Page 61 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Toby flicked Molly a guilty look before continuing. ‘Well, the engine crank sockets weren’t working so I sprayed the cylinder thing with the spray.’
‘Crank sockets?’
Toby went the colour of a winter berry.
‘So, what you’re saying is that itwasn’tcomplex then?’ Levi had gone into barrister mode. At this rate Toby would be found guilty and sent down for a substantial amount of time. Molly imagined Levi in a wig and gown. He’d make a magnificent prosecutor.
Toby instantly crumbled. ‘It was all Molly. She fixed it. I basically held the torch.’
Molly blushed, tapping snow from her boots against the step. ‘It was nothing, really. Just your basic sparkplugs and starter fluid. And it’ll need an oil change at some point, but it should keep everything running until the power comes back on. We should turn a few thousand of these lights off though, just to take the pressure off it.’
They all looked blankly at her.
‘You lost me at sparkplugs,’ laughed Lucca. ‘Anyway, well done both.’ He slapped Toby on the back.
‘Yes,’ said Valerie, before looking sadly over at Levi. ‘Someonewas almost airlifted out of here… Well, it doesn’t matter now. Thanks to you we can spend Christmas together.’ She leaned over to pat Toby on the shoulder, much to everyone’s surprise.
Molly felt invisible. She hoped Levi would at least smile at her. She glanced over at him, but his face was a mask.
Valerie continued clucking. ‘We might even find it in our hearts not to charge Molly for the wine yesterday.’
‘Sorry?’ Molly must have misheard.
‘Mother,’ Levi warned. His voice was low and threatening.
Valerie ignored him. ‘That’s the problem with staff these days I suppose. You don’t know who to trust. Except you, Toby, darling. You’d never “mistakenly” open an expensive bottle of wine just so you could Instagram it.’ Valerie was doing air quotes.
Molly looked at Toby. This was his chance to come clean. ‘Toby? Do you have anything to say?’
Toby deliberately looked away, taking off his hat and gloves.
Unbelievable.
Molly took a deep, calming breath. ‘As I told you all last night, it wasn’t me. I didn’t go down to the wine cellar. Besides, I haven’t the first clue what makes a good wine because I’m not a trained sommelier.’ She let out an enormous tut. ‘But honestly, if you don’t believe me and feel the need to take it from my wages, please do.’
She prayed that they wouldn’t, but it came down to a question of pride. She hated them having such a low opinion of her.
Valerie gave her a sympathetic shake of her head. ‘Where would you get that kind of money? I know how little the resort staff get paid and your restaurant business is clearly in trouble otherwise you wouldn’t be here. No. We’ll just have to put it down to a genuine mistake and you owing us one.’
Owing them one?
‘Either that or you might have to sell your restaurant to us.’ She let out a tinkling laugh.
Molly dared to look at Levi. His eyes darted about as though assessing everyone in the group. She couldn’t tell whether he was less pleased about her offering to pay for the wine, or with her fixing the generator so that he could continue to spend Christmas with his beloved family of insane megalomaniacs.
They locked eyes. He seemed to look straight through her. Molly tilted her head, wondering whether to appeal to him. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again as though thinking better of it. He frowned and walked away.
This family could be so exasperating.
19
IF YOU WANT TO BE TRUSTED, BE HONEST
It was while Molly was scrubbing the charred remains of an unidentifiable lump from a baking tray, while trying to rid the place of an acrid, burning smell, at the same time as prepping individual lunches for the entire household, that she realised this was a family keeping secrets. Someone had obviously been trying to cook. She found an almost empty vodka bottle hidden at the back of the pantry among the dried pasta and bags of rice.No prizes for guessing who might be responsible for that, Molly thought to herself.
As she was wondering whether to confiscate it or put it back, she heard someone approaching and hastily shoved it in her large apron pocket before swivelling round to find Valerie in the doorway sniffing the pungent air with an unimpressed frown.
‘Busy?’ Valerie said, eyeing the bulge in her pocket. She frowned, waiting for an explanation.
