Chapter Three
Thursday, 26 th October
The intercity squealed to a halt in Romanshorn, and Stacy bundled her luggage out into a cloudy afternoon. Here she was in north-east Switzerland, her long journey almost over. The smaller, regional train to Grimsbach left in six minutes, but she only had to cross the platform to get it, and at last, after all those weeks of anticipation, she was nearly there. She hurried across to the other train and found a seat near the door, and – anticipation? That had morphed into something bordering on terror that she might have made a huge mistake, committing herself to a year in a country where her command of the language was basic, to say the least. In fifteen minutes, she’d be in Grimsbach, and she’d soon find out if all those German lessons and finding out about spas and hotel management had been worth it. She grinned at the thought. The spa bit had been fun, if a touch expensive. And they were off.
Stacy trembled with cold and excitement as the train meandered along the Swiss side of Lake Constance. Gone was the perfect weather she’d enjoyed in the summer. Her fellow travellers today were wrapped up in their winter woollies and clutching brollies. Stacy sat with her nose glued to the window. She’d imagined this journey so many times, remembering the beautiful blue lake she’d seen in the summer. What a difference today. Lake Constance was slate-coloured under a leaden sky, and white ribbons of mist were floating over the water. It was too dark to see the German bank on the opposite side, and too foggy to see any lights twinkling there. The contrast to the sunny place she’d fallen in love with couldn’t have been greater, and it chimed in with her mood now. In summer, she’d been in holiday mode. Today was deadly serious.
The train slid to a halt at Grimsbach, and she dragged her luggage onto the single platform and looked around. Apart from a woman hurrying away at the other end of the platform, the place was deserted. Sudden raindrops spattered down, and Stacy pulled her cases under the dubious shelter of the glass roof with open sides that housed the ticket machine. Help, this was an inauspicious start to her job as chief nurse and assistant to the manager at the Lakeside Hotel and soon-to-be Spa, wasn’t it? Where was the welcoming committee?
She hesitated. Rico was away on a course in Geneva this week, but she’d messaged her arrival time to Karen at reception when the train left the airport. Stacy pushed a strand of rapidly dampening blonde hair behind her ear and was about to rummage for her phone when a metallic grey Volvo pulled up twenty yards away and Karen, looking like a middle-aged version of Heidi with her rosy cheeks and curly brown hair, waved from the driver’s seat. Yay, she was saved! Stacy scurried over with her bags.
‘Sorry. I forgot the time.’ Karen opened the boot and helped Stacy lift her two cases in. ‘Uff, what on earth have you got in here? In my day we toured around Europe with a backpack and two changes of underwear.’ She banged the boot shut.
Heavens, that was bit cutting. Stacy wrinkled her nose at Karen’s back, then deposited her sports bag on the back seat and got into the front, gazing out eagerly as the car turned into the main road.
‘How are things at the hotel?’
‘We’re barely limping along, as usual,’ said Karen flatly. ‘But we close on Sunday, so that’s the end of the season, thank goodness. I only hope Rico knows what he’s doing with all these renovations he’s got planned.’
‘I’m sure he does.’
Karen didn’t reply, and Stacy rolled her eyes – mentally, of course. How to welcome your new co-worker, not. Something was up; this wasn’t the warm and efficient receptionist she’d laughed with in the summer. Had that been an act? The woman behind the wheel seemed offhand and critical.
Karen remained silent, and Stacy thanked her stars that the journey to the hotel was so short. In less than three minutes they were pulling up in the staff section of the car park, and she got out quickly to open the boot. It wasn’t Karen’s job to heave her hundred and forty changes of every item of clothing you could think of into the hotel. She glanced up. The big wooden chalet was dark with rain, water dripping gently from the eaves and the rows of geranium-filled window boxes gone. It was a chalet-in-waiting for better times, but these were coming, weren’t they?
The receptionist grabbed Stacy’s sports bag and hurried to the front door. ‘Come on – I’ll show you your room, and you can get settled in.’
Pulling her cases, Stacy followed the older woman across the front hallway, memories of the last time she’d hauled two cases in here – hers and Emily’s – seeping into her mind. Another contrast, but this time a happy one. Emmy was fully recovered from the accident, and oh, how great it would be if she was here today too. Stacy shivered – she wasn’t getting cold feet about this job, was she? Who was she kidding; her feet were like blocks of ice.
The lift doors pinged open and Karen jabbed the button for the fourth floor. ‘You’re in the staff quarters, of course. It’s a flat with four bedrooms, but only one other is occupied, and you share a living room and kitchen.’
Upstairs, Stacy pulled her luggage onto a small landing with a door at each side. Karen opened the left-hand door, and Stacy followed on into a narrow hallway. Her room was first on the left.
‘The living room and kitchen are at the far end. You can eat in the restaurant at staff rates until Saturday, or you can buy food and cook. You know where the minimarket is. I’ll see you later.’ A brief smile, and Karen was gone.
Stacy dumped her luggage in the corner and went to explore her new home. She had a single bed, a bedside table, and a desk and chair. Two doors in the wall opposite the bed led into a small walk-in wardrobe and an en suite with a shower. Well. It wasn’t too bad. She went across to the window and pulled the long curtain to one side, and oh, joy – French doors, and she had her own little balcony. Stacy cheered up about three hundred per cent. Okay, it was teeming down out there, but the balcony overlooked the hotel garden and, more importantly, the lake. This would be brilliant on sunny days.
A prowl to the end of the hallway revealed a living room with a shabby blue three-piece suite, a coffee table and bookshelf, and a TV. The kitchen was basic but clean, and there was a family bathroom with a huge roll top bath. It was all fine, if a touch lonely. Stacy shook herself. She wasn’t usually one for first-night nerves. It would be better when she’d met a few people and started her job properly.
Her phone buzzed as a text from Rico came in, and she sank down on the bed to read it.
Hope you arrived ok – welcome to Lakeside. Wi-fi code on kitchen cupboard. Help yourself to anything you need.
Heavens, yes, that was why her phone was so silent. Stacy connected her mobile to the internet, and sure enough, messages started beeping in. The usual
Have fun and be good!,
from her mother, and
Let me know you’ve arrived, love to Lakeside,
from Emily. Stacy answered both, then investigated the kitchen. The cupboard held a good selection of groceries. Rico had said to help herself… She put the kettle on for tea, wondering. Had the hotel stocked the cupboards? Or was Rico her new flatmate? His father had moved to the south of Switzerland now, so what was happening with their family flat? Stacy pulled out her phone and replied to Rico’s text while the kettle was boiling.
Arrived safely. See you tomorrow.
Her phone rang almost immediately, and her new boss’s voice spoke in her ear, sounding pleased. ‘Welcome back! Did Karen tell you about the weekend?’
‘She said we close on Sunday. Is there more?’
‘There’s a staff dinner on Sunday evening – at least, we’re all going out for a pizza. You too, of course. And on Saturday, we’re having a “Friends of Lakeside” aperitif in the restaurant, so you’ll meet some people then too. Tomorrow, you should take your passport to the town hall in Grimsbach and get your permits filed. I’ll be back by four, and I’ll help you with anything you’re not sure about.’
Stacy poured boiling water over her teabag. ‘Are we flatmates, then? Who else lives here?’
‘Just you and me for the moment. Make yourself at home.’
Stacy ended the call and took her tea back to her room, apprehension pulling at her stomach. Why on earth hadn’t Karen told her all that? She wandered over to the window and stared out at the rain. She was sharing a flat with a man she liked but barely knew, and the only home comforts were those she’d brought with her. And tomorrow she had to grapple with the authorities in her ten words of German, so hopefully someone spoke English at Grimsbach town hall. Oh, help – was this job really a good idea? It had given her something to think about in the days after ending things with David, and it was definitely a challenge, but… Stacy opened her suitcase, blinking back tears. Home in peaceful little Elton Abbey, and all the home folk, seemed very far away.