A Springtime Affair: An utterly gorgeous feel-good romance

Gilly was having trouble sleeping. She would fall asleep but then, about half an hour later, wake up and, having lost all her sleepiness, lie there for hours. What she was most annoyed about was that she would spend the time thinking about Leo. She told herself she was far too old to lose sleep over a man, particularly one who was very attentive. He emailed or texted almost every day.

It would have been easier if she could have talked about it to someone, but somehow she couldn’t. Her oldest friend was no longer local and it all felt so silly and girlish she didn’t feel she could talk about it on the phone. She also couldn’t forget that Helena had been a bit funny about him at lunch. She didn’t know why but her daughter wasn’t happy about her mother falling in love. Admittedly it was all quite fast but that was how these things happened! Surely Helena knew that?

When she could drag her mind away from how wonderful Leo was she forced herself to think about whether she should seriously consider downsizing, giving up her B & B and releasing some capital for her children. Of course it was the sensible thing to do. It was now that Martin and Helena needed money, not in thirty years’ time when she was dead. And if Fairacres was worth what Leo said it was, she could buy a nice little cottage and Helena would have enough to buy a studio, and Martin and Cressida could buy something a bit bigger.

What she was certain of was that she was too young to live in a granny annexe. She didn’t even like the expression! While she loved being a grandmother and looked forward to being one again (although Martin and Cressida were convinced one child was enough), she hated all the names given by society to grandmothers. She found them patronising.

And could she give up her B & B just now? It was extremely hard work, especially when you went to the pains she went to, to make everything as perfect as it could be. But give it up? Probably not.

She sighed and turned her pillow over again and put some more lavender oil on it. Then she turned on the radio and turned it off again. She needed to work out what was happening with her daughter.

But at least Helena seemed perky in herself, which was lovely. Although when Helena had rung to say thank you for lunch and Gilly had asked about Jago, Helena hadn’t given anything away. She’d just said, ‘Oh he’s fine! Still going on about your cooking!’

The answer Gilly had been looking for was ‘I think I’m in love!’ and then maybe she could have admitted that perhaps she was too.

She finally drifted off trying to work out if Jago was the one for Helena. The fact that her ‘I’m staying single’ daughter was even going out with someone was surely a bonus. She was still arguing with herself about why she felt Helena needed a man when sleep claimed her.

A few mornings later she was waiting for William, her accountant, to collect his old ladies. They’d been to their party and come back, later than planned, the previous evening, and, Gilly hoped, had a good night’s sleep. Gilly picked up the tray of tea and coffee she was serving them while they waited and took it through to the conservatory. William’s aunts had been hugely appreciative guests and she had loved having them.

‘Darling!’ said the lead aunt, whose name was Daphne and who set the tone for the party. ‘You are so kind! We are such demanding old biddies with our various breakfast requirements and yet you never hesitated to cater to our whims, however unreasonable! Even when Doris and the others had to leave so early.’

It hadn’t seemed that early to Gilly. ‘If only all my guests were like you!’ she said, setting down the tray. ‘Looking after you has been such fun.’

‘It’s your attention to detail that makes this place so special,’ Daphne went on. ‘Fresh flowers in the rooms—’

‘Only a couple of sprigs from the garden,’ said Gilly, dismissing the praise.

‘I really like having fresh milk to put in my tea in the room,’ said Mary, Daphne’s sister. ‘And a good selection of herb teas, and more than just a couple of teabags, too.’

‘As for the shortbread,’ said Miriam, who may have been a sister-in-law – Gilly had lost track. ‘Delicious!’

‘I loved the lavender oil by the bed,’ said Mary. ‘Not sure if it made any difference to how I slept but it smelt lovely.’

‘You were supposed to sprinkle it on your pillow,’ said Miriam. ‘I loved it!’

‘And the breakfast,’ said Daphne. ‘I’m very fussy and I had nothing to complain about. Hot plates—’

‘So important,’ her sister Mary agreed.

‘Proper butter in a dish and not those little packets I find so difficult to open.’ Miriam gestured with her hands. Her fingers sported many rings but Gilly noticed they were showing signs of arthritis.

‘And home-made marmalade!’ said Daphne.

‘I have to confess I don’t make it myself,’ said Gilly, embarrassed by this fulsome praise. ‘I buy it from the WI market.’

‘Well, someone made it at home,’ said Daphne, no less enthusiastic. ‘And again, not in those horrid sachets.’

‘Ah! Here’s William,’ said Mary as he came in through the open front door. ‘William? We’ve had such a lovely stay with Gilly. Thank you so much for recommending such a wonderful B & B.’

‘She’s looked after us brilliantly!’ said Daphne. ‘We had hot chocolate when we got back after the party—’

‘With a little something in it!’ added Mary.

‘I’m not sure you should tell me all this,’ said William. ‘I’m Gilly’s accountant, remember. Can these things be cost-effective?’ He gave Gilly a smile that made her wish he smiled more often. He was really quite good-looking, she noticed, now she had a chance to look at him. Thick hair in a man in his fifties was rare.

‘It might get me repeat custom,’ she said, glancing round at the group. ‘And then it would be like advertising, which is a legitimate business expense.’

William laughed. ‘In which case—’

‘Don’t you dare cramp her style,’ said Miriam with emphasis. ‘It’s a marvellous place to stay and I think we should all come again. What do you think, girls?’

‘Marvellous idea!’ said Daphne. ‘We could go on trips out in the area.’

Gilly had thought about doing this for a while so she nodded. ‘I could arrange a minibus,’ she said. ‘And send someone with you – or even go myself.’

‘Now my client is in the tour business,’ said William, raising his eyebrows in mock horror. ‘I think I’d better relieve you of my female relations before you end up running a home for wayward pensioners. If I can persuade them to leave, that is.’

There was a lot of laughter, friendly insults and goodwill involved in loading Gilly’s guests into the car while she held sticks and handbags and cheered from the sidelines. But at last they were in, buckled up and away. Gilly waved them off and went back inside.

‘Hello, you,’ said Leo, who was waiting in the hall. He had come in the back entrance, avoiding the farewells at the front. He kissed Gilly’s cheek.

Gilly found herself beaming. She was delighted to see him and for some reason pleased he hadn’t clashed with William’s old ladies. ‘Come and let me make you a cup of coffee. You can drink it while I clear up breakfast.’

‘While you’re obviously brilliant with dotty old women, I don’t think you should have to run around after them like you do.’

Gilly paused. While William’s female relations were eccentric she wouldn’t have described them as dotty. They were very sharp and on the ball and even if they weren’t, she’d have enjoyed caring for them.

‘I like it. I even liked getting up at six so I could send them home with packets of home-made shortbread. There’s some left,’ she added.

She insisted on getting the dishwasher filled before she’d go with Leo to the conservatory to drink the coffee she had made. She didn’t really want more coffee but she did want to spend time with Leo.

‘I think it’s time you retired,’ he said as she handed him coffee and a plate of biscuits.

‘Why?’ said Gilly, smiling at his joke. ‘What would I do with myself if I didn’t have my guests? I’d only get up to mischief.’

‘You could get up to mischief with me,’ he said. ‘I want to take you to Vienna.’

‘Vienna!’ said Gilly.

‘I think Paris and Venice are rather overdone, don’t you? I don’t want to take you to a romantic cliché.’

Gilly was taken aback. The thought of being taken to Bognor Regis by Leo would have seemed romantic. ‘It sounds wonderful.’

It did. Already she was imagining a gorgeous little boutique hotel, going to amazing world-class restaurants, chauffeured limousines. The number of bedrooms involved was for contemplation in private. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about sleeping with Leo, but her imagination had never got her from being fully clothed to being naked in his arms. She just didn’t see how it could happen, at her age.

‘But we can’t go if you’re still running a B & B.’

‘I do go on holiday …’ she protested.

‘But presumably it takes planning?’

‘Of course, but it must be the same for you, surely?’

Leo nodded. ‘Some, of course, but I can work from anywhere. It’s not the same as being a bed and breakfast landlady.’

Gilly had a sudden vision of herself standing at the door of a boarding house in some desolate seaside town, her arms folded, her expression grim. Her excitement about his invitation dimmed a little. ‘Well, no.’

He smiled and put his hand on her knee. She felt it all over her body.

‘Did you get Martin’s email?’ he asked.

‘What? How did you know he’d sent me an email?’

‘He copied me in. He realised you didn’t really like the house they showed you before so he’s found somewhere else. It’s got a proper granny annexe.’

Gilly swallowed. ‘I’m not sure I’m ready to live anywhere with the word “granny” in it. I’m still a working woman.’

His laugh was very sexy. ‘That makes you sound like you’re on the streets, if I may say such a thing.’ Then he rubbed her knee. ‘Now I’ve offended you. I’m sorry. Let’s look at this house, shall we?’

As Gilly went to find her laptop she realised Leo and Martin must have met before they all had lunch together, and wondered where that was, and why they hadn’t mentioned it. Was it something to do with Martin and Cressida wanting to move? But then she decided it wasn’t important.

‘OK,’ she said, having joined Leo at the partially cleared breakfast table. ‘Let’s have a look at this house.’

It was over-modernised, Gilly felt, but it would suit Martin and Cressida. ‘So I am supposed to sell my house so Martin and Cressida can buy this?’ She tried very hard to keep her voice neutral.

‘The joy of this one is, you could build in the garden,’ said Leo, ‘and so add to the value of the property. It could house staff or be rented …’ He paused.

‘When I die?’ said Gilly, suddenly feeling very old. Looking at the price of the property Martin had been so keen to show her meant he was expecting a good chunk of money from the sale of Fairacres.

‘Maybe you wouldn’t want to move in there? Maybe you could just have it as a fallback position.’

‘Sorry? I’m not quite following.’ Leo was implying she wouldn’t need to live there, so where did he think she could live instead? In his house? However she might feel about him, it was far too soon for her to think about cohabiting.

‘We can talk about it later,’ he said easily. ‘Now you get your diary up on your laptop and we can find a weekend when we can go to Vienna – a long weekend. It’s a fascinating city.’

At that moment Gilly regretted her failure to fully master using the diary function on her laptop and relying on an old-fashioned desk diary for her B & B bookings. She realised it made her look ancient, as if she couldn’t grasp new technology. She could, but she was a bit lazy about it, Helena always said.

Leo didn’t comment when she came back with her diary. Ulysses followed her into the room and jumped on the sofa between them. ‘So,’ she said, ‘when were you thinking of?’

‘June’s a lovely month,’ he said, pushing the cat on to the floor.

‘Yes,’ said Gilly, knowing it was also a busy one for her. She flicked through to June. There was a booking for every single weekend. ‘July?’ she suggested, hoping there’d be a vacant weekend in it.

‘I can’t understand why you’re booked up so early,’ said Leo, sounding a bit cross, possibly because the cat had jumped up again and was heading for his lap. ‘It’s only April!’

‘These clients have been coming for years,’ explained Gilly, setting Ulysses gently on to the floor. ‘They like to book well ahead to make sure of getting their favourite rooms.’

‘Well, could you ask them to rebook so they all come on the same weekend and you have a weekend free?’

‘Not really,’ said Gilly. ‘They’ve been coming on those weekends for years and there wouldn’t be room for them all at the same time.’ She realised she was repeating herself. ‘The weeks are freer. Why don’t we go midweek?’

‘I can’t go midweek. I work.’

‘September is a lovely month,’ said Gilly, dismissing the thought that she worked too at the same time as she fielded her cat who seemed determined to get on Leo’s lap. ‘Let me pencil in some dates for us to go away then.’ She quickly did so.

‘I’m sorry to be so impatient,’ Leo said. ‘I just want to take you away. If you sold this house and retired, you’d be freer.’ He got up from his chair and swiped at the cat hairs that had landed on him in spite of Gilly’s efforts to protect him.

Gilly laughed and realised it had sounded rather brittle. ‘That would be a rather drastic way of solving the problem,’ she said. ‘And it would take a lot longer than until September for it to be accomplished.’

‘I could expedite it. I’d have a buyer for this house in a flash. In fact, I’ve got someone—’ He stopped abruptly, possibly noticing Gilly’s reaction.

‘No need,’ she said crisply. ‘I don’t want to move.’

‘Don’t be too hasty to reject the idea. Think of the advantages. You’d be freeing up capital for your children, just when they need it most.’

‘I promise I’ll think about it,’ she went on. ‘Would you like more coffee?’ She got up, desperate to stop this horrible conversation. ‘I’ll make some.’

She was on her way back to the conservatory to check that Leo did actually want more coffee when the doorbell jangled. The old-fashioned bell was one of the things her clients particularly enjoyed and she opened the door with a smile. It was William.

‘I’m so sorry to trouble you, but Aunt Miriam thinks she left her hearing-aid batteries in the bedside drawer …’

‘Oh, easily done, I’m sure. I’ll pop up and look.’

‘I could go,’ said William.

‘It’s no trouble – I know which room Miriam was in. I thought I’d checked all the rooms before they left but I may have missed the bedside drawer.’

Gilly found the batteries and came back down the stairs. She paused. Leo had joined William in the hall and just for a second she had the impression that the two men were facing up to each other. Then as she arrived in the hall one of them moved but the tension still seemed to be there.

‘I was just saying what a valuable property this is,’ said Leo. ‘The market in this area is surprisingly buoyant. It’s a good time to sell.’

No one spoke for a few seconds – Gilly didn’t know what to say. Then William looked up at her and smiled very slightly.

‘Only if the owner wants to sell,’ he said firmly. ‘And I don’t think Gilly does.’

At first Gilly thought Leo was going to argue but he didn’t. But after William had gone, hearing-aid batteries safely in his pocket, Leo turned to Gilly.

‘Does your accountant always call you by your Christian name? You must visit him a lot, which rather implies things aren’t really working on a financial level. I can’t help thinking you’d be better off getting out of the B & B business and having a bit more spare time.’

‘I’ve got spare time now,’ Gilly said, although she hadn’t finished clearing the dining room or got the second load into the dishwasher, and then there were the beds to strip.

‘Sadly, I haven’t. But it’s been lovely to see you, Gilly.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘But now I must go and have a good look at that house of Martin’s. I’ll text you a time when I can take you out for lunch.’

‘Us boarding-house landladies always have time for lunch,’ said Gilly with a laugh, hoping he’d join in.

But he didn’t.