A Year at Meadowbrook Manor Read online

  There was a knock on her bedroom door.

  ‘Hello,’ she bellowed, Pippa walked in. ‘Hey, Pip, are you wearing the same dress as you did to the dinner party?’ she asked as Pippa appeared in a black shift dress.

  ‘No, that was a different dress,’ Pippa replied. She went to sit on Harriet’s bed. ‘You look gorgeous,’ she enthused to Harriet. ‘That colour really suits you.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Harriet asked, sensing something in her sister.

  ‘Nothing, I just wanted to get away from Mark for a few minutes. I know, I know, he’s only been here a short time, but he’s in a terrible mood and I don’t know what’s wrong with him.’

  ‘Have you asked him?’

  ‘Of course and he just mumbled something about being tired and having to carry so much of the load without me at home. Then he went silent.’

  Harriet hugged her sister, she loved her so much, if only she could expose Mark for what he was, not that she knew exactly. And with that and the fact that he was holding Pippa off about the fertility tests, she didn’t have a good feeling about him, about them. She was beginning to think that her dad was right.

  ‘Oh, I need to get myself in a better mood, poor Mark’s probably just working too hard and I should cut him some slack. I mean, look at it, it’s all around us at Meadowbrook this Christmas. Gus and Amanda, Connor and Bella and I even heard Gerry say he was going to ask Gwen if she’d like to have her tea with him as soon as he could pluck up the courage,’ Pippa giggled, her bad mood evaporated. ‘Hopefully not when they are dressed as Santa and Mrs Claus though.’

  Harriet was still smarting from the mention of Connor and Bella. ‘Gwen?’

  ‘Yes, they’ve grown quite close over the plans for the winter wonderland. He’s the same age as her, why can’t they find happiness?’

  ‘I would like nothing more, but you know how Gwen was, she vowed she never would look at another man, like Daddy did after Mum.’

  ‘Things change when you’re facing being alone. She misses Dad, they were almost in relationship if you think about it,’ Pippa pointed out. Harriet baulked, appalled at the suggestion. ‘Tut, Harry, I don’t mean a sexual one, but having her here stopped him from being totally lonely and vice versa. Now if Connor marries Bella—’

  ‘You think it’s that serious?’ Harriet wondered if she had managed to keep the horror out of her voice.

  ‘She’s smitten. She keeps asking me if I know how he feels about her. She’s so neurotic about him, it’s cute.’

  ‘And do you?’

  ‘Do I what?’

  ‘Know how he feels about her?’

  ‘No, Connor doesn’t say anything to me, you know what he’s like. Has he said anything to you?’

  ‘No,’ Harriet admitted, not that she’d given him the chance.

  ‘Well anyway, let’s hope next year we see Meadowbrook weddings. Freddie and I could organise them!’ Pippa looked so alive, so full of happiness for others, which was characteristic of her. But Harriet was determined: one of those weddings would take place over her dead body.

  Her feet were killing her, but as her Jimmy Choos were telling her, they needed to be worn, and they did look perfect with her red dress. She had practically run in heels on a daily basis in New York, but since being home she was always in flats, so her feet had forgotten how to cope. She sat down on the stairs, to give her feet a break and studied the party.

  The Christmas tree looked magnificent, her father would approve, Hector, had made rather a meal of turning on the lights – the old ladies lapped him up. Edie, still recovering from her hip operation, had still managed to pursue him with an impressive amount of vigour, despite a walking stick.

  Now the party was in full swing. Carols had been sung, mulled wine and Freddie’s Christmas cocktails were being drunk, chatter filled the air, as the guests spilled into the drawing room and dining room as well as the grand hallway. Mark was holding court as if he was the lord of the manor, Freddie was charming everyone, Pippa was playing her hostess role perfectly and Gus and Amanda were almost inseparable. Fleur and Hayley had slunk off to Fleur’s room to watch Netflix and Harriet had promised not to tell, although she was tempted to go with them. Gwen was laughing at something Gerry was saying and Harriet wondered if there could be happiness for her again, she sincerely hoped so; no one deserved it more than Gwen. And finally, Connor and Bella. It wasn’t the first time she had seen them as a couple but it sucked more and more each time. The longer they were together, the happier they appeared, the worse it felt. Having to greet them, be nice, when she wanted to tear Bella’s perfectly neat dark hair out and kick him where it hurt, almost killed her. Just look at them, the perfect couple! Bella was gazing adoringly at Connor who had his hand on the small of her back, in a way which made Harriet burn with jealousy as she choked back tears.

  ‘What’s up?’ Hector sat down next to her. He was wearing a ridiculous Aran jumper and a pair of smart trousers which made him look about fifty from the neck down.

  ‘I was just thinking how happy everyone looked.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s that sort of party, isn’t it? A happiness party.’

  ‘My invite must have gone astray,’ she stated.

  ‘I’m having a marvellous time, although if I get groped one more time by one of your old ladies, I’m going to sue for sexual harassment.’ Hector was deadpan, Harriet glared at him in surprise but he burst out laughing. Harriet giggled.

  ‘They’ve got no money,’ she pointed out.

  ‘Ah, then I’ll just have to avoid them.’ He looked at her, his blue eyes were quite hypnotising. ‘By the way, Harriet, you look bloody sexy tonight. I don’t suppose you know anywhere to hide, you know, your bedroom perhaps?’ He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

  Harriet threw her head back and laughed. ‘You are far too young for me,’ she said. ‘Although that doesn’t seem to be deterring Edie.’ She pointed to where Edie was approaching them.

  ‘They’re going to do my favourite song, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, Hector, so will you dance with me?’ Edie asked as she reached the stairs.

  ‘Are you sure you should be dancing, with your hip?’ Harriet said. Hector looked terrified.

  ‘Well he can hold me and we can just sway,’ Edie suggested.

  ‘Off you go, Hector.’ Harriet pushed him up. It had almost cheered her up, but then as she saw Bella kissing Connor under the mistletoe she knew she had to escape.

  She grabbed a bottle of Prosecco from the side and made her way to the back door, where without looking back she slipped her stockinged feet into wellingtons and took off for the summer house. She opened the door which they still never locked and made her way inside. It smelt of paints, Gus had been painting more than ever since he’d been dating Amanda, just as their mum used to. Her throat choked with emotion and her eyes filled with tears. Here, among all these people, among her family, she felt so lonely. She never cared about being in a relationship in New York. Probably because she was still harbouring feelings for Connor. They might have been buried so deep that she didn’t even know they were there, but that didn’t mean they weren’t. It was crazy. She was so devoted to her job because she didn’t have to worry about emotions and now, at home, it was all emotions and she didn’t know how to deal with them.

  Just as she took a swig from the bottle, the door opened.

  Panicked, and without thinking she dived over the back of the sofa so she was hidden. Harriet’s first thought as she heard footsteps approach was she hoped it wasn’t Connor and Bella.

  ‘I thought we would never get away.’ Mark’s voice rang out in the dark.

  ‘I know, those randy old men kept trying to look up my skirt. Even the vicar,’ Loretta replied.

  ‘Who can blame them, you look ravishing, my dear,’ he said.

  ‘Fanks, Mark, you’re well nice.’

  ‘Yes, well, that’s why we need to get our partners to sell Meadowbrook. Because I’m desperately trying to do the
right thing, because I am nice.’

  ‘OK?’ Loretta sounded as confused as Harriet felt.

  ‘You know Pippa is so sweet and innocent in so many ways, now she seems convinced that they will run Meadowbrook as an entertainment venue, all of the Singers working together, like the Waltons or something.’

  ‘And that would be bad?’

  Harriet had no idea if that was what Pippa was thinking, she hadn’t mentioned it at all.

  ‘Of course, it would be a disaster. I mean apart from lack of experience, it’s a very risky business, they would have not only to pay for the upkeep of Meadowbrook but also set up an expensive business which would probably take all their inheritance and then they’d probably lose it all.’

  ‘But Freddie’s run a business before,’ Loretta argued. Not the best argument, admittedly.

  ‘Which folded. Do you see what I’m saying?’

  ‘Ah, yes, I do see. After this year they still won’t have no money and then they’ll lose the lot.’

  ‘Yes, exactly. So I am trying to protect Pippa’s inheritance from that disaster.’

  ‘And I need to do the same with Fred. I mean my work isn’t what it was, what with me being nearly thirty.’

  Harriet had to stop herself from choking. Loretta was way past thirty.

  ‘And, I want to get married and have kids and stuff. Oh and I’ve always fancied a yacht. Will we be able to buy one?’ she continued. Harriet shook her head.

  ‘Yes, if you do as I suggest, you will.’

  ‘Right, so what’s the plan?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking and as I said before our main problem is Harriet. We need to isolate her from the others, because without her they won’t be able to do anything. So my first idea was to let some of the animals out of the sanctuary one night, and then make out that it was Harriet. We’ll leave an item of hers there to incriminate her.’ Mark chortled.

  Harriet bristled.

  ‘But how do we do that? And how are we expected to let the animals out?’ Loretta sounded horrified. ‘And don’t forget, the animal sanctuary needs to survive in order for them to get the money.’ Goodness, Harriet thought, she had been paying some attention.

  ‘We’ll pay someone to do it. I have someone in mind already, don’t worry I’ve thought it all through. This person will let the animals out and then someone will find Harriet’s scarf or something. And, of course, it won’t be enough to shut the sanctuary down, but you and I can step in like heroes and help clear up afterwards! Gosh, it’ll be perfect. Harriet will get the blame and everyone will turn against her. And they’ll start listening to us more. Then we convince them that Harriet has lost the plot, and ta-da, she has no influence over the house or the money any more.’

  Harriet couldn’t believe it. What had she done to become his enemy?

  ‘But that’s not going to be enough, is it?’ Loretta said, and Harriet agreed, it sounded like the thinnest plan she had ever heard.

  ‘We’re also going to sabotage the winter wonderland. What I thought, and I think it’s quite genius if I do say so myself,’ he laughed. ‘We could kidnap the baby Jesus, and leave a ransom, then we plant the doll on Harriet, and when we, being very good citizens of the village, lead them to her, the village sees her for what she is and turns against her. It will divide the siblings, make Harriet unpopular all round and hopefully as soon as the year is out she’ll scarper back to New York.’ He laughed. Dastardly bastard, he really had it in for her. ‘I’ll say to Pippa that I’m worried about Harriet as she seems so miserable and strange and I’ll convince her that Harriet’s having some kind of breakdown and you can do the same to Freddie.’

  ‘Oh, Mark, you’re well clever. So, I tell Fred that I’m worried about ’Arriet because she seems to be getting more unhinged, so it will seem like she would do the fings you said.’

  ‘Oh, Loretta, we’re on the same page. Yes, we’ll both bring up concerns for Harriet’s mental health first. I always thought she was a bit of a weirdo anyway.’ Harriet had to stop herself from getting up and throttling him.

  ‘Oh, Marky, I can’t wait, and then they’ll sell the ’ouse because none of them will want to live at Meadowbrook or with each other.’

  ‘Exactly, Loretta. And we’ll be not only rich but also rid of the bloody annoying siblings and life can get back to normal. Only a better normal.’

  ‘Right, babes, we better get back, Fred’ll be missing me.’

  ‘I wish I could say the same for Pippa,’ Mark sighed. ‘She’s too busy for me these days. But soon, it’ll be just the two of us again and she won’t have any need for Meadowbrook or her bloody awful siblings. Or you for that matter,’ Mark muttered, just loud enough for Harriet to hear.

  ‘What?’ Loretta asked, already by the door.

  ‘Nothing, let’s go.’

  Harriet drained the bottle. She didn’t feel nearly drunk enough to forget about what she had just heard and what it meant for both her and Meadowbrook. Oh, of course she could foil their silly plan, although she had to admit she needed to get Connor involved now, but why did they have it in for her?

  Chapter 22

  ‘So, you’re telling me that sometime between now and the winter wonderland weekend, the animals are going to be let out?’ Connor said. ‘That’s less than a week.’

  ‘Yes, I’m aware of that,’ Harriet replied, sounding tetchy. She thought Connor would be outraged when she told him of Mark and Loretta’s plotting, instead he looked, well, almost amused. ‘And so I thought we should hire security. But of course we can’t afford it.’

  ‘Right, so you think it’s that serious?’

  ‘I do, I’ve overhead Mark and Loretta plotting, they want us to sell Meadowbrook, so they’ll have the money from the house as well as the inheritance, well their partners will, and by default they think they’ll get their hands on said money, they want us all to fall out so that there’s no question of Pippa not running back to Mark and letting him have everything. They also want to make out I am mad. I wanted to hire a private detective to look into Mark, but I couldn’t afford that either.’

  ‘Sorry, Harry, this is crazy. You wanted to hire a detective?’ Connor shuffled from foot to foot. He scratched his head and glared at Harriet with something akin to disbelief.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What would Pippa say?’

  ‘Hopefully, when we’ve exposed Mark for what he is, thank you.’

  ‘Harry, you know it’s dangerous meddling in people’s relationships.’

  ‘Whatever.’ God Connor was a sanctimonious idiot sometimes. ‘But you know this involves all of us, so I’m not just going to stand by and let Mark disrupt the sanctuary, the village and my family. And I thought you would be concerned about the welfare of your animals. I thought you might care a bit that they were going to try to discredit me!’ she shouted.

  ‘OK, OK, fair enough.’ Connor held his hands up in mock surrender. ‘Let’s start again. So, the plan to let the animals out, tell me about that.’

  ‘He said he was going to pay someone, he said he had someone in mind. So I thought, as we can’t pay for security, we need to get John the vicar and his morris dancers involved.’ Harriet tried not to think how ridiculous that sounded.

  ‘You are going to get the morris-dancing guys to be security?’

  ‘They’ve got sticks,’ Harriet smarted.

  ‘They also have bells, which would warn off any would-be perpetrator,’ Connor said. Then he burst out laughing.

  ‘You are not taking me seriously.’ She almost stamped her foot in frustration. ‘Do you have any better ideas?’ Harriet folded her arms. ‘Connor, it’s not funny.’ He was almost doubled over laughing.

  ‘It is a bit. I mean, kidnapping the baby Jesus, which is in fact a doll, and pinning it on you, I mean, genius. John would be so angry, he’d never speak to you again.’

  ‘They are going to tell everyone that I’m unhinged. Me! I’m the most sensible member of my family.’

  ‘
Well apart from Gus—’

  ‘Shut up.’ Harriet thumped Connor on the arm, something she did a lot when they were younger. He rubbed his arm. ‘Anyway, now I know everything, I am going to put a stop to it. And before you ask, no I’m not going to tell Freddie and Pippa yet, not until I have concrete evidence.’

  ‘Right, so we’re in cahoots on this, just me and you?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘Fine, if you need to talk about it, then talk to me and I agree to whatever you want regarding security. But how did you find out?’

  ‘I happened to be in the summer house, you know the night of the cocktail party, when they both snuck in.’

  ‘What were you doing in the summer house?’ he asked.

  ‘I needed some space, you know I was a bit drunk and I often go to the summer house to be alone.’

  ‘And while you were there,’ Connor asked, ‘Mark and Loretta came in to talk about their plan?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Right, well I guess we better go and see John then.’

  He might not be taking her seriously but she was glad that she had Connor onboard now – it made her feel slightly less alone.

  ‘John, we have a bit of an odd request,’ Harriet said as they found John in the pulpit practising his sermon.

  ‘What can I do for you, Harriet?’

  ‘Well, we need the skills of your morris dancers actually,’ she said.

  ‘Ah.’ He smiled, suddenly.

  ‘Although not to dance,’ Connor added quickly.

  ‘Well that’s all we do really.’ His brows furrowed.

  ‘John, as I said this is a bit odd, but, you see, the animals and the nativity scene might be in a spot of bother.’ Harriet explained about the threatened sabotage without naming Mark or Loretta, but instead saying they had an anonymous tip-off. Connor had his hand over his mouth, clearly trying not to laugh. ‘You see,’ she said as she finished. ‘We can’t take any chances, not with the animals or the baby Jesus.’