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She was so proud of her daughter. Freya had completed her PhD and, to everyone’s surprise, had taken up a teaching position at the university; she was now a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and doing what she’d always dreamed of, joining Tarek on archaeological digs in Egypt.
Alice turned her attention to Emily. Freya wasn’t the only one leading her dream life. She knew a lot had changed for Emily in the last six months. She was dying for Emily to tell her all about it. Alice put her glass down. ‘So, Emily, I want to hear all about the guest house.’ She glanced at Wendy. ‘I hear there’s been some big changes.’
‘Well, do you remember Joss had an idea that I should start my own veterinary practice? And you showed me that vacant shop in Cobblers Yard, in Aldeburgh, that used to be the arts and crafts store?’
Alice smiled. Of course she remembered. It was a lovely afternoon she’d spent with Emily visiting Cobblers Yard and the café at The Two Magpies Bakery for lunch. Although Emily had returned to take another look at the shop to consider changing the premises to a veterinary practice, that hadn’t materialised. What had, was something that had taken Alice by surprise – but in a good way.
Emily smiled, recalling her parents and Joss sitting down to share with her the plan for the guest house, and to explain what that would mean for all of them – most especially for her and Joss – if she agreed.
Emily was so pleased she had agreed. The plan for the guest house had changed all their lives.
‘You know it’s still a guest house – kind of.’
Alice grinned. ‘I heard.’
‘But it’s got a different clientele now.’
‘More discerning?’
‘More … furry.’ She grinned.
So did Alice, sharing the joke. Wendy had told her that Joss had bought them out, enabling them to retire to a cottage that had come on the market in Shingle Street, and that Joss and Emily intended to keep it running as a guest house, but that the new guests would be a little…. different.
‘I’ve renamed it The Four Paws Guest House.’
‘That’s very apt,’ Alice replied.
‘I thought so too.’
‘Me too,’ said Gerald, guffawing.
‘I think it’s very clever of you to combine your veterinary practice with a hotel for cats and dogs.’
‘And parrots, if need be.’
Everyone up the table laughed at the reference to Alice’s parrot, Percy.
‘It was Joss’s idea for me to run my veterinary practice from the house and offer a boarding kennel service too. There’s the room, and it’s just the best, working from a home I love, and doing what I adore all day. Emily smiled. ‘I run my veterinary practice from there, but first and foremost I always wanted it to be a family home. My clients enjoy coming to my home with the ambience and gardens instead of the cold, clinical, modern practices they were used to.’
‘And if they are going away on holiday, they can also leave their pets with you to board.’ Alice knew that was one of the reasons organising this get-together in Egypt hadn’t been easy. Emily couldn’t just leave her business without considerable planning. She had animals in her care most of the time. But she had recently taken on another newly qualified vet, as her practice had expanded rapidly. Word had soon spread of her expertise as a vet, and the rather unique setting in a beautiful house overlooking the sea.
Alice imagined that the news spreading was in no small part down to Emily’s best friend, Clarissa, and the wonderful article she’d written in the local paper about the old guest house and its new owner. Despite Joss buying out the guest house, he had put it all in Emily’s name, even though they were soon to be married.
Emily smiled and nodded. ‘Yes, it made perfect sense to combine the two, working as a vet and running a hotel for pets. It’s a lot of work, but I enjoy it. And of course I have Joss to help me, when he’s not at his practice.’
‘That’s right,’ interjected Jeffrey. ‘I heard about that. You took on the shop in Cobblers Yard.’
Joss nodded. ‘I did. I run a drop-in centre offering legal advice pro bono and helping start-ups. It’s also where I manage some of my charitable investments in overseas projects.’
All of them at the table were now aware of Joss’s background. He had been a self-made millionaire by the time he was thirty, running his own legal firm in the city, his wealth accrued from his involvement in private equity firms whose sole purpose was to buy out companies, asset-strip them, and then sell them on for a huge profit, mostly to the detriment of the company. Some employees who’d worked for those companies had lost their livelihoods in their wake.
Nobody sitting around the table really understood the ins and outs of the work he used to do, apart from some snippets they’d heard about the guilt Joss felt over the lives destroyed, financially and otherwise, by firms like his who helped broker these deals.
Now, Joss was a changed man. He had his work, helping others set up businesses and investing in them to help them grow and prosper, and he had Emily and their beautiful home at Shingle Cove. Emily smiled affectionately at Joss, her engagement ring glinting in the last rays of sunshine as the sun set over the Nile.
‘And how are things in Cambridge?’ Emily asked.
Alice exchanged a glance with Jeffrey as Freya and Tarek walked over to their table. Jeffrey got up to fetch two more chairs and everyone made room for them at the table.
