Page 44 of Welcome to Pennycress Inn

‘Yes, that’s right. I moved in a couple of weeks ago now.’ Biting down on her bottom lip, Laura felt the nerves come flooding back as the change in conversation reminded her why she was here.

‘You have actually bought it? Or are you renting it from Mr Yates?’

‘I bought it.’ Laura nodded.

‘Right. That’s interesting.’ Vivienne suddenly looked deep in thought.

‘It is?’ Laura frowned. Didn’t she look like someone who would buy an inn? She supposed she probably didn’t. After all, even though she’d dreamt of doing so for so long, she’d neverreally thought it would ever be possible, ever be a reality. It had just been a pipe dream and pipe dreams didn’t often come true.

‘Yes, yes.’ Vivienne sat up straighter. ‘Sorry, dear. It’s just a little surprise, that’s all.’

‘I don’t look as though I should be running an inn, do I? You can tell I don’t have any experience?’ Laura placed the rest of the cake back on the plate and lowered it to her lap. Vivienne didn’t trust her. That was it.

‘It’s not that. It’s just, Evie told me it had been rented out again.’

‘Evie Taunton?’

‘Yes. You know her? Did she sell you Pennycress?’

‘That’s right, she was the estate agent in charge of the sale.’ Laura nodded. Why would she have told Vivienne it had been rented out again rather than sold?

‘Umm… that’s a little strange. I’d say she got her words muddled up, but we had a couple of conversations on the matter.’

‘Oh, I definitely bought it. I’m recently divorced and used the money from the sale of my marital home to put down a deposit for the mortgage.’

‘That’s okay, dear. I believe you.’ Vivienne shook her head sadly. ‘Evie sometimes likes to stir the pot, so to speak.’

‘You think she misled you on purpose?’ Something about it didn’t really surprise Laura all that much. She’d never felt a good vibe from Evie Taunton since the day they’d met. In fact, if she hadn’t fallen so much in love with Pennycress, then the estate agent herself may have put her off the purchase altogether. She’d been a little difficult and slow getting back to her for the entirety of the sales process.

‘Possibly, possibly not. Who can tell?’ Vivienne took a sip of her tea before continuing. ‘Anyway, it’s lovely to meet you and wonderful to be having tea with the new owner. I so loved mytime running Pennycress and hold those special years close to my heart.’

‘Thank you for the tea and cake. It’s nice to meet you too.’ Laura smiled. She was glad she’d come. She could sense a genuine warmth from Vivienne. She wasn’t the woman who Laura had thought she would be, she was just someone who had loved Pennycress as much as Laura herself did.

‘Well, I’m pleased she wasn’t sold off to one of those hotel chains who would make her a carbon copy of a hundred other hotels they own.’

‘No, I definitely want to keep her as unique and special as she is now. That’s what I loved about Pennycress when I first viewed the inn. I admit, I only went to have a look at a few other places before I came here, but Pennycress had the most character out of all of them. And I guess I just got a feeling that this was the path I was supposed to take. That sounds silly, doesn’t it?’ She looked down at the plate on her lap. Had she said too much?

‘Not at all. It sounds as though you felt just as I did when I first stepped inside. I knew she’d make a difference to my life – a positive difference – and she did. All the people I met who came to stay, all the functions I organised there…’ Vivienne smiled.

‘Functions?’

‘Yes, little tea parties for local children, knitting clubs, family dinner parties. I rather enjoyed those the most, watching how people interacted with each other.’

‘Oh, that’s a good idea. I didn’t realise Pennycress had been used like that.’ Now that Vivienne had said that though, she could just imagine Pennycress being filled with the chatter and laughter of families coming together.

‘No? Didn’t Evie tell you?’

Laura shook her head. Ms Taunton hadn’t been very helpful. She’d let her glance at the books for a few minutes, but that had been about it. She hadn’t told her much about Pennycress at all.

‘Ah, that’s a shame. Still, you’re here now and hopefully we can meet again and discuss it all. I’d love to help you with anything, any questions, or anything I can do practically to help.’

‘That would be lovely, thank you.’ Laura nodded eagerly. It would be great to learn more about how Pennycress fitted in with village life and to have Vivienne’s experience and expertise on hand, of course.

‘And how are things over at the old place? I hope she’s treating you well?’

Laura smiled. She could tell how much Pennycress had meant to Vivienne by the way she referred to ‘her’. ‘Good thanks. Well, I’ve had a few little disasters, if I’m honest, but okay in the main.’

‘Oh, I hope it wasn’t that darn banister. I’ve been pleading with Mr Yates for a good couple of years to fix it, I have.’ Vivienne shook her head. ‘I do hope the old girl was left in a decent state when you moved in? I hope he’d fixed things?’

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