Chapter 7
Two days later, Lydia sent one of the waitresses through to Daisy’s room with a note asking her to meet up in reception in ten minutes. Grumbling to herself, Daisy stood up from her bed where she’d been dozing and cleaned her teeth, brushed her hair, and changed into a pair of shorts and a fresh T-shirt. When she arrived downstairs, she was concerned to see the usually calm lady in a bit of a flux.
‘What’s the matter?’ she whispered, hoping there hadn’t been any bad news.
Lydia sighed. ‘Gabriel is working with the volunteer group at Noirmont on one of the bunkers and texted me to say he’d heard that an important letter he’s been expecting has been sent here for him. I promised to deliver it to him, but forgot I’d planned a meeting with some tourism executives this afternoon. Can you drive?’
Confused by the change in topic, Daisy said, ‘Yes, but I don’t have a car.’
Lydia held up a set of keys. ‘These are for a hotel car, which your contract means you’re insured on. Are you OK to drop it off for him?’
She nodded. Lydia motioned for Fi. ‘Pass me that large envelope over there will you, dear?’
Fi winked surreptitiously at Daisy as she turned, then picked up the envelope and handed it to Lydia.
‘Please take this as soon as you can to Noirmont.’ She frowned. ‘Do you know where that is?’
‘Sorry, no,’ Daisy said with relief. Somebody else would have to go. She wasn’t in the mood to take anything to Gabriel. They hadn’t seen each other to talk to for days and she was quite happy with leaving things as they were.
‘Fi, pass me a map please.’ Lydia pointed at the pile of maps kept at the back of the desk for tourists.
Damn, thought Daisy; she should have known Lydia wouldn’t just accept her answer. She followed Lydia to the reception desk and watched as Fi unfolded a leaflet. Lydia pointed to a place on the west of the island. ‘This is where we are, and here—’ she manoeuvred her finger around the map, tracing a route along winding roads before ending on a section where small boxes depicting the cluster bunkers where Gabriel was likely working were printed ‘—is where you’ll find Noirmont. Drive to the end where they’ve parked their cars and you’ll soon find him, I’m sure. Just ask anyone there, they’ll know him.’
She handed the envelope and keys to Daisy. ‘The car is parked at the back of the hotel. If you have any problems, just give Fi a call on the main line.’ She smiled at Daisy. ‘Thank you for doing this for me, dear.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Sorry, I’m going to have to dash.’
Fi giggled and turned her back on Daisy when the phone rang. ‘Don’t look so bloody miserable; I’d much rather you work my shift and let me go and pay a visit to Mr Gorgeous.’
Left with little choice, Daisy took the keys and envelope and went through the hotel to where the little, battered run-around car was kept.
The drive through the tree-shaded lanes was fun. So much fun in fact, that she took the wrong route twice, the first time going down a long windy hill ending up facing St Aubin’s beach, and the second time she went right down a wooded hill to Ouaisne Bay. The third time the road took her to the open headland where massive concrete bunkers lay all around, a network of relics from the Nazi occupation that fascinated Gabriel so much.
She parked and got out, locking the car as she surveyed the open area and tried to work out where he could be. She tucked the envelope under her arm and putting her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, tried to find him.
So many people walking around, she noted. Families stopped to pose for photographs, locals were walking their dogs, and children ran around screaming with excitement. It was difficult to imagine that only seventy years before this had been a place of strict regime instilling fear into the locals still living on the island.
She heard his laugh first. The sound made her stomach contract and her heart pound. She hadn’t heard him laugh like that since they were in Vietnam. Hearing this sound made her spin round to face his direction, dropping the envelope and cursing when she went to pick it up and the wind blew it away from her. ‘Crap!’ she cried, running after it, trying to stamp on it only for it to fly off out of her reach.
‘Oh no.’ She tried not to panic, but the thought of it slipping over the edge of the cliff face was too much for her, remembering how important Lydia had made it sound. ‘Help!’ she cried, to anyone within distance.
A few people looked up, and two teenage boys giggled and nudged each other as she ran past them. Needing to go faster, she kicked off her flip-flops and followed the envelope, but had barely gone a few feet when she tripped on a large stone. Daisy stared after the document as it flew over one of the bunkers and landed on the other side. Had it gone over the edge of the headland? she wondered in a panic. It was too late to worry about it now, she thought, trying her best not to cry as her toe pounded in pain.
‘Is this what you were trying to catch?’ said a familiar voice.
She didn’t have to look up to see Gabriel standing next to her, but did anyway. ‘Yes.’ She winced as her toe smarted.
He crouched down next to her, inhaling sharply between his teeth. ‘That looks painful, and it’s already bruising. Here, let me help you up.’ She nodded. ‘We have a first-aid kit down in the bunker, if you’ll let me take you there.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, squeezing her eyes together as she placed her foot down on the ground. She’d never been inside a bunker before. In fact, this was the closest she’d been to any, but she hoped that access wasn’t going to be difficult. From what she’d seen there weren’t any obvious doors leading into the concrete building. She hopped next to Gabriel with one arm around his waist as he took most of her weight.
‘What brings you here? Is Nan with you?’
She shook her head. ‘No, she’s in a meeting, but she asked me to bring that to you.’ She indicated the envelope he was holding in his free hand.
‘Did she read it?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she answered through clenched teeth. ‘She said it was important and that you’d want to see it as soon as possible.’
‘Oh, OK. Thanks for bringing it.’
‘No problem,’ she said, wincing when her good foot landed on a sharp stone and her ankle almost gave way.
He held her more tightly, stopping her from falling over. ‘Let’s take a breather on that bench,’ he said. ‘I’ll have a look and see what you’ve brought me.’
She had to stop herself from groaning in relief as he helped lower her onto the wooden bench, dedicated to someone who obviously loved this place during their lifetime. Gabe sat down next to her, the heat from his bare leg against her own sending electric currents shooting through her thigh. He didn’t seem to notice as he ripped open the top of the self-seal envelope.
Pulling out the document from inside, Gabe narrowed his eyes. She could tell this wasn’t something that made him happy.
‘Is everything all right?’ she asked hesitantly.
He shook his head.
‘Bad news?’ She hoped it wasn’t, but by the troubled expression on his face this document contained information that displeased him greatly.
‘Afraid so,’ he said. He tapped the cover letter with his index finger. ‘Our funding’s been pulled.’
‘No, that’s awful.’ Surely there weren’t many projects for marine explorers to cover. She recalled him telling her stories about his exploits and conservation plans when they were in Vietnam together, so understood how keenly he’d feel this unexpected halt to his plans. ‘Didn’t you have an inkling they would do this?’
He shook his head. ‘Not exactly,’ he said quietly. He stared out across the rolling waves in the channel at the end of the headland. She rested her hand on his knee, only vaguely sensing that it might be construed as being a little forward in the circumstances. She didn’t care. Regardless of their differences, he was someone she cared about and his beliefs were important to him and therefore to her. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘Isn’t there anything you can do?’
‘If you can wait here a moment, I’ll go and tell the guys that I need to get back to the Encore. I’ll take you back in the hotel car and make a few calls, see if there’s anything I can do to change their minds.’
He disappeared down a ladder into a hole that must have been the entrance to the bunker he’d been working on and she was relieved not to have had to follow him inside. He soon came back out of the bunker closely followed by another tall, dark man who had an air of authority about him that was hard to miss. He was very handsome and looked similar to the actor Henry Cavill, who she’d only recently discovered came from Jersey. Surely it couldn’t be him, she thought. Daisy stood up, flinching in pain as the pressure on her foot increased as it touched the grassy soil beneath her.
‘Daisy, this is Sebastian Fielding,’ he said, indicating the man next to him who, she noticed, also had a beautiful smile. She decided that his photos in the Gazette hadn’t done him justice. In fact, she thought, he would have been almost too good looking if it hadn’t been for his slightly crooked nose, brought on by someone breaking it at some point in his life, she guessed.
It dawned on her that Gabriel had said his last name was Fielding. She smiled at him. ‘You must be Fi’s older brother. She talks about you a lot,’ she said, smiling and holding out her hand for him to shake.
He took her hand in his and nodded. ‘I am, though I can imagine that more often than not she’s telling you how mean I can be,’ he joked.
‘Not at all,’ she lied. ‘Although I gather you don’t like the thought of her going to Glastonbury by herself, which seems pretty mean to me.’ She laughed, relieved he could tell she wasn’t being serious.
Sebastian shrugged. ‘My sister is very independent and even I wouldn’t have a problem with her going to the festival with a group of friends, but she intended going by herself for a “laugh” and seeing who she met along the way. If I know Fi, that’s a ticket for disaster.’
Gabriel laughed. ‘True, but then again, I know from experience that women are usually more capable of looking after themselves than us blokes when it comes to travelling.’
‘Probably because they’ve got the sense to stay away from anything that seems a little dangerous,’ she said. ‘I understand your concerns, but Fi’s pretty tough.’
He laughed. ‘I’m sure you’re right there. But not paying for her ticket made her so furious she went and found a job and that’s why she’s now working for Francesca and Rick at the Encore. And she loves it there.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Gabriel said.
Sebastian nodded. ‘She talks about you a lot,’ he said to Daisy. ‘You’ve been very kind to her since you’ve been here, showing her how everything’s done and never getting cross with her when she makes mistakes.’
Daisy shook her head. ‘She’s very clever and the guests love her. She’s the most cheerful person I’ve ever worked with.’
‘That’s good to know. She’s a great kid, even though I say so as her brother.’
Daisy went to step forward and winced.
‘We’d better get going,’ Gabriel said. ‘I’ll give you a call later and maybe you could join us for a drink sometime with Paige.’ He turned to Daisy. ‘You’ve not met Sebastian’s fiancée Paige yet, have you?’
She shook her head.
‘Daisy’s only been in Jersey a couple of months, so hasn’t had a chance to make new friends yet.’ He turned his attention back to her. ‘You’ll get along with Paige, she’s very friendly. She’s a shoe designer.’
‘Wow,’ Daisy said, impressed. ‘I’ve never met a designer before.’
‘We’ll arrange something,’ Gabe said, putting an arm around her waist. ‘Speak soon, Sebastian.’
Daisy waved goodbye to the man and hobbled off towards Lydia’s car with Gabriel. ‘A shoe designer,’ she repeated. ‘How exciting.’
‘She’s lovely,’ Gabriel said. ‘In fact, I’ve got a group of friends I’d love to introduce you to if you wouldn’t mind.’ They reached the car and he pressed the fob to unlock the doors, helping Daisy settle into her seat.
‘I’d love to meet your friends,’ she said honestly. ‘One day.’
He looked disappointed but nodded. ‘I understand,’ he said.
She knew he couldn’t possibly have an inkling about how she felt. He knew so little of her past. And after all, didn’t he have both his parents still married to each other and despite their occasionally noisy exchanges, seemingly very happily, too? No, he couldn’t know how she felt and she was far too embarrassed by her past to ever share it with him. She liked this new life where everyone just knew her as Daisy the receptionist.
They arrived back at the hotel and Daisy insisted that Gabriel go and make the phone calls and emails that he needed to make to try and save his project.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she said, making her way to the housekeeper’s back office and knocking on the door.
The door was opened by Mrs Vines, the housekeeper, and she showed her in. ‘Sit over there, Daisy.’ She squinted and bent down to inspect Daisy’s foot. ‘What have I said about those dreadful slipper things you insist on wearing? They give your feet no protection. It’s a good thing you’re not one of the chambermaids or waitresses,’ she said. ‘At least you can sit behind your desk and carry out your work with a damaged foot.’
She left the room and returned with a tub of warm soapy water and some cloths. ‘Here, put your foot up on my knee and let me see to this.’ Daisy did as she was instructed and Mrs Vines cleaned her foot, tutting noisily several times. Drying the foot carefully, she applied some ointment and bandaged it carefully.
‘Right, my girl, you take care of that foot. It should heal very quickly. You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.’
There was a knock at the door. ‘Come,’ the woman barked.
Gabriel opened the door and put his head around, giving a sheepish smile at the older woman who beamed back at him. ‘How’s the patient?’ he asked.
She tutted once again. ‘I presume she was with you when it happened?’
He nodded. ‘Yes. Nan sent her on an errand to find me at Noirmont.’
That must have been an acceptable answer, because she patted Daisy’s ankle and stood up. ‘She’s fine, but I think she should wear more sensible sandals if she’s going to be running around over bunkers.’
Daisy bit her lip to stop from giggling at the image the woman’s words conjured up. She cleared her throat. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’ll try and buy something a little less dangerous next time I have an afternoon off.’