Chapter Nine
S tacy grabbed her end of the wheelchair, and helped Rico fit it into the car boot. It wasn’t easy; you had to take the large wheels off and put them in first, but Rico was a pro at it. He slammed the boot shut, and Stacy pulled out a wipe for her hands. Heaving dismantled wheelchairs around was dirty work.
Emily tossed her stick into the back seat. ‘You go in the front this time, Stace. My knee will be fine in behind, and if it’s not, you’ll be the first to know.’
‘Sure? Okay, okay, I know you’re not an invalid!’
Stacy settled into the front beside Rico. He’d been pretty quiet all afternoon, but he was smiling now.
‘You two squabble like sisters – how long have you known each other?’
Stacy shot Emily a grin. ‘We met at secondary school. Then Emily happened to be looking for a flatmate at the same time I was looking for a place to stay, and luckily I saw her ad and moved in.’
‘She’s a great tenant,’ said Emily, as Rico eased the car into the traffic leaving Schaffhausen.
Stacy gazed out as they drove through Swiss countryside. It was weird, sitting looking out at the scenery in what would be the driving seat in England. Her feet kept pressing down on pedals that weren’t there. The Rhine had vanished behind a belt of trees in the distance, and they still had twenty kilometres to go before they’d be back on the lake bank again. She gripped her bag on her lap, feeling the outline of her phone inside.
That message from Mum… as well as oohing about the waterfall, she’d mentioned David. Saw your intended last night, out for a drink with a crowd – nice to see him having a good time after all his hard work.
Stacy blinked miserably. She’d have no problem with that, except David had told her he’d be studying every evening this week. He’d been in the pub when she phoned on Monday night, too. But this was all wrong; she mustn’t turn into one of those awful, controlling, needy girlfriends. David had every right to take a spontaneous night off to relax, but how many times in the past months had she tried to persuade him to do exactly that, and been rebuffed? Of course, people always lash out at their nearest and dearest when things get tough, everyone knew that. It was just… things had felt bad enough for the past few weeks, when she’d thought the only problem was that they didn’t have enough time for each other. Now she was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t being straight with her, and that was even worse. Or was she being too picky, too exacting? He was her David; he always had been. Stacy swallowed, then pushed the negative thoughts away. He’d apologised in the text he sent, and they would put it all right when she got home. Meanwhile, she should talk to poor Rico, who’d given up his day to drive her and Emily around.
‘We’ve had a brilliant time,’ she said warmly. ‘And it’s so nice to think we have your lovely hotel to go back to.’
Rico smiled, but he was frowning too, and Stacy felt sorry for him. Something in his life was obviously giving him grief – could he have split up with his girlfriend? Or was it the hotel? Or his mum’s death? She glanced back, but Emily was dozing. Help… What on earth could they talk about that might last a few kilometres?
‘Tell us about Berne,’ she said at last. ‘I’ve heard it’s a good place to visit.’
Fortunately, Rico rose to this, and Berne lasted them all the way back to the start of the lake, where they had a break for coffee. Back on the road again, driving along the banks of Lake Constance, he cheered up, telling them a few jokes about Switzerland. Stacy relaxed. This was better.
‘I’m hoping Dad’ll have thought up a solution for the hotel,’ he said, when Emily commented on his good mood. ‘He hasn’t got to grips with all the business stuff since Mum died. I’d like to help him back on the right track this summer.’
‘It must be hard for him,’ said Stacy. ‘I can’t imagine my dad being able to do all the admin for the shop by himself. Do you have other family around to help?’
‘That’s the problem. Apart from a couple of elderly cousins, they’re all down south in the Ticino, and running the hotel isn’t in my game-plan for the next several years, if ever. So we have to find a way that suits everyone.’
‘I hope you do,’ said Stacy. ‘It’s one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in.’
The sun vanished as they drove on, and the lake on her left turned slate-grey, mirroring the clouds above it.
Rico was looking at them too. ‘What are you doing tomorrow? The forecast isn’t great.’
‘We thought we’d go back to Wasserwelt for some more wellness and lunch, then get off the train at Rorschach for a look round on the way home,’ said Emily. ‘I want to try another outing without the chair, and that wouldn’t involve too much hiking about.’
Stacy inched her phone out as the other two chatted about the following day. Her mother’s text was still troubling her. Out for a drink with a crowd. Who was in that crowd? Stacy re-read the text, then put her phone away. She was being daft. She should enjoy this holiday, because she wouldn't be back in Switzerland any time soon.
‘Can you join us for dinner on Friday evening?’ she said to Rico, as they pulled up in front of the hotel. ‘Our treat. Alan’s coming too – we’d like to thank you both for being so kind to us.’
Rico’s eyes shone for a second before they dulled again, but he smiled at her. ‘I’d love to.’
Stacy smiled back. He was what Mum would call a complicated creature, wasn’t he? But maybe all men were. Out for a drink with a crowd. Stacy shivered. It sounded so harmless, didn’t it? And it must be. But it wouldn’t do any harm to give Mum a quick call.
***
Emily eased her legs out of the car, then accepted her stick and bag from Rico. Stacy was still in the passenger seat, peering at her phone and frowning.
‘Problem?’ Rico was standing to one side, waiting to walk back inside with them.
Stacy got out, her phone still clutched in her hand. ‘No, but I’ll stroll down to the lake to answer Mum’s text. Or I might give her a call.’
She was smiling, but something was wrong, you could tell. Emily started back to the hotel, her heart sinking – was that message really from Stacy’s mum ?
Rico fell into step beside her, his face sombre. ‘Do you think Stacy’s all right?’
‘’Course. She’s worried about their family shop, though.’ That wasn’t a lie, though the shop was unlikely to be what was bugging Stacy.
Rico held the hotel door open for her, and they walked into the hallway to find Alan at the reception desk, putting the phone down on its base.
Rico breathed in sharply. ‘Where’s Flavia?’
Emily jumped at his tone of voice. Golly, now he was the uptight one. Wherever Flavia was, it wasn’t Alan’s fault, was it? And it wasn’t as if there was a long queue of demanding guests clamouring for attention.
Alan’s face reddened. ‘She had to go and help out in the kitchen.’
Rico went round behind reception. ‘Okay. Thanks, I’ll take over here. See you later, Emily.’ He gave Emily a brisk salute, strode into the office and closed the door behind him.
Alan wrinkled his nose at the door, then grinned at her. ‘No Stacy? Fancy a coffee on the terrace?’
He looked as if he could do with one too, and a coffee sounded good. Emily started for the terrace. ‘Lovely. Are you having one too?’
His face lit up like Christmas and Easter combined, and she was almost sorry she’d asked. No way did she want to give him the wrong impression.
‘A quick one,’ she added, to make things perfectly clear.
She sat down at what had become their usual table on the terrace, and Alan brought over two cappuccinos.
He took a big swallow, then heaved a sigh. ‘This job’s pretty good, all things considered, but I couldn’t tell you who’s more prickly at the moment – Rico or his dad.’
‘I think Rico’s worried about the hotel.’
‘I guess he is.’ Alan went on to talk about his teacher training course, asking her about her school class. Emily answered, and yes, she was enjoying his company. And he hadn’t gossiped about his employers, or bad-mouthed them a moment ago, and that was endearing too. A group of people came out wanting drinks, and he had to go and serve them. Emily gazed after him. He was nice. And maybe she did fancy him… a little. But she’d make very sure he didn’t notice, wouldn’t she? Because a man in her life was not on her wish list. End of.
***
Stacy wandered down the secret path to the boathouse. This path was open to the hotel guests, but none of them seemed to have found it. Mind you, with only four of them, they wouldn’t be bumping into each other even if they all came here at once. No wonder Rico was worried about business; they couldn’t possibly be making a profit this week.
She sat down on the wall by the jetty. Hopefully Mum wasn’t up to her neck in late-afternoon customers at the shop. Stacy tapped her phone, smiling in spite of the worry. That was a daft thing to hope if ever she’d heard it…
Her mother took the call on the second ring, and Stacy prepared to ask the David question.
‘Hi Mum. Glad you’re between customers.’
Janie’s sigh almost blew her away. ‘I’ve been between customers for the past hour. It’s lovely to hear your voice, darling, and thank you for all the wonderful videos.’
‘I’ll send you more pics of the falls in a bit. Now do tell me – what on earth were you and Dad doing in the same pub as David and all his med student friends!’ There, she’d managed to make it sound humorous.
Her mother laughed. ‘We were going to the cinema in Manchester and popped into the pub across from the Scala for a drink first. It was what you’d call jumping, though. I was glad to finish my G good – if anyone was hurt, they might need her.
Inside the swing doors, he stopped short. Everyone in the kitchen – two chefs and a waiter – was gathered round Flavia, who was sitting in what looked like – and bloody hell, it was – a ditch in the floor, a dip about half a metre deep and several metres long with the easy-to-clean lino they had in the kitchen sagging down in the middle. Flavia was covered in the mess that had once been someone’s plate of chicken salad and someone else’s soup…
‘Flavia, are you hurt? Or burned?’ Stacy stepped forward, and the floor creaked ominously.
Rico yanked her back and repeated the question in German for Flavia, whose English wasn’t up to emergencies.
She shook her head. ‘My wrist hurts, but that’s all.’
‘It was gazpacho,’ said one of the waiters. ‘Served cold. See if you can stand up, Flavia.’ He stretched out a hand, and Flavia grasped it.
‘Wait!’ Rico gaped at the situation in front of him. The floor beneath the lino was wooden, and this part of it obviously wasn’t safe.
Stacy seemed to be having the same thoughts.
‘Rico, what’s beneath this room? How far down could it collapse?’
‘I think there’s about another metre before you hit ground. This part isn’t cellared, that’s under the conference rooms. But we need to get away from here, so listen up, everyone. You two–’ He nodded to the chefs. ‘–move back slowly. Luis, help Flavia up and then you both come over here. Don’t make any sudden movements. Stacy, can you take Flavia out and make sure she’s all right, please? Luis can translate for you.’
The chefs moved to the back of the kitchen, and Rico stood still, hardly breathing while Luis hauled Flavia to her feet in slow motion. The floor creaked again, and he felt it tremble beneath his feet, but the sinkhole – if that’s what it was – didn’t get any bigger, and half a minute later Flavia, Stacy and Luis exited the kitchen together.
Rico heaved a sigh, and turned to the two chefs. ‘Okay. No more food tonight, guys. Can one of you explain what’s happened to the guests who’ve already ordered their grub, then drive them to the Italian in Grimsbach and make sure the bill is sent to us? And tell the hotel guests they can have their choice of bar snacks or Italian? Go out the other door.’
The two men left via the door on the opposite wall, and Rico pulled out his phone.
‘Dad? You’d better get down here.’
He stood in the deserted kitchen, the soup and salad-filled hollow in the lino and the abandoned work surfaces looking like the start of a disaster movie. Back in the day, they’d had five cooks and at least five waiters. This summer they were down to two of each plus Flavia, who was untrained in a kitchen but didn’t mind helping out in all sorts of places. And now? Depending on what was going on under that lino, they might have to close the kitchen completely. No one would buy the place in this state; they would have to get it repaired. Yet another expense for a failing business. Despair settled over him like a thick, black cloud.
***
‘There you go.’ Stacy fastened the bandage she’d applied to Flavia’s wrist, and closed the first aid box. ‘Try another ice pack tomorrow, and see how it feels. I can rebandage it for you, if you like.’
Luis the waiter had left them to it, and Stacy could almost feel Flavia’s concentration as she worked out what this meant and how to reply. But as even Flavia’s basic English was way better than anything she could produce in German, she was in no position to feel superior.
‘Thank you. Is all good.’ Flavia gave Stacy a huge grin and an unexpected hug, then left the office and turned towards the bar.
Stacy put her head into the restaurant. Ralph had charged past them ten minutes ago, but there was no sign of either him or Rico now, so they must be in the kitchen. She was about to press the lift button when a large red fire engine screeched up to the front door, and two men in black uniforms clattered in. Ralph ran up to meet them, and the three vanished into the restaurant.
Well. The kitchen wasn’t on fire, but this didn’t look good for the state of the floor, did it? And their prospects of getting dinner tonight weren’t looking too hopeful, either. The thought had barely entered her head when one of the chefs strode out and plonked a notice on the desk: Restaurant closed. Bar snacks available. Oh, well. At least they wouldn’t starve. And now she’d better get upstairs before Emily thought she’d been abducted.
The lift doors closed behind her, and Stacy slumped against the wall. All at once, being in Switzerland wasn’t the same feel-good experience it had been at the start of the week. The hotel was clearly having big problems, and her own problems with David only seemed to be getting bigger too. Maybe it was good she’d be going home in two days’ time.