A reply came back a few minutes later confirming they were free and suggesting I meet them at the hall at 3p.m. I accepted immediately and sat there, shaking my head, stunned at the potential opportunity ahead of me. Working on Willowdale Hall would be the highlight of my career. What if I stuffed up the interview?
‘You’ve got this!’ I said, my voice strong. I’d dreamed of this since I was a little girl and there was no way I was going to throw it away. I always had a portfolio of work ready to show prospective clients and I had tonight and all day tomorrow to update it. Loads of time.
10
A fortnight later, Georgia, Regan, Clarke and I placed the last few boxes from the small Darrowby’s removals lorry onto the drive outside Willowdale Hall.
‘Sorry for abandoning you,’ Regan said. ‘I hoped we’d have had time to get it all inside for you.’
‘Gosh, don’t apologise. You two have been absolute superstars today and it’s not your fault we got stuck in traffic. Have a lovely meal and thanks again for everything.’
Regan and Clarke clambered into the cab and waved as they drove off down the gravel drive, leaving Georgia and me both standing with our hands on our hips, looking at the pile of boxes.
‘Nearly there,’ she said. ‘How about we move everything inside first and then tackle the stairs?’
‘How about you get home to your lovely husband? It’s Valentine’s Day. You should be doing something romantic together.’
She rolled her eyes at me. ‘We haven’t done something romantic on Valentine’s Day since we had the kids so don’t you worry about that. We’ll go out for a meal later in the week when the restaurants aren’t heaving with couples feeling pressured into going out.’
‘Ooh, you cynic!’
She lifted up a box. ‘I prefer realist. Come on, slacker. Let’s get this lot shifted.’
‘Okay, but I just need a moment to take it all in. I still can’t believe I’m here.’ I stepped back from the boxes and looked up at Willowdale Hall.
Georgia put the box down and joined me. ‘I knew you’d get the job.’
My meeting with Oliver and Rosie couldn’t have gone better. I loved their vision for the future of the hall, they loved my work, and it felt for all of us like a match made in heaven. They advised me that they already had a local builder on board – Dougie Standish – and asked if I knew him. Relieved that it wasn’t Flynn they’d taken on, I told them that, although I hadn’t worked with him myself, I had met Dougie on a couple of occasions and knew he had a good reputation.
I’d anticipated a delay of several days while Oliver and Rosie made their decision so was surprised and thrilled when they announced there and then that they wanted me for the project.
Everything happened really quickly after that. We signed contracts and I told my landlord I was leaving. As he needed me to move out anyway for the planned refurbishment, it was all very easy. Finding somewhere to rent in the Willowdale area had proved somewhat more problematic. I needed somewhere with great light and plenty of space to work and nothing seemed to fit the bill. Georgia offered me a room in her house but the spare bedrooms weren’t big enough to double up as office space and the kitchen table wasn’t practical when I’d need to keep clearing it for meals. I was thinking I might need to temporarily stay at Georgia’s and rent some office space when Oliver offered the perfect solution – to move into the hall.
‘It’s not like we don’t have enough room,’ he’d said when he rang me with the proposal. ‘You can have two rooms – more if you need them – and you might find that living here helps you get a stronger feel for the building and how it could work as a home and holiday accommodation.’
So that’s how I’d ended up moving my belongings across today in preparation for starting my dream job on Monday.
Georgia and I were carrying the last couple of boxes inside when Rosie appeared with her two dogs, Toffee and Chester. Toffee was a reddish-gold cocker spaniel which she co-owned with her mum, Alice, who lived in Horseshoe Cottage near the riding stables. Chester was a much larger dog, although not a dissimilar colour to Toffee. A Hungarian Vizsla, he’d belonged to her former boss, Hubert Cranleigh, who’d died at the start of last year following a riding accident. Georgia had told me that Oliver, Rosie and Alice were all lovely but they had a chequered family history which she was sure they’d share with me as they got to know me. Sounded intriguing.
‘Welcome to your new home,’ Rosie said.
I placed my box down in the large entrance hall and stroked Toffee, who was circling round my legs, while Chester offered a paw to Georgia. ‘I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here.’
‘It’s our pleasure. How else could we make sure you work sixteen hours a day, seven days a week?’
‘You laugh as you say that,’ Georgia said, ‘but if I know my sister, that won’t be far from the truth.’
I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Guilty. I can’t help it. I love what I do and I get so absorbed in the research that the hours slip by. You get just as engrossed when you’re reading or valuing old books.’
Georgia smiled and admitted it was true.
‘I’m the same when I’m at the stables,’ Rosie said. ‘We’re all lucky we’ve found the thing we love. So many people don’t find theirs or they have a thing they dream of but it’s unattainable for whatever reason. So, how can I help? Do these need to go upstairs?’
Rosie took the dogs into the kitchen for some food and, while they were eating, returned to help carry the last of the boxes up the stairs.
‘What have you got in here?’ she asked, shaking out her arms as she placed it down in the corner of my bedroom. ‘Weights?’
‘Books,’ Georgia answered for me, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. ‘Nearly all the boxes are books. History books, architecture books, books on the history of architecture. Plus there’s the occasional lighter respite of a box packed full of boots.’
