Jade didn’t show him another chat, where Erin had messaged Jade privately.He picked her up from parties??? Fuck me.The snark had made Jade giggle and be glad that it wasn’t only her who felt freshly ignored by Joey. Self-conscious, because Gran might not have liked swearing, but Erin never seemed to guard her language at all, she’d sent back:Fuck me too.
Leo frowned at the phone screen and scrolled slowly through once more. ‘Has he changed much from Mairead’s old photos?’
Jade cricked her neck to inspect the images. ‘Older, obviously. Scruffier.’
‘I’m sorry he cost you sleep.’ He passed the handset back. ‘Have you shown them to Mum?’
‘They hadn’t arrived when I saw her yesterday.’ And, to be truthful, it hadn’t occurred to her. Was there significance in Jade feeling she could show Leo? An indication that there was some trust left between them? ‘It’s the weirdness of Rosalie having such a different experience with him than mine and Erin’s. It sounds as if his parenting was casual, but he stuck with her – while he abandoned us. Anyway.’ She sucked down her cappuccino. ‘Guestrooms. Thank you so much for helping with breakfast. Maybe the hangover ladies will have put thenon disturbaresign on their door and sleep for the rest of the day. Then I’ll have only fifteen rooms to service instead of sixteen.’
He pulled off his apron too. ‘OK. Do we need to carry up cleaning stuff?’
She hesitated in surprise. ‘Are you helping with the rooms too?’
He flexed his biceps. ‘I’m here for the full shift, boss. I’ve done every job in a hotel, so put me to work.’
Her cheeks warmed as she realised she’d stared at his muscly arm. ‘Really? OK, then.’ Today wasn’t turning out as badly as she’d anticipated. ‘There are utility cupboards on each floor. Let’s ask Yara if anyone’s already checked out so we can start there.’
Upstairs, armed with a cleaning cart, a pile of linen and towels, and a laundry trolley, they broached room 302, throwing open the windows to replace the fuggy air with the fresh breeze that blew from the lake over the oleanders of Piazza Cavour. Leo stripped the bed while Jade emptied bins and scooped soiled towels from the bathroom floor into the laundry trolley.
‘Bed?’ he asked.
She froze.
‘Erm, I meant do you want to put the fresh sheets on next?’ He sounded strained.
Silently ordering the heat to leave her cheeks, she reached for the clean linen. ‘OK. Let’s do the bed. Then, if you clean in here, I’ll do the bathroom.’
In silence, they shook out the fresh sheets, bright white in the summer sunlight streaming in via the open window. A laundry-fresh scent wafted up as they mirrored each other’s movements on either side of the bed, tucking in the bottom sheet and replacing pillowslips in a whisper of pressed linen.
Never had Jade been quite so acutely aware of a bed. It loomed between her and Leo, reminding her of all the long-ago nights when they’d made hot, naked love and fallen asleep in tangled sheets.
She literally couldn’t look at him.
‘Done,’ she said as they smoothed the lightweight quilt into place. ‘You’ll find cloths and spray on the cart.’ Then she grabbed rubber gloves and cleaning products, and bolted for thebathroom. It was probably the first time she’d ever been glad to clean a shower and toilet.
There were two more rooms on this floor bearing requests to service the room, so they moved on, her with the laundry trolley and him pushing the cleaning cart.
Again, the bed.
At least it had only to be made rather than changed, and they discovered no gross stains or used condoms. Though at least that might have made them laugh, breaking the tension.
Into the silence, Leo said, ‘I’m going to look at a hotel in Riva. It looks fantastic on the sales particulars.’
She flipped the luxurious bottle-green velvet bed runner over the bed while he settled the matching cushions against the pillows. ‘Your mum will be thrilled if you buy in Italy.’ Riva del Garda and Como were a three-hour drive apart, but definitely closer than Como and the UK.
He laughed. ‘In her imagination, she’s already got me producing grandkids.’ He tugged the cleaning cart closer and reached for a cloth. ‘There’s a chance it could happen quite fast – the hotel, not grandkids,’ he clarified. ‘A couple own it and the husband’s ill, so they’re looking for early retirement and a quick sale.’ He wiped a bedside table. ‘It looks a good opportunity. Corner premises, roof terrace, garden, a five-minute walk to the ferry. Close to shops and cafés.’ Fishing out his phone, he swiped the screen to show her photos.
Jade took the phone, warm from his pocket, and her gaze met a picture of an elegant cream-coloured building that curved around a corner, withHotel Casa Leonardopainted in a smart navy-blue script above the door. ‘Wow,’ she said brightly. ‘It’s even named after you.’
He laughed. ‘Like an omen, isn’t it? I’m not sure when I’ll go because we’re niggling back and forth about whether they shouldlet me see the profit-and-loss sheet beforehand, or if I should visit and go into the numbers then.’
She handed back the phone. ‘Surely you won’t go to all the trouble of a visit if they won’t let you do due diligence.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ He tucked away the phone and turned to dust a mirror. ‘But it’s a keen price and I have the deposit, so it could be great.’ Excitement rang in his voice and his eyes shone the same blue as the lapis lazuli in one of the old brooches in Gran’s jewellery box.
‘Then I hope it works out.’ She made for the bathroom, a lumpen feeling in her stomach. Was it... regret? Of course not. She hadn’t expected him to settle closer to Como.
Had she? No way. That would be ridiculous.
