Chapter Fifteen
Monday, 6 th November
Rico stood in the deserted hallway, utter silence pressing down on him. The ex-conference rooms were cleared, the reception desk was invisible under a large dustsheet and the office door was firmly shut. Ghost hotel. This was it. Goodbye, Lakeside.
Stacy’s footsteps echoing down the stairwell coincided with the arrival of several vehicles outside. Rico peered into the darkness of early morning in November, where a builder’s van and a larger one from the plumbing company had pulled up.
Thirty seconds later, men with equipment were streaming into the hotel, and he and Stacy were standing at the side of the hall with Andi.
The project manager shook hands with them both and spoke in his accented English. ‘Big day, Rico! The builders will secure dust barriers between the project area and the rest of the place, then they’ll get the walls at the back of the large conference room down while the plumbers prepare their part. Do you have the list of times you won’t have water?’
‘Yup. It’s do-able.’
‘Okay. The head plumber wants a word with you, Rico, and Stacy, can we check the places you want sealed off from dust?’
Andi and Stacy moved away, and Rico looked round for the plumber. This was getting real. Today, floors would be ripped up and the stud walls of the conference room cupboards and store room would vanish. And if he’d thought he’d been nervous before his driving test or degree exams, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Oh, to be back at uni, doing a nice safe master’s degree. Nausea surged, and Rico made a beeline for the staff cloakroom, where he splashed his face with the water that was due to go off that afternoon. He was not going to let nerves make him sick. He was stronger than that. Go, Rico. You’re doing this for Mum. He dried his face on a scratchy paper towel and slapped his cheeks. Deep breath, man, and get out there and do your job.
His phone rang before he’d gone three steps. It was Karen, and that was odd, actually – she was supposed to be here right now. He tapped to connect.
‘Rico, I won’t be able to work this week. Melanie’s in hospital.’
Rico went back into the cloakroom where it was quiet. Karen’s daughter was the same age as him; in fact, they’d been in the same primary class.
‘Oh no – what happened?’
Karen was speaking through tears. ‘She’s pregnant, but she’s had problems from the start and they’ve put her on bed rest. They’re being very non-committal about her chances of keeping the baby. It’s not due until early May, so she’s only just past the first trimester.’
Rico scratched his head. He would need to get Stacy’s take on this to understand properly, but he could deal with the main thing here.
‘Take as long as you need, Karen. We can get Flavia in, if we have to. The important thing is for you to be with Melanie. Tell her I’m sending positive vibes to – where is she? St Gallen?’
‘Yes. Thank you. I’ll let you know when I can come back.’
He was left listening to a broken connection. Rico set off to look for Stacy, but he ran into the head plumber before he found her and was drawn into a complicated conversation about stopcocks. This build was going to increase his knowledge about quite a few things before it was over.
It was nine o’clock before he found Stacy in the hotel kitchens, making coffee for the workmen.
She put the thermos jug she was filling onto a trolley along with a collection of cups. ‘Andi said coffee for everyone at nine would be appreciated. Should we supply biscuits as well?’
‘Good idea.’ Rico rummaged in a cupboard. ‘Here you go. I’ll get more today.’
He held up the thick felt dust wall now covering the entrance to the restaurant while she pushed her trolley through and parked it in the front hall. Rico yelled, ‘Kaffee!’, and the workmen trickled through. He chatted to them for a few moments, then ushered Stacy aside.
‘Bring your cup into the office. I need to run something by you.’
She listened, nodding gravely as he told her about Karen’s daughter.
‘It sounds as if it could go either way for her and the baby, doesn’t it? I guess that’s what’s been making Karen so irritable lately.’
Rico scratched his neck. ‘Yes. Can you make a list of what Karen would be doing for the next couple of weeks, then we’ll see if we can cover it, or if we should ask Flavia in.’
‘Will do.’
And she was right here next to him, her perfume wafting across the little office room, and it was taking all the self-control he had not to look at her like a love-sick spaniel. Rico gave Stacy a bright smile and held the office dust wall open for her to go back to the hallway. He could do this.
***
Well, her first day of work as general dogsbody on a building site as well as medical advisor to the team hadn’t gone too badly – apart from her hair. Stacy stood in the en suite, hairbrush in hand, but she was going to have to wash it again. Her skin and clothes were pretty gritty, too; she’d have to rethink her wardrobe for the next few weeks. Overalls might be a good plan.
She was drying her hair when her phone rang – Kim. Tobias would be in London now, of course. Did Kim want some company?
Her friend’s voice was low, and slower than normal. ‘Stacy, I have a migraine, and it’s Eli’s turnip lantern parade at kindergarten tonight. Could you take him and Ben?’
‘Oh, poor you! Of course I can – but is that what Eli wants? Wouldn’t he rather go with his friend’s family?’
‘I suggested that, but he wants someone there “just for him”. He was pleased when I suggested you.’
A little flare of pleasure warmed through Stacy. ‘Aw, that’s nice. I’ll be with you ASAP.’
Kim was sheet-white and trembling when she arrived at the house. Stacy took one look at her and made her lie down on the sofa. Elijah hovered around close to his mother, a tight little frown between his eyes. Ben, fortunately, was playing unconcernedly with his toy cars in the hallway.
Stacy shifted a couple of extra cushions onto an armchair to give Kim more sofa space. ‘Tell Eli he has to help me with Ben. You stay right here in the meantime. Have you got meds to take?’
‘I’ve taken them, but they don’t work very well.’
‘Okay. We’ll look at that later. Have the boys eaten yet?’
‘No. There’s soup.’ Kim spoke to Elijah, who nodded seriously, then took Stacy’s hand, blinking up at her.
‘Komm, Stacy!’
He pulled her into the kitchen, with Ben following on, and Stacy set her shoulders. Talk about being flung in at the deep end. Was she going to manage this?
It took a lot of trial and error and pointing, but by quarter to seven they were setting off for Eli’s kindergarten, Ben’s mittened hand firmly in hers and both boys clutching the turnip lanterns they’d made. They rounded the corner, and Stacy found herself in a street she’d never seen before, and all the way along it were little family groups of parents and children going in the same direction, all with lanterns shining out into the darkness.
Elijah pulled her sleeve, holding his lantern up and pointing inside. Stacy didn’t understand the words, but the gesture was clear. She fished in her bag for the matches he’d insisted on bringing, and lit both boys’ lanterns. And wow – this was pretty special, wasn’t it?
People called out to Eli and Ben as they walked along to the kindergarten, and she heard the word ‘Englisch’ several times in Elijah’s replies. He seemed pleased to have her here, beaming up at her every so often. Stacy hugged herself. This was a real slice of family life in Switzerland, wasn’t it? They arrived at the kindergarten, where a huge pumpkin was waiting in a little wheeled wagon, intricately carved and with candles inside. Elijah pulled her over to talk to a middle-aged woman, presumably his teacher. The woman listened to his high-pitched explanation, then shook Stacy’s hand.
‘Welcome! We are happy to have you here!’
The words were in German, but Stacy understood perfectly, and here she was, using her German in a real situation again. When everyone had gathered, the procession set off, the wagon pulled by the teacher in front, and everyone else tagging along in groups behind. A song was started, and the children joined in. Elijah and Ben sang enthusiastically, and after about the fifth verse, Stacy was able to hum along too. People in the houses they passed waved, or came out to watch – turnip lantern parades appeared to be quite an event in Grimsbach. It was almost an hour later when they arrived back at the kindergarten. Some of the parents vanished inside and returned with a trolley, not unlike the one Stacy had put the coffee and biscuits on at the hotel that morning, except this one had hot orange punch and raspberry syrup. She accepted a beaker of punch, saying, ‘Danke schon’ in her best German, and helped Ben remove his gloves to drink his syrup, and oh, this was the best evening she’d had here in Grimsbach. Tonight, she was part of this little community, and how lovely it was that so many people were smiling at her, some of them even taking the time to talk to her in easy German. And she was managing easy replies, too. Wow.
The party ended at half past eight, and everyone set off home. Stacy put her finger on her lips as she unlocked the front door, and Eli and Ben immediately pressed their lips shut. Stacy could have kissed them.
Inside, Kim was still on the sofa, but she looked a little less washed out now. Stacy made her a cup of tea, then oversaw the boys’ bedtime routine, ending up sitting on the edge of Ben’s bed while Elijah ‘read’ a bedtime story. A few giggles floated downstairs after she left them, but when she went up to check twenty minutes later, both children were asleep.
‘Will you be okay alone here with them?’ She crouched by the sofa and took Kim’s pulse.
‘Yes. I’ll go to bed too. This’ll be much more bearable tomorrow, and gone by Wednesday. It’s always the same with these migraines. Thank you so much, Stacy. You saved the evening for Elijah.’
‘It was my absolute pleasure. I’ll check in with you tomorrow, and we’ll have a chat about your meds too, huh? Sleep well.’
The streets were deserted as Stacy wandered slowly back to Lakeside. She gazed at the houses round about, picturing all the happy children she’d seen tonight tucked into bed, tired after a special, magical evening. The tiny rootlet she’d put down in Grimsbach had become so much bigger and stronger, and all thanks to Kim and her children.
The hotel was in darkness as she walked up the drive, only a dim light coming from the kitchen window upstairs. Wasn’t Rico at home? She stepped over the cables criss-crossing the hallway floor and started up the stairs.
All was silent in the flat when she opened the front door. Stacy went into the kitchen, and found an addition to the Gone to Kim’s note she’d left on the table:
19.30. Gone for a drink with Vreni. See you tomorrow. R.
Well. Yes. Good. This was what she’d wanted. Wasn’t it?