Page 47 of Not Exactly Mr. Darcy
Gran bristled. It seemed that she and Valerie were not exactly bosom friends. “Olivia has experience in all aspects of what this role demands.”
“Oh, so did I mishear when she said she was a high school teacher?” Valerie sniffed.
Liv drew in a breath, but before she could defend herself, Gran had jumped back in.
“She has worked as a history teacher for a number of years, yes, that’s true. But she’d also got experience in all kinds of marketing and managing a stately home in Australia—”
Valerie sniffed again. And yes, that was quite an exaggeration for Hooper’s Manor.
“—so she has experience in dealing with organizations such as the National Trust. And perhaps I didn’t make it as clear as I should that she is doing this in strictly a volunteer capacity. That is, she is not receiving remuneration at all. I don’t think we know of anyone else who would be prepared to undertake such a role for no payment. Do you?”
Cara leaned closer to Liv and murmured, “Valerie has often made noises about getting her son to take on the role. But he’s a Londoner, and would be insanely expensive.”
She nodded. Well, if that was some of the history here, no wonder there was some pushback. She straightened her shoulders. She’d just have to do her best to prove the naysayers wrong and win them over.
“George, have you got a spare minute?”
The Entrance Hall was abuzz with activity. Liv had figured it was best to stay away and had offered her assistance to Marge to help clean the kitchen and café area. But Marge was deep in her instructions to her regular pub cleaning crew and had scooted her out, insisting that Liv had tasks that only she could do. And one of them was finding an office where she could work.
“Give me a moment.” George finished polishing the uppermost right windowpane and then climbed down from the ladder, the cleaning cloth still in hand.
Liv pointed to the windows. “They’re looking good.”
“It’ll help to have Liam pressure-hose off the worst of the moss and dirt from outside.”
“He’s doing that?”
“He said he’d start tonight, when people weren’t around to track mud in and out. It’ll definitely make the place look cleaner.”
“That’s awesome. I hope he’ll do the fountain as well.”
George laughed. “He said he knew you’d ask about that, so yes, it’s on the agenda. Now what can I help you with?”
“I need an office space to work in.”
“Of course you do. Want me to help you shift some things out the back?”
“Um, call me a wuss, but I don’t really want to work with the mice and rats.”
“And yet you’re working here? I’m pretty sure we have mice everywhere.”
Ugh. “Well, there’s a difference between knowing that andseeingthem. And the thing is I need to actually start work now, not spend a day or two cleaning before I can start work. I could do this at home, I mean at Gran’s, but it would be a lot easier to do it here somewhere. If there’s a spare room I could use.”
George nodded. Then her face lit. “I know the perfect spot. Come with me.”
Liv followed her to a door to the immediate left of the entryway, a door that was hidden by a cunningly large vase of Oriental origin. Liv peeked over her shoulder and saw Valerie studying her with a mutinous expression, before Cara directed her attention to something else.
George opened the door and gestured for Liv to follow inside.
“Oh!” She glanced around. Windows faced both south and west, releasing plenty of natural light into the room. A large wooden desk was situated at the end, so the person would have their back to the parterre garden, which seemed a crime. A long table was in the middle, surrounded by eight chairs. Several mostly empty bookcases lined the remaining two walls. “What room is this?”
“This is a study used mostly by the trustees when they visit.” George shrugged. “They use it as a boardroom, but as they haven’t had a meeting here in months, it should be safe enough for you to use.” She slid open another door. “There’s a little bathroom and kitchenette too.”
How perfect. “It’s just until the back office area is functional. I hope it’s only for a couple of weeks.”
“Ah.” Gran’s voice came from the door. “You’re going to work in here, are you?”
“I know it might seem presumptuous, but there is a lot to do really quickly, and I didn’t want to waste time cleaning up the back office when things need attending to right now. It’s okay to be in here, isn’t it?”
