‘There was some kind of misunderstanding when I arrived, and before I knew it, I became part of the hotel workforce. It seemed like a good opportunity to go behind the scenes of Wilding Holdings and find out what really happens day to day, alongside discovering guest satisfaction levels.’ She watched him carefully for his reaction.
If the arch in his eyebrows were any gauge, her decision hadn’t been a total bust.
‘I suppose you may have a point.’ His smile faded. ‘Although it’s not something I would suggest happens again. It’s not quite so easy to explain to the board that my daughter is working as a chambermaid, is it?’
‘Why? What’s wrong with being a chambermaid?’ She wanted to remind him that was the exact same job her mother had been employed to do when they’d first met, but didn’t quite have the nerve.
Bill smiled but didn’t reply. Instead, he pulled a slim laptop from his elegant leather cross-body bag, set it on the table in front of them both and fired it up.
‘So, I received a copy of your report late yesterday.’
He tapped at the keyboard, and Fran’s document popped up on screen.
‘I appreciate your enthusiasm, Fran. But I’m not entirely sure you understand the brief.’
‘The brief?’
‘Apologies, that sounded a bit corporate. The thing is, you don’t need to worry about manual labour work again.’ Bill paused, the edgings of a smile lifting his cheeks. ‘What I’m trying to say is that when you expressed a wish to learn more about Wilding Holdings, I thought this could be a good way of gently introducing you to the business while making up for all the time I’d missed out on over the years. To give you the life you deserve without it seeming all too overwhelming.’
‘And I’ve been enjoying the stays in your hotels – they’re amazing. But you don’t need to do all this. I had a great life with …’ Even though Fran intentionally left things unsaid, she could still see the fleeting pain that crossed Bill’s face at the unspoken mention of her mum. It suddenly also occurred to Fran that it was an odd way of repairing time missed, because they still weren’t spending any time together.
‘I will never understand why your mother chose to keep you from me. It would have caused a tidal wave of problems for me, back then. Maybe that was why. I suppose I should be grateful in a way; it goes without saying my first wife wouldn’t have taken kindly to the news. But I’m not sure I will ever be able to forgive your mother for denying me my daughter.’
‘Why did she leave?’
‘I don’t know. What we had was special, and even though our situation was never going to be an easy one, I loved her so much that I would have given the world if I could. But one day she was there, working at The Grand, and the next I learnt she had handed in her notice and cleared out of her lodgings. Do you know the worst thing?’
Fran shook her head.
‘The last time we spoke, we argued. It was only a spat, nothing of any great importance, but I would give anything to take that back. I was shattered that she’d left, but the situation was difficult. My first wife was … challenging.’ Bill sighed. ‘After a while I came to believe that my feelings for your mother were much stronger than hers for me, and I finally managed to let her go, up here at least.’ He tapped the side of his head, then pulled in a deep breath. His focus swam back to her, his expression sharpening with concentration. ‘That is all in the past, long gone. When I found you, and you were understandably hesitant towards me, I suppose I thought giving you this role was a way to give you a “job”, while not expecting you to actually do anything. Allow you time to find your feet in a new world.’
The way he mimed inverted commas around the word had Fran frowning.
‘I’m not interested in taking anything from you,’ Fran said. ‘I’m not a freeloader.’
‘You sound just like your mother.’ Bill tapped at the touchscreen, flicking through the file. He gestured towards it. ‘But what you need to understand is that this is no longer your life. You don’t need to worry about these details anymore. Your report, it’s different to the ones you’ve submitted before, and there’s nothing I can do to prevent the board from seeing it. But I will do my best to explain your overenthusiasm and make sure the board don’t take offence. In business, even the most outstanding and well run of venues don’t exist on anything other than the tightest of margins. It’s how we make money, Fran. It’s what makes the wheels turn.’ He reached across, taking one of her hands in his. ‘I understand life with your mother was a rather hand-to-mouth existence, but all that is gone, now. I can offer you so much more.’
Fran pulled her hand from beneath his, withdrawing it to her lap. Maybe Penny had been on to something when she’d told Fran nobody would want to hear about staff conditions and would instead turn a blind eye to anything they didn’t deem important – like the local communities. Get inside the castle and pull up the drawbridge – was that really what her father was all about?
Bill didn’t seem to notice Fran’s hesitation, reaching into his bag again, this time coming out with a couple of pieces of A4 paper stapled at the corner. A glossy photo of a seafront property was prominently displayed. He passed the pages to her.
‘What do you think?’ he asked.
It took a few minutes for Fran to absorb the information she was staring at. It was a house in Lyme Regis she knew well, one she had walked past regularly. Situated high enough to have unparalleled views of the sea, the house itself ran to a couple of storeys, with a large retail space beneath the living areas. The property marked the bottom of the High Street, on a cornerwhich doubled up as being part of the seafront promenade while a set of steps marked the beginning of the town’s pedestrianised shopping area, leading up towards the rest of the High Street.
The retail space had been occupied for years by one of Lyme’s fossil shops, but it currently lay empty and disused – presumably because the entire property was being sold.
‘I know this house.’ Fran wasn’t sure what else her father wanted her to say.
‘Do you like it?’
‘I suppose so. I’ve never been inside, but it looks like it’s a beautiful property.’ She leafed through the information again. ‘Four bedrooms all en suite, dual-aspect living room, recently refurbished bespoke Smallbone kitchen, private courtyard garden, upper-level veranda with amazing views of the surrounding coastline. Price on Application.’
‘I thought this would be the perfect home for you. You could even turn the retail space into a workshop, for your bits and pieces of furniture.’
‘I can’t afford this …’ Even as the words left Fran’s mouth, she began to understand.
‘I can,’ Bill said.
