‘Can you?’ Mina wasn’t in a position to turn any help down. ‘Are you sure? What about Sarah?’
For a moment he almost looked cocky. ‘She doesn’t mind sleeping with the chef.’
Mina laughed. ‘Well, that’s excellent news. But you are on holiday.’
‘As long as I can get out in the afternoons, I’ll be happy. Franzi did say that she and Giselle will help where they can, but they’ve got exams coming up at school so can’t do any extra hours. Franzi helped tonight because it was an emergency.’
‘It will be fine,’ said Mina, already starting to make lists in her head. She could do this. She had to.
‘Have you eaten? There are some cheese pies left.’
‘Do you know what? I’m starving, and I bet Luke and Johannes are too.’ She looked around and both men were talking, warming their hands in front of the fire, although Johannes still had his coat on.
‘Johannes, stay for something to eat,’ she said, making it more of an order than a request. His face still looked grey and exhausted, and if he felt anything like she did, he was probably worn out and depleted. She guessed that the last thing he wanted to do was go home on his own.
The three of them retreated to the kitchen. Mina needed that barrier between herself and the guests, in part because she didn’t want to impose her worry and concern on them, but also needing that separation, because although they might care about Amelie, it wasn’t really their problem. Trying not to think about Amelie mixing dough, flouring the surfaces, beating eggs, and baking her gorgeous cakes, Mina laid the table at one end and put the pies in the oven to heat, while Johannes made coffee.
The silent group ate mechanically to the hum of the dishwasher. Franzi had clearly stayed to tidy up the plates and cutlery from the dining table, although there were still a few glasses and the dirty tablecloths to be removed. Mina wasn’t sure if either Johannes or Luke actually tasted the little cheese pies. When Johannes finally laid down his knife and fork he rubbed a weary hand over his forehead. ‘I should go. I’ll come across early in the morning to clean the fire. You’ll need to put the guards in front before you close up for the night.’ Mina nodded. Tiredness tugged at her but she realised she couldn’t go to bed until she’d switched out lights, locked doors, and cleared the dining table. She really ought to lay it as well for breakfast, it would be one less job in the morning. As it was, she was going to have to get up very early. Could she go to bed before the guests?
Johannes took his leave and Mina rose to give him a quick hug.
‘I’ll ring the hospital in the morning.’
‘Thank you. Goodnight.’
As soon as he’d gone, she looked at Luke as she tried and failed to stifle a yawn.
‘You look bushed.’ He stood up and ran a thumb under her eyes, the gentle touch taking any insult out of his words.
‘Just what every girl wants to hear,’ she replied with a wan smile, reaching up to touch the fine lines fanning from his mouth thinking that he still looked quite tense. She stroked her hand down his jawline to the warm skin between his neck and shoulder, not wanting to relinquish the touch. He laid his hand over hers and squeezed. Seconds passed as they stood facing each other, each of them studying the other. It would have been easy, thought Mina, in a moment of uncharacteristic weakness, to step forward, sink into his arms, and stay there. There was the flicker of understanding in his eyes when instead she said, ‘I can’t go to bed yet.’ And part of her didn’t want to. She didn’t want to be on her own, weighed down by thoughts in the dark. ‘I need to lay the table for breakfast.’
‘Do it in the morning. I’ll help.’
‘I want to say you don’t need to do that, but I think, being practical, I’m going to need all the help I can get. Ever run a hotel before?’ Although she said it with a positive wrinkle of her nose, her concern was not running the place, but running it to Amelie’s standards.
‘Can’t say I have, but I do know things always look better after a good night’s sleep.’
‘You’re right. I’ll just do the dining table.’
‘I’ll do the fire guards for you.’
Teamwork, she thought as they headed toward to the dining room and the lounge. Luke would always be on her team and she wasn’t sure how she knew that – she just did. All the guests had disappeared, for which she was grateful, although not surprised; people tended to go to up to their rooms early after a hard day’s skiing and hiking. While Luke locked the doors, raked the fire, and put fire guards on both sides of the open fireplace, she put a fresh cloth on the main dining table, cleared the evening’s condiments from the sideboard, and put out the large jars of cereal and muesli. She’d put out the fresh bits in the morning.
Feeling that at least she knew what she was doing tomorrow morning, she clicked out the light with a relieved sigh. Elephants, she thought. One bite at a time.
Luke met her at the bottom of the stairs and they climbed them together. Tread by tread. There was a funny fizz in the bottom of her stomach as she listened to their synchronised steps. Was being in step another form of serendipity?
What a day. She’d never have dreamed this morning, when she’d ambushed Johannes by jumping off the bottom step, that it would turn out quite like this. For a brief second the germ of the idea that had been fluttering at the back of her head since she’d visited his chocolate den flitted through her mind like an elusive wisp of mist. She made an inarticulate noise of frustration. It would come back when her body didn’t feel as limp as a water-deprived daisy.
Luke took her hand as her steps slowed. ‘Come on.’
She relished the touch of the contact and squeezed his hand, knowing that she couldn’t let go. Not tonight – but it felt right, not needy and pathetic. Just right.
When Luke led her to her door she opened the door and tugged at his hand.
‘Mina,’ he whispered.
‘I don’t want you to go.’
