Page 2 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘Yep.’ Nicola nodded. ‘Trixie has a lot to answer for sometimes. Now, where did you see the mouse?’

‘Just there. I threw one of the towels over it.’ Laura pointed towards the heap of abandoned washing scattered across the utility floor.

As Nicola began picking up towel after towel and pushing them into the washing machine, she jumped back as a small grey lump fell to the floor. Squinting, she began to laugh and pointed to it. ‘It’s just a sock.’

‘A sock? Are you sure?’ Laura cautiously lowered her legs so they were dangling over the washing machine.

‘Positive. Look.’ Gingerly picking the sock up, Nicola held it aloft in Laura’s direction. ‘One of the guests must have accidentally got it muddled in with the used towels.’

‘Oh, phew.’ With her feet back on firm ground again, Laura grinned. ‘I can’t believe I thought it was a mouse.’

‘Haha, to be fair, you wouldn’t have expected to see something grey in among the towels, so it was an easy mistake to make.’ Nicola waved the offending item in the air. ‘Shall I just bin it? I doubt anyone’s going to ring up and ask us to post it to them.’

‘That’s true. Yep, the bin it is for that then.’ Laura smiled. ‘I’ll just finish off here. Last night’s guests have already had breakfast and left us.’

‘That’s early.’ After discarding the sock, Nicola washed her hands in the sink in the corner of the utility room.

‘I know, I thought they’d at least spend a bit of time sightseeing, but the Edwards family said they’d visited all the local places yesterday and were now moving on to… I think they said Devon or somewhere. I’m not sure.’ Laura shook her head as she finished stuffing the machine full. ‘And then the Hutchins were on their way to a wedding.’

‘A quiet day until tonight’s guests arrive then.’ Nicola dried her hands before passing Laura the washing powder.

‘Thanks.’ Taking the powder, Laura filled the drawer. ‘Not quite. We’ve got little Brandon’s birthday party at lunchtime and Jill has her village community hub meeting this morning.’ Laura grinned. ‘Meadowfield’s answer to parliament.’

Smiling, Nicola shook her head. ‘It’s nice to be able to be involved with the community again. When I was with Nathan, we just worked. That’s all we seemed to have time for. Now, though, I can actually have a life outside of work. And a job I enjoy.’

Laura stabbed the button, watching the machine whirr to life before walking through to the kitchen. ‘I always wanted to live in a place with lots going on in the community, you know what I mean?’

‘I do. Although Miss Cooke still scares me.’ Nicola grimaced as she followed Laura. ‘When I was growing up, one of my friends dared me to pinch a sweet from the pick ’n’ mix at the grocery store and I honestly thought she’d lynch me when she caught me up as I sprinted home.’

‘Ah, I can sympathise after how she treated me when I first moved into Pennycress.’ Laura poured two coffees. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be fully comfortable with her. Still, being Meadowfield’s mayoress, she does a lot for the village.’

‘She sure does.’ Nicola took the hot mug from Laura’s hand. ‘Thanks.’

Laura glanced at the clock. ‘Talking of which, we’d best down these and set up for their meeting before people start to arrive.’

‘Good plan.’

Gulping down the hot coffee, Nicola smiled. She’d only been working here, at Pennycress, the inn where she’d grown up when her mum had been running it, for a few months now, but it felt right. And it was true, it didn’t feel like a job. Not a job-job anyway. She could see what she was working towards, she could see Laura’s vision for Pennycress, and she loved being a part of it.

2

‘We look forward to seeing you then.’ Hitting the return key to secure the booking, Nicola then placed the phone down. ‘Laura, that was a last-minute booking for this weekend. We’re completely full now.’

Peering out from the kitchen doorway into the large hallway, Laura wiped her hands on the tea towel she was holding. ‘Oh, that’s fab. And then the week after next, we have the Landownes’ wedding party staying.’

‘That’s right.’ Nicola scrolled through the booking screen on the computer. ‘In fact, we’re full to the brim every week and weekend from now until the end of the summer holidays.’

‘Brilliant.’ Laura beamed. ‘It’ll be busy, especially as we’ve got Jill’s meetings here once a week and then a handful of kids’ birthday parties too, but if it means business is going well, then I’m here for it.’

Whenever Laura got that glint in her eyes, the excitement of the inn doing well, the love for the place, it reminded Nicola of how her mum had been when she’d been running Pennycress and it almost brought a tear to her eye when she thought about who could have taken over Pennycress if it hadn’t been for Laura. When the inn had been put on the market last year after her mum’s landlord had decided to sell, her mum had been petrified some generic hotel chain would come and snap it up, refurbish it into a grey box and rip out the heart of the place. But with Laura, Nicola was sure Pennycress Inn would keep the charm the guests loved, and the business would go from strength to strength.

‘You okay?’ Laura’s voice broke into Nicola’s thoughts.

Shaking her head, Nicola smiled. ‘Yes, sorry, I was miles away. Just thinking.’

Laura nodded. ‘Nowthatcan be a dangerous pastime.’

‘Haha, I know.’ Nicola clicked away from the booking screen. ‘It’s all good, though. I was just thinking how quickly you’ve managed to turn this place around since buying it. I mean, the rooms are full for the summer.’

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