Page 85 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

At the touch of his lips, she surrendered to the feelings that she had been trying to bury for the past month. The yearning she had had for another kiss.

She forced herself not to run, despite her inner voice telling her to flee. So she relaxed into his arms and they kissed again before finally heading indoors.

43

In the new year, after the Christmas decorations had been taken down, Faye replaced all the red berries and holly with pristine whites and dark greens.

‘This looks great, Mum,’ said Ben, admiring the new floral centrepiece in the entrance hall.

‘Glad you like it,’ she replied. ‘I was going for a fresh new look to match the new year.’

As she tied a dark green ribbon into a bow on the wreath, Ben thought how much happier she was keeping busy with her flower arranging these days.

He was also trying to stay positive after so many good things had happened to the hotel but the truth was that the bookings had died right down after Christmas and remained low.

But where he could lie to the family and pretend that all was OK, he found that he couldn’t make anything up in front of Lily.

One evening, halfway through January, she sat down next to him on the sofa hugging a hot chocolate.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked. ‘You were pretty quiet during dinner.’

He blew out a sigh and leaned against the back of the sofa. ‘Just business,’ he told her. ‘I know that January’s always a terrible time for retail. Nobody’s got any money after Christmas. But we’re still not even at half occupancy every weekend.’

‘It’ll turn around for the better, I’m sure of it,’ she told him.

Ben wasn’t so sure. ‘I just don’t know what else we can do to get people here,’ he replied.

‘How about a different marketing campaign?’ she asked.

‘We’re doing pretty much everything that Ella has told us to do and I trust her judgement,’ he told her. ‘We’ve reached out to everyone that we can think of. We can’t spend any more money on advertising or else we’ll have no profits at all.’

‘We’ll think of something,’ she told him.

To his surprise and pleasure, she snuggled in closer and drew him into a hug. They hadn’t kissed since Christmas Day. He had talked to Hannah, who had urged him to be patient and that Lily’s feelings for him were real no matter how much she held back from him. Hannah had also told him a little more about Lily’s parents and her lonely upbringing and he understood her reservations about getting into any relationship.

The silence stretched out, filled only with the sound of the logs crackling in the hearth, as they held each other in their embrace. He relished the feeling of strength that he got from her as she held him close.

When she finally pulled back, Lily searched his face anxiously, making sure that he was all right.

‘We’re getting great reviews,’ he told her.

She nodded. ‘Yes, we are,’ she replied. ‘Everyone says that they’ll recommend us to all their friends.’

‘It’s just, I don’t know, we’re missing something to get the word out there that we even exist,’ he carried on.

‘What about the Dragonfly Dance?’ she asked, with a soft smile.

But Ben’s humour had gone missing. ‘Valentine’s Day is almost a month away.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know if we can survive until then.’

‘There must be something we can do,’ she told him, frowning.

‘I just don’t know what,’ he said, as the rest of the family joined them in the lounge.

‘You look tired,’ said Faye, as she sat down on the sofa opposite to him and Lily.

‘I’d be glad to be tired,’ muttered Ben. ‘That would mean that at least I’d be rushed off my feet every day.’

‘I have a whole list of things that need building in my workshop if you’re bored,’ said Walter, sitting down on an armchair.