‘The very same,’ said Dolly cheerfully.
Oh heavens, what have I done?thought Liv.
27
Being subtle wasn’t one of Liv’s talents but she needed to have a quiet word with Dolly. ‘Dolly could I have a quick chat…?’ She pointed inside.
‘Go ahead. Meredith is a friend and I’ve explained to her exactly what’s happened.’
‘That Lizzie is the worst,’ said Meredith. ‘Imagine being so bitter that you wanted to take revenge on someone.’
‘Well,’ began Liv. Memories of being ghosted stabbed at her. Dolly and Meredith both watched her closely. ‘Yeah, imagine that. How many staff have we got here?’ she asked keen to change the subject.
‘Seven but…’ Meredith leaned forwards and lowered her voice. ‘That does include Winnie.’ She tipped her head towards the bus.
Liv turned to see a tiny lady who looked like she’d been sun-dried longer than your average raisin. She gripped a walking frame tightly as she slowly made her way up the ramp. If it had been warmer, snails would have overtaken her.
‘And she’s one of the helpers?’ How on earth did someone like Winnie work in a tearoom? she wondered.
‘She’s very good at buttering bread for sandwiches,’ said Meredith nodding enthusiastically.
‘She’s my oldest friend,’ said Dolly proudly.
‘I wish you wouldn’t say that,’ said Winnie who had a high-pitched voice that suited her. ‘She makes it sound like I’m the oldest person she knows.’
‘She is,’ whispered Dolly.
Liv tried to get her head around the situation. She had to somehow reverse this and fast. There was no way the showcase dinner could go ahead staffed by diarrhoea Donald and the Golden Girls. First thing was to get Fraser to send the cancellation email so that notifying attendees wasn’t delayed any further, and then she needed to keep him occupied and away from this fiasco.
‘Hello, what’s going on here?’ asked Fraser strolling outside to join them.
Bugger it,thought Liv. She needed to think on her feet. ‘You’ve got a lot of food so we thought—’
‘That I could feed some of the locals?’ Fraser was already nodding.
‘Yes,’ said Liv.
‘No,’ said Dolly and Meredith together both scowling at Liv.
Fraser turned towards his grandmother. ‘They’re your staff,’ said Dolly proudly. ‘We used our initiative and we rounded up local people with the right skills.’
Fraser was looking mightily confused, as well he might. ‘We’re from the Little Loch Tearooms,’ said Meredith. ‘We’ve come to save the day.’ Meredith seemed mightily pleased with herself.
Fraser looked at Liv. She shrugged as if she hadn’t a clue what they were talking about. ‘How exactly?’ he asked.
‘These are your kitchen and waiting staff for the showcase dinner,’ said Dolly. ‘They’re here for you to brief them ready for tomorrow. It was Liv’s idea.’
Great, thrown straight under the geriatric minibus. ‘More a random thought,’ said Liv. ‘But what’s important to focus on is…’ She wagged her finger like a back-bench politician. ‘Is um… nope I’ve got nothing.’
‘Let’s get Winnie inside before she catches hyperthermia,’ said Meredith, putting an arm around the lady who had almost made it to the top of the ramp and looked like she’d run a marathon. Liv feared for poor Winnie. It appeared walking was her kryptonite.
‘Hello, Fraser,’ said Winnie, instantly brightening. ‘Ooh and who is this gorgeous creature?’ she asked fixing Liv with interested eyes.
‘It’s Liv,’ said Dolly. ‘I told you about her over the phone.’
‘The mysterious young woman. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,’ she said. ‘Now, Dolly, who does she remind me of?’
Liv felt like everyone was now scrutinising her.
