More silence.
‘Then I’ll go elsewhere!’ said Colin and slammed the receiver down.
Meg moved away quickly. She wished she had someone to talk about it all to, and yearned for the days when she and her friends all lived in Alexandra’s house in London. But even Justin had gone back to Newton-cum-Hardy and, presumably, Laura. And sheknew she couldn’t bother Susan or any of the other members of staff with her worries about Colin. She wished that Andrew and her mother would hurry up and come back.
‘Meg, sweetie, I should have said earlier, but is it OK if I put my things in Andrew’s room? I need to stay the night here.’ Colin had on his most charming smile as he joined Meg in the kitchen.
‘Oh, no, not Andrew’s room!’ she said hurriedly. She didn’t want to mention that this was also her mother’s room in case he didn’t know and it caused problems. ‘But we’re not often full during the week. I’ll ask Cherry to put you in the nicest room that’s available. Ah, here she is!’
Meg guessed that Cherry had seen Colin pursue her to the kitchen and, like the loyal friend she was, had followed to rescue her. None of the women cared for Colin. They didn’t talk about it, but they had all experienced his casual touching, patronising manner and general sense that he could do what he liked and it was their job to put up with it.
Cherry put him in the room that Basil had had. ‘I said that the hotel critic had stayed there and he knew what a good review he’d given us. I did mention that the bell didn’t work. If he knew it did, he’d having us running up and down the stairs like we had nothing else to do!’
‘Well done, Cherry. You’re doing such a brilliant job.’
They exchanged anxious smiles. ‘Let’s hope it hasn’t all been a waste of time,’ said Cherry, ‘and the hotel has to be sold after all.’
‘It won’t be a waste of time,’ said Meg firmly. ‘We’re going to finish the summer season flying high. We’ll have the play. Every bed will be slept in and paid for. All the actors and audience and other people here will enjoy themselves. It’ll be utterly exhausting—’
‘But we’ll love doing it!’ Cherry finished for her.
‘We will!’ said Meg, wishing she could be more certain about the future of Nightingale Woods.
It was lovely to see her mother two days later. Meg had watched from the upstairs window to see when the car was winding up the hill through the morning mist and was there on the doorstep when it arrived. It was still early and there were a few breakfast guests, but Susan and Cherry had undertaken to deal with them, so Meg was free to greet her mother.
‘You’ll have missed your mum,’ Susan had said. ‘A lot has gone on since she and Mr Nightingale went to France.
Mother and daughter embraced on the steps of the hotel until Andrew hustled them inside. ‘I know you two are pleased to see each other, but can we get through the door first?’
Meg and Louise continued their hug in the hall. ‘Are you OK, sweetie?’ Louise murmured. ‘This isn’t like you!’
‘I’m fine!’ Meg murmured back, very close to tears. ‘It’s just been really busy, that’s all.’ She swallowedand let go of her mother. ‘Now, let me get you some coffee or something. Have you had breakfast? Did you sleep all right on the ferry? Was it a calm crossing?’
‘We’d love coffee,’ said Andrew. ‘We had a continental breakfast on the ferry, but I wouldn’t say no to something more substantial. Is the drawing room free? Could we have it in there?’
Colin joined them at the same time that Meg brought in their breakfast. She had been hoping to hear how they’d been getting on, but seeing Colin come into the room changed her mind.
‘Could you get me some coffee?’ asked Colin. ‘Oh, and some toast? Thank you.’
As Meg turned to go, she asked herself why she was so offended by his manner. Looking after people was her job. She shouldn’t mind if they asked her for things.
‘I couldn’t beg a pot of tea, could I?’ asked her mother. ‘It know it’s an awful cliché but really, you can’t get a decent pot of tea in France. And bring a cup for yourself, please.’
When Meg came back with the tea, Cherry having brought in the coffee and toast for Colin, she said, ‘Why don’t we take this up to your room, Mum? We can drink it there and you can tell me everything.’
They sat together at the little table in the window in Andrew’s room, and after Louise had exclaimed at the flowers, the perfectly ironed bed linen and the matching linen towels that had been hiding in an airing cupboard for many years, she poured the tea.
‘Darling,’ she said, studying her daughter. ‘Are you all right? You don’t seem your usual calm self.’
Meg exhaled. ‘It’s just that so much has been going on and Colin is behaving as if he owns the place.’
‘Well, he doesn’t. No one does yet. And Andrew is still in charge. Don’t worry.’
‘There have been changes – you and Andrew do know about them – but Colin seems very excited by them.’
‘Is that bad?’
‘Mum, how well do you know him?’
