Page 28 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

She went back into the bedroom she had been working on. The ceiling was finished and three of the walls had a fresh coat of white paint as a base. Behind the bed, she had carefully removed the large wall panels, exposing the traditional logs behind. At once it had felt warmer and more cosy, which was just the vibe she had been looking for. However, she had painted the plasterboards white and kept them up in front of the exposed wall so that Ben didn’t ask too many questions.

She was just getting her paintbrush ready when there was a knock on the door. To stop anyone from wandering in, she had put a ‘No Entry’ notice outside, with the excuse that the paint was wet around the door.

‘Come in,’ she called out.

The door opened to reveal Ben holding a sandwich. ‘I brought you lunch,’ he said. ‘Sorry it’s a little late.’

‘That would be my second,’ she told him. ‘I went downstairs a little while ago and your mum made me a sandwich.’

‘Oh.’ He frowned. ‘It must have been when I was having a go at Dodgy Del for charging up his bloomin’ electric taxi using our mains!’

Lily laughed. ‘He does seem like a character.’

‘Hmm,’ said Ben, stepping further into the room. ‘That’s one word for him.’ He looked around, nodding as if pleased. ‘It’s looking good, isn’t it? What happened to that wall?’ He pointed at the small amount of exposed logs behind the bed.

‘I had to remove the panel to get right into the corner. But I’ll fix it back when I’m done,’ she said.

‘Good, good,’ he said. ‘This white really brightens it up, doesn’t it? The modern look is much better, don’t you think?’

‘Yes,’ she lied.

‘Well, I’ll leave you to it,’ he told her, heading out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

Lily puffed out a sigh of relief. It was going to get a bit tricky from here on in but she knew that she was right. In time, hopefully Ben would agree with her, she told herself before turning to open up a brand-new pot of green paint that she had kept hidden.

14

It had been a laughter-filled evening and one which Lily couldn’t remember enjoying more for a very long time.

She had just managed to complete painting the whole of the first bedroom before her best friends had arrived to stay until Sunday night.

‘I can’t believe you’re here!’ she said, giving Beth a huge hug when she and Ella arrived in a taxi late in the afternoon. She hadn’t realised how much she had truly missed her friends until she saw them face to face.

‘Right back at you,’ replied Beth, giving her a tight squeeze before finally letting go. ‘Look at you! You’ve got paint on your ear!’

Lily grimaced. ‘Occupational hazard,’ she said, touching her earlobe and hoping that it was white and not the soft green that she had been using that day.

Whilst Lily was dressed casually in jeans and a sweatshirt, as usual Beth was dressed in her vintage style. Beth often scoured the charity shops in search of retro fashion and that day’s outfit was no exception. She was wearing a pale pink beret andmatching sweater, matched by a glamorous black winter coat and flower-patterned A-line skirt.

Her long dark hair was braided into two plaits and her dark eyes were lined with heavy eyeliner, as well as wearing deep red lipstick.

However, beneath her slightly kooky fashion and happy-go-lucky personality lay the sharp intelligent mind of an astronomer. ‘I’m a total nerd,’ Beth would often tell her friends. ‘People expect me to look a bit weird.’

In stark contrast to Beth’s individual style, Ella was always dressed more conservatively. That day she was wearing a long camel coat over white jeans and a classic white shirt. Around her neck was a Hermès scarf which Lily knew that Ella had saved up for months to buy.

‘Hello!’ she said, giving Lily a hug. ‘Wow, it’s so good to finally see you.’

Lily stepped back and smiled at her friend. ‘You too,’ she replied.

As always, Ella’s blonde hair lay in a perfect straight curtain to her shoulders and her discreet make-up was immaculate, despite having journeyed on the train for the best part of three hours.

‘Come in!’ Hannah urged everyone. ‘Let’s get this party started!’

‘And this is one night you can’t miss because you’re already here!’ said Ella, giving Lily a nudge before heading indoors.

As she followed her friend indoors, Lily mulled over Ella’s words. She wasn’t that bad a friend, was she? She shook her head. It was just one of Ella’s bad jokes, that was all, she decided.

After a noisy dinner with the family, the group of friends decided to leave the rest of the family in peace and had an impromptu pyjama party in Hannah’s bedroom.