Chapter Nineteen
Tuesday, 20 th June
T uesday was another day of having no resident guests at the hotel. Rico ate his solitary breakfast in the flat, then wandered downstairs. It was one of those hot but not sunny, muggy days when you needed a thunderstorm to clear the air. One was forecast for the afternoon, so hopefully they’d get some business done on the terrace before the rain struck, that was all. Those clouds out to the west were pretty dark already.
Karen was busy in the office, and Rico shut himself into the deserted small conference room for a think. Now that he knew what Grande were planning, talking to the hotel employees felt horribly awkward. How many of them were the kind of people Grande would take on to work in a shiny, posh casino? Precious few, if any. Rico rubbed his face with both hands. Dad was due home tonight – would he even consider refusing an offer fifty grand above the asking price?
Rico dropped into a chair and leaned both elbows on the wooden conference table. It wasn’t only the hotel employees who were going to suffer; it didn’t bear thinking about what the locals were going to say when they heard that their beloved terrace bar and favourite meeting place in summer was to make way for a glass and chrome casino that was completely at odds to every other building in the village. Everyone was going to hate the Weber family. Didn’t Grande worry about things like local opinion? Evidently not. Rico shivered. He’d never be able to show his face in Grimsbach again. In a few weeks’ time he’d return to Berne to start his master’s degree, and it would be bye-bye Grimsbach, bye-bye Lake Constance. The very thought made him feel sick.
As if in tune with his mood, sudden raindrops spattered on the window. Rico stood up. Better go and help bring in cushions, etcetera, from the terrace. By the look of that sky, the rain was set to stay with them for a while, so that was the day’s business ninety-nine per cent over already and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. At this rate, they’d barely be able to afford beans on toast for the rest of the year, so of course Dad would accept Grande’s offer. It would set them both up for life. Wouldn’t it?
In the bar, Alan was polishing glasses, his expression as glum as Rico’s mood. Rico stood at the door out to the terrace – they only had ten tables set, and the two waiters were clearing them off already. They rushed inside with a trayful of cups and glasses each, followed by a couple of locals and three passing cyclists all clutching seat cushions. Rico closed the glass doors against the rain, and their five guests rearranged themselves at the two tiny tables that were squeezed inside the bar. Full house, whoopee.
He perched on a stool and leaned on the bar. ‘You look like how I feel. You can pour me a shot of Southern Comfort, and one for you, too.’
Alan’s eyebrows jerked up. ‘That bad? Drowning your sorrows before lunch won’t make them disappear, Rico.’
‘I’ll stop at the one, I promise. What’s wrong with your world, then – apart from the weather demolishing your hopes of any tips today?’
Alan opened the Southern Comfort. ‘Nothing, really. I was wishing myself back to my time off in England, that’s all.’
Rico accepted his glass, then downed the lot in one gulp. Thinking about Emily – and Stacy – made him sorrier than ever. What was Stacy doing today? She’d be looking forward to her next date with the boyfriend, enjoying her life and making wedding plans.
He clunked his glass down on the bar. ‘Ah, well. Won’t be too long before summer’s over and you’re back in the UK for good.’
When Alan was gone, he’d hear nothing more of Emily, or Stacy.
Alan put the glass into the washer. ‘I’ll be sorry when my time here’s up. Hey, I was wondering if there was any chance of a staff deal on a room for Emmy and maybe Stace too for a weekend? I don’t know if they’d be up for coming again, but if they had a deal, I might be able to persuade them.’
Rico shrugged. ‘Why not? Fix it up with Karen. Business isn’t booming so hard we won’t be glad to have them, staff deal or not.’
Alan brightened visibly. ‘Brilliant. Thanks very much. I’ll do my utmost to get them back to sit on the terrace and swell the Lakeside profits a few francs – wish me luck!’ He moved across the room to serve another couple of locals who’d squeezed in, umbrellas dripping on the floor, and Rico stared into his empty glass. If Stacy and her boyfriend were coming, he’d go to Lugano that weekend. No way was he going to watch the girl of his dreams with another guy poured all over her .
You’re being soppy and stupid, his head informed him. You need to decide what you want to do, and get a life.
Rico could only agree.
***
Emily rolled up her yoga mat and stowed it under the sofa, then wandered over to the window. The rain had gone off, and Pete the physio had said last time she should do more walking, train more intensively to get her muscles back in form. She’d plod through the park and meet Stacy leaving Pen ’n’ Paper, and they could walk home together. She whacked off quick message to Stacy: Will join you at shop in 20 mins. CU! Xx
She tapped the clock on her phone, setting the timer to buzz every three minutes. Three minutes brisk walking, three minutes normal walking, and repeat. Just like Pete had said.
Ten minutes later she was striding virtuously through the park, her little rucksack on her back and phone in hand. Stacy hadn’t replied to her message yet. Emily pouted at the path. Stace wasn’t admitting it, but she was in a right state over David. What the hell was he playing at, anyway? Those two had been BFFs since they were teenies, and now David was walking all over Stacy. That medical degree had gone to his head.
Stacy was alone in the shop, and her face brightened when Emily went in.
‘Hello! Have you come for something? I could have brought it for you.’
‘Nope. I’m your friendly escort-home service. Didn’t you get my message?’
Stacy looked shifty. ‘Let me tell Mum I’m off, then I’ll be right with you. I don’t check my phone when I’m at work, in case…’ She licked her lips.
In case it was David being even more hurtful than he was already? Stace had to get this sorted. Emily strolled round the gifts table, which held a new selection of flowery paper serviettes and bamboo cutlery today. Stacy came back with Janie, who made Emily walk up and down, then oohed and aahed in a very gratifying way about her progress.
‘Come the autumn, you’ll have all the bad stuff behind you, lovey, and this time next year, you’ll feel younger than you did when it all started.’
‘I hope you’re right. I felt about a hundred last Saturday night when I realised nightclubs were still a step too far.’
Janie gave her a little pat. ‘Nasty noisy places. You’re well out of them. Your ears will thank you for it.’
And oh, it was good to stand here with Stacy and her mum and laugh about it. Emily took Stacy’s arm and pulled her to the shop door. ‘Hup hup. I’m in training, remember?’
Her phone rang when they were halfway home – oh. It was Alan. Emily rejected the call and tapped out a message:
Can’t atm. Call later?
Stacy gave her arm a shake. ‘You should be nicer to that poor bloke. He’s nuts about you. Why are you playing so hard to get?’
‘It all seems a bit fast, that’s all, and I’m not back to my normal self yet. And I’m still not sure how I feel about him.’ Emily walked on thoughtfully. Was she being too hard on Alan?
Stacy snorted. ‘You’re still you in your head, and that’s who he fell in love with. Never heard of “for better, for worse”? And you’re getting better all the time. Give him a chance.’ She fell silent, and Emily squinted over. Oh no, those were tears in Stacy’s eyes. That would be thinking about ‘for better, for worse’.
Emily squeezed the arm she was holding. ‘September’s plenty of time to give Alan a chance, and don’t you worry about me. I can almost run now, look!’ She trotted on a few steps. Yes, September was plenty of time.
***
She was tipping a tin of tuna into a bowl when her phone rang again. Emily shoved the fish into the fridge, and took her phone through to her room. She wasn’t going to run the risk of Stacy bursting into the kitchen and gawping at her with reproachful eyes while she was talking to Alan. They’d texted a couple of times since the disastrous visit to the nightclub, but somehow, the old chummy feeling was gone.
He sounded tentative. ‘Is this a good time?’
‘Yup. How’s Lakeside?’
‘No news yet, but Ralph’s still away and Rico looks more like a dog without a bone every day. The school summer holidays start here in a couple of weeks, so I’m hoping things’ll pick up then. And I’ve had an idea.’
Emily waited while heavy breathing came down the phone. Help, was it such a wild idea that he had to steel himself before telling her? ‘What is it, then?’
‘It’s for you, or you and Stacy and her boyfriend. I can get you cheap staff rates on rooms for a weekend? And I checked flights – if you fly from Liverpool to Basle, it costs practically nothing too, and I can help with that. What do you think?’
It was her turn to breathe down the phone. It would be lovely to see Lakeside again, of course, but it wasn’t even half an hour ago that she’d decided September was plenty of time to worry about where Alan was in her life. And a visit to Switzerland might give him ideas she didn’t want him to have. Yet. If ever. So…
‘I’m not sure. I don’t think so. It’s a long way and there’s Stacy’s job and – I’m just not sure, Alan. But thank you for suggesting it.’
His sigh almost blew her away. ‘I sort of thought you’d say that. Think about it, though. Still mates?’
‘’Course.’ But were they? She chatted for a few minutes, then ended the call when Stacy arrived back from the dairy with fresh rolls for the tuna mixture Emily hadn’t made yet. She added mayonnaise to the bowl and stirred, her thoughts swirling in time with the tuna. Had she done the right thing, saying no to a trip to Switzerland? Yes, she had. September was plenty of time…