Maddie looked up and smiled gratefully as Clara set down a cup of tea beside her. She’d been hard at it since dinnertime, working on their new website.

‘Ah, you’re a lifesaver,’ she said.

Clara peered at the screen. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Coming together,’ she replied. ‘I know what I’m doing, for most of it anyway, but it’s time-consuming getting the detail right.’ She sat back slightly so that Clara could see better. ‘What do you think? It was the design that took the longest amount of time.’

‘May I?’ Clara said, pulling up a seat and sitting down. ‘That’s amazing, how did you do that?’

She was looking at the home page which Maddie was just finishing off. The background to the page was designed to resemble one of the seed catalogues that they had been looking at previously, with the border of the page a beautiful riot of pansies, sweet peas, nasturtiums and hollyhocks, all in a fabulous vintage style. Superimposed over this was a gilded picture frame, the ‘picture’ itself featuring the title Joy’s Acre in a glorious swirling Victoriana font, together with details and links to the other pages. These would hold information about Joy’s Acre itself, the individual cottages, booking forms and the like.

‘They’re just stock photos,’ Maddie replied. ‘But there’s so many of them, you can spend days looking through them all to pick the perfect one.’ She grinned. ‘And then just when you settle on one, you think, I’ll just check a few more to be on the safe side, and before you know it another couple of hours have gone.’

‘Well, those look perfect.’

‘Do you think so…?’ Maddie tilted her head, looking at the screen from a different angle. ‘I think it works.’

‘I love how it tells the story without even trying. It’s captured the essence of what we are here brilliantly, and using the picture frame is inspired.’

‘Yeah, well let’s just hope it inspires truck loads of people to want to come here, and not just artists.’

Clara gave her a warm smile. ‘I’m sure it will. Visually, it’s about as appealing as you can get, and so different from the run-of-the-mill holiday cottage sites.’ She stared at the screen again, pausing for a moment. ‘How are things looking?’ she asked. Her manner was casual enough, but Maddie wasn’t fooled.

She pulled a folder that was sitting on the edge of the desk closer to her.

‘Honestly?’ she said. ‘Not great. There were still quite a few contractors that needed to be paid off for work already done, and even with taking over the painting etcetera ourselves, there are things we just simply need to pay for. Sanitary wear, a new kitchen, carpets… even with everything we save on recycling furniture and decorations, there’s still a huge list.’

‘So have we run out of money, or are we still limping along?’

There was no point in hiding the truth, Clara was too much of a pragmatist for that. When it came down to it, Maddie knew she would much rather hear the truth.

‘The pot’s virtually empty,’ she said. ‘Which means that while we might make it to the finish line, it will only be because we’ve cut so many corners the house will no longer look square. I love what we’re doing, Clara, you know that. It feels absolutely the right approach for the cottage and it will look stunning. Bottom line though? If people are going to part with good money to come and stay here they will want certain things to be in place, and of a sufficiently high standard. If they’re not, we’ll be crucified.’

Clara nodded. ‘And we’ll have nothing left in reserve to carry on work on the other cottages or the barn,’ she said.

Maddie gave no reply; she didn’t need to.

‘Today’s news couldn’t have come at a better time then?’

She groaned. This was something she really didn’t want to have to think about, and sitting in the office, out of the way of everybody else, had almost allowed that to happen. Almost, but not quite. Besides, if anyone could spot what Maddie was thinking without her having to say anything, it was Clara.

She wasn’t the only one who had held her breath the whole time the expert from the auctioneers was with them. Earlier that afternoon, the chap had been seated at the table, a cup of their best coffee put in front of him and the picture placed reverently on the table. All the while, four people hung on his every word.

There was never any doubt in Maddie’s mind that he would declare the painting to be an authentic CJ Davenport. What made her more anxious than she could say was the value he was prepared to place on it. This was crucial to her plan. Of course, she had to look interested, but not unduly so; delighted to have found one of Joy’s paintings, but in a totally non-materialistic way, and at the same time supportive of Seth’s plan to hang the painting straight on the hallway wall beside Joy’s other picture.

When the valuation had come, she’d had to clench her fist under the table to keep from shouting out. Of course, there were no guarantees. If the painting ever came to sale, the auctioneer’s job would be to try and raise the price as high as possible, and while on the one hand that was exactly what Maddie wanted, on the other it wouldn’t work in her favour at all. The question was, should she tell Clara, or not?

‘Do you think it’s come at a good time?’ she asked, batting the ball very firmly back into Clara’s court.

A stern finger was waggled at her. ‘Oh, no you don’t,’ said Clara. ‘I asked first. So, I’ll repeat the question. Given the opportunity that has now presented itself to us, and taking Seth’s opinion out of this for the moment, do we need to sell the painting?’

Maddie took in a deep breath. ‘Yes,’ she said sadly. ‘But you can’t remove Seth’s opinion from the equation, because it’s a huge issue. He’s invested such an enormous amount in Joy’s Acre, physically and emotionally, that this would be a huge blow to him. He sees this as confirmation from Joy herself that we’re doing the right thing.’

‘I know,’ nodded Clara. ‘But he’s not stupid. Given the choice of Joy’s Acre or no Joy’s Acre, even he would compromise his principles.’

‘He might have to,’ replied Maddie. ‘Getting him to accept that, though, is an entirely different matter.’

Clara smiled suddenly. ‘You’re just going to have to sleep with him, you know. Soften him up a bit – all for a good cause though, obviously.’

Maddie, who had just taken a sip of her tea, nearly spat it out across the desk.

‘Oh, will I now? Honestly Clara, say what’s on your mind why don’t you. Plus, he’s my boss, in case you hadn’t forgotten.’

She giggled. ‘Just a thought… although, like I said before, you were looking very close the other day in the garden. Have things, er, developed in any way?’

‘No, they have not!’

It was an automatic protest, but the truth of it was that Maddie had been a little disappointed. Seth and she had duly gone back outside on the day they found the painting and had indeed carried on making the spars for Tom, but, despite the fact that they took up their original positions on the bench, there had been no return to the previous topic of conversation. In fact, anything and everything but. Whatever the moment was, it had gone. She had harboured thoughts that perhaps the opportunity might present itself again, but it hadn’t and now, knowing what she did, and what her plan would entail, there was a very real risk that Seth would never want to speak to her again, let alone sleep with her.

There was only one way she was ever going to know if her plan was a good one.

‘Can we just forget about my non-relationship with Seth for a minute. I’ve had an idea about the painting and, if I’m right, I think it might solve all our problems. The trouble is, I will probably need your help, and if you agree to it, life’s going to get very tough for a while.’

---

Maddie sat and stared at the computer for a few moments after Clara had gone, slowly sipping her tea until it was finished. She was glad to have Clara’s support, but that still didn’t alter the fact that somebody needed to speak to Seth about selling the painting, and soon. Despite Clara’s protestations it was also clear to Maddie that she was the obvious person for the job. She had all the facts and figures at her disposal and it was probable that Seth would be more likely to listen to logic than emotion, at least she hoped so…

She saved her work on the website, logged off from the computer and, collecting her mug, rose to return to the kitchen where she was hoping to find Seth. No time like the present.

He was sitting reading at the table as she entered the room, or rather perusing a brochure on kitchen fittings, but at least when he looked up he was smiling.

‘How’s it going?’ he asked.

Maddie crossed to the sink where she began to rinse her mug. ‘Yeah, good thanks. Well I’ve had Clara’s seal of approval anyway, but actually I’m pleased with how the site’s turning out. I think it will do the trick.’

Seth closed the brochure. ‘Shall I come have a look?’

‘Oh.’ She wasn’t expecting that. ‘I’ve logged off now,’ she replied. ‘Never mind, I can show you another day. It’s not finished yet anyway, I’ve just been working on the overall design, but now that I’m happy with it I can start to add in the detail. And more importantly get the booking form on and work on optimising the site through different search engines as soon as possible.’

‘Hmm, we’re going to need it.’ He sounded somewhat absentminded, but there was no mistaking the seriousness of his words. His attention had been drawn back down to the catalogue momentarily, but then he looked back up at her, pulling a face. ‘In fact I wondered whether you were coming in here to tell me we need to sell the painting, you looked so serious when you arrived.’

Maddie fought to keep her face under control as Seth kept his eyes firmly on hers. She knew she probably wasn’t going to get to pick the perfect opportunity to say exactly that, but she had hoped nonetheless for it to be as non confrontational as possible.

‘Ah… I see I got it right after all. But then I already knew how you were thinking. It was pretty obvious considering the expression you had on your face the whole time the auctioneer was here.’

‘It was not! What expression did I have on?’ She could feel the heat rising up her neck. ‘That’s not fair, Seth. Why else were we all listening to what he had to say? So that we could consider our options, that’s all. And that’s exactly what we should be doing. Not only is it sensible—’

‘So you do agree that it should be sold then?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘Did you need to?’ His look was not far off a sneer. ‘I’m not stupid, Maddie. I know you have a spreadsheet that can tell you just how empty the coffers are, but I have one of my own, up here.’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘I can do the maths too.’

‘Then why are you getting angry with me?’

He sighed. ‘I’m not, not really… I’m just disappointed that after all the plans we made and how right everything feels, and we get the biggest confirmation that there is from Joy herself no less, and then almost within hours we’re prepared to cash it in seemingly without another thought.’

Maddie could feel her frustration rising. ‘But perhaps you’re looking at it from the wrong point of view. You’re seeing our discovery of Joy’s painting as a good luck omen, one we should keep with us, but given everything we feel about her, what if she’s provided for us right at the very moment we need it most? Doesn’t that make sense too?’

‘Oh, very convenient…’

‘No, just as plausible a reason as you’re suggesting.’

They were practically glaring at each other.

‘So I’m just being stupidly sentimental, am I?’

Seth looked tired and somewhat defeated, and Maddie would have loved to put her arms around him and tell him everything was fine, but despite what his words were doing to her insides she knew that wasn’t the answer. She had to do what was right for Joy’s Acre.

‘You’re being sentimental about a painting, when what you should be being sentimental about is Joy’s Acre, the whole of it. That’s your choice, Seth, I can’t make it any clearer. It’s one or the other, you can’t have both.’

His head dropped to his chest as he inhaled a huge breath.

‘And you know I’m right…’

‘Fine.’ He breathed out. ‘We’ll sell the painting.’ His voice was no more than a whisper.