Page 8 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘Evening, all,’ said her grandad as he came through the open back door.

Lily smiled and rushed across to give him a hug. As always, Bert Harper smelled of earth and grass.

It was her grandfather who had set dinnertime at six-thirty sharp every day. As his daughter-in-law, Lily’s mum had taken on the responsibility of the strict timing once he had moved in, much to her chagrin.

‘Good to have you back,’ he said to Lily, his eyes twinkling at her below shaggy grey eyebrows.

‘Good to be back,’ she replied, giving him a kiss on a cheek that had a five o’clock grey shadow of stubble on it.

Her grandad had never been a smartly turned out man. But Lily loved him, despite his gruff way of speaking with nearly everyone who wasn’t her. She knew she was the apple of his eye and had never minded his abrupt way of talking to everyone else but her.

‘How was your day?’ asked her mum, as she laid the plates onto the table.

‘Everywhere is parched,’ said her grandad, sitting down at the head of the table. ‘The earth is so hard after all these weeks of no rain.’

Her grandfather was head gardener at Willow Tree Hall. In fact, he was the only gardener at Willow Tree Hall, such was the depleted staff at the great house these days. He was the same age as the Earl of Cranley, whose estate both the Hall and Cranley itself belonged to. Thankfully, Arthur Harris, the earl, had kept the rent for the cottages as low as he could for the past fifty years and only rented out the sixty or so cottages to local workers. Some of the cottages had been in the same families for generations. But her grandad had given up his to move in twelve months previously.

‘They’re saying September should bring some rain,’ said her dad, as he came into the kitchen on his crutches. ‘That’ll freshen things up a bit.’

Once Richard had joined them at the table, they all began to help themselves to the food laid out before them.

‘I hope you weren’t digging,’ said her mum in a stern voice. ‘That won’t do your back any good.’

‘Can’t plant onions otherwise,’ said Bert, giving Lily a wink before ducking his head back down.

Celia’s mouth pressed into a thin line as she decided against further nagging of her father-in-law.

‘Where’s the butter for the new potatoes?’ asked Lily’s dad, looking around the table. ‘And how about a bread roll?’

‘There isn’t any,’ replied Celia. ‘The doctor said you need to lose a bit of weight, so you’ll eat them without.’

Lily gave her dad a sympathetic smile but remained quiet. There was no point in getting involved in the constant discussion about her dad’s health. His weight was beginning to become a bit of a problem, as he barely left the house these days.

It was quiet at the table for a few minutes whilst they carried on eating.

‘It’s nice to have you home,’ said Celia, looking across the table at Lily. ‘Whatever the reason. What will you do next with your career?’

‘It was hardly a career,’ said Lily, with a laugh. ‘You know that I can’t find any other work. Things are tight all over.’

It wasn’t as if she had any discernible skills, either. And whose fault was that, she reminded herself. She had wasted her teenage years and ended up with a very small Business Studies qualification.

She was just an ordinary person who had managed to drag herself a few rungs up the career ladder, mostly by chance. But now she was back at the bottom again and had no idea what to do next.

‘There might be a vacancy at the supermarket,’ said her mum.

Lily grimaced, which her mother unfortunately caught sight of. ‘There’s no point in having airs and graces, my girl,’ said Celia in a stern tone. ‘You need to work and it’s possible that Audrey might leave in the next month.’

Lily nodded. She loved her mum. She just didn’t know whether she could live and work with her twenty-four hours a day. But the fact that she needed a wage to continue helping out the family would quickly become a problem if she couldn’t find a job any time soon.

After dinner, Lily and her grandad cleared the plates off the table before Bert headed into the front room to read the newspaper.

Lily wiped down the kitchen table.

‘Thanks, love,’ said her mum, looking weary as she stood up. ‘It’s been a long day. I’m just going to go and have a shower. I need to get out of these sweaty clothes.’

Lily and her dad watched in silence as Celia leave the room. Her dad played with the salt and pepper pots, which had been placed back in the middle of the table.

‘I made ten pounds today from the sale of that food blender on eBay,’ he finally said.