‘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 ofField of Dreamsand 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.
