Under New Management (14 page)

With a heartfelt sigh Mollie puts her hand on Kevin’s arm, “Kevin, thank you for that. It was good of you to come here. I know it must have been difficult. I’m not saying that all is forgiven, but I think we can start to move forward. I don’t believe David will be that happy about it though,” she tells him in a quiet voice.

Kevin smiles with relief. He winces slightly as the act of smiling hurts his nose,
which is odd.

“No, thank you Mollie, and please don’t worry about David. I’ll deal with him. We will try and make things as easy as possible, and just so you know I am working on getting the money together for you. I hope you don’t mind it coming from me, I feel it is the least I can do.” He tells her, uncertainty clouding his words.

Mollie smiles slightly at him. “That’s fine, you are a couple after all. Just don’t make the mistake I did and make sure you get your name on that mortgage. David can be a slippery customer when it comes to money. Just take it as a friendly word of warning.” She tells him sincerely.

Kevin nods at her, rising from the sofa, “Thanks for the advice. I had better be going. Sorry about the tears and the mess I’m in.”

“It’s fine, would you like me to give you a lift back?” Mollie asks generously.

“God no! Not at all, I could do with the fresh air,” he tells her as he moves to the door.

“Oh Kevin, I have to ask. What an earth have you done to your nose? Do you know you’re covered in blood?” Mollie asks.

Kevin’s hand shoots to his face and he feels the dried blood on it. He then notices his hands have blood on them as well.
Christ what the hell has happened?
“Um, I haven’t the faintest idea,” he says with a bewildered look.

Lindy takes charge, “Kevin, why don’t you use the bathroom before you leave? See if you can’t clean yourself up a bit. We don’t want anyone thinking that Jim or Dan has beaten you up now, do we?” she says meaningfully.

Kevin cringes slightly, “Um yes please. Yes that would be a good idea, wouldn’t it, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“Not at all. Follow me and I’ll find you a face cloth and a towel.” Lindy heads out of the room and down the hall towards the bathroom with a very sad and defeated looking Kevin following in her wake.

Chapter 13

That morning, just as Mollie is diving into Jeff’s van, Kieran opens his bedroom curtains. He watches the post van heading out of the courtyard and up the drive, oblivious to its occupants. Heading downstairs the house is still quiet and he makes himself a strong coffee and a slice of toast. He sits alone in the kitchen with his thoughts as he eats. His thoughts are mainly of Mollie and the rather rash job offer that he had made her.
What had he been thinking?
He should have kept his mouth firmly shut, but it had seemed such a good idea at the time.

He was definitely attracted to her, his sleepless night was testament to that. She had filled his thoughts all night long. There had been a number of occasions when he had had to have a word with himself to stop himself from popping down the hall to her room. This is not good. He couldn’t be trusted to work in that sort of close proximity with her,
could he?

Yet from a business point of view he would be mad not to re-employ her. She was clearly very capable and had a wealth of knowledge and experience about the Hall. She is exactly the sort of employee that he normally prides himself on retaining.

In his defence he truly has been considering finding himself a PA of late; the idea isn’t completely out of left field. However, he should not have said anything to her, certainly not in that situation. Yes, he’s been considering a PA but in the cold light of day he isn’t honestly sure that he can justify one. He hasn’t decided if there is enough interesting work to occupy someone full time, and certainly not someone like Mollie. Surely a job like that would bore her to tears within a few weeks. When he blurted out the offer last night he hadn’t exactly been thinking with his brain.

Obviously if he were looking for someone to manage the estate Mollie would be his first choice. Running the estate was one thing, however. Managing a 5* hotel, was a completely different kettle of fish.

How could he offer her anything concrete when they hadn’t made any decisions on the Hall and its future? Would she agree to stay on with a temporary contract? In the beginning he would rely on her expertise and knowledge. At least that would give him time to make a decision on where best to utilise her skills.

If he is up front with her and explains that he really hasn’t a clue, and doesn’t know if they have a realistic position for her, would she understand?

His heart sinks slightly, probably not. Why should she? He has hardly come across as a professional businessman. She has every right not to trust a word he says. If she knew everything, she definitely would never trust him again.
Bloody, sodding hell.

Kieran had been annoyed at the way they had been forced into acquiring the Hall. Evelyn had refused to allow notice; she’d held them to ransom. The only way to persuade the Sedgwicks to sign on the dotted line had been to agree to terms of complete secrecy. They were unable to put anything in motion until only a week before and Kieran didn’t like to do business that way.

His normal pattern would be to conduct interviews with all staff pre-takeover. Staff matters would be sorted and the business would continue as normal throughout. This was a new one on him. They had been forced to bring in a recruitment agency to ensure they had staff for the next week, possibly two, while the final details were being taken care of.

The problem was that the other hotels they had acquired were just that. They were already established hotels. The changeovers hadn’t been rocket science.

This was the first time they were starting from scratch. The entire process was a learning curve for them all. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it would certainly be challenging but that is exactly what made the entire thing interesting. Kieran loved a challenge. He had ideas for the Hall but nothing concrete as yet and how can you make decisions on the staff you need when you don’t know what you want them to actually do?

Therefore he hadn’t been prepared to negotiate the staff remaining without interview, as much as Lord John had pushed for it.

He has ensured that all the staff receive letters inviting them to interview with him on Tuesday. Those letters pointed out that any further employment would be subject to business requirements and may not be immediate starts. The staff in their head office had been instructed to post them by special delivery yesterday morning.

The letters were very likely in the post van he’d seen this morning. Mollie’s letter invites her to an interview at ten thirty on Tuesday morning. There is nothing he can do about that now. If only he could warn her, explain to her that the letter is a standard one. Kieran rubs his hand over his face and through his hair.

After speaking properly with Lord John yesterday he now knows that Mollie holds the knowledge on the estate and the staff. He shouldn’t have got carried away last night. He’s going to need her input and he hasn’t made the best of starts with her.
Bloody hell, what a complete balls up.

Eventually he puts down his cup, leaves the kitchen and heads for the barn. The caterers, designers and cleaners will be arriving at eight thirty to clear it and remove their various possessions. Using the huge bunch of keys that Lord John had gruffly bestowed on him the night before, he manages to find the right one and lets himself into the darkness. Finding the light switches he turns them on and blinks into stark brightness.
What a mess!

He isn’t interested in the state of the room but the space of it. Last night he had mentally tallied up ideas for its future. A venue, perhaps for weddings, business conferences and the like. He could get a premises licence to keep the bar; they hadn’t needed anything last night as it was a private party and the drinks were not being sold. Or perhaps use this and the other two barns as a business conference centre: hire out the rooms complete with projectors, screens, flipcharts and the like. They could turn the back room, where the waiters had served from, into a catering kitchen and serve luncheons and corporate dinners. Sedgwick is in a good spot, six miles from the motorway and only twenty minutes from Gloucester and Bristol. Perhaps they could add more bedrooms? The possibilities were endless.

After spending a good half hour wandering about in the barn Kieran takes a walk through the gardens. He meanders through the maze where he found Mollie the night before and takes a walk by the fast flowing river. Lord John had informed him that there were trout in there. Perhaps he could build on that? They could introduce more fish, offer corporate fishing days as well as pheasant shoots. The peace and quiet of the place washes over him and as the sun comes up he heads back inside to deal with the first morning as the Hall’s new owner.

Kieran needs to have a meeting with Jack, Megan and his mother this afternoon. As they complied with maintaining secrecy they hadn’t had the opportunity to really look at the old place. They really were going in blind but Kieran has a good feeling about it; he would never have bought under these circumstances if he hadn’t. However they were lagging behind and Kieran didn’t like that; he liked to know where he was heading.

The Sedgwicks were staying for lunch but he had breakfast to endure first. However, endure he would. There were many questions as yet unanswered sitting on his iPad in a long and daunting list. Each time a thought struck him he typed it in. He only had the morning to quiz the Sedgwicks and he needed to make it count, especially as he might not be able to rely on Mollie.

He wonders again how he is going to resolve the Mollie problem. He is hoping that when she comes down he can have a chat with her, find a nice way to explain what a complete numpty he had been. Perhaps if he handled it cleverly he would be able to persuade her to meet with him later to go through any grey areas. He is sure the Sedgwicks aren’t going to be that useful in answering his questions. Until he knew what, if any, position he could offer Mollie, he would be relying on her goodwill.

He curses his big mouth again. If he had kept it firmly zipped she wouldn’t have any expectations.
That’s where showing off got you, in a bloody great mess.

How is he going to react if she brings up the job offer? He needs to think about it. He can hardly say that he isn’t actually sure if he has anything to offer her now, but would she be good enough to answer a hundred questions on the estate to be going on with?
Bugger, bugger and bugger it!

Mrs Burfoot has kindly agreed to come in at eight to prepare breakfast and show the new cook from the agency the ropes. That is another job he has to consider, a new cook or chef. Shaking his head at the amount of problems to overcome he enters the kitchen.

Mrs Burfoot is there with another lady, “Ah, Mr McLaren good morning Sir. Can I introduce Angela Thomas? Ms Thomas will be helping you out for the next few weeks. Ms Thomas this is Mr McLaren.”

Kieran steps forward to shake the woman’s hand. She is as tall and slim as Mrs Burfoot is short and round, Kieran hides a smile.

Mrs Burfoot reminds him of the fairy godmother in the Disney Cinderella story. He always has the fleeting thought that she is going to burst into the ‘bibity bobity boo’, song, (
or is that from another film?
) and start waving her wand about, whilst doing amazing things with fruit and veg.
He really needs to rein in his imagination.

Angela however looks like a 1950’s school teacher... He’d guess she’s in her mid-forties and her brown hair is severely cut into a short bob around her ears. She has a pair of half moon glasses perched on her long, thin nose. She is wearing sensible clothes and shoes and doesn’t meet his eye as she puts her thin hand into his.

“Nice to meet you Angela, please call me Kieran. I hope this won’t be too daunting for you. You should only have us to look after for the duration and my mother will take you through her requirements.” Angela smiles awkwardly at him, her face colouring. “Don’t take any messing from her mind you, she can be a bit of a tyrant.” Kieran adds the last bit as he hears rather than sees his mother enter the room. He rarely misses an opportunity to wind her up.

“Kieran, really, that is enough.” Marylyn, resplendent in a cream cashmere sweater, tailored trousers and court shoes sweeps across the kitchen quickly and takes Angela’s hand. Angela visibly shrinks back, her cheeks colouring deeper. She is intimidated by Marylyn and attracted to Kieran. ‘He is very dishy’, she thinks.

“I apologise for my son. Angela isn’t it?” At Angela’s acknowledgement she continues, “Please call me Marylyn. My daughter Megan and her boyfriend Johnny are just coming down. My nephew Jack is unlikely to surface much before the whiff of breakfast reaches his nostrils. We call him the Bisto kid.” She laughs shrilly at her own joke and the others frown at her. “What time would you like us all for breakfast?”

Mrs Burfoot pipes up, “Lord and Lady Sedgwick asked for nine. Would that be alright with you, Mrs McLaren?” she asks pointedly. Mrs Burfoot does not go in for first names with employers, she is old school.

Marylyn smiles indulgently and doesn’t bite. Mrs Burfoot will be gone after lunch; she can make allowances for a few hours. “That is absolutely fine. I believe lunch is arranged for one. I’ll leave the menu to the professionals. Now come along, Kieran. Let’s go and explore for a while and leave these two ladies to it.”

Pouring herself and Kieran a coffee from the freshly prepared pot on the side she breezes out of the kitchen with Kieran following behind.

The two cooks raise their eyebrows at each other and Mrs Burfoot says very quietly, “Good luck with that one.”

Kieran follows his mother to the small sitting room at the front of the house. They take their seats in the comfortable floral armchairs and morning light floods the room. It is cold in the room, so Kieran gets up and kneels down in front of the large ornate gas fire figuring out how to light it.