Having spoken to her family, Lily knew that she couldn’t put off speaking to Annie and the rest of the Harris family any longer.
It was time to face the music and resign.
Lily felt strong enough to carefully drive back to the Hall, dreading the conversation she was going to have. She had become close to Annie and it made her feel awful that she could upset a friend so much.
The kitchen was empty, and so was the rest of the east wing. Everyone was obviously out and about. So Lily went across the entrance hall and finally found Annie on the sofa in the drawing room with her eyes closed.
Thinking that she didn’t want to disturb her, Lily began to back out of the room but bumped into the door and made a small noise, causing Annie’s eyes to suddenly fly open.
‘Hello,’ she said, sleepily. ‘Come in.’
‘Hi,’ said Lily, tentatively heading across the floor to sit in the armchair opposite the sofa. ‘How are you?’
‘We’re fine,’ said Annie dreamily as she looked down at her baby bump. ‘A little tired, and embarrassed about the fuss yesterday.’
‘It’s your first baby,’ Lily told her. ‘You were right to be concerned.’
‘I know, but everyone was worried and stayed up at the hospital with us.’ Annie gave a start. ‘Oh my God! I nearly forgot! Whilst we were at the hospital, you and your grandad were almost being blown up!’
Lily shook her head. ‘It really wasn’t that dramatic.’
‘I’m not so sure.’
‘Grandad might have to get himself a new shed though,’ said Lily.
Annie giggled. ‘He and Arthur are in so much trouble with everyone. Illegal alcohol! Whatever next?’
Lily took a deep breath. ‘Look—’
But Annie interrupted her. ‘So, how are you? And your grandad? I missed all the drama.’
‘We’re much better, thanks. Grandad’s back at home.’ Lily tried again. ‘Listen, Annie, I know that it’s not working out…’
But Annie was yawning and wasn’t really listening.
Lily tried to start again, but Annie blinked back to life and said, ‘Sorry. Complete baby brain. I’m so tired I can’t think straight. What do you need?’
‘I need to hand my notice in,’ said Lily.
Annie’s face dropped. ‘What are you talking about? Have you got another job?’
Lily shook her head. ‘No. There’s nothing else lined up.’
‘Is it the moonshine thing? Because Sam and Will have had a word with Arthur and it won’t happen again, despite what he says.’
‘No, it’s not that either.’ Lily gave her a sad smile. ‘But you must know that it wasn’t working out having me here. We’re friends and I want to keep it that way. But everything went wrong.’
Annie frowned. ‘No, it didn’t.’
Lily laughed without humour. ‘You almost went into early labour because you were so upset about the album launch.’
‘Oh, that!’ Annie waved her hand as if it were irrelevant. ‘That doesn’t matter. We’ll get something sorted. I overreacted.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ Lily told her. ‘You had every right to be upset. I’m too bossy. I took over everything.’
‘Yes, well maybe just a little,’ said Annie. ‘But if you hadn’t got hold of the ambulance and Sam so quickly, I’m not sure what would have happened to me.’
‘You would have been fine.’
Annie bit her lip. ‘I’m not so sure.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Lily felt the tears welling up in her eyes.
‘Oh, God!’ said Annie softly, reaching out with her hand so that Lily had no choice but to take it. ‘Don’t get me going. My hormones are still all over the place.’
‘I don’t want to lose you as a friend,’ Lily told her.
‘You won’t!’ said Annie, a tear rolling down her cheek. ‘But please don’t go. We need you more than ever.’
Lily sniffed her own tears away. ‘But what if I upset everyone again?’
‘You won’t,’ Annie told her. ‘We’ll muddle through somehow. Please stay.’
‘What on earth is going on?’ said Rose, standing in the doorway and looking horrified at their upset faces. ‘What’s happened now?’
‘Lily thinks she should leave,’ said Annie, the tears now streaming down her face. ‘She mustn’t go. Tell her, Rose!’
‘Of course she mustn’t.’ Rose strode over, whipping out a handkerchief to pass to Annie as she sat next to her on the sofa. ‘Now what’s all this about?’
‘I was too bossy,’ said Lily, wiping away her own tears. ‘I upset everyone by taking over. I know that now.’
‘Darling!’ said Rose, laughing. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ve been on the naughty step my whole life!’
Annie smiled. ‘Why am I not surprised?’
‘I ruined your clothes,’ began Lily. ‘I upset everyone. And then the cleaning…’ Lily gulped. ‘Lauren walked out.’
‘Teenage hormones,’ said Rose, ruefully.
Lily shook her head. ‘No, I was too strict with her.’
‘The trouble is, she’s not a cleaner,’ said Rose. ‘She has no interest in it.’
‘The only thing she’s interested in is baking,’ said Lily, and then stopped. ‘I wonder…’
‘What?’ said Annie.
‘One of the reasons you wanted me to work here in the first place was to help out with the dinners and all that. I wonder if she could help with that instead?’
‘Well, that sounds like a plan,’ said Rose.
‘So we lose a cleaner and gain a cook instead?’ Annie nodded thoughtfully. ‘That could work.’
‘We did always have a cook before,’ said Rose.
‘Maybe I could have a word with her?’ said Lily, before her face dropped once more. ‘But what about the album launch? What will we do?’
‘Actually, I think Sam thought it might be quite nice to hold it here,’ said Annie, with a shrug. ‘Anyway, weren’t you an events organiser in London?’
Lily shook her head. ‘I was only the assistant. I wasn’t in charge.’
‘So?’ said Rose. ‘Darling, think big! Well, that settles it.’ She stood up, her eyes gleaming. ‘Think of all those musicians and glamorous journalists milling around here. How marvellous!’
But Lily still wasn’t convinced. ‘I’m not so sure.’
‘Nonsense!’ said Rose, in a firm tone. ‘Let’s hold it here. Doesn’t it highlight the Hall? All publicity is good publicity, after all.’
‘I agree,’ said Annie, with a yawn. ‘But I’m going to have to leave it with you, more or less. With Sam’s input, of course. What do you think?’
Lily bit her lip. ‘What if I get too bossy again?’
‘We’ll tell you,’ said Annie. ‘I promise. Listen, how about we rebrand you? Why don’t you help organise the big events like the album launch? So you don’t need to worry about being a housekeeper and all the strain that comes with it? More like Willow Tree Hall’s very own personal assistant. What do you say?’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Lily.
‘I think that would work better for all of us,’ said Annie. ‘We can muddle through with the personal stuff like we always have done. That leaves the big organisation side of things to you. Do you think you can handle it?’
‘I’d like to try,’ Lily told her.
‘Good.’ Annie reached out to squeeze her hand. ‘Please stay. You’re part of the family now.’
Lily squeezed Annie’s hand in reply. ‘I’d love to.’
‘Excellent!’ said Rose, clapping her hands together in glee. ‘Let’s have a drink to celebrate!’
‘I’m still pregnant,’ Annie told her, rolling her eyes.
‘And I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to face alcohol ever again,’ added Lily, with a grimace.
‘Lightweights,’ said Rose, laughing. ‘Anyway, that leaves more for me then, doesn’t it?’