Page 7 of Welcome to Pennycress Inn

Stepping outside, she locked the front door before turning and pausing on the porch. With the rain having relented at about four in the morning and the low morning sun trying to make an appearance between the dark clouds, it really was rather beautiful. Or else she could see that it would be. At the moment, the garden resembled a mud bath with a thin covering of grass that had seen better days, punctuated by the silvery lavender bushes and dark green ground ivy. Now that would be a pain to remove. A sheen of rainwater glistened across the cobbled driveway to the side of the inn, leading to the small car park around the back, but she could visualise what it could – what itwould– look like. With a little work and a lot of perseverance, she could make it beautiful again.

She walked down the broken slabs of the garden path, wrapping her scarf around her neck as her ankles brushed past the lavender stalks. Pennycress Inn might be a little more run-down than she remembered from her viewing, but that didn’t matter. It was still a stunning building and gardens and the amount she’d paid for it made it a positive steal.

Closing the wrought-iron garden gate behind her, she turned right and began her walk towards the cluster of shops huddled around the village green at the centre of Meadowfield. Slowingdown to a snail’s pace, she looked at Jackson’s house next door. It was a lot smaller than Pennycress. Obviously it would be, Pennycress had undergone extensive alterations and extensions over the years to convert it into an inn and had grown to accommodate the increasing number of guests, whereas it looked as though Jackson’s house might well have the original footage. It looked well-kept, though. From the immaculately cut lawn and tended hedges to the freshly painted front door and window frames, it was a million miles away from the condition of Pennycress.

Catching a glimpse of movement in one of the upstairs windows, Laura hurriedly looked down at the ground. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was watching him. Or worse, dropping by to take him up on his offer of help.

Laura pulled her mobile from her back pocket and scrolled through to Richie’s name before pressing the Call button. ‘Hey, Richie.’

‘Sis. Twice in two days? Well, I’m honoured.’ Richie’s voice was punctuated by noises around him. ‘I’m just about to get on the Tube so I can’t promise you I won’t cut out.’

‘No worries. It was only a quick thing, anyway.’ She took a deep breath. She knew she should let it lie. She was ninety-nine-point-nine per cent sure Jackson had been telling the truth yesterday, but she just wanted to be sure. ‘Do you know where Jackson is living now?’

‘Jackson? Somewhere in the Cotswolds, I think. He moved sometime in the autumn. Why?’ A loud beep sounded as the Tube door closed. ‘Hey, you could give him a call. His new place might not be far from you.’

He didn’t know then. Jacksonhadbeen telling the truth; she hadn’t been set up. ‘It’s not.’

‘No? That’s brilliant. How far away is he from the inn?’

‘Let’s put it this way. I could probably throw a stone from my front porch and break his window. Pay him back for smashing the glass on Dad’s greenhouse.’ Laura grinned. Now that had been a fun weekend. Jackson had spent the weekend at their house, as he often had to get away from his parents, and after a particularly lively game of football with a half-rotten potato their dog, Rufus, had dug up from the vegetable patch, they’d spent the rest of the time trying to prevent their dad from doing the one thing he loved most to do of a weekend – gardening – in the hope that they could enjoy the time off school before he uncovered the damage and punished them. As it happened, their plan failed, and they’d spent the Sunday knee-deep in manure and bulbs.

‘Ha, seriously? He lives opposite you?’

‘Next door,’ Laura mumbled.

‘Next door? No way! What are the odds of that?’ Richie’s contagious chuckle filled the line.

‘Yes, next door.’ She supposed it was quite funny and maybe she’d be able to see it that way soon. Infuriating at the same time, mind. She had still been robbed of her fresh start, but maybe she’d be able to come up with a solution, even if she didn’t have a clue what that could be.

‘You sound annoyed.’

She took a deep breath, he’d asked, so she’d just have to tell him. ‘Honestly? I am. This was my chance to make a new life for myself. To prove to myself and everyone else that I could do this. That I can turn my pitiful existence around and cope on my own. I?—’

‘Take a breath, sis. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.’

‘I do, though, don’t I?’ She fixed her gaze on a tree ahead, its twisted branches almost touching the car parked on the side of the road beneath it. ‘You and Jenny both have your lives sorted– like, really sorted. You’re both married, got gorgeous children and jobs or businesses. And then there’s me. I lived my life for Harry, didn’t give a crap about working my way up the career ladder and now here I am.’

‘Yes, there you are. You’ve just bought an inn!’

‘A decision that no one supported me in.’ She hated voicing it, accusing him, but it was true. No one had. Every single person she’d spoken to about her idea had tried their best to talk her out of it – her family, her friends, heck, even Bob who ran the local chippie back home had basically told her that running an inn would be a money pit and too difficult to do on her own.

‘We do support you. It’s just such a huge task for you to take on alone, that’s all. We’re just looking out for you. That’s all.’

‘I know. I just wish you believed in me. There was never any of this when Jenny told everyone she’d decided to quit her job and use her cooking skills to start up her own business making organic dog food. That was a huge decision for her, a huge risk, and yet everyone sang her praises for taking the leap.’ She sounded like a whining child even to her own ears, but it was how she felt and she’d been bottling it up ever since sharing her dream.

‘That was completely different. You know it was.’

‘Umm, I don’t see how. Apart from the fact that Jenny’s old job used to pay really well, whereas mine paid a pittance. Surely, she had more to lose than me and yet everyone encouraged her.’ She felt like crossing her arms and pouting as it all came out, instead she stuck her free hand in her coat pocket.

‘After running the logistics in her old job, Jenny had the skill set. She knew what she was doing, whereas…’ Richie grew quiet.

Laura could feel her face redden. So that’s what everyone really thought then. They had supported Jenny’s decision because they’d believed she’d known what she was doing, because they’d believed she was capable of building her ownbrand. But her? Nobody thought she was capable of doing anything remotely successful.

‘And Jenny had Rob’s wage to fall back on,’ Richie mumbled.

‘Don’t try to backtrack now, Richie. I’ve heard it all.’

‘Hey, Laura, wait, let me explain—’ The line cut out.

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