He turned to her, a gruff expression on his face. She thought he was probably very handsome under all that facial hair; his eyes were certainly piercing enough. She cleared her throat. ‘I’m Daisy, from reception. Gabriel said to meet him here to go through a few things.’
The man seemed to know who she was, though she couldn’t imagine how.
He smiled, and after wiping his hand on his T-shirt shook her hand. ‘Yes, I’m Luke. You’ve come to check that all the work’s been finished in time for the weekend, I suppose.’
She nodded, a bit stunned at how his face lit up when he looked cheerful.
‘There’s some damp paint over in that corner,’ he said, pointing to an area hidden by a plant stand. ‘But that’s all. The cleaners are coming in here first thing in the morning to clean upand it’ll be dry by then.’
‘You’ve done an incredible job,’ Daisy said. ‘There seemed to be a lot of damage.’
He shook his head, reminding her of a lion when his untidy hair moved around.
‘It was bad enough not to be able to use the place for the guests, but not as bad as it could have been.’
‘Luke, hi,’ Gabriel said coming up behind her. ‘You’ve done a great job in here, thanks.’
‘No problem, I was glad to be able to help your folks out.’
‘Are you and Bea coming to the party on Saturday night?’
Luke nodded. ‘We are, and a couple of her friends. It should be fun.’
Gabriel nodded. ‘I think it will be.’ He looked down at Daisy. ‘I hope you’ve had your invitation to come along?’
She shook her head. ‘I thought it was for the guests?’
‘Not this party. Everyone here is invited. The kitchen staff will be preparing the food, but extra help is being laid on by a small events business, Lapins de Lune. They’ll be keeping an eye on the evening.’
Daisy couldn’t help being excited. She’d never been invited to such a splendid occasion before and was sure she wouldn’t have anything to wear.
‘It’s going to be fun, you really should come along,’ Luke said, glancing at Gabriel. ‘You can meet my wife, Bea – she’ll introduce you to anyone you don’t know.’
Daisy laughed. ‘Well, that will be pretty much everyone, then.’
‘Then you’ll come?’ Gabriel asked. ‘Unless… your foot? How is it now?’
She looked down and smiled. ‘It feels a little bruised but it’s already much better, and not nearly bad enough to hold me back from attending the party.’ She looked sohopeful that he couldn’t help being flattered. ‘OK then. I suppose it’s not like I have far to go if I decide to return to my room.’
‘Good point,’ Gabe said. ‘Though I hope it doesn’t come to that.’
She laughed. ‘My foot’s perfectly fine; I barely feel the bruising now. I’m only teasing you.’
‘Great,’ Luke agreed. ‘This party should be so much fun that you’ll be too busy enjoying yourself to worry about it.’
9
DAISY
Daisy stood at the front door of the hotel, unable to believe the thick veil of fog that had descended overnight.
‘I hope this lifts by this afternoon,’ she said to Fi. ‘Most of the guests for the party are supposed to be flying in today.’
Fi chewed the top of the pencil she was using to annotate a text book. ‘No chance.’
Daisy frowned and returned to her position behind the reception counter. ‘What do you mean?’
Fi groaned and threw down her pencil in frustration. ‘I’ll never get this to stay in my head,’ she said. ‘I wish I didn’t have to study it.’
