Chapter Ten #4
There were two more rooms on this floor bearing requests to service the room, so they moved on, her with the laundry trolley and him pushing the cleaning cart.
Again, the bed.
At least it had only to be made rather than changed, and they discovered no gross stains or used condoms. Though at least that might have made them laugh, breaking the tension.
Into the silence, Leo said, ‘I’m going to look at a hotel in Riva. It looks fantastic on the sales particulars.’
She flipped the luxurious bottle-green velvet bed runner over the bed while he settled the matching cushions against the pillows. ‘Your mum will be thrilled if you buy in Italy.’ Riva del Garda and Como were a three-hour drive apart, but definitely closer than Como and the UK.
He laughed. ‘In her imagination, she’s already got me producing grandkids.
’ He tugged the cleaning cart closer and reached for a cloth.
‘There’s a chance it could happen quite fast – the hotel, not grandkids,’ he clarified.
‘A couple own it and the husband’s ill, so they’re looking for early retirement and a quick sale.
’ He wiped a bedside table. ‘It looks a good opportunity. Corner premises, roof terrace, garden, a five-minute walk to the ferry. Close to shops and cafés.’ Fishing out his phone, he swiped the screen to show her photos.
Jade took the phone, warm from his pocket, and her gaze met a picture of an elegant cream-coloured building that curved around a corner, with Hotel Casa Leonardo painted in a smart navy-blue script above the door. ‘Wow,’ she said brightly. ‘It’s even named after you.’
He laughed. ‘Like an omen, isn’t it? I’m not sure when I’ll go because we’re niggling back and forth about whether they should let me see the profit-and-loss sheet beforehand, or if I should visit and go into the numbers then.’
She handed back the phone. ‘Surely you won’t go to all the trouble of a visit if they won’t let you do due diligence.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ He tucked away the phone and turned to dust a mirror. ‘But it’s a keen price and I have the deposit, so it could be great.’ Excitement rang in his voice and his eyes shone the same blue as the lapis lazuli in one of the old brooches in Gran’s jewellery box.
‘Then I hope it works out.’ She made for the bathroom, a lumpen feeling in her stomach. Was it . . . regret? Of course not. She hadn’t expected him to settle closer to Como.
Had she? No way. That would be ridiculous.
They paused for a snack lunch in the apartment kitchen, Leo taking the same seat at the table he always had.
They sliced pecorino and tore chunks off a Fitascetta bread ring to eat with tomatoes.
If time could have rewound sixteen years, Gran would have turned her bright eyes on Leo and demanded, ‘Brought your appetite with you, m’lad?
’ But Gran wasn’t there, so Leo talked about Hotel Casa Leonardo and how much he was enjoying living in Italy again as they ate, then they returned upstairs to tackle the remaining rooms. The three hangover ladies were indeed, as Jade had hoped, sheltering behind their non disturbare sign.
The rooms were finished in time for Yara’s noon break. ‘I can’t thank you enough, Leo,’ Jade said. She wasn’t the kind of woman who liked to think she needed ‘saving’ by a man, but he’d definitely saved her today. She hugged him briefly, feeling that his kindness merited more than a smile.
Yara paused in the act of pulling her bag from a drawer. ‘I am supposed to be off tomorrow,’ she reminded Jade. It wasn’t said as if she was about to tag on, ‘But I can come in if you need me.’
‘I’d forgotten.’ Jade had an impulse to add a Gran-like dammit. Instead, she said calmly, ‘So after your shift ends today, I’ll see you on Wednesday.’
Yara hurried outside, pigtails flying, and Jade turned to find Leo frowning. ‘What?’ she asked.
‘How the hell will you manage without desk staff on top of everything else?’ His thick, dark brows met.
‘I’ll answer whenever someone rings the bell.
Yara’s admin tasks will wait for her to come back,’ she replied, still sounding reasonable, even while her inner self screamed, ‘How WILL you manage without desk staff on top of everything else?’ Somehow, even if problems like a split inheritance and no staff felt like tonne weights tied to her ankles, it seemed vital that she appeared buoyant and in control in front of him. It was a matter of pride.
‘OK,’ he said slowly. ‘Shall I see you at Bar Rita about seven-thirty tonight, then?’
‘Pardon?’ The words seemed to have affected her hearing.
He furrowed his forehead, but a light of mischief lurked in his eyes. ‘I’m sure we agreed that my wages were to be a drink and me beating you at pool. Let’s eat there too and then neither of us has to cook.’
She drew in a breath to refuse, knowing that she’d offered no such thing. But then she reconsidered. ‘Actually, wine and pasta sound the perfect antidote to today. See you there.’
Was that a flicker of surprise she saw in his face as she turned away? It gave her satisfaction to think she might have nonplussed him.