‘Hmm, should I expect the same welcome as last time?’ he asked with a wink.
‘You never know your luck.’
‘Oh, I do. I’m a very lucky man,’ he said, looking straight at her.
So why not ask me to marry you? she thought.
‘Cass?’ he looked quizzically at her.
‘Yes?’
‘You all right?’
‘Yes of course.’ She forced a smile.
‘What’s up?’ He narrowed his eyes, sensing something was afoot.
‘Nothing,’ she laughed. ‘What time will you be back tomorrow?’
‘Early afternoon hopefully. I’m aiming to set off first thing in the morning.’
‘Have a safe trip.’ She blew him another kiss.
‘OK, see you tomorrow.’ He mouthed a kiss back.
What was the matter with her? He most definitely caught some negative vibe there. He frowned, wondering what it could be. The one thing Rory hated was being left in the dark. He was tempted to ring her back and get to the bottom of it. No. He’d have a better idea tomorrow when he saw her in the flesh.
Cassie had given the manager of the hotel notice of her intention to leave. Outlining her and Rory’s plans, she had informed him that once the right property and land had been obtained, her energies would be poured into that. He’d been taken aback initially, but couldn’t fail to be both astonished and yet have admiration for her proposed new way of life.
‘It’ll be a lot different to living here,’ he half joked.
‘I know,’ Cassie agreed, ‘but more rewarding, I hope.’
To that he shook her hand and smiled. ‘Well, the best of luck to you, Cass. You deserve it.’
‘Thanks.’
‘But what am I going to do without my number one assistant manager?’
Cassie had indeed given the matter some thought. A name did spring to mind, but she suspected the timing could be wrong. Lisa. To her, Lisa had shown such promise in her new role and fully believed in her potential. Lisa was keen to learn, reliable, capable and trustworthy. She was also pregnant, and Cassie appreciated Lisa’s priorities lay with her much wanted baby.
Lisa had told Cassie that she would be returning to work part-time after having the baby and that her husband intended to reduce his hours too, in order to care for their new born. And why not? Cassie had thought, it made sense for each parent to spend quality time with their child.
‘I think Lisa would make an excellent assistant manager,’ Cassie said, looking for his reaction.
‘Lisa?’ he replied surprised.
‘Yes. Would you consider making it a part-time role, or even a shared role?’
‘Has Lisa ever expressed a wish to do managerial work? It would involve more training and would she want that, being a new mother?’
‘Plenty of new mothers undergo training,’ she reminded him.
‘Yes, perhaps speak to her about it? Get her thoughts?’
‘Will do,’ she nodded.
Towards the end of her shift later in the day, Cassie approached Lisa. She was in the office sorting out the invoices. ‘Lisa, can I have a word with you?’ Lisa looked up, a little confused.
