Chapter Thirty
Tuesday, 19 th December
Rico locked the front door after the last of the builders had gone out into a frosty evening, and silence echoed through the old chalet. Not long to go before Project Lakeside stopped for Christmas and New Year, and already there was a different, end-of-term feeling in the air, in spite of the complete lack of Christmas decorations. This time tomorrow, Stacy would be at home in England. This time on Thursday, they’d have halted the build until January and he’d be here alone at Lakeside, packing to go to Lugano for Christmas. He trailed back across the deserted hallway, a wave of desolation swamping him. Look at the place. You’d think it was the most unloved hotel in the world. Yet everything was going to plan, and it was Christmas, which should be a happy, family time. So why was he feeling so empty?
The heavy dust sheet over the reception desk had slid to one side, and he pulled it straight, then put two files and a box of pens into the office. Having the desk covered didn’t stop everyone using it as a general depository for anything and everything, and actually, they didn’t need a dustsheet here any longer. The amount of dust produced on the build was a tiny fraction of what it had been. He yanked, and the dustsheet slid to the floor and puddled at his feet.
And there it was. Mum’s desk.
Rico ran both hands over what used to be shining, polished larch wood. It was dull and grainy after being covered all those weeks, and oh, what memories this old desk was raking up. His mother standing here, laughing with Dad, welcoming guests, making sure they were comfortable, living her best life and loving her hotel and oh, God , what had he done to the place? Rico raised his eyes to the messy hall, and the still unfinished ex-small conference room beyond it. There hadn’t been a hotel guest here for weeks, and Lakeside – Mum’s hotel, her creation – would never be the same again. Horror and helplessness and longing for the past welled up, and Rico leaned over the desk, his head in his hands.
‘Rico? What’s up?’
Stacy came out of the large spa and came round the desk to put a hand on his shoulder. Rico shook it off and stood straight, wiping his face with one hand and gesticulating around the front hall with the other.
His voice shook. ‘Lakeside was the last, real thing we had that was Mum’s. Look at it. She wouldn’t recognise it any longer, and we’ll never get the old Lakeside back. This was Mum’s hotel and we’ve killed it and I’ve given up my whole career to do that.’
He was panting now, choking back sobs because no way did he want to howl like a baby with Stacy standing there.
She gazed around the hallway, her eyes wide and her face pale, then turned back to him, but she didn’t try to touch him this time. Good.
‘It’s your hotel, yours and Ralph’s. Your mum would–’
He banged his hands on the desk, and a little cloud of dust rose. ‘She had a name. No one ever says her name here now.’
Ghosts from the past swirled around in his head. Dad yelling: ‘Edie – have you got a moment?’, which meant he was in dire trouble with something and needed help straightaway. Guests coming down for breakfast: ‘Look, Edie’s on reception. She’ll know about…’ She usually did know, too. Staff wandering up with some request: ‘Edie, do you think…’ Rico bowed his head. None of that would ever happen again.
Stacy moved round to the opposite side of the desk and leaned over it, her face close to his.
‘I wish I’d known her. Edie, I mean, and you haven’t killed her hotel. You’re keeping it alive, making it better, turning it back into something she’d be proud of. We have to carry on doing that. In a month or two, Lakeside will be up and running again, and you can go back to uni and continue with your career as soon as everything’s organised.’
Rico stood straight, resentment mingling with frustration. ‘It still won’t be Mum’s hotel, will it? But you’re right. You’re always bloody right, aren’t you, seeing the sensible way every time? But that doesn’t make it easier, you know.’
She flinched, and stepped back. For a long moment they stared at each other. Oh God, he’d hurt her. Look at her eyes; appalled didn’t come into it. That wasn’t what he wanted, and he wasn’t thinking straight, either. He and Dad had killed the hotel before he’d ever known Stacy and well before the build had started.
‘Stacy, I–’
She shook her head. ‘You’re wrong. And you’re not the only one who can’t come to terms with the past. I’m stuck too. Sensible? If I was always right, I wouldn’t have wasted all those years with a lying, cheating scumbag like David and loving him, too. In my book that’s gullible, not sensible. And the worst thing is, he’s still controlling my life.’
Now she was the one with tears on her cheeks. Rico opened the long-neglected drawer on his side of the desk and brought out a packet of tissues. He took one and handed the rest to Stacy.
It was enough to defuse the situation. She wiped her face, smiling grimly. ‘Remember last summer, when I first discovered David was cheating on me? You gave me a tissue then, too.’
Rico sniffed. ‘And you had to give it back to me ten minutes later when I realised Dad and I could lose Lakeside. At least we have one each today.’
She dabbed her eyes, and came back to the desk, the tension of the past few minutes gone. Rico put out a hand and touched her shoulder quickly.
‘I’m sorry. But he’s not controlling you, Stacy. You came here, you did something to change your life and he’s living his, too. Let him go.’
She scrubbed her face again, then pushed the tissue up her sleeve. ‘Let the past go, huh? Don’t we always take it with us?’
Rico spread his fingers over the desk, then took out another tissue and began to dust it. ‘Let’s try to take the good bits and dump the bad bits. I’ll do my best for this new Lakeside we’re creating, and you…’ He blinked over at her.
‘I’ll do my best to banish David from my head and concentrate on living my own life. You have to find a good space in your head for your – for Edie, too. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?’
She was more bitter than he’d ever heard her. Rico heaved a sigh. ‘What’s easy in life? We can try.’ He ran his hand over the desk, now more or less dust-free, but shiny wouldn’t have been the first word that came to mind when you looked at it. He patted the wood with one hand. He would polish it after Christmas.
Stacy was watching him, her eyes still bleak. Rico pulled a face at her.
‘Wow, that was pretty intense for the last evening we’ll spend together this year. My no booze time ends tomorrow. How about–?’ He tilted his head to the side.
She met his eyes, her expression deadpan. ‘Mine’s a G&T.’
Rico went through to the hotel kitchen and raided the drinks cupboard. There was still a lot unsaid between him and Stacy, and still a lot of work to put in on the hotel. But it felt as if he, Stacy and Lakeside had all just taken a big step forward.