Page 71 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

It was true, despite having always lived in an urban environment, she really did feel healthier and happier out in the countryside, she was beginning to realise.

They wandered outside and stopped for a minute to breathe in the crisp air before wandering along to the sandy beach. It was colder now, and with only a month until Christmas, there was already a sense that the forest and the creatures that lived within its canopy were hunkering down for the long winter ahead.

Lily looked out across the lake, the bright blue of the wintry sky reflected in its water. She took a deeper breath of fresh air.

‘The first time I came here, I thought it was in the middle of nowhere,’ she said.

Ben laughed. ‘Itisin the middle of nowhere!’ he reminded her.

She smiled at him and shook her head. ‘You didn’t let me finish. But the fact that it is so peaceful here has allowed me to breathe for the first time in a long time. To think. To revive. Even restore myself.’

She stopped, feeling a little embarrassed about revealing her innermost feelings to him, something that still didn’t come naturally to her.

But he was looking at her intently. ‘You know that motto that you wanted us to find? For the hotel? I think you’ve just come up with it,’ he told her. ‘Maple Tree Lodge. Rest. Revive. Restore.’

‘Oh, Ben! That’s great!’ said Lily, nodding enthusiastically.

‘I’ll stick it on the website straight away.’ His smile faded. ‘Let’s just hope everyone else agrees, if they actually bother to come here.’

She could read the concern on his face and was tempted to step forward to give him a reassuring hug. His pain was her pain at this point. They both loved the hotel so much and wanted it to be a success, so that the family future was secure.

But before she could say anything else, Walter appeared next to them, holding a wicker basket.

‘What’s that for?’ asked Ben.

‘Thought we could use a few about the place at the preview evening,’ said Walter, with a shrug. ‘Don’t ask me what for. I just like making them.’

Suddenly Lily had an idea. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘Walter, if you have some spare, we could place some candles in them and have them lit on the lake. It’ll look very pretty.’ She glanced at Ben. ‘What do you think?’

He nodded. ‘I like it.’

‘So do I,’ said Walter, looking pleased. ‘Shows off the main feature of the place as well.’

‘I thought that was the hotel!’ said Ben, laughing. ‘Not Dragonfly Lake!’

‘Can’t it be both?’ Walter grinned at him before turning back to Lily. ‘How many do you reckon we’ll need?’ he asked.

‘As many as you’ve got,’ replied Lily.

Walter’s grey eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘I could probably rustle up twenty or so,’ he said. ‘I’ll go and find them.’

But he was smiling as he headed back towards his workshop.

‘He seems much happier these days,’ said Lily, watching him go.

‘He is.’ Ben turned to look at her. ‘We all are.’

‘You mean that you’re rested, revived and restored?’ she asked him, with a soft laugh.

‘Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,’ he replied, with a smile.

‘Me too,’ she told him.

She glanced back towards the hotel and knew in her heart that she was happier than she had ever been. It had only been two months but she felt transformed by her stay. Before then she had been rushing around, chasing her career. Or rather, building up everyone else’s at her own expense. Had it been worth it? She knew the work experience had helped her prepare to use her skills at the hotel. But the days, nights and weekends where she had missed seeing her friends, putting her work first? No. She now knew that it was a sacrifice that hadn’t been worth it.

There were more important things than work now in her life. Such as her friends. And Ben too, she thought turning to look back at him.

She found him watching her with his dark eyes.