Page 28 of A French Inheritance
Lucy sent a text that evening.
See you at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning outside the Stables.
Briony popped one of the pizzas she’d bought in the village into the oven and when it was ready settled down with a glass of wine at the kitchen table to eat while she scrolled through cars for sale on the internet.
21
‘Good morning. Welcome to No.1 The Stables,’ Lucy said, unlocking the door as Briony arrived. ‘We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us this morning. I thought we’d start with the bedrooms and work our way down.’
The two bedrooms were light and airy. One had a double bed, the other two singles that could be joined together. Both contained a built-in wardrobe, a dressing table and comfy chair placed by the window with several cushions piled high on it. Curtains made of toile de Jouy had been hung at the windows. Matching bedlinen, feather duvets and pillows had been placed on the bed, with bales of white towels placed alongside.
Together, Lucy and Briony made the beds in both rooms before they arranged four cushions against the pillows, leaving two cushions on the chair. A soft rug was placed on the floor either side of the bed as a finishing touch.
‘What d’you think, bedrooms okay?’ Lucy said, glancing at Briony. ‘I’d like to have bought better-quality furniture rather than flatpack, but with seven gîtes to furnish…’ she shrugged. ‘The plan is to slowly upgrade everything as the gîtes start to earn their keep.’
‘I’d be very happy to book a holiday here,’ Briony said. ‘The bedrooms look great. The bedlinen and towels are of high quality, which is always a bonus.’
‘Right. Downstairs.’
The next hour flew by as the two of them made the sitting room look inviting, with cushions on the chairs, a throw on the settee, a few scatter rugs and a couple of framed retro posters of Cannes and the film festival hung on the walls. Lucy had already put crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils, tea towels, hand towels, kitchen paper and dishwashing tablets in the kitchen.
‘I always put a welcome basket on the counter for new guests.’ She glanced at Briony. ‘I was wondering too about making up a folder of local attractions. The Tourist Information centre have lots of brochures. I think holidaymakers would find it useful.’
‘Definitely.’ Briony nodded. She looked through the kitchen window. ‘Is there an outdoor eating space?’
‘Yes,’ Lucy said, opening the kitchen door. ‘There’s a small barbeque out here, a table with a parasol and half a dozen chairs. Adam is going to pop some potted plants over from thepépinièrebefore the first guests arrive to make it look a bit prettier. Oh, and a potted plumbago or two outside the front doors. Ready for No.2? The layout is a carbon copy of this one,’ Lucy said. ‘I think we’ve got time before lunch.’
As they repeated the process, albeit with a different colour scheme and retro posters of Antibes in No.2, Briony asked, ‘Do you have many bookings for the season yet?’
‘The Cider House – the first gîte we opened last year and the only one I’ve done any advertising for – is booked for the whole of July and August and most of September, with a smattering of bookings throughout the early summer months and Easter. Some is repeat business, which hopefully means I’m doing it right,’ Lucy said, smiling. ‘If I could get the Stables advertised and maybe get a booking for Easter, that would be good.’
‘It’s only three weeks away,’ Briony said. ‘But I suspect a lot of people wait until the last minute at this time of the year to see what the weather is likely to do.’ She took her phone out of her jean pocket. ‘Shall I take a couple of shots? You can try them with your normal advertiser.’
‘Please snap away. After lunch I’ll show you what I’ve been doing up until now.’ Lucy glanced at her watch. ‘I’ll leave you here and get back up to the farm and start organising some lunch. Can you lock up when you’ve got enough pics?’ And Lucy held the gîte keys out. ‘Lunch will be ready in about ten minutes. See you then.’
‘I didn’t expect you to feed me,’ Briony said, surprised.
‘Perk of the job,’ Lucy said and left her to finish taking photos.
* * *
Briony took a couple of pictures of all the rooms from different angles before locking the door and making her way across to the farm. Adam was sat at the kitchen table scrolling on his phone and glanced up as she entered after knocking. ‘Hi. Don’t worry about knocking in future.’ Seeing the gîte keys in her hand, he pointed to the keyboard near the pantry door. ‘They live up there.’
Lucy placed three bowls of soup on the table, a plate of charcuterie, a cheese board and a pile of crusty bread. ‘Lunch is served,’ she said cheerfully, placing a jug of water and glasses on the table. ‘Bon appétit.’
Briony hadn’t realised how hungry she was and tucked in eagerly.
‘I’m going to thesupermarchéon Monday, would you like a lift?’ Lucy asked as she broke off a chunk of bread. ‘Monday there is always an antique market in Forville, which I like to have a look at when I get the chance.’
‘I remember wandering around that market several times with Granny. It’s probably the reason I ended up in the job I did,’ Briony laughed. ‘I have to warn you, I do need to stock up on lots of things at thesupermarché. I also need to find a cash machine.’
‘There’s one quite close to the market,’ Lucy said. ‘If not, there is one at thesupermarché.’
‘Brilliant,’ Briony said.
After lunch Lucy took Briony up to her office and switched on her iMac computer. The two of them spent the next half-hour going through the marketing Lucy had been doing.
Briony downloaded the photos from her phone glanced at Lucy. ‘If you are serious about trying to get Easter bookings for the Stables, how about something like this?’ She pulled a picture up and started to type.
