Chapter 27
27
Being subtle wasn’t one of Liv’s talents but she needed to have a quiet word with Dolly. ‘Dolly could I have a quick chat…?’ She pointed inside.
‘Go ahead. Meredith is a friend and I’ve explained to her exactly what’s happened.’
‘That Lizzie is the worst,’ said Meredith. ‘Imagine being so bitter that you wanted to take revenge on someone.’
‘Well,’ began Liv. Memories of being ghosted stabbed at her. Dolly and Meredith both watched her closely. ‘Yeah, imagine that. How many staff have we got here?’ she asked keen to change the subject.
‘Seven but…’ Meredith leaned forwards and lowered her voice. ‘That does include Winnie.’ She tipped her head towards the bus.
Liv turned to see a tiny lady who looked like she’d been sun-dried longer than your average raisin. She gripped a walking frame tightly as she slowly made her way up the ramp. If it had been warmer, snails would have overtaken her.
‘And she’s one of the helpers?’ How on earth did someone like Winnie work in a tearoom? she wondered.
‘She’s very good at buttering bread for sandwiches,’ said Meredith nodding enthusiastically.
‘She’s my oldest friend,’ said Dolly proudly.
‘I wish you wouldn’t say that,’ said Winnie who had a high-pitched voice that suited her. ‘She makes it sound like I’m the oldest person she knows.’
‘She is,’ whispered Dolly.
Liv tried to get her head around the situation. She had to somehow reverse this and fast. There was no way the showcase dinner could go ahead staffed by diarrhoea Donald and the Golden Girls. First thing was to get Fraser to send the cancellation email so that notifying attendees wasn’t delayed any further, and then she needed to keep him occupied and away from this fiasco.
‘Hello, what’s going on here?’ asked Fraser strolling outside to join them.
Bugger it, thought Liv. She needed to think on her feet. ‘You’ve got a lot of food so we thought—’
‘That I could feed some of the locals?’ Fraser was already nodding.
‘Yes,’ said Liv.
‘No,’ said Dolly and Meredith together both scowling at Liv.
Fraser turned towards his grandmother. ‘They’re your staff,’ said Dolly proudly. ‘We used our initiative and we rounded up local people with the right skills.’
Fraser was looking mightily confused, as well he might. ‘We’re from the Little Loch Tearooms,’ said Meredith. ‘We’ve come to save the day.’ Meredith seemed mightily pleased with herself.
Fraser looked at Liv. She shrugged as if she hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. ‘How exactly?’ he asked.
‘These are your kitchen and waiting staff for the showcase dinner,’ said Dolly. ‘They’re here for you to brief them ready for tomorrow. It was Liv’s idea.’
Great, thrown straight under the geriatric minibus. ‘More a random thought,’ said Liv. ‘But what’s important to focus on is…’ She wagged her finger like a back-bench politician. ‘Is um… nope I’ve got nothing.’
‘Let’s get Winnie inside before she catches hyperthermia,’ said Meredith, putting an arm around the lady who had almost made it to the top of the ramp and looked like she’d run a marathon. Liv feared for poor Winnie. It appeared walking was her kryptonite.
‘Hello, Fraser,’ said Winnie, instantly brightening. ‘Ooh and who is this gorgeous creature?’ she asked fixing Liv with interested eyes.
‘It’s Liv,’ said Dolly. ‘I told you about her over the phone.’
‘The mysterious young woman. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,’ she said. ‘Now, Dolly, who does she remind me of?’
Liv felt like everyone was now scrutinising her.
‘I canna say she resembles anyone I’ve seen before,’ said Dolly.
Liv wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not.
‘I know who she looks like,’ said Winnie letting go of her frame for a moment to click her old fingers. ‘Amy Pond! She’s her double. I thought I knew her from somewhere.’
Liv was none the wiser. Fraser leaned in close and whispered in her ear. ‘In case you’re wondering She’s a character from Doctor Who .’
‘Oh great,’ said Liv as Winnie walked in with Dolly, leaving the others to follow. ‘I look like some alien creature do I?’
‘No,’ said Fraser. ‘Amy is Doctor Who’s sidekick and played by the Scottish actress Karen Gillan. She’s human.’
‘I’ll take that as a win,’ said Liv.
Once they were finally all inside, Dolly and Jock’O began corralling everyone in the library. It was like watching a slow-motion version of One Man and his Dog but with people instead of sheep and the dog was working from a wheelchair.
Liv went to join the others in the library but Fraser took her arm and held her back. ‘What is going on? I genuinely have no idea what’s happening.’
‘Err well…’ She decided coming clean was the best option and her shoulders seemed to release tension as soon as she’d made the decision. ‘I thought if we could find a local workforce who had already been stood down for Christmas they could fill in for the staff you’ve lost and the showcase dinner could go ahead as planned.’ Fraser was looking at her blankly. ‘Dolly said she’d try the tearooms and their staff were all available. Yay,’ she said somewhat half-heartedly.
‘I can’t… But… Those are all…’ He seemed to be struggling to find the words.
‘I know. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind either. And with hindsight I didn’t ask as many questions as I could have done when Dolly said the tearoom staff were available.’
‘You think?’ said Fraser sarcastically.
‘I’m sure we can sort something out. I think offer them a free dinner and then they’ll go home quietly. Maybe after a nap but it’ll be fine,’ said Liv.
Fraser opened his mouth but Dolly interrupted them.
‘Fraser! Come on. Your team are waiting to hear from their leader.’
Fraser was turning an unhealthy sort of reddish purple colour. ‘You’d better go,’ said Liv, using her fingers to mime walking into the library. He looked like there was a lot he wanted to say but thankfully he shook his head and went inside. Liv decided to hover near the door.
‘Welcome, everyone,’ began Dolly. ‘Thank you so much for responding to our call for help.’
‘Actually, Granny,’ said Fraser. ‘Can I just step in?’ Dolly waved for him to come forward and looked on proudly as he addressed the room. ‘I’m really sorry but there’s been some sort of mix-up. I needed experienced kitchen and waiting staff and—’
‘That’s what you’ve got,’ said Meredith.
‘You’re not about to be horribly ageist, are you, Fraser?’ said Dolly fixing him with a steely eye.
Liv winced on his behalf. He briefly turned to scowl at her and she held her hands up in surrender. ‘Your call,’ she mouthed from the safety of the doorway.
Fraser ran a hand over his face. ‘Okay let’s look at it another way. For a start I need an experienced sous chef who can prep, take orders from me, and deliver top-quality cuisine.’ He looked at the expectant faces.
Donald cleared his throat. ‘I used to work as a chef de partie at Balmoral.’
Liv had no idea what that was but she was impressed. As did everyone else appear to be, even Fraser. It did cross her mind as to how Donald may have come to leave that job, but perhaps that was a question for another day.
‘Right,’ said Fraser. ‘Okay, that is really useful, Donald, thank you – but we can’t pull this off just the two of us.’
‘You’d have Effie and Liv in the kitchen too,’ said Dolly.
‘And me,’ said Winnie, with a wave. She was quite adorable.
‘That leaves Meredith, Hester, Audrey and Sheena to wait the tables, which I’ll supervise,’ said Dolly. ‘I think we have our team.’ Meredith started a round of applause and everyone happily joined in. Apart from Fraser who looked like he’d just landed in his own personal hell.
To his credit he was professional as he went through the planned menu, explained dishes and the roles that needed fulfilling. Everyone was keen, even the lady who fell asleep part way through the briefing and had to be nudged awake. At the end Dolly suggested that everyone came to have a look at the kitchen and dining room set-up so that they would be familiar with it ahead of tomorrow and, despite her best efforts to overtake, Liv found herself caught behind a slow-moving Winnie with Fraser next to her.
‘Could we not carry her or something?’ Liv whispered.
‘What, in a backpack like Yoda?’ Fraser gave her a pointed look.
Liv shrugged. ‘It’s not the worst idea and she’s small enough. She’d look kinda cute.’ Liv mimed her peeping out of a backpack. Fraser snorted his derision. Maybe it was too soon for jokes. ‘Look I’m sorry about…’ She twirled a finger behind the line of old people heading for the hotel kitchen. ‘I was only trying to help.’
Fraser took a very deep breath and Liv waited for the verbal backlash. ‘It’s not your fault.’
‘It kinda is.’
‘Okay, yes it is but it’s Lizzie who’s caused all of this. The problem now is do I cancel and call a halt to everything or do I go ahead and…’ He sucked his lip. ‘Who am I kidding? I can’t go ahead. My dad is selling the place. Come spring the hotel will likely be sold, so it’s all pointless.’
‘Really? You’re going to cave in just like that?’ Liv gave him the side-eye.
‘What?’
‘I just thought you were a bit more maverick, the do-or-die type. Are you more Jim Carrey than Mariah Carey?’
‘Mariah’s formidable so I’d happily be compared to her…’ He wobbled his head as if questioning his own words. At least the bit about him being a fan appeared to have been true.
‘Me too,’ said Liv. ‘I love her. Some people just don’t get her but…’ He was starting to frown. ‘Sorry, I’m getting carried away. Back to the issue in hand.’
‘Thanks,’ said Fraser.
Liv put her hands on her hips. ‘Okay, Mariah. What’ll it be?’
‘You really expect me to go ahead with the cast of a Victoria Wood sketch? How do I explain that away?’
‘You could be honest and tell the truth. You didn’t get yourself in this situation, but showing that you’re doing all you can to get out of it shows what you’re made of.’
‘And what if it goes spectacularly wrong? That’s what I’ll be remembered for.’
‘True but I think the Fraser I thought I’d got to know would at least channel his inner Mariah and give it his best shot. Because what if it actually works? What if the showcase dinner goes well and the great and the good are interested and want to back you? That could open up the doors you need to get another premises if your dad does sell this place. I mean, I don’t know what he’s asking for it but it needs a heck of a lot of work doing. I’d be amazed if it was snapped up. More likely it’ll be on the market for ages and in that time you could build your business. And deep down don’t you want to show Lizzie that she’s no longer working your strings?’ Liv gave a little smile at the end of her speech.
‘You are so…’ Fraser clenched his fists ‘…bloody annoying.’
‘Thank you,’ said Liv sensing a victory of sorts.