Page 132 of Play On

I’ve been ready to do this ever since I talked with Noah. The fact that he believes in me, that Nicholas and Amelia believe in me—well, I finally believe in me, too. Again, I know I’ll fail. I’ll make mistakes.

But that makes me human, doesn’t it?

I know I’ll still struggle with that—I’m sure I’ll be mortified when my future employer has to correct me on something I’ve done—but I’m ready to face that feeling. Whereas before, the mere idea of that left me paralysed in fear.

Not anymore.

I’m excited to put my plans out there for Mum and Dad to hear. Once I’ve told them my ideas, I’ll ask if I can set a time to sit down with them and review all my proposals, and hopefully—if all goes well—pick out a few dates on the calendar as targets for the events.

I tune out the conversation between the tourists, as well as the classical music playing overhead. I’m thinking of how the conversation will go over dinner tonight. I prepare myself for the arguments they’ll make, and plan out exactly how I will answer them. I know Nicholas will be there to back me up and plead my case if needed.

But somehow, I hope they’ll see I’m serious now. That I was afraid before, and that caused a pattern of behaviour that I found myself trapped in for years.

“Excuse me.”

I look up and find one of the women standing before me at the till. Wow. I was so caught up in my ideas, I didn’t even notice her!

“Yes?” I smile at her.

“Are you Lady Violet Banfield?” she asks.

“I am.”

“Holly, I told you it was her,” she says excitedly to a woman studying tea towels. Then she turns back towards me. “I recognised you from the photo at the back of the guidebook!”

“Yes, that’s me. I work here on the estate,” I reply, still smiling.

“This is so exciting! Will you sign this book for me? After I buy it?” the woman asks, holding up a copy ofWintersmith Hall: Legacy of an English Country Home.

Well, this has never happened before! Someone actually wants my autograph!

“Yes, of course, I’d be delighted to.”

She beams at me. “Thank you. I’m going to leave this up here, if that’s okay. I want to look around a bit more.”

“Absolutely,” I say, taking the picture book from her and placing it on the worktop behind me. “I’ll hold it back here for you.”

“Thank you,” she says, moving back to browse with her friends.

I go back to tagging the preserves, and a few minutes later, I hear my name again.

“Excuse me, Lady Violet?”

I look up and see one of the women’s friends is looking at me. She’s standing next to the preserves.

“Do you have any honey?” she asks.

HA! Honey! I knew I was onto something with that idea!

“No, unfortunately we don’t. Would you be interested if we had honey that was harvested from beehives here?” I ask.

“Oh yes, I adore local honeys,” she says.

“Well, I’ll be sure to let the estate management know that.”

They go about shopping, and soon I ring them up, carefully wrapping up their souvenir mugs in paper before placing them in shopping bags. Then I sign her book for her, and even pose for selfies with the ladies, which makes all of them very happy.

After they leave, the gift shop is quiet. I glance at the clock. The last tourists were admitted at two o’clock, and we close the estate at four. It’s now three-thirty, so there’s only half and hour left in my workday.

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