Page 2 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

Four years after arriving in London, Lily was still a lowly junior in an interior design firm, not having progressed at all, and Hannah was far too shy and unconfident to make a name for herself in the cut-throat world of catering.

Then Hannah had unexpectedly fallen in love. Lily had hated Sean on sight and couldn’t see what on earth Hannah saw in him. He was moody and completely opposite to kind, soft Hannah. But her friend was bewitched and when Sean suggested they move into their own place a couple of months later, Hannah had willingly gone with him.

Lily found that she suddenly couldn’t bear to be in the house where once she had been so happy with her three best friends. So she had quickly handed in her notice and moved on, sharing other houses and large flats ever since but never getting close to any of her new housemates.

Apart from her best friends, Lily’s social circle hadn’t grown at all, such was her reluctance to grow close to anyone else. Due to her shyness, Hannah didn’t have too many friends either and Lily had a feeling that it wasn’t a particularly healthy relationship with Sean. She was proven correct a year later when Hannah let her know that she had left Sean and had moved backto stay with her family in Cranley for a while. Ten years later, she was still there.

The four best friends continued to meet up over the years, although recently, as she finally began to receive recognition for her skills and achieve greater responsibilities at work, Lily had found that her time was more limited and often reluctantly cancelled, due to deadlines. She was still pursuing her career, still trying to prove her parents wrong and make them proud of her choice of being an interior designer. However, the friends still talked every week and texted nearly every day. Now in their early thirties, the friends’ lives continued on different trajectories, although none of them had found happiness in their dating lives. They had all had various relationships; however, despite a few boyfriends over the years, Lily had stopped dating entirely to concentrate on her career.

Lily knew all about Hannah’s family, of course, having heard so much about them over the years despite never meeting them. But the fact that they owned a hotel hadn’t felt that significant until their last conversation a few days earlier.

‘It’s all so different since Ben took over,’ Hannah had told her. Hannah’s brother had taken over the running of the hotel since their father had unexpectedly passed away six months ago. ‘The whole place is a complete mess as everything needs to be updated apparently. Anyway, when all the work’s finished, it will need redecorating so I’ve suggested to him that you’re just the person to come and help us out!’

Lily had taken a deep intake of breath. ‘Me?’ she said.

‘Of course!’ said Hannah, laughing. ‘Who else? After all, you’re the talented designer at that fancy firm!’

Lily’s thrill of delight was short lived as she gulped away the shame of not being honest with her best friend.

Which was the third reason that she couldn’t turn around the car, despite still being lost. She needed this commission more than she had ever needed anything before in her life.

From the beginning, Lily had slowly built up her career from being an apprentice to a junior position. She had made many sacrifices, including her own personal life or lack thereof, until finally she had accepted a job as an assistant to a flourishing modern interior designer two years ago. Hans Haubermann was considered a genius and after a couple of recent high-profile commissions by the London elite, he wasthehot designer of modern times.

Lily had been thrilled to get a job with such an exclusive designer. Finally, her sacrifices had been worth it. She was almost there. With a few commissions of her own, she could finally be her own boss. Even her parents were impressed by Hans’ exclusive customer list.

But the job came at a heavy price. Hans’ designs were minimalistic and highly modern, in total contrast to Lily’s own style, which was to ensure a space was warm and comfortable. But she decided it was a sacrifice worth making if she had Hans’ name on her CV.

However, to her horror, she had quickly discovered that Hans was a fraud. He had no talent. It was a company secret that he used all of his assistants’ talent and hid behind their creativity, passing it off as his own. And Lily had been no different, only discovering the truth three months ago thanks to an unhappy colleague who had blabbed at her leaving drinks.

It was all so unfair. Hans had promised so much in the beginning, including making her partner in the interior design firm. But it turned out that they were the same promises that he had made many times to many different designers over the years.

Then, a week ago, he had dropped the huge bombshell that he was giving her notice. Hans had stated that they were downsizing and letting staff go but Lily knew that it was just her who had lost her job. Hans had been sneaky enough to terminate her job just days before her two-year anniversary, meaning that she wasn’t eligible for statutory redundancy pay either.

Since her immediate dismissal, Lily had spent the past few days in a mess, crying in her room over the unfairness of it all. But what could she do? Nobody would believe her, even if she could tell them. Because it turned out that there was a small clause in her original employment contract which prevented her from spilling the secrets of the company to anyone.

All she wanted was the chance to prove that she had made the right career choice, to show her parents that she could make it on her own. She had the skills and the experience. However, she now had no recommendations and the client base that she had built up was gone, tied to Hans’ business instead.

She knew that she was good enough to have her own company. But where to even start? She just needed a bit of luck.

And then lovely Hannah had called her up about the hotel and it was as if fate had given her a second chance. Hannah still believed that Lily worked at the firm and Lily hadn’t told her the truth. In fact, she hadn’t told anyone, not her best friends or her parents who were currently based in Canberra. The truth was that she was embarrassed. A failure. After so many years of hard work, she had absolutely nothing to show for it. However, if the commission for the hotel worked out then she would reveal the truth to her friends in time, just as soon as her future was sorted out.

But she also knew that the Jackson family wouldn’t give the hotel commission to someone without the backup of a slick company behind her so it was best to keep it a secret for now. Lily also knew that to work on a prestigious project such as acountryside hotel was the perfect place for her, a stepping stone to starting her own business and, hopefully, success. If only she could find the hotel, that is!

The rain had eased now and she could see that autumn was showing signs along the hedgerows that flanked the country lane and across the faraway green hills. The dark green of the countryside was now scattered with touches of amber and ochre as the seasons began to change. It was a stark contrast to the urban streets that she was used to but the view was all the more pleasurable because of it.

Finally, just as the rain stopped, she saw what appeared to be a shiny new sign by the side of the lane for Maple Tree Lodge.

With a whoop of relief, she turned the car onto a narrow track and found herself enveloped into a shaded woodland almost immediately. Instantly, the light was much darker but as she headed around a corner, she could see a glimmer of water in the distance through the trees.

She could now also make out part of a substantial building as well. Hannah had told her it was a small hotel but it was much larger than Lily had anticipated. She felt a thrill rush through her. What a start it would be to have this hotel as her very own commission.

Not used to driving, having lived in London for so long, Lily accidentally pressed the accelerator, not the brake pedal as intended, and the hire car leapt forward so quickly that she almost crashed into an oncoming vehicle which had just appeared around a bend.

In order to avoid a head-on collision, she grabbed the steering wheel and pulled the car hard left. With the crash avoided, Lily found that the car was heading sharply down a bank instead and straight into what appeared to be a small pond.

The engine stalled and finally she was at a halt. She felt relieved, despite the car being surrounded by water. She tooka deep breath and checked that she was OK. Thankfully she had been wearing her seat belt which had protected her from anything worse than a stiff neck.

Seeing movement nearby, she looked over to the other car and saw a man climbing out of his vehicle. Feeling a little sheepish, she wound down the window.