Breakfast the following morning was a noisy affair, with everyone full of life and gossip about the album launch.
‘The reviews are amazing,’ said Sam, scrolling through his phone.
‘Course they are,’ said Mick, reaching out to pick up the marmalade from the kitchen table. ‘You did great, love.’
He grinned up at Lily, who managed to smile back as she brought over the teapot.
‘They even mention Willow Tree Hall,’ said Sam to his grandad.
‘Glad to hear it,’ said Arthur, taking a sip of his tea.
‘Jack’s cocktails have given me a headache,’ moaned Howard.
‘That wasn’t the apple cocktails,’ Sam told him. ‘That was the tequila slammers you did later on.’
Mick laughed. ‘Yeah, what a night!’
‘I don’t know where you all get the stamina,’ said Annie, carefully coming down the steps into the kitchen.
‘I’m famous for mine,’ said Mick.
‘Me too, darling,’ said Rose, with a naughty giggle. ‘Here, sit down, Annie darling. I’ll make you a cup of tea.’
‘I’d better not,’ Annie told her. ‘I’m having the baby. My waters broke five minutes ago.’
The whole kitchen went silent for a second before bursting into life. Everyone rushed around, helping Annie outside towards the car. Sam was flapping and trying to remember where his car keys were.
Once they’d all left, it was only Lily left behind in the silent kitchen. She sank onto a chair in grateful relief at letting her smile finally drop. She had barely had any sleep, spending the night tossing and turning before getting up at dawn. She had tidied up most of the party debris by the time the family had finally risen.
It was a grey, drizzly day, which suited her miserable mood.
Jack had told her that he loved her. And she hadn’t said a word in return.
What must he think of her?
She had tried texting him, but the texts were unread. He had switched off his phone. He would probably never talk to her again, such was the level of trust that she had just broken.
She felt utterly miserable and didn’t know what to do.
Thankfully, the day was spent rushing around finishing tidying up after the album launch and she barely had any time to think. Because if she stopped and thought about how much she had hurt him, she would fall apart.
She didn’t even realise it was late until the lights were being switched on inside the Hall and she noticed that it was dark outside.
‘Annie has had a healthy, bouncing baby boy of seven-and-a-half pounds,’ announced Skye, rushing into the drawing room.
‘How lovely,’ said Lily. ‘Are they both OK?’
‘Absolutely fine,’ said Skye, beaming.
Rose rushed into the room after her. ‘They’re calling him Edward after his late grandfather,’ she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
‘Such a lovely idea,’ said Skye, looking a little teary.
‘Little Eddie is an absolute beauty,’ said Rose, showing everyone the photographs on her phone. ‘We’re all heading up to the maternity unit in a while. Are you coming?’
Lily shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I’ll leave it just to the family for now. There’s still some tidying up to do now that the band and Alex have left.’
The family began to gather in the entrance hall, all chatting excitedly to each other.
‘Where’s Arthur?’ asked Rose, impatiently.
‘I was just taking a very important phone call,’ said Arthur, appearing from the west wing.
‘What’s more important than your great-grandson?’ asked Rose, crossly.
‘Nothing,’ said Arthur. ‘Although Willow Tree Hall comes a close second, of course.’
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Skye.
‘That plate that Jack found in the orchard,’ began Arthur. ‘They think it’s fourth-century. Roman.’
‘In our apple orchard?’ said Rose, in amazement. ‘What on earth was it doing there?’
‘They’re going to send a few chaps out tomorrow to have a sniff around,’ said Arthur, wrapping his scarf around his neck. ‘They think that it’s highly likely that there may be more Roman artefacts in the ground around here.’
‘I don’t believe it!’ said Will.
‘Of course, this means that some kind of covenant will probably be placed on the land if it’s a historical find,’ carried on Arthur, smiling to himself.
‘What does that mean?’ asked Skye.
‘It means that grubby Eric Thatcher can’t get his hands on our land!’ said Rose, triumphantly. She stepped forward to give her brother a hug. ‘Oh, what a day!’
Skye and Will were also hugging each other and looking emotional.
‘I wish Jack were here so that we could thank him,’ said Rose, wiping away a tear. ‘Where did he get to today?’
‘Said he needed a day at home,’ Will told her. ‘Come on. We’d better head to the hospital.’
‘If you see Jack, tell him we owe him a huge drink,’ called out Rose.
‘And our grateful thanks for saving us,’ added Arthur, as they went out of the front door.
Lily watched the car disappear down the driveway, trying to take everything in that had happened. Willow Tree Hall was safe. Cranley was safe. And it was all down to Jack.
He had saved the village.
She stared out into the darkness. And he had saved her as well. How could she not have realised until that moment? He had saved her from an exploding shed. He had saved her home village. But, most of all, he had saved her from herself all those weeks ago.
Jack had pointed out that she had been too afraid to live her life.
And what had happened the previous night when he had told her that he loved her?
She had been afraid again.
But she did love him! She had always loved him.
Even the much hoped-for engagement hadn’t happened with Mark because she didn’t really love him. He wasn’t Jack. It had always been Jack.
She knew that she had hurt him so badly. And yet she had still not taken the last step in trusting him. In telling him how she truly felt.
Because she did love him. She loved him so much that she ached from it.
At that moment, she knew she had to tell him. She had to be brave.
Where had wild Lily gone? What would the old Lily have done in her shoes?
She glanced across at the small table in the entrance hall. Having drunk a couple of his own cocktails the previous evening, Jack had left his motorbike behind and caught a taxi home. The glint of the bike keys glistened under the light of the chandelier above.
Lily smiled to herself.
If she was going to start being brave, now was the time. Surely it couldn’t do any harm to be a little wild one more time?
So she picked up the motorbike keys and rushed outside.