Chapter 17
17
Connie
Sunday passed in a gentle blur. After a late and lazy hangover breakfast of Virgin Marys, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, the birthday guests headed over to the Gaspard vineyard for a tour of the cellars. When they returned, Colette and Martine cornered me in the hallway.
‘Oh my God, the vineyard bloke. How can you resist, having him on your doorstep?’ sighed Martine.
‘If I was single I’d be over there like a shot.’ Colette’s eyes were round with longing. ‘Is he named after the brandy, do you think?’
For a moment, I was tempted to tell them about my one-night stand with Rémy. They’d lap up every salacious detail with glee. But no doubt they’d egg me on to do something about him, and I knew I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t developed a hard-enough shell to throw myself into a casual fling. Rémy belonged in my memories. He was nice and safe there for the time being. But I did hang on their every word as they described their tour around the Gaspard cellars. I imagined him holding court, a delicate glass of rosé in hand as he stood amidst the bottles, charming them into falling in love with every grape variety, every vintage. They’d ordered several cases to be shipped home.
I made them tartiflette in the evening for their final meal, a huge dish of potatoes and lardons and melted Reblochon cheese which sent everyone into a contented food coma. They all went off to bed quite early, in readiness for the drive home. I slept better that night, knowing that everything had gone well.
On Monday morning, giddy with relief, I called Lismay.
‘I’ve got eight happy customers upstairs packing. I think we can declare the weekend a success.’
Lismay’s voice was suffused with gratitude. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to repay you.’
‘You don’t need to repay me. Coming here is just what I needed,’ I told her. ‘It’s taken my mind off things, and given me a purpose. I’ve just got to get through the house sale and then I’ll be able to make plans.’
It made me feel a bit sick, thinking about my future. Running away to the chateau was only a temporary fix. But I reminded myself that I should live in the moment. I was safe for now. I changed the subject.
‘How’s Piers?’
‘Gearing up for the operation tomorrow. He’s nervous, which isn’t surprising. But his surgeon is very glamorous, so that’s made him happy.’
‘Well, send him lots of love and let me know how it goes.’
‘Thank you, darling. You’ve made all this so much easier for us. We’d have had to cancel everything otherwise and we can’t afford to do that.’
I thought of all the bottles of wine that had been consumed over the weekend. They’d wanted nothing but the best from the cellar. They’d racked up about two thousand pounds on their bar bill. It should be a decent profit.
‘You’re not to worry about a thing. Just concentrate on getting Piers back on his feet.’
After breakfast, Ashley came to see me to settle up while the others finished packing. He stood in the kitchen with one hand in the pocket of his suede blouson, the other holding the invoice I’d printed out and discreetly left on the breakfast table. He had his head to one side and a smile on his face that went nowhere near his eyes. I wouldn’t be sorry to say goodbye to him. I felt sorry for Colette, having him as a brother, but you can’t choose your relatives.
Ashley waved the bill at me.
‘We’ve got a bit of a problem.’
I braced myself. I knew a bill quibbler when I saw one.
‘Every bottle of wine has a signature on the back,’ I told him. ‘I’ve kept them all if you want to count them. They’re in the scullery.’
‘No, no, no – the bill’s fine. I trust you.’ He smiled. His teeth were ultra-white. ‘It’s a bit more complicated than that.’ He waved his wrist. ‘One of the ladies is missing her watch.’
‘Oh.’ I said. ‘Oh dear. Well, we’ll certainly keep an eye out for it. What’s it like?’
He frowned. ‘I don’t think you understand.’
‘I think I do. She’s lost her watch.’
‘Not lost it. I mean, you don’t lose a watch, really, do you, when you leave it in a safe place. In your bedside drawer. In your room.’ He arched his eyebrows and looked at me meaningfully.
The penny dropped. ‘Oh. You think it’s been stolen.’ I started to feel a prickle of unease.
‘I can’t think of any other explanation. It must have been. I mean, it’s a nice watch but it doesn’t have legs .’
I narrowed my eyes as he held out his phone, showing me a picture of a small square Longines. I was trying to think as quickly as I could.
‘Has she checked everywhere? I quite often think I’ve put something somewhere and then it turns up somewhere else. Like in my sponge bag.’
‘Her husband saw her put it in the drawer. Before dinner on Saturday. When she changed from her day watch to her night watch.’
I tried not to roll my eyes. Who had a day watch and a night watch? I wondered which of the women it was.
‘OK.’ I swallowed, not sure where to go from here. ‘Well, as you know, all valuables are left in the rooms at the guest’s own risk.’ I was pretty sure the terms and conditions said something like that.
He nodded slowly. ‘I thought this place was supposed to be like your own home. And you don’t expect things to go walkabout in your own home. Do you?’
‘No.’
He patted the invoice. ‘We have to leave to get the ferry in half an hour. I think we should wait to settle this until we’ve got to the bottom of it.’
I was horrified. ‘I can’t let you leave without paying.’
‘If the watch turns up, then we’re all good. I’ll transfer the money straight away. Otherwise …’
‘I’m sorry. I don’t think that’s appropriate.’
‘It’s either that …’ He paused, for maximum effect. ‘Or we call the police.’
‘Right.’ I picked up the invoice, my hands shaking. This was awful. I’d got a bit too big for my boots, thinking I could run this place. A proper hotel manager would know what to do, but I didn’t have a clue. I couldn’t phone Lismay – the last thing I wanted was to worry her, with Piers heading for his operation tomorrow. And I definitely couldn’t risk having the police here. Word would get out, and I wouldn’t be able to contain the gossip and Piers and Lismay would be appalled.
My mind was turning over all the likely culprits. Lilou was the one who’d been doing the bedrooms, after all. But it was wrong to make assumptions about her just because of what I knew – or had surmised – about her background. After all, she’d be foolish to nick something when she’d be the first suspect. I was certain it wasn’t her.
And even if it was, I wasn’t going to throw her under the bus. After just a few days, I felt protective of my protégé.
‘No police, please,’ I said, keeping my voice as crisp as possible. ‘It really would be a waste of their time. I’ll sort it.’
‘Great.’
‘I hope it hasn’t spoiled your enjoyment of the weekend.’
‘It’s left a bit of a nasty taste. But everything else was top dollar.’ He held out a fifty-euro note. ‘There’s a tip. For whoever.’
I wanted to refuse to take it, but Delphine and Lilou would be grateful for the extra cash. I gritted my teeth.
‘I’ll share it out amongst the staff. Thank you.’
‘And if we could keep this between us. I don’t want to spoil Colette’s birthday weekend. I know how upset she’d be if she knew what had happened.’
‘Of course.’
I watched Ashley saunter off. I’d never met anyone so pleased with themselves. I shuddered with distaste and looked down at the invoice. If they didn’t pay up, it was going to be a disaster.
They were full of effusive thanks, and there was no mention of the missing watch from anyone else. Presumably Ashley had told whoever owned it that he would handle it. Colette hugged me and told me it was the best birthday she’d ever had.
‘If you’re ever in Billericay, I’ll take you out for lunch.’
I smiled politely. She probably would, as well. For a moment, I was tempted to betray Ashley’s confidence and say sorry for the turn things had taken, just to see what she said, but I didn’t want to antagonise him.
‘Oh, and if I were you, I’d get to know your neighbour better.’ She dug me in the ribs. ‘I think you could have a bit of no-strings-fun with him while you’re here. Why not?’
‘Maybe.’ I was relieved they were going, for I wouldn’t have trusted Colette not to try and set me and Rémy up on a date. She was the kind of woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it – and she wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.
Finally, the car doors were all slammed shut, the drivers started the engines and they went off down the drive. I headed back up the chateau steps. I should have been going back to congratulate myself on a successful weekend, but instead my stomach was a knot of anxiety. I hadn’t just dropped the ball, but a whole set of boules . I made myself a soothing cup of herbal tea to calm my nerves, then called Delphine and Lilou into the kitchen for a chat. I’d thought about talking to them separately, but that smacked of interrogation and I didn’t want to spoil the progress we had made in the past twenty-four hours. We had definitely felt like more of a team as the iciness between the two of them had thawed a little over the weekend.
They both looked at me, wary and suspicious, as they took their seats at the table.
‘First, I want to thank you both for everything you did to make this weekend such a success. It was wonderful and I couldn’t have done it without you. You worked so hard and I really appreciate it.’ I handed them each an envelope with Ashley’s tip shared out between them. ‘They left a tip to say thank you.’
They both looked at me, knowing there was a ‘but’ coming.
‘The problem is one of the guests is missing her watch.’ I flicked through my phone to find the picture of the model Ashley had showed me. ‘She thinks it went from her bedside drawer. I find it hard to believe, but she’s convinced she hasn’t lost it. Obviously this is very awkward for us, and very difficult to prove. But if you saw it anywhere, or if you have any idea where it might be …’
It was so hard to put them in the picture without sounding as if I was accusing one of them.
‘I have not seen it.’ Delphine threw up her hands. ‘I was not in the bedrooms.’
Lilou looked at her sharply. I nodded.
‘I know. But I thought she might have left it somewhere else by accident. I quite often take off my watch and leave it on a side table or …’ I wasn’t sure what else to say. There was silence for a few moments, and I tried to think about the best way to proceed. ‘Maybe we could all look together now they have gone? Maybe it’s slipped inside a drawer or behind a cushion? I think it may well turn up.’
Did it sound as if I was giving a possible perpetrator a get out? Giving them the chance to pretend to find it? I squirmed inside.
Lilou looked between me and Delphine.
‘You think it’s me.’ Her voice was flat. ‘You think I stole it.’
‘No, Lilou – that’s not what I’m saying at all!’
She pointed at Delphine. ‘She does. Look at her. I can see it in her eyes.’
Delphine didn’t protest. She lifted her shoulders and pressed her lips firmly together, as was her wont when conversations weren’t going her way.
‘She thinks because I’m from the bad family that I am a thief.’
‘I do not.’ Delphine looked defiant. ‘But I know it was not me.’
‘Nobody’s accusing anyone—’ I tried to placate them, but I could feel I was losing control. Lilou’s head snapped round to face me, her eyes sparking.
‘Then why are you telling us? If you don’t think it’s one of us?’
‘Because I need your help.’ How had I managed to mishandle the situation? I’d been out of the workplace too long and had forgotten how to deal with delicate issues.
‘I would never steal from here.’ Lilou’s voice was rising in fury. She pointed at Delphine. ‘Maybe it’s her. It would be easy, wouldn’t it? Because everyone would think it was me.’
Delphine pointed back. ‘I have worked here for thirty years. I have never taken so much as a potato.’
They began to harangue each other, and I was finding it hard to understand them as they descended into slang.
‘Please. Both of you. Calm down.’
Lilou had tears of frustration pouring down her cheeks, her rage descending into despair.
‘I thought it was too good. I thought I had found my dream. But I will always be the suspect if something goes wrong.’ She was taking off her apron.
‘Lilou! Stop. Let’s talk about it and figure out what to do.’
‘I can go and look. If I am allowed to go into the bedrooms today.’ Delphine knew exactly how to pile on the pressure. I had underestimated her hurt.
‘You can do everything.’ Lilou threw her apron across the room and stormed out of the door.
I clamped my hands to my head in despair. Delphine tutted in disapproval.
‘ Sauvage. ’ Wild.
‘Thank you, Delphine, but you didn’t really help.’
She drew herself up. ‘It was not me.’ She spread out her hands as if to say that logically that must mean it was Lilou.
‘No. But you didn’t need to make your suspicions so obvious.’ I couldn’t help snapping at her. She glared back at me with a look that would turn milk sour. I had no choice but to go after Lilou and try and convince her to stay, and reassure her I didn’t think she was the culprit. By the time I’d followed her out of the door, through the hall and down the steps she was already on her moped. She didn’t look up when I called, just started up the engine and sped off, with a suitably defiant tailspin slicing a line through the gravel. I watched as she headed down the drive at top speed.
I chewed on my nail, cursing Ashley, wondering what I was going to do to resolve the issue, wondering if Lilou would calm down and come back. I remembered I owed her last week’s wages. If she came back for them, I would do my best to persuade her to stay. If she didn’t, maybe I could take the money to her house? With a sigh, I headed back into the kitchen. It was filled with a deafening silence.
Delphine was gone too, her apron neatly folded up and placed on the table.
I slumped into a chair. Great. One massive unpaid bill and no members of staff. That would teach me to pat myself on the back. Pride comes before a fall, I reminded myself, though I didn’t think I deserved quite such a disastrous outcome.
My phone tinged, making me jump. A message from Lilou, perhaps? Maybe she’d got home and realised she’d overreacted. I looked at the screen.
It was Daniel. My stomach churned as I read his message.
Hi Connie. As you know, we are tenants in common. This means we are each entitled to 50 per cent of the proceeds, regardless of how much we contributed to the purchase. I hope that helps. D
Patronising bastard. Of course I understood now what tenants in common meant. Now . I hadn’t at the time, because he’d organised all the conveyancing. We should have been joint tenants, with me being allocated a bigger share due to the contribution I’d made with Mum’s money. But I’d left that side of things to him, and I’d trusted him. Whether he’d done it that way deliberately I didn’t know, but no doubt he was looking after his own interests. Certainly not mine. It was a tough lesson, realising that you had to go through life suspecting the worst about people if you were going to protect yourself.
I felt desolate. I’d left myself exposed by not paying attention to the small print when I’d made the biggest financial commitment of my life. I’d lost the entire weekend’s takings. I’d mismanaged two people whose support I needed. I’d let down the two people who had always been there for me. I slumped onto the table, putting my head in my arms. My head was pounding with tension as I turned everything over, trying to work out who I could turn to for advice. There was no one. I was isolated. I was stuck here, all on my own in the middle of the French countryside. What a complete and utter disaster.