‘What’s normal, though?’ he said, realising how little he knew about Daisy’s family, or her past. Then again, he thought, he hadn’t divulged very much about his own family either. If he had she wouldn’t be working at his family’s hotel. He was glad they’d mainly stuck to discussing their travels in Vietnam, otherwise he was pretty certain Daisy would have taken a job elsewhere.
Lydia raised her eyebrows. ‘I think we’re a little less normal than your average family, don’t you?’
‘Yes, I can’t argue with that.’
Lydia ate a little more, then put her fork down with a sigh. ‘We have an anniversary party to deal with while your parents are away,’ she said. ‘I know that the girls from Lapins de Lune took over a wedding reception for us immediately after the fire, but I think that maybe if that young builder… Luke, was it?’ Gabe nodded. ‘Well, if he completes the work quickly then we could hold the next event at the Encore.’
‘Lapins de Lune?’ The name rang a bell, but Gabe couldn’t quite place it.
She took a sip of her tea. ‘You remember, it’s that events business.’ When he shook his head, she added, ‘They specialise in vintage linen and crockery for weddings and other parties, and they do event planning. The Le Lievre girl, you know, the one whose mother is a sculptor, well it’s her and her friend Jessica Moon. Theystarted the business a couple of years ago, and after the fire took over the reception for a couple.’
Gabe could picture them and nodded. ‘Did they expect to host this party too?’
‘No, but your mum suggested that maybe they might do so, if Luke didn’t manage to finish the work on time.’
Gabe was all for helping others, but on this occasion his parents’ hotel needed the money. Summer was their most profitable time and what they made between May and September had to keep them going for the rest of the year. ‘I’ll help Luke with the work if I have to,’ he said. ‘We can’t afford to turn away any more business, Nan. These events are worth a lot of money to us.’
‘I know. Give Luke a call today then and see if there’s anything you can do.’
‘I will.’
After they’d finished, he gave his grandmother a lift to the hotel so that she could run through the bookings with his mum before they left. Phoning Luke, he was relieved to discover that with a little extra help from him the work should be completed in time for the couple’s big day.
He walked around the back of the hotel through the colourful rose garden to check on the work being done to the orangery. His father had sent him photos of the fire damage and it had shocked Gabe at the time, but now – a couple of weeks later and after quite a bit of hard work from Luke and his team – it didn’t look nearly so bad. Burnt wooden frames had been replaced, the walls had been plastered and now just needed a little paint. It was going to be fine, he thought, relieved for his parents’ sake.
‘Looks much better now, doesn’t it?’ His dad asked, coming up to stand next to him, a pipe clenched between his teeth. Gabe couldn’t help smiling. How the constant puffing on that thing hadn’t ruined his father’s singing, hecouldn’t imagine.
‘You must have got quite a shock on the night of the fire?’ Gabe asked.
‘It could have been so much worse,’ Rick said. ‘Though your mum nearly had hysterics, especially as we were ninety per cent full with guests at the time. It did show us that our fire drills worked though, which was something.’
Rick put his arm around Gabe’s shoulders. It was good to be alone with his father for once. Gabe loved his mother but she always demanded so much attention, and if she was with them then his father never got the chance to say his piece.
‘We’re very grateful to you for coming all the way to Jersey to help your grandmother.’
‘I’m happy to spend time with her and I needed to step back from the project, anyway. Hopefully while I’m away I’ll come up with ideas to raise more funds to keep it going too.’
They began walking to the back of the hotel along the gravel pathways that meandered through the geometric line of tiny pools, some bridged with a large slab as a way to cross from one side to the other.
‘Your grandmother would kill me for saying so, but despite how well she looks, she is getting older and I don’t like to think of her being left to run this place on her own. When I signed up to do this tour, I thought your mother would be staying in Jersey and the two of them could work together.’
This was news to Gabe. ‘So when did she receive her offer for the part in the film?’
‘Only a month ago, when another actress fell ill and had to pull out. Your mum was delighted, of course.’
‘You can’t blame her,’ Gabe said, picturing his mother’s joy to be offered the part. ‘She’s always fretting about work drying up.’
Rick took the pipe from his mouth and nodded. ‘I know, but we always agreed that one of us would stay behind if the other had an offer of work.’
Gabriel stopped walking. ‘Dad, it’s fine. I’m thrilled she’s got something to look forward to and Nan and I will be perfectly happy here looking after everything until you both get back home again. Don’t worry about it, really.’
Rick pulled Gabriel into a tight hug. ‘You’re a good boy, Gabe. We’re very lucky to have you as a son.’
His father always became sentimental when he was about to go away and Gabe knew how he hated goodbyes. He suspected it was because his father had lost both his parents at an early age. For him, though, his parents going away to work was so much a part of his life that it never worried him at all. ‘Everything will be fine. You two go and forget about us. Enjoy your tour, have fun, and we’ll have a party to celebrate once you both get back.’
‘Great idea, my boy, I’ll mention that to your mother.’
4
