I was conscious that I hadn’t really answered her question but my answer wouldn’t be straightforward so it was easier to avoid it. Emma was clearly an open person and, while she hadn’t gone into much detail about Grayson or given any insight into why she’d previously had a bad relationship with her dad, she’d shared enough to let me in. I couldn’t reciprocate. I hadn’t told Rosie and Oliver about Noah so I certainly wasn’t ready to open up to someone I’d only just met, no matter how much I already liked her.
‘Your dad said you’re originally from Willowdale,’ I said, feeling it was time for a subject change. ‘I’m wondering if we were at school together.’
Emma shared that she was forty-eight with an October birthday, making her five school years behind me, but we didn’t remember each other from primary school. By the time Emma started senior school, I’d have been in the sixth form and our paths wouldn’t have crossed, but she’d moved to Ambleside by then anyway.
‘Do your family still live in Willowdale?’ Emma asked as we set off walking once more.
‘They do. My parents still live in the house I was raised in – Derwent Rise near The White Willow. My sister and her husband live in Pippinthwaite and their kids are grown up now and live with their partners in Keswick.’
I tensed, sensing what the next question would be –Do you have kids?I hated that question. A few years ago, a client had asked me it and, as we hadn’t been talking about children or families at the time, it completely threw me off guard and I just blurted it out.I had a son but he died when he was eighteen. Drug overdose.I’ll never forget the way in which her empathetic expression turned to shock as I added those final two words. She didn’t voice it but I knew she was making judgements about Noah – bad boy, irresponsible, out of control – and judging me as a terrible parent without knowing anything about either of us. She never asked me anything personal after that, our meetings remaining strictly business, and I never answered that question with honesty again.Do you have kids? No.Followed swiftly by a change of subject so they couldn’t ask me to expand. From what I’d learned about Emma so far, I couldn’t imagine her being judgemental like that client, but I wasn’t prepared to risk it and the best way to do that was to go to my happy place – a conversation about my work.
‘I’m loving Oliver and Rosie’s vision of Willowdale Hall being somewhere for people to relax, find their happy and, if they need it, to heal. I can see exactly how walking the alpacas fits in to that. I’m really enjoying this.’
‘Isn’t it great? Just being with the alpacas is calming in itself, but these surroundings take it to another level. You’ll fully see what I mean when we get down to the lake.’
We walked along a pathway between trees with glimpses of Derwent Water through the branches on our right before descending a slope onto a pebble beach. The lead tightened as Charmaine tugged me towards the lake’s edge.
‘She’s fine to go in,’ Emma said, and I noticed that Florence and Bianca had already entered the water. ‘Florence will probably lie down in a minute.’
Next moment, she did, and she started humming too. I glanced at Emma, surprised by the sound.
‘Your face,’ she said, laughing. ‘That’s her telling us how happy she is. Isn’t it gorgeous?’
It truly was. I stood there taking in the view as Emma snapped a few photos of the alpacas against the wintry backdrop of snowy fells. The lake was ever so still, acting as a perfect mirror of its surroundings. I took some photos of Emma with the alpacas on her phone which she appreciated, telling me that she usually only appeared on the social media accounts in selfie form. She took several of me with the alpacas on my phone which I’d show to the family later.
With the alpacas enjoying their time in the lake and Florence providing us with background ‘music’, it was the perfect opportunity to get Emma’s thoughts on the hall conversion as, being new to the estate, she’d view it differently from Oliver and Alice who’d spent most of their lives here and Rosie who’d lived her entire life here.
‘Do you mind me quizzing you about the hall?’ I asked. ‘Imagine you don’t know the area but you’ve come across Willowdale Hall online and you’re thinking of booking one of the apartments. What would you expect from a holiday here?’
‘Luxury,’ she said, without missing a beat. ‘It’s a grand manor house set in large grounds so I’d expect the rooms to complement that. I’d want all the mod cons – coffee machine, microwave, powerful shower and so on – but I’d still want to feel that I was in an old building so I’d expect the colours, fabrics and furniture to reflect that. I’d want to know something about the history of my apartment and maybe have some throwbacks to that. For example, if it was originally the library, I’d expect to be told that and for there to be a small library of books. If it’s a room where Beatrix Potter slept or drew, I’ddefinitelywant to know all about that and maybe have an old desk with some art supplies set up on it.’
Florence rose from the water, shook herself off, and we set off back across the beach and up the slope. So far Emma hadn’t said anything I hadn’t expected or already considered myself, but I encouraged her to keep going as conversations like this could sometimes unearth a gem or two.
‘I love that Oliver and Rosie want to open up the estate to the public with woodland trails and a café. It deserves to be seen and loved and it’ll hopefully bring more customers for me, but I’m wondering if inviting the public in fully aligns to the vision of the residential guests being able to completely relax. If I came here wanting to get away from everything, I don’t think I’d want the grounds to be swarming with people.’
And there was the gem.
‘That’s a really good point. Obviously the gates would be closed and locked at the end of the afternoon so there’d only be overnight guests in the grounds during the evenings, but I hear you about daytime. What if we made part of the grounds exclusive to guests? Would that work?’
‘It’s a fair compromise. If I was staying somewhere like this, I’d want to imagine it’s my home – if only for a few days – so the more that can be done to make it feel like that, the better.’
Another gem. Any holiday was a chance to escape but a holiday in an old manor house was a chance to escape to a bygone time.
‘I love that,’ I said. ‘And I can see how that fits with the relaxing and finding your happy vibe. Thanks, Emma. That was really helpful.’
‘You’re welcome. And speaking of relaxing, I hope you’ll get some time to do that while you’re here. I can imagine it’s harder to switch off when you’re living on site.’
‘I’m not great at switching off from work anyway,’ I admitted. ‘It’s so much harder when your job’s also your passion. If I’m not doing actual work on an evening, I’m most likely found with my head buried in a history or design book, but I am making a special effort to take breaks and explore the grounds. I’m an early riser so seeking you out this morning was my way of not spending the whole weekend working.’
‘But then you asked me work-related questions,’ Emma said, laughing.
I grimaced. ‘I can’t help myself.’
‘I completely get it. When I’m not here, I’m often still working. There’s all the admin to do, customer queries and the socials. I’m also building up a range of merchandise and I do the illustrations for those so, believe me, I know how easy it is for work to take over.’
As we made our way back to Casa Alpaca, Emma told me more about her illustrations. She also shared the story of how the Magnificent Seven had been rescued and ended up at Willowdale Hall, which all sounded very dramatic and stressful.
‘They love it here, though,’ she said as she opened the gate. ‘I’m so proud of how well they’ve settled in and taken to their walks.’
