Page 94 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

‘You’re a disgrace, Aunty,’ said Sam, shaking his head.

‘Rubbish,’ said Will, laughing. ‘If I’d realised who he was, I’d have punched him in the face.’

‘As it turns out, Mavis’ rock cakes will almost certainly have given him two black eyes,’ said Rose, smiling.

‘You always were a good bowler on the cricket pitch,’ said Arthur, nodding his approval.

The suggestion of the tea room had gone down well with everyone. Well, almost everyone.

‘So you’ve just added yet another job to my ever-increasing list,’ moaned Will later that afternoon.

‘Jack said he’ll help,’ said Lily, not making eye contact as she put words into his mouth.

Eventually, she looked up at him and found him watching her with raised eyebrows. But his eyes were crinkled at the edges into a soft smile.

‘It’s a great idea,’ said Sam. ‘A bit more revenue coming in.’

‘Shame I never got to taste the moonshine,’ said Mick, looking sad.

‘It would have blown your head off,’ Jack told him.

‘Excellent,’ said Mick, rubbing his hands together. ‘We’ll have some for the album launch.’

‘We can’t serve moonshine at an exclusive album launch!’ wailed Alex. ‘It should be champagne and canapes.’

The band as one groaned. ‘Yeah, but that’s not really us,’ said Mick. ‘We ain’t classy gents, as you’re always reminding us.’

‘True,’ said Alex. ‘But this sounds terrible! I wanted it to be a glamorous affair.’

‘Nah,’ said Mick, shaking his head. ‘Me and the lads just want to relax and have a good time, here in the country.’

‘Rest assured, there will be no more moonshine,’ announced Sam, to everyone else’s relief.

‘Pity,’ said Mick. ‘At least it was homemade. It would have been nice to have something from the old Hall, you know?’

‘So, what kind of theme are you wanting for the party?’ asked Alex.

‘The theme is, let’s make shedloads of money,’ said Mick.

The rest of the band nodded enthusiastically with him.

‘Very artistic.’ Alex rolled his eyes. ‘What are the songs this time?’

‘It’s their take on country and western classics, but with a rock twist,’ said Sam, looking proud. ‘It’s really good.’

‘Like “9 to 5”?’ drawled Alex.

Mick shook his finger at his friend. ‘You can bitch about many things, but Dolly ain’t one of them. The woman’s got incredible talent.’

‘Dolly Parton is my goddess!’ said Alex, affronted. ‘I won’t hear a word about her, either.’

‘What about a country theme?’ wondered Lily. ‘Homemade…’ Her voice trailed off.

Everyone turned to look at her.

She shuffled in her seat. ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly. ‘I was just thinking out loud.’

‘That’s it,’ said Alex, nodding enthusiastically. He looked at the band. ‘What do you think?’