of her way to put petrol in the car, as it was running on fumes.

By the time she arrived at Willow Tree Hall, she was already hot, bothered and way behind on her to-do list.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said, rushing into the kitchen.

Annie looked up from the table and smiled. ‘Morning! And I didn’t even realise you were late.’

Lily glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine o’clock already and she had planned to be at the house by eight.

‘Was breakfast OK this morning?’ she asked.