Chapter Twenty-Nine
Monday, 3 rd July
A gull screeching outside woke her the following morning, and Stacy rolled on her side, rubbing her eyes in amazement as the hotel radio alarm on her bedside table swam into view. Heavens, she’d slept for seven solid hours. Unbelievable, after what had happened yesterday evening. Depression surged as she remembered David’s betrayal, and she stamped the feeling back. She was not going to let this get on top of her. If she did, he’d have won.
Sunlight was pouring in from the balcony, and she got up and went to look outside. It was another beautiful day – and she was going home this afternoon, so she’d better pack as much Switzerland as she could into the remaining time. The haze was dense this morning, you couldn’t see Germany at all. It could be the ocean she was staring at; the illusion of infinity was perfect. It was a bit like her life now, come to think of it – she could stare ahead, but she couldn’t see what was in the distance. When would she see David again – would she see David again?
Dressed and ready to go, Stacy perched on the edge of her bed. She was way too early; breakfast didn’t start for another five minutes. She waggled the third finger of her left hand, where a thin band of white stood out against her tan. Her ring would never go back there. What would she do with it? David had one too; they’d paid for them together, though hers with the diamond was more valuable. Stacy stuck her chin in the air. His behaviour was despicable and the moment she was home she would call him and tell him exactly that. Then she would forget all about him. He could do what he liked with the handful of things she had at his flat; if she never saw him again it would be way too soon. And okay, that was childish, but this was the famous first day of the rest of her life and she was damned well going to get on with it. She would stay on at the shop for a while, have a good think about where she wanted to work, then she’d look for a nursing job that David didn’t need to approve of. The choice was hers alone, and it felt good, didn’t it? It felt right. And now it was seven o’clock and she was starving.
She trotted down the wooden staircase and went out to the deserted terrace, where the eggs were being brought through. Her stomach lurched as she glanced down to the mooring place. Last night had been – well, it had been one of the worst nights of her life, but she had no intention of going into a decline like a Jane Austen heroine might after loving and losing. She was going to have to be a lot tougher than that, so she might as well start right away. Stacy picked out some cheese and ham and a couple of crackers, and lifted a chocolate yoghurt. Comfort food, but why not? In spite of her brave thoughts, the next few weeks wouldn’t be easy, telling everyone about her broken engagement, and having the preparations for Gareth and Jo’s wedding in her face all the time, not to mention starry-eyed Emily. But she’d manage .
‘Morning. How did you sleep?’ Rico sat down opposite her without waiting for an invitation, and signalled to the waiter for coffee.
‘Surprisingly well given last night’s revelations. How about you?’ He didn’t look as if he’d slept at all; his eyes were puffy and his face was pale, but there was an air of excitement about him that she’d never seen before.
He sat back while the waiter poured his coffee, then grinned. ‘Hardly slept a wink, but I know what I’m going to do now. You were right – I can’t let the hotel go without trying. So if Dad agrees, I’ll postpone my master’s for a year, and after that I could still do it part time even if I was staying on at Lakeside.’
Stacy’s lips stretched in a grin – the first post-David grin. ‘Brilliant! No matter what happens, you’ll have nothing to regret.’
He was looking at her with a very odd expression now. ‘I really like your spa idea, you know. There’s loads we could do without getting too complicated – massage, manicure, hairdressing, as well as all the sauna and water stuff. Hot tubs and so on.’
He leaned forward and to Stacy’s astonishment he grasped both her hands across the table.
‘Come and help me run it, Stacy. Be spa nurse for the first year. Your medical experience would be invaluable, and you’d be doing something that didn’t involve any terrible illnesses and so on. And you could set up all the special English stuff that Mum did, too. Please.’
Stacy had to fight to keep her mouth from falling open. It was the last thing she’d expected. Leave England for a year?
‘I don’t know – would I be allowed to work in Switzerland? I hardly speak any German.’
His eyes were shining. ‘ We could get you a work permit starting in autumn. Plenty of time to learn the basics of the language. I would close the hotel after the school holidays in October, renovate, and re-open in January for winter tourists wanting some wellness.’
‘And your dad? Do you think he’ll agree?’ A shiver of excitement started in Stacy’s middle. This would be a huge change for her, but – why not? A year wasn’t forever, and she was free as a bird now.
‘I think he’ll be dancing the moment I ask him. Say you’ll come, Stacy. I can’t think of a better person for the job.’
He squeezed her hands and let them go, his eyes fixed on hers. Stacy leaned back in her chair. Yikes. Look at those eyes. Was all this enthusiasm because he was going to transform Lakeside, or did it have anything to do with the prospect of working with her? If it did, that could bring its own set of complications. Was that what she wanted? She stared into his tired eyes – honesty was streaming out of them. How often had she seen that expression in David’s gorgeous blue ones? Hm. She wasn’t blind exactly, but she hadn’t seen that the fourteen-year-old boy she’d fallen in love with had been replaced by an over-ambitious and ruthless man.
Rico was silent, his eyes still fixed on her, and Stacy fought for control. ‘If only’ was everywhere… She turned her head, her thoughts swirling as she gazed across the terrace to the lake beyond. No one could change what had happened, but… a job at Lakeside. There was no reason not to, was there?
‘Okay. I’ll come. Subject to your dad’s go-ahead, and to my contract, of course!’
Rico’s face lit up, and he leapt to his feet. ‘Stay right there! I’ll be back as soon as I’ve spoken to Dad!’
** *
Rico ran into the deserted office and closed the door behind him. Surely, surely Dad would agree. Okay, they wouldn’t get Grande’s money for the place, but the hotel would be staying in the family, and Stacy had been bang on last night – if he let it go without trying, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
He tapped to connect to Ralph’s phone, which rang five times before Rico realised it wasn’t even half seven yet. But Dad was an early riser, usually.
Not today, though. His father’s voice was blurry with sleep.
‘Rico? Everything okay?’
‘Everything’s fine, and I have a proposal for you. A sort of anti-Grande one. It would be expensive, but…’ He detailed the idea in pretty much the same way he had to Stacy, adding that she was ready to come and work for a year. At the end of his monologue, he stopped and waited.
Ralph was silent, then – ‘Rico, there’s nothing I’d like more than to agree, but I don’t know if we’d be able to finance a big project like that.’
‘I wondered if we could get a grant to renovate the chalet. It’s old enough to count as a historical treasure, isn’t it?’
‘It is, but it’s not a listed building, which is good in one way but I have a feeling you might need planning permission to add hot tubs and spa facilities. We could find out, though. Have you costed the project? We could get a bank loan, but that might not cover everything. I don’t want to spend my old age in poverty and debt if it doesn’t work out.’
Now that he had his heart set on the project, Rico wasn’t about to let it go. ‘A bank loan would cover the important part. I’ll find out about applying for one of those “young entrepreneur” grants, too.’
‘You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’
Rico almost laughed. He’d asked Stacy the same question last night. ‘Yes, I am. I don’t want to let Lakeside go. Mum would be all for the project.’ Was that mean?
‘Your mum would be all for it, yes.’
His father’s voice was thoughtful, but it wasn’t a hurt kind of thoughtfulness. Good. Dad was thinking how to make this work. Rico waited, trying to contain his impatience.
Ralph continued slowly. ‘I’ll tell you who else might give me a loan – my brother. We both inherited the hotel, though he was happy to be bought out when your mum and I started the business.’
‘Okay.’ Rico stood up. ‘Can we find out about all that, and report back later today? Ideally, I’d like to give Stacy an answer before she leaves this afternoon.’
Ralph laughed. ‘You always were the kind of kid who wanted things yesterday. I’ll get onto Guido this morning, but the rest is going to take a bit of negotiating. Rico, son, thank you. No matter what comes of this, I’m glad you’re willing to give it a go.’
Rico was left listening to an empty line. It wasn’t as definite as he’d have liked, but at least it wasn’t a no. He’d better tell Stacy now, and oh, please God that one day soon he’d be sending her a job contract. This simply had to work – for the hotel, and also to give him the chance to convince Stacy that all men weren’t heartless brutes and that she could trust him.
He broke the news to Stacy that it was a definite maybe, then dived up to the flat. At last, he had a job to do, and this was too important to put in an email that might not get answered for days on end. Rico sat down with the landline phone and his laptop, and started his phone calls. The historical buildings people were interested, but wanted to see plans and costs before committing themselves. The ‘young entrepreneurs’ people were even more interested, but also wanted plans and costs. They emailed him a form to fill in, and Rico saved it in a new folder on his laptop: ‘Project Lakeside Spa’. Okay, the next thing was to find someone who could give him an idea about expenses. There was a biggish company in St Gallen that did hot tubs… and they’d need a builder, too. Rico’s heart began to beat faster. This would be a huge project. Would he be able to cope with it?
***
Stacy zipped up her suitcase and checked she had everything organised in her handbag. Passport, check. Boarding card and flight info, yup. And train tickets. Karen at reception had helped her print everything out; it was always good to have your stuff on paper as well as on your phone. She smiled ruefully: sensible Stacy strikes again…
Okay, it was almost ten o’clock. She would go and have a final wander around the garden and down to the lake. She was meeting Emily and Alan for coffee on the terrace later, and after lunch, Alan was borrowing Luis the waiter’s car to take them to St Gallen, where they’d start the journey to Basle. He was working from two onwards, so he couldn’t come with them this time. It was going to be a gloomy journey – Emmy would be gutted about leaving Alan, and she still had to tell Emily the news that she was definitely no longer engaged.
Stacy wheeled her case to the side of the room and parked it beside the table. She didn’t need to take her luggage down to the office for safekeeping; Karen had said that as the hotel was so underbooked, she could have the room until she left. Stacy went out to the balcony to take a final photo of the view – would it be the last photo of the lake? Or would she be back? Rico had said he’d give her a definite answer ASAP, but that would hardly be today. Bank stuff always took ages. It was exciting, but scary, too, when you didn’t know what direction your life was going to take. Was she ready for a year in a different country, doing a job that sounded vague at best? Maybe she was – she’d barely given David a second thought all morning, so that must prove something, mustn’t it?
Downstairs, reception was deserted and she strolled round the front of the hotel. The driveway was deserted too; it was hard to imagine the place with tourists bustling everywhere, guests arriving and leaving, busy staff rushing around looking after everyone. If Rico’s plan worked, she might be standing here next summer in the middle of it all.
She took the secret path to the boathouse, then sat down on the wall overlooking the water. If this became a sauna, they could have people leaving the steam room and jumping into the water to cool off, like in those adverts you saw for Swedish saunas. Lakeside could have a whole new lease of life. They could get one of those rafts you saw in different places up and down the lake, and moor it fifty metres out on the water, for people to swim to and relax on, and – some hotel paddle boards, for guests to hire? Heavens, she was planning away here as if she owned the place, not just someone who might be coming to work for a year. She glanced further along the lake bank to the place they’d sat last night, when so much in her life had fallen apart. Rico had been there for her. And maybe… maybe she was looking fo rward to working with him.
The church clock in the village struck half past, and Stacy rose to complete her circuit of the garden and meet the other two. Bye, boathouse, bye, lake path, and oh, goodbyes weren’t half tough. Bye, Lakeside Lady . If she came back here, she might go out in the cabin cruiser one day. Children’s voices laughing on the lake path rang over the garden, and Stacy smiled. Little Elijah would be looking forward to going home today. She turned away from the water. Last breath of lake air, and now she knew. She absolutely did want to come back here; hope was pulling strongly in her gut.
She was crossing the grass to the terrace when she heard her name.
‘Stacy! Are you there?’
It was Rico. Stacy stepped onto the end of the terrace, waving to Rico as he dashed out from the bar.
‘I’m here!’
‘Come and look!’ He pulled her over to a table and plonked down beside her, shoving his phone under her nose. ‘Dad emailed – it’s a definite yes! He attached a list of a few more places we can apply to for help with the finances, too. One’s a company that concentrates on preserving these old wooden chalets, so that one’s particularly hopeful, especially as there aren’t many of the large ones like Lakeside left now. And I had a chat with a couple of companies we could use to renovate. It needn’t be as expensive as I’d thought. So, although we still have nothing definite from any of the people who might give us grants, Dad’s brother’s going to lend him the cash to get started, and a bank loan on top of that should be enough to finish even without the grants. It’ll be tight for a couple of years, but once we get the place up and running, it should pay for itself! ’
Stacy peered at the email on his phone – not that she understood much because it was in German, which Rico seemed to have forgotten she didn’t speak. Yet.
‘Does that mean I have a job?’
‘It means you’d start mid-October and help plan the facilities. Do we have a deal?’
Stacy blinked up at the hotel, then down to the lake. Oh, yes… ‘Deal!’
Rico hugged her in her chair, then leapt up and almost danced inside. ‘I’ll call Dad and tell him! He’ll be thrilled!’
Stacy sat still. Wow. She was coming back to Lakeside… She looked up to see Emily and Alan standing with their mouths hanging open.
Emily sat down in the chair Rico had vacated. ‘What was all that about?’
‘Long story short – David and I have split up for good, and I’ve got a new job,’ said Stacy. She beamed at Emily. ‘The prosecco’s on me tonight!’