Page 24 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘But what I mean is that maybe the new owners will want some decent staff when they buy it from me,’ he told her.

‘And maybe they won’t.’ Her voice caught. ‘And it won’t be the same. Ever again. Not if my aunt and uncle aren’t here.’

‘Look, someone’s going to need to run the place in the meantime,’ he said. ‘I’ll need your help, so you don’t have to move out. You can stay on here for a while longer yet.’

It was a lifeline, but it was still all moving too fast for her and suddenly the tears were pricking her eyes.

‘Don’t cry,’ he said, taking a step towards her. ‘I hate it when you cry.’

But Belle instantly shied away from him.

‘Well, you haven’t helped at all,’ she told him. ‘You’ve made everything ten times worse.’

‘How have I done that?’ he snapped. ‘I’m puttingmymoney into this place. This rotten, run-down, grotty inn is going to make a profit and become a good thing for the village.’

But she was too upset to listen to him. She gulped back the tears. ‘Well, I hope all the profit you make will keep you warm at night, Peter Kennedy.’

‘Don’t you worry about what keeps me warm at night, Belle,’ he said, with a cheeky grin, obviously trying to lighten the tense atmosphere. ‘I do just fine.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘So I’ve heard,’ she snapped.

She went to say something else, but she was so upset that the words wouldn’t come. So she settled for marching away from him before he saw the tears streaming down her face.

It wasn’t happy ever after. It was still the end of her life in the inn as she knew it.

12

Pete stood on his own in the inn after Belle had walked away from him, or rather stormed off.

Mick and Angie’s reaction had been bad enough to the news that he was buying the inn. One word and they were booking an expensive cruise! But Belle’s was even worse. She had never been that upset with him before.

And now it appeared that he was definitely stuck with an inn that he didn’t want.

He turned slowly and stared at the dark lounge. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls. It was dark and dingy. It was going to need a massive injection of money to tempt someone else to buy it.

Why couldn’t he have bought a glamorous restaurant instead? Those he knew all about and were certainly devoid of creaky floorboards, dark oak beams and fireplaces. The one thing those restaurants did have though were customers and plenty of them.

Perhaps that was an idea, he thought, looking around once more. If he turned The Black Swan into something more modern, then perhaps the customers would flood in and so would the business.

And that was the point of it all, he thought. Why couldn’t Belle see that? It was just business.

And yet, it was also a lie. He had lied to Belle about his initial idea for buying the inn and he had no idea why. Well, perhaps not complete lies but there was an underlying reason for him putting up the funds for the inn and he didn’t want to look too closely as to what they were.

Because if there was one thing he had learned, it was that if he began to look at his motives he would only end up being more disappointed in himself.

‘You all right, mate?’ said Mick, suddenly appearing back in the bar. ‘I heard my niece shouting.’

Pete sighed. ‘I think she’s a bit upset that I’m not planning on making it a permanent move, to be honest.’

Mick nodded. ‘Yeah, she does hate change. But you know that, you’ve known her for long enough.’ He laughed. ‘I remember her pushing you in the river many a time in those early years.’

Pete smiled to himself. ‘Me too.’

‘Listen, she’ll come round,’ said Mick. ‘It’s just a bit of a shock, that’s all.’

‘I know the feeling,’ muttered Pete, looking around the lounge once more. ‘It needs serious work.’

‘Well, I have some good news where that’s concerned,’ said Mick. ‘Obviously a place this old is Grade II listed. You wouldn’t believe the hassle involved, I tell you. Anyway, I got permission to update the décor and all that two years ago. But then money got tight and we didn’t have the funds to do it.’ He held out some paperwork for Pete to take. ‘The great news is that you’ve still got six months before the permission lapses, so at least you can do the upgrades without the council wanting more money.’