Effie couldn’t think straight and didn’t know where to go. She dashed through the hotel with hot tears stinging her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was most upset about: Liv’s hurtful and unjustified words or the thoughts they were triggering. But she knew in her heart that John was the real thing. He’d been able to connect with her like nobody else had. He seemed to know what she was thinking before she did and he always made her feel better about herself. She took a breath, she had no reason to question John, he’d only ever been lovely to her and he was selflessly giving his time to help others for goodness’ sake. She shook any doubts from her mind.
John was real. But then did that mean that her relationship with Liv was fake? The woman she thought she’d found a friend in had very quickly turned on her. Maybe she was jealous. Liv didn’t have anyone special in her life – she’d told Effie that. But it didn’t give her the right to say unkind and untrue things about John. Effie felt betrayed – she’d trusted Liv with her darkest secret. Well, apart from the time she ate the golden syrup and replaced it with cod liver oil – she’d never told anyone that. But she was pretty sure Dolly had worked it out quite quickly.
When Effie slowed down she found she was in the lobby where a draught from the front door made her shiver. She was about to go and curl up on her seat in the library when the door opened, giving her a start.
‘Hello,’ said Robbie, jolly as usual. His smile shifted. ‘Is everything okay?’ He looked past her furtively. ‘Can I help in any way?’
Her lip wobbled and she had to fight the tears from escaping. Why was it that you were fine until someone said something kind to you? She needed to think quick – not something she was known for. Robbie was looking increasingly restless. ‘I’ve a friend in trouble,’ she said, realising as soon as she’d uttered the words that this was the worst thing to say to an alert police officer such as Robbie.
His eyebrows twitched. ‘Trouble? What kind of trouble? Have they committed a crime?’ He was already reaching for his notebook.
‘No!’ said Effie a little more forcefully than the situation warranted. ‘They’ve just got themselves in a pickle really and they’re a long way away so I can’t help. That’s all. There’s nothing you can do.’
Robbie’s hand moved away from the notepad and his face returned to neutral. ‘That’s tough but I’m sure there will be someone local who can help them. Would you like me to look up any agencies? There are all sorts of support systems available for a variety of predicaments. Women’s refuge? Shelters? Citizens Advice?’
He made her smile even though he wasn’t trying to. ‘It’s okay, Robbie. I’ll work something out.’ Although she had absolutely no idea how she was going to do that.
*
Liv unpacked the next crate and put away all the food. There was such a lot of ingredients. How many was he expecting for this showcase dinner?
‘Right,’ said Dolly wheeling herself into the kitchen. ‘I’ve spoken to my friend Winnie who has called Meredith and she’s put our plight on their staff WhatsApp thingy. I said for anyone who’s interested to come here for six o’clock so Fraser can brief them for what’s needed tomorrow.’
‘You star. He’ll be over the moon,’ said Liv.
Dolly held up a hand. ‘I think we wait and see how many turn up first. If we raise his hopes it could be an additional blow.’
‘Fair enough. But yay! Showcase dinner could be back on.’ Liv crossed her fingers and Dolly did the same.
As the kitchen door opened it bumped into the back of Dolly’s chair, making Jock’O bark his annoyance. ‘Whoops, sorry,’ said Fraser, squeezing past the wheelchair. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘Nothing,’ said Liv putting some onions back in the crate and then taking them out again.
‘There’s something up.’ He pointed at Dolly. ‘Are you plotting?’
She held up her palms. ‘Now there’s a thing to accuse your grandmother of,’ she said giving him a look worthy of Lady Violet Crawley. Jock’O barked again. Dolly lifted her chin and manoeuvred her chair out of the kitchen, giving Liv a sly wink as she left.
Liv got mugs out and without asking made Fraser a brew. She pushed the mug in front of him. ‘Penny for them,’ she said.
‘Thank you. Sorry, what?’
‘You were miles away.’
‘Aye, I wish I was, that’s for sure. I’ve been a fool.’ He looked downcast and she so wanted to tell him about the rescue mission and the staff from the tearooms but perhaps Dolly was right – what if none of them showed up? She checked the clock. Only twenty minutes until, hopefully, they arrived.
‘Don’t go putting yourself down. Look what you’ve achieved.’ Fraser snorted in response. ‘You saw an opportunity and you took it. This hotel was sitting here doing nothing and you breathed new life into it.’ He gave her a sideways look. ‘Well, you made a good effort at CPR anyway and who knows? It may still be resurrected. There’s still a faint pulse. I’m going to stop with the medical references now,’ she said.
He scratched his head. ‘I wish I knew what Dad was planning. Why is he selling this place now?’
‘Ask him,’ said Liv. ‘Oh yeah, you don’t know where he is. Sorry.’ There was a moment’s silence. ‘But the estate agent must have contact details. Ask him to pass on a message or for a tenner he might give you some information.’ Fraser looked aghast. ‘Worth a try I reckon. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.’
Fraser sighed. ‘But after all this time what would I even say to him?’
‘Why are you selling the hotel?’
Fraser laughed. ‘You see things very clearly don’t you?’
‘I guess. I’m one of those people where what you see is what you get.’
‘It’s a good trait to have,’ said Fraser picking up his mug. ‘I’d better draft a cancellation email and tell everyone the showcase dinner is postponed indefinitely,’ he added.
‘Ooh no, don’t be hasty.’ Liv chanced another glance at the clock. How had only three minutes passed since she’d last looked?
‘I don’t think I can give the guests less than twenty-four hours’ notice that it’s not going ahead. And it’s only putting off the inevitable.’
‘How long is it going to take you to draft it, do you think? You know, roughly? In minutes.’ Liv fixed him with interested eyes.
‘Err I don’t know. Say ten minutes, fifteen maybe. Why?’ He was giving her the same look he frequently gave Effie.
‘Just don’t press send until I’m back. Okay?’
‘Why?’
Why did people always want a blinking reason? ‘Umm because I’m sure there’s a marketing spin we can put on this. I just need a few quiet moments to come up with something. Say until six o’clock? Promise you won’t send anything before then?’
‘O-kay,’ he was more than hesitant.
‘Fab! Thanks.’ And she dashed off.
Liv was fit to bursting by the time six o’clock came. She stood by the large grandfather clock by reception and watched the big hand click into place and the clock let out a small peal of dings. Liv checked the time on her phone to be on the safe side – 18.01. It was gone six o’clock. Her heart sank. Was nobody coming? She looked over at Dolly who was behind reception busying herself with something.
‘It’s six o’clock. Where are they?’ asked Liv in a low voice.
Dolly looked up. ‘They will come.’
‘This is not a remake of Field of Dreams and I’m not Kevin Costner,’ said Liv.
Dolly stared at Liv for a moment and sucked her bottom lip as if thinking. ‘I have no idea what you just said.’
‘Do you think it’s the icy driveway?’ asked Liv but she answered her own question. ‘The bloody gates are closed. Of course it’s the driveway!’
Liv dashed through the kitchen. ‘Don’t send that email. Don’t do anything until I get back,’ she said as she grabbed Effie’s coat from the hook and ran from the kitchen, trying and failing to put it on as she went. She got it in such a tangle that she had to stop by the front door to sort it out and put it on properly, wasting valuable seconds. What if they all drove off again?
Liv went outside and started to jog up the driveway until her foot skidded on ice and she resorted to a strange waddle of a walk as fast as she dared. By the time she went around the bend her heart was pounding – partly with the effort but mainly with angst. But she needn’t have worried. There on the other side of the gates was a minibus.
Liv waved and a lady about her mum’s age waved back from the driver’s seat. Liv badly mimed opening the gates as she skidded on the icy patches. The woman’s expression changed to one of confusion. ‘I’m open-ing the gates,’ repeated Liv with more exaggerated actions. The woman didn’t react. ‘I’ll just get on with it,’ said Liv, undoing the bolt and swinging back the first gate. As soon as it was fully open the rickety minibus trundled inside. The woman wound down her window. ‘Thanks. I’m Meredith. We’re here to see Dolly.’
‘I’m Liv. Careful driving up to the hotel; it’s really slippy in places.’
‘Righty oh,’ said Meredith and the bus crawled past. Liv tried hard to see how many people were on board, but the bus was all steamed up. But as it rattled by Liv decided that the more steamed up the better because that meant there were lots of people in there. She had a cursory look out of the gates. There were no paparazzi about waiting to snap Fraser. She suspected his five minutes of fame, thanks to Shanie, was over.
Liv made her way back up the driveway as quickly, but as carefully, as she could. In her mind she was picturing school outings and trying to work out how many people could fit in a minibus. In her head she counted out the seats. She was sure there had been at least fifteen. She very much hoped that all the seats were full. At the hotel the minibus was parked right in front of the doors but Liv could hear excited chatter, which was promising.
Liv walked around the vehicle expecting to see lots of keen helpers but instead it was like the local nursing home was having a day out. Meredith was talking to Dolly as a stream of elderly people made their way painfully slowly from the minibus and up the ramp to the front door. ‘Hi,’ said Liv. ‘What’s um… going on here?’ she pointed at the pensioners.
‘These are the volunteers who run the tearooms,’ said Dolly happily.
‘We’ve come to your rescue,’ said Meredith looking mightily chuffed with herself.
An old man made it to the top and clutched the front door for support while he caught his breath. ‘Och, hello, Donald. Lovely to see you. Thanks for joining us,’ said Dolly, as the man gave her a wave and shuffled inside.
‘Donald?’ Liv had a vague recollection of a story. ‘Of Donald’s diarrhoea fame?’ she whispered.
‘The very same,’ said Dolly cheerfully.
Oh heavens, what have I done? thought Liv.