Page 30 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘Morning. We could do with some rain,’ said her grandad, with a grimace. ‘Or else we’ll have to get the hose out again to water all those vegetables.’

‘Ah, yes,’ said Arthur, nodding in a more serious fashion. ‘Let us take a stroll and see how the cucumbers are looking.’

As he turned away, Lily thought she caught the slightest of winks from Arthur.

‘Go on through, my dear,’ he told her, over his shoulder. ‘Annie was in the drawing room the last time I saw her.’

So, Lily opened up the grand front door and stepped inside.

Instantly, she realised that the cool entrance hall was a perfect foil to the heat of the sun outside.

‘Hello!’ she called out, heading across the oak floorboards towards the east wing. Thankfully, she had already memorised the layout of the huge house, though she did have a back-up hand-drawn map just in case.

She went into the drawing room and found Annie with her feet up on the sofa.

‘Good morning,’ she said.

‘Morning,’ said Annie, stifling a yawn. ‘Sorry, I’m all over the place this morning. I had a dreadful night’s sleep thanks to this one.’ She rubbed her baby bump. ‘I think he or she is going to be a footballer.’

‘Can I get you anything?’ asked Lily.

Annie shook her head. ‘No, thanks. And it should be me asking you that, as it’s your first proper day of work.’

‘That’s what I’m here for,’ said Lily, sitting down on one of the armchairs.

‘What’s all that?’ asked Annie, looking at the pile of folders that Lily had just placed on the coffee table.

‘Organisation,’ said Lily, feeling proud. ‘Each part of the job has been given its own folder. So there’s one for cleaning, one for administration, one for the kitchen, one for the guest bedrooms. I’ve also got a diary to sort out all your appointments.’

‘Crikey,’ said Annie, her eyes widening. ‘Well, we probably do need a little bit of organising.’

‘I thought we could start with staff responsibilities first and take it from there,’ said Lily, in a brisk tone. She picked up the first file and clicked her pen into life. ‘So, the cleaner begins when?’

Annie thought for a moment. ‘I’ll ask Megan, but I think it’s on Monday.’

‘How about I ask Megan for you?’ said Lily, making a note to send a text.

‘I’ll be seeing her at some point as she tends to spend Fridays at Eleanor’s apothecary workshop,’ Annie told her.

‘Fine. I’ll head over there in a while,’ said Lily.

‘I really don’t mind,’ said Annie quickly.

But Lily smiled and shook her head. ‘You just rest. Let me take the strain. So, what about the laundry?’

Annie grimaced. ‘Everyone sort of chucks their own into the machine, to be honest. Well, not Arthur, of course. I do his. Rose seems happy to do her own.’

‘I can handle it,’ said Lily.

‘A lot of Rose’s clothes are designer,’ said Annie, frowning. ‘They either need dry cleaning or a special wash.’

‘No worries,’ said Lily. ‘So that’s the cleaning and laundry. What about food shopping?’

Annie looked nonplussed. ‘I just head down to the supermarket whenever we run out.’

‘Well, that won’t do,’ said Lily, making another note. ‘I’ll need you to make a list of all the essentials, as well as your menu plan for the week.’

‘Menu plan?’