Page 23 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
‘Fine.’ Bella half smiled at Jodie. ‘See. You’re already paying for yourself.’ She turned back to Pavel. ‘I’m guessing this won’t get enough building work done for it to be worth handing it straight back to you for the coach house, will it?’
He shrugged. ‘I’m sorry. I know the quote was higher than you were hoping.’
‘It’s OK. Stuff’s expensive.’
It certainly sounded as though everything at Lowbridge was expensive.
‘But that’s why Jodie’s here.’ Bella looked up as Adam came into the kitchen. ‘We’re totally doing the Hogmanay thing.’
Adam rolled his eyes. ‘Are we?’
‘Yes. And don’t be a killjoy about it. One big event to put Lowbridge on the map.’
‘With no accommodation?’
Bella’s face fell. ‘Right. No.’ She leaned forward, burying her face into her fingers for a moment.
Jodie’s brain raced to catch up with the conversation. ‘So what exactly is the problem?’
‘The problem,’ Bella’s voice was flat, ‘is that we’re planning a late-night party in a village miles from anywhere and we have no overnight accommodation for people to go back to afterwards.’
That did sound like a problem. Late-night parties meant drinking and that meant no driving back to hotels which meant people needed to either stay close by or be driven to wherever they were sleeping. ‘The castle’s massive though. We must have loads of room.’
Adam shook his head. ‘Loads of damp, unheated, unlit room with no working hot water. Your cottage is fine. The wing of the castle where we actually live is ok. Bit dated but liveable. There’s maybe one room in the coach house that’s not too bad?’
He glanced at Pavel, who nodded. ‘Yeah. The one where you and Bella stayed when you first came back is OK so long as you’re not too set on the hot water working all the time.’
‘The coach house is watertight?’ Bella offered.
‘So why can’t we put people in there?’ Jodie asked. She could see it in her head. ‘Call it high-end glamping or something. Historic living? I don’t know. Make it a feature somehow?’
Bella was staring at her. ‘That’s what I said.’
‘So why can’t we?’
The two women looked at each other. Bella turned to Adam. ‘Why can’t we?’
‘Is it safe?’
Pavel didn’t quite meet anyone’s gaze. ‘It’s not going to fall down. If you sold it as camping I could disconnect the electric so it’d be safe. You could have battery lamps or something?’
Jodie could see it. Twinkly lanterns lighting the way from the castle to the coach house. Rustic accommodation but rustic accommodation in a solid stone castle outbuilding. ‘I think it would be lovely.’
‘Can we?’ Bella asked Adam.
‘We wouldn’t be able to charge much.’ He was smiling though. ‘Honestly, it’d be easier to sell to McKenzie than try to distract you when you’ve got an idea.’
‘Don’t even joke about that!’ She turned back to Jodie. ‘The McKenzie estate is further up the coast.’
‘Yeah. We drove past it?’ She looked to Pavel, who nodded his confirmation.
‘The guy who owns it offers to buy this place about twice a week, but it is not for sale.’
‘Why not?’ From the hard set of Bella’s face that was absolutely the wrong thing to say. Gemma wouldn’t have asked. She’d have politely accepted Bella at her word.
‘Because it’s everything that’s wrong with tourism in a place like this. No soul. No authenticity. No sense of community.’ Bella was adamant. ‘And the brownies in the cafe are awful.’
Adam nodded. ‘All true. She’s mostly mad about the brownie thing though.’
