hadn’t replaced the coffee pot that Kitty had left in London.
Lucy followed Willow into the drawing room and sat down on the chair that Willow gestured to as though she had grown up there.
Lucy knew not to ask questions of her clients until they offered information, and then she would do what she was best at: running through the good and bad, the facts to be embellished and the ones that needed to be buried. Now she sat and waited for the right time to tell Willow the bad news.
Willow spoke first. ‘So I think you should know. Merritt and I have kind of got together while I’ve been here,’ she said.
‘Oh right,’ said Lucy. ‘I kind of picked something up.’
Willow smiled. ‘Yes, so I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m happy, which is a lovely change.’
Lucy looked at her and saw the happiness that emanated from her. She felt a little sick. Maybe she would wait to tell her till after the shoot, she thought.
Lucy opened her iPad and pulled up the schedule. ‘So hair and makeup and wardrobe will be down tomorrow at nine o’clock. I’ll be there. They’re going to video it for the website too – I have all the papers to sign. Sorry I didn’t get here earlier, but I’ve been flat out in London.’
‘It’s fine, I’ve been crazy here also,’ said Willow, as she went to the desk to find a pen. She saw a missed call and a message on her phone but guessed it was either Simon or Janis, so she left it to return tomorrow.
Merritt arrived with cups of tea and a plate of biscuits, Poppy trailing behind him like a shadow.
‘Here you go ladies,’ he said, and set down the tray.
Willow looked up at him and smiled. ‘Thanks sweetie.’
Merritt sat down with his cup and Poppy settled in beside him. ‘Should I stay or go?’ he asked Lucy and Willow.
‘Stay,’ they both cried, for different reasons. They spent the morning chatting, and Merritt gave Lucy a tour of the house.
‘It’s amazing. You must let me know when this is done up so I can get some press about it. You might be able to hire out the ballroom for weddings and parties, or do tours of the gardens, recipe books; it’s endless,’ enthused Lucy.
‘Oh we will,’ said Willow confidently, and then she looked at Merritt and covered her mouth. ‘I mean he will.’
Merritt put his arms around her and pulled her to him. ‘She’s very bossy this American girl,’ he said playfully, but inside he was happy she had used the word ‘we’.
Lucy left to stay at the local B&B and promised to be back in the morning to field any issues and make sure all was going according to plan. She knew she would have to face the matter of what was about to arise in Willow’s world sooner or later, but she and Willow needed this job for Blessings to go perfectly and she didn’t want anything to ruin it for them.
The next morning, Willow woke up to a perfect day and a perfect orgasm courtesy of Merritt, who took it upon himself to wake her while he was under the bed sheets. A light breakfast as Kitty wrangled the children, and soon she was made up as the perfect American girl in the English countryside.
The children were dressed in Ralph Lauren from head to toe and Willow had multiple costume changes. Ball gowns, tweed skirts and wellingtons, silk cocktail dresses and parasols. Merritt and Kitty watched from the sidelines, Merritt in his gardening clothes: his torn jeans, his faded blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his work boots. After the photographer and art director had got all the close-ups of Willow in the Lady’s Garden, they asked the children to come into the picture and play on the lawn with Willow on a bright pink tartan rug.
‘Why won’t the little boy smile?’ asked the photographer, who had been flown over from New York. ‘Come on kiddo, smile!’ he called from behind the lens.
But Lucian remained lifeless, standing in the middle of the rug as Jinty crawled and toddled and Poppy twirled in her pink cotton dress.
Willow tried not to look stressed but she felt her face tightening.
‘Hang on,’ called out the producer, and he spoke to his art director. ‘Take a break for half an hour and then we’ll do it again,’ he called, and Willow stood holding Lucian’s hand, feeling