Page 3 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘Ah, yes. I must admit, I thought it’d take us longer to re-establish the inn after she was closed for all that time, but it’s down to you and your amazing marketing skills.’

‘No, it’s really not.’ Nicola shook her head. Laura could praise her as much as she wanted but the fact stood that it had been Laura who had breathed life back into Pennycress Inn, not her. It had been Laura who had taken on the work of restoring the inn to her former glory after years of repairs had been neglected by the landlord whilst the inn had been let to her mum. And, it had been Laura who had picked up the pieces and put the inn back together, quite literally, after it had stood empty for months whilst on the market, and it meant the world to Nicola to see the inn where she’d grown up thriving once again. ‘Whether I’d been involved in the marketing of Pennycress or not, word gets around, and you’ve created the warm and welcoming atmosphere, making Pennycress Inn somewhere guests want to visit time and time again as well as recommend her to all their friends.’

‘Umm, thanks, but nope.’ Laura crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. ‘If it hadn’t been for you getting her on social media, people wouldn’t have found Pennycress in the first place, or returning guests from when your mum ran her wouldn’t have had a clue we were open again.’

Nicola scrunched up her nose. She always felt awkward when Laura, or anyone else for that matter, complimented her. After working beneath Nathan as an accounts manager for one of their clients for years at Green Acre’s Events Management Services, she’d grown accustomed to just getting on with her job quietly, making sure the cogs were turning in the background, so to speak. He’d never been one to praise her at work and even being thanked by him had been a rare occurrence. Nope, he’d seemed to use the excuse that he didn’t want his other employees thinking he was favouring her because they were engaged, so instead he barely even acknowledged her, unless it was to bark orders at her and the rest of the team. She’d just accepted it, but since finding out about his affair with Kerry, she’d always wondered if she should have spotted the signs that something was going on. Kerry had worked there for three years in total, and Nicola never once remembered him barking orders at her. At the time, she’d just assumed he wanted to keep Kerry sweet and, as she was his personal assistant, at his beck and call, but looking back now Nicola had to wonder if he’d had feelings for her since she began working there.

‘Looks as though Jill and the others are here.’ Laura nodded towards the door as a flash of cerise pink – Miss Cooke’s signature clothing colour of the summer season – could be seen through the stained-glass window of the door.

‘I’ll go and grab the tea things.’ Walking across to the kitchen, Nicola held out her hand for the tea towel Laura was still holding.

‘Leaving me to face Miss Cooke on my own, are you?’ Laura grimaced.

‘You bet!’

Laughing, Nicola pulled her mobile from her back pocket as she entered the kitchen. Quickly scrolling through to her emails, she frowned. Another reminder that the damn pizza oven would be despatched soon. Although it didn’t offer an actual delivery date, so it could still be weeks away. The preorder had taken enough time so she wouldn’t be holding her breath for a quick delivery. Still, at least it would give her the chance to cancel the thing when she had a spare minute or two. She slid her mobile back into her pocket, trying to force any thoughts of Nathan and his much-wanted pizza oven out of her mind and instead focus on the task in hand.

With the teapot full, Nicola loaded the tray with cups, plates and a large Victoria sponge before carrying it through to the living room. Pausing outside the door, she balanced the tray in her arms before pushing the door open. Jill was sitting on one of the large Chesterfield sofas with one of her children laid sprawled across the cushions, her head resting on her mum’s lap, whilst Miss Cooke, Mrs Pierce, the bakery owner, and Rachel, one of Jill’s closest friends, all sat on the sofa opposite.

‘Morning, I’ve brought tea and cake.’ Resting the tray on the coffee table between the sofas, Nicola unloaded the cups, plates and cake and then looked across at Jill’s daughter. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realise you were bringing Willow. Would you like some juice, Willow?’

‘Oh, some juice would be great, please, Nic. Wouldn’t it, Willow?’ Jill brushed her daughter’s hair from her eyes.

The little girl nodded and gripped tighter to the yellow teddy bear she was holding.

‘She’s not feeling too well, are you, sweetie? Although, it’s a shame as she’s missing out on all the fun stuff they do at school in the last week of term.’ Jill glanced across at Nicola and mouthed, ‘Schoolitis.’

Suppressing a smile, Nicola nodded. Her mum had called it that too, whenever she’d insisted on having a day off school for no particular reason besides the fact it was a PE day.

After she’d finished pouring the teas, she set the teapot back on the tray. ‘I’ll grab some nice cool orange juice. That should help.’

Five-year-old Willow squirmed on the sofa and looked up at her mum. ‘I’m hungry.’

‘Do you want some of this cake? Look, there are even fresh strawberries on top.’ Nicola indicated the cake.

Shaking her head, Willow put her thumb in her mouth before pulling it out again and whispering, ‘I don’t like cake.’

‘She doesn’t like caketoday, she means.’ Jill laughed and looked down at her daughter. ‘Yesterday, you ate three slices of the chocolate cake I’d baked. Which might actually be adding to why you’re feeling so poorly.’

‘Do you want to come through and see what we’ve got in the kitchen? I’m sure we can find something.’ Straightening her back, Nicola held her hand out for Willow.

‘Okay.’ Jumping up from the sofa, the girl took Nicola’s hand. ‘Mummy, I want you to come too.’

‘Mummy needs to talk about the carnival.’ Jill shook her head as she picked up her notebook from the arm of the chair.

‘No, Mummy, I don’t want to go on my own!’ Stamping her feet, Willow shoved her thumb back in her mouth.

‘Okay, okay. Some battles just aren’t worth having, are they?’ Forcing a smile in Miss Cooke’s direction, Jill followed them through to the kitchen.

‘Right, what would you like, Willow? I can cut you up some apple and banana? Make a little fruit salad for you?’ Nicola held up an apple from the fruit bowl.

Shaking her head, Willow shifted from foot to foot.

Closing the door softly behind her, Jill leaned her head back against it.

‘Is everything okay?’ Nicola raised her eyebrows.

‘Nope, it sure isn’t.’ Looking down, Jill pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘I’m so behind with all the carnival planning. What with the kids and keeping on top of the housework a husband and four small children create, plus all the driving around and dropping off and picking up children to and from their chosen clubs, which is a logistical nightmare at the best of times…’

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