Page 44 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

Ben gave a start, was his grandad implying that he had a crush on Lily?

‘The books,’ said Walter, a smile twitching on his mouth. ‘How bad are our finances?’

It was the question that Ben had dreaded his grandad asking and yet, in a small way, it was a relief to finally meet Walter’s eyes with the truth.

‘That bad?’ said Walter.

Ben glanced around but the rest of the family were all deep in conversation over the other side of the large room. So he felt safe enough to draw out the letter from the hotel chain from his pocket. He’d been carrying it around like an unexploded bomb for weeks now.

‘I’ve been holding on to this for months,’ he said, holding the letter out for his grandad to take. ‘But I shouldn’t have kept it from you. It was wrong of me.’

Walter took the envelope and opened it up. Ben waited for him to read it, wondering how his grandad would react.

But apart from noticing his grandad’s trembling hand as he handed the letter back to Ben, Walter was calm.

‘Well, thank you for finally telling me the truth,’ said Walter.

‘I’m sorry it isn’t what you wanted to hear,’ Ben told him.

‘And you want to sell to them?’

Ben was aghast and looked at his grandad, feeling horrified. ‘Of course not!’ he said quickly. ‘I haven’t replied and hopefully will never need to. Maple Tree Lodge is not for sale.’

Walter sagged with relief. ‘That’s a lot of money to turn down,’ he muttered.

‘I know.’ Ben grimaced. ‘We can get by without it, I reckon. But we do need to make some changes around here because then I honestly think we might have a fighting chance now, whatever happens,’ carried on Ben. ‘With the renovations and Lily’s ideasfor decorating, it gives the hotel the best hope that I think we’ve had in ages.’

Walter nodded and then cleared his throat. ‘I agree,’ he said. ‘I want to thank you, however this works out.’

Ben stared at his grandad in shock but couldn’t find any words.

‘But when all these updates are done then you must move on. It’s time for you to live your life, not mine. Or your father’s,’ added Walter.

‘You don’t want me here?’ Ben found himself asking. Was the distance between them so great now? he wondered.

‘What I want is for you to carry on living just like you did before,’ said Walter.

In the short silence that followed, only the creaking and cracking of the logs on the open fire filled the air.

‘What if I don’t want to leave?’ asked Ben eventually.

‘Why would you want to stay here?’ said Walter, with a grunt of humour. ‘All those fancy places you designed. You must be climbing the walls being stuck here. You’ve got a real gift,’ he carried on. ‘All that training, all those hours of studying you put in. I was so proud of you. We all were.’

Walter went to carry on but Ben held up his hand. ‘I need to tell you something,’ he began. ‘That architects’ firm in London? All those fancy places I designed? They didn’t fill my soul, not like here. Not like home.’ Ben sighed. ‘The reality wasn’t what I expected.’

Walter gave a sad smile. ‘Life never is, son,’ he replied.

‘But Lily said something to me this afternoon,’ said Ben, remembering her words. ‘About how I could help redesign this place. Not the hotel,’ he said quickly, at his grandad’s alarmed expression. ‘But perhaps we could put in planning permission for some lodges.’

‘Lodges?’ Walter’s grey eyebrows shot up in surprise.

‘Private places for people to stay in,’ carried on Ben. ‘Wood framed. Reflecting the look of the rest of the place. There’s a real demand for this kind of thing from what I’ve heard.’

To his amazement, his grandad broke into a smile. ‘You know, your father had the same idea, I seem to remember.’

‘He did?’ Ben was touched.

But his grandad’s smile faded. ‘You’re never supposed to outlive your own children. That’s not the way things should be. The guilt has weighed heavily on me that I couldn’t see how ill the pressure of the business was making him. And I’m sorry I’ve taken out my frustrations on you. But I don’t want you to become as stressed as your father was. I don’t want this place to swallow you up either. And I don’t want to lose you. I love you too much.’