Sophie jumps forwards and slides a robe around Plum’s shoulders. ‘Here, put this on before you freeze!’
Plum shrugs. ‘I’m really not cold.’ But she relents, ties the belt tight around her waist, and puts her hand on Rye’s arm.
Sophie smiles. ‘The good news is that thanks to your chef’s salad, the baby should soon be on the way.’
Clemmie lowers her voice to the guys. ‘Her waters broke. You’ll have to do a clean-up operation, I’m afraid.’
Rye is nodding. ‘No worries, dealing with the unexpected is what we’re good at.’
Clemmie whispers in my ear, ‘He must deal with crises like mole hills on the lawn all the time.’
Plum gives a shudder. ‘That vinegar dressing was strong enough to strip paint!’
Rye looks concerned. ‘We haven’t had any complaints before.’
Milla laughs. ‘Why would you if you’re outside?’
Nell’s voice pipes up from the lounge chair where she’s reclining. ‘I’ll just luxuriate here for a few more minutes if that’s okay with you?’
Rye smiles. ‘Don’t stay theretoolong. We’d rather not risk what happened when Clemmie had Arnie.’
Plum gives him a nudge. ‘The fire brigade is already here this time.’
Kit laughs. ‘I can see the headlines now!High Tides manager delivers baby beside hotel hot tub!might not be the publicity you’re looking for.’
Plum frowns. ‘The manager isn’t here though. Reception said he’d been called away.’
Kit nods. ‘Yes, called away –to the fire station.’
Plum blinks. ‘So the manager is a part-time fireman too? How fabulous is that?’
‘Well, yes – but no.’ The lines on Kit’s forehead deepen. ‘There aren’t two people, there’s just Rye. Ryeisthe manager here.How do you not know this?’
I’m trying to get my head around this. ‘But surely Rye is the dog warden…’
Milla joins in. ‘Who doubles as a gardener…’
Sophie’s not one to be left out. ‘And gives out the parking tickets?’
Rye’s biting back his smile. ‘It’s true, I do all of those, but I also run the place.’
‘Well, blow me down, who’d have thought!’ Nell explodes.
There are a few seconds of silence as we all readjust, then Milla exclaims, ‘So you weren’t making out with a manual worker after all, Plum. He’s management!’
Sophie pulls a face. ‘Muscles like that, anyone could be fooled.’
Plum shouts. ‘For the last time, we weren’t making out!’
Then Kit clears his throat. ‘If you didn’t get that Rye is manager, there’s something else you might have missed.’
Plum rolls her eyes. ‘Don’t tell us – he’s been abducted by aliens and brought back to earth?’
‘Not quite.’ Kit laughs. ‘David Byron is Rye’s dad.’
The rest of us are picking our jaws up off the floor as we take in what feels like a huge information dump, but Plum’s straight on this. ‘So how does that one work, RyeRadley?’
Rye rubs his chin. ‘Radley is my stepfather’s name; he brought me up. I only got to know my real dad in my twenties.’
