Page 76 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
“Now, as you walk through, check that there’s nothing left where someone could trip over it, and that there are no rucks or tears in the carpets. Particularly the stair carpet.”
Vicky nodded. “Health and safety.”
“That’s right.” Lisa’s eyes danced. “Number one priority. Not just to avoid getting sued, but guests with broken legs aresonot a good advert for a hotel.”
Vicky laughed. She was trying hard not to think about Tom. How could he be such a rat as to be looking to play the field when he was married to such a nice woman? And how could she be such an idiot as to still feel that treacherous tug of attraction when she knew he was such a cheating rat?
Well, hopefully she had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in being his bit on the side. Over the past two weeks she had spotted his car driving past a couple of times, but she had managed to avoid bumping into him — even at Sunday’s cricket match.
Should she tell Lisa what had happened? That question had been tugging at the fringes of her mind for the past few weeks. She had decided against it — unless he tried it on again. Partly out of cowardice. And maybe Lisa already knew what he was like, and chose to ignore it? Maybe she thought that preserving her marriage for the sake of the children was a price worth paying?
“Let’s use the lift.” Lisa pressed the call button. “We can start at the top and work our way down. How’s Arthur, by the way?”
“Very happy to be home.” Vicky smiled. “And his new carer is very good — he knows just how much fuss to give him while letting him be as independent as he’s able to be.”
Lisa nodded as she stepped into the lift. “My husband said it’s worked out for the best in the end. He was lucky — if he’d fallen after he got indoors he might not have been able to get help, and he could have been there for hours, even days.”
Vicky felt as if her smile was fixed in place with superglue.Her husband. Don’t think about him.
The lift doors opened and they stepped out onto the top floor. Like the ground floor it had a slightly faded grandeur, with a red-and-gold carpet, feather-patterned wallpaper and a fancy crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A vase of lilacs stood on a table in the corner, their fragrance scenting the air.
There were five doors on each side of the corridor. Lisa opened one of them with her pass-key. “This one’s empty, so we can go in. Every room has an en suite. It’s important to check them.” She led the way across the room to the bathroom. “Make sure there are fresh towels every day, and the complimentary baskets are full.”
She showed Vicky the checklist.
“Always check every light bulb. It’s something that Housekeeping is likely to miss, but it can be very irritating for the guests to go into their room and find the light doesn’t work.”
“Oh... of course, I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Hence the checklist. It’s very easy to overlook those little details.” Abruptly Lisa grunted and sat down heavily on the bed, rubbing her bump.
“Are you okay?” Vicky asked anxiously. “It’s not... ?”
Lisa laughed and shook her head. “Not yet. These are just practice contractions — Braxton-Hicks. They’re nothing. Ollie worries about me all the time, of course — you’d think a GPwould take it all in his stride. They say doctors make the worst patients, and they’re just as bad when it’s their own families.”
“Uh, Ollie . . . ?”
“My husband. You’ve probably seen him at the cricket — tall guy, brown hair, glasses. He usually does the scoreboard.”
“Oh...” Vicky’s breath seemed to stop in her throat, her head spinning as if the planet had suddenly tipped off its axis. Fortunately Lisa didn’t seem to have noticed her reaction.
“He’d like to play, but he’s often on the call-out rota on Sundays so if there’s an emergency he has to dash off, which would be a bit disruptive to the team.” She stroked her hand over her bump. “I suppose it’s understandable that he’d worry. We’d been trying for a second for a while, but nothing seemed to be happening. We were starting to think about IVF, but then we went on holiday to Greece, and bingo!” Her eyes danced with merriment. “Must have been the sunshine — or maybe the ouzo!”
Vicky managed a laugh. She had a vague recollection of the tall man who had been keeping score at the cricket, at least until shortly after the lunchbreak. Then he had disappeared. So he was Lisa’s husband...
With an effort of will she brought her mind back to the conversation before the other woman began to think she was a bit odd. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” she asked lightly.
“It’s a little girl.” Lisa rose to her feet and led the way back into the corridor. “We haven’t chosen a name yet. I suppose we should — there’s only a couple of weeks to go.”
“So... um... are you related to Tom Cullen, who owns the farm next to me?” Vicky asked as she followed her.
“Tom? Of course — he’s Ollie’s cousin. Ollie’s a few years older, but they grew up like brothers — both being onlies. That was why I wanted a second one after Noah — there’s nothingwrong with being an only, but I do think they can miss out. I’m one of three. Do you have any brothers and sisters?”
“No — I’m an only too. But I have a stepsister. She’s a year older than me.” She smiled thinly. “She’s a bit of a mixed blessing.”
Lisa nodded agreement. “Sisters can be — even when they’re full sisters. Especially when they’re close in age. My sister Cassie and I fought like cat and dog when we were kids, but we get on much better now. Though of course that could be because she’s on the other side of the planet!”
“Oh?”
