Mina laughed. ‘But I haven’t even—’
‘I’ve been wanting to do something with the barn. It would be perfect.’ Amelie fidgeted in her seat and looked around the kitchen before leaning back and pulling open a drawer of the dresser to find a notepad and pen.
‘I was thinking I could offer lunches and cake.’ Mina didn’t need to worry about being tentative or offending Amelie like Luke had suggested. ‘Maybe make the cakes for you to save you a job.’
‘Even better. Oh, this is such a good idea.’ She flicked open the notepad. ‘Now, what do we need to do?’
‘But…’ said Mina having expected to have to do some persuading.
‘But…’ Amelie teased. ‘What are we waiting for?’
By the end of the afternoon they had a long list of action points. Mina still had to argue the toss about paying rent on the apartment and helping more in the chalet, but for the most part they had a plan.
‘And I will pay for the renovation work to the barn,’ insisted Mina. ‘I’ll be able to rent my flat out in Manchester and pay you rent here.’
‘We’ll worry about that later, but paying for the renovations would be a big help, because I don’t have much capital. That’s why I’ve left it for the time being.’
Mina was pleased that she’d managed to win that concession, although she wasn’t happy about Amelie insisting she had the apartment rent-free. ‘But you’ll be working and making a difference,’ argued Amelie. ‘And if you keep on fighting me on this,’ she clutched her chest, ‘it might cause me more stress.’
‘Not fair,’ growled Mina.
‘I know, but there have to be some benefits to having a heart attack.’ Amelie shot her an unrepentant grin. ‘It will be lovely to have the company, and you’ll have plenty of entertainment and friends. Bernhardt, Kristian, and Luke are all regular visitors, and Frank and Claudia will be moving here soon. In fact, their tour groups could meet for breakfast or coffee at the café.’
‘The benefits just keep piling up,’ said Mina with a happy smile, not quite able to believe that her idea was working out so easily. Surely there had to be some pitfalls, but when Johannes, by far the more astute businessman, joined them later, he was in full agreement and offered to call his cousin, who had done the work on his barn, to come and give a quote the very next day. He even talked about her becoming an apprentice chocolate-maker as well.
‘Now I need to get on top of dinner,’ said Mina. ‘And I think you need to rest.’ She thought of Amelie’s bare apartment but Johannes must have had the same idea.
‘Why don’t you come to my house?’ asked Johannes. ‘The wood burner is glowing nicely and you can lay on one of the sofas.’
‘That would be lovely,’ agreed Amelie. ‘I’m too tired to argue, and I think if I tried the two of you would gang up on me.’
‘We just want to look after you,’ said Mina, giving her a quick hug.
‘Thank you, I appreciate it, and you looking after my guests.’
Johannes, hovering like a broody hen, saw Amelie out of the back door and took her arm once they were down the stairs. Mina watched him guide her back to his house, grateful that he would be looking after her. Despite his gruff exterior, inside lurked an extremely kind man. For a moment she felt a brief pang. Only two days ago she felt as if she’d fallen through a rainbow and the pot of gold had landed at her feet. Now she wasn’t sure where she stood. Since she’d talked with so much enthusiasm in the barn, Luke had been withdrawing. Had she frightened him off by announcing she was staying in Switzerland? She refused to believe that, but she did need to speak to him, especially now that her plans were firming up so quickly.
Chapter Twenty-One
She hadn’t seen Luke since breakfast. With the two girls working and Amelie ‘overseeing’ things, Dave setting to work on a chocolate fudge cake, and Johannes hovering in the background, the kitchen was a little crowded, so when he’d bobbed his head in and ducked it out again, Mina hadn’t blamed him one bit – but that was an hour ago. The snow was still falling steadily and many of the guests had gravitated to the lounge and the pile of board games that Amelie had put out.
Leaving everyone in the kitchen, she’d been able to set to on her chambermaiding duties – her least favourite part of her new job She rapped soundly on Luke’s door, as she did at every guest’s door. It still worried her that she might barge in on one of them naked, or see something she really didn’t want to see. She waited for a second but there was no answer, and she was just about to insert the master key in the lock when it opened.
‘Hi, housekeeping,’ said Mina with a teasing grin. ‘Here to service your room.’
‘Ah, yes. Come in.’ Luke frowned and looked preoccupied.
‘Sorry, have I interrupted? Are you working?’ She looked towards the table. It was bare, and all the modelling materials were piled into a new vintage suitcase on the floor. A sense of foreboding closed around her heart, like a cold hand. ‘Shall I come back later?’
‘No.’ He sighed. ‘I need to talk to you.’ He took her hand and led her to the end of the bed, and sat, pulling her down next to him. ‘I hear your plans are gathering pace.’
‘Yes. I can’t believe it. Everything is falling into place and it’s…’ She lifted her shoulders, still not able to believe everything was coming together so perfectly.
‘That’s fantastic, Mina. I’m so pleased for you.’
She frowned, her pleasure checked by the odd note of formality.
‘You sound like a teacher, or my boss, or a colleague. As if it’s a platitude or something.’
