Sitting Pretty Page 20

  ‘Well, my favourite is banana,’ I announced.

  ‘I like bananas in chocolate sauce. Are you Daddy’s girlfriend?’ She nibbled the yolky fish finger end.

  ‘Amelia!’ Henry looked horrified.

  ‘I don’t know who your daddy is …’

  ‘That’s Daddy,’ she pointed at Henry with the rest of the fish finger, dripping yolk on the table – which would drive him nuts – and looking at me as if she thought I must be more stupid than she’d suspected.

  So this was Henry’s daughter, not his niece. He can’t have always been gay. Maybe he swung both ways? That would make sense. Thanks for the look of pure horror though, Henry. Was that why I needed so many facials?

  ‘Beth works for me, darling,’ Henry explained, wiping up the yolk with a damp cloth.

  ‘Like Mummy used to?’ She nibbled off a bit more fish.

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘Like Mummy used to.’

  Hmm. Interesting. I wondered what she did.

  ‘Mummy used to be a spy,’ she told me in what was clearly her best hush-hush voice. ‘She used to go and spy on Daddy’s hotels …’

  ‘Thank you, Amelia.’ Poor Henry looked flustered. ‘If you’ve had enough to eat you can get down now.’

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  After a few more home assignments in Cheshire, Derbyshire, the Cotswolds, and the Lake District, Henry gave me a real challenge for my first international foray – a four-day cruise from Piraeus, visiting Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete, and Santorini. He assured me that the cruise ships all had stabilisers and that seasickness would not be a problem. He also bought me a pair of Sea-bands anti motion sickness bracelets and a packet of Dramamine, which he promised me I wouldn’t need.

  It would feel strange to go back, alone, to three of the islands where Alex and I had spent our honeymoon. Henry had hummed and hawed about sending me somewhere like Paris or Rome instead, but I surprised myself by finding I actually wanted to go to Greece. I’d only ever been there with Alex, going where he recommended, doing what he wanted, and doing it all the Greek way. Now I could go back as one of those annoying cruise ship tourists and do it my way.

  As Henry was jetting off on a business trip too, we flew as far as Athens together. It was the first time I’d enjoyed the luxury of a taxi to the airport – I’d always done my travelling to airports by coach.

  ‘I’m so sorry business class was full,’ Henry apologised for the umpteenth time as we waited for the drinks trolley. ‘It’s because it’s so close to Christmas. I should have booked the tickets earlier.’

  ‘It really doesn’t matter,’ I repeated, also for the umpteenth time. Premium economy was a step up from the way I usually travelled anyway. In fact, where flights to Athens were concerned, EasyJet was the way I’d always travelled. Business class on a regular airline was something other people did.

  ‘And you’re sure you’ll be all right going back to …’

  ‘I’m sure.’

  ‘And you really don’t mind working over Christmas, when you come back?’

  ‘You’ll be saving me from Christmas dinner with my mother’s hundred-year-old neighbours.’ I grimaced.

  Henry had no idea how much I was looking forward to our Christmas assignment – a festive package at a swish family hotel in North Wales. It was his turn to have Amelia for Christmas so the three of us were travelling to Llandudno the day before Christmas Eve to one of the latest hotels to join the Halliday Vacation Club. We’d booked a three-room suite and, as far as the hotel staff were concerned, Henry was a Mr Johnson and I was Amelia’s nanny. I’d never spent Christmas with a small child before – experiencing the Santa Claus anticipation through Amelia’s eyes would be fun.

  ‘Bon Voyage!’ Henry kissed me on both cheeks as I went to walk up the gangplank to board the cruise ship. His business would keep him in Athens overnight before going on to Turkey, so he’d come with me to the Port of Piraeus by taxi and escorted me to the right berth – and that was without me telling him about my daft dream where I’d been running around the port trying to find my boat.

  ‘Thank you, Henry. Hope your trip’s successful.’

  ‘Don’t forget, any problems I’m only an email away.’

  I knew I should go on up and make him leave – he didn’t want to be standing here waiting for the boat to take off, or whatever it was that boats did – but my feet didn’t seem to want to move.

  ‘You’ve got your Dramamine, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, in my bag.’

  ‘And your wristbands?’

  ‘Those too. Do you think I should put them on now?’

  ‘Time to board, miss,’ came a voice from behind me.

  I looked round and saw I was the last person to go up. ‘Bye, Henry,’ I said quickly and hurried up.

  My cabin was pretty much what I’d expected – bed, bedside table, wardrobe, chair, porthole, tiny en-suite. The little television screen was a surprise, but I supposed if I was going to end up in here feeling sick, I’d need something to keep my mind off it. My bags had been brought to my cabin, but I’d unpack later. First, I wanted to put my wristbands on, go on deck, and watch mainland Greece get smaller and smaller.

  There was a lifejacket drill and meet and greet with the main members of staff and crew before lunch. It was done in Greek, English, Spanish, and French and, to be honest, I’d zoned out by about halfway through. A photographer was wandering around, taking pictures of passengers in their lifejackets – never a good look – but he was quite entertaining and kept the bored children quiet.

  Lunch was a buffet with a lot of salads. There were cold meats and seafood and breads and plenty of fruit, so I didn’t think we’d have to worry about scurvy.

  My phone bleeped a text message while I was wandering around a cold and windy Mykonos that evening. How are you feeling? Are you on Mykonos yet? – H was the message from Henry.

  ‘Fine thanks, lunch ok, Mykonos good, walking round town now, B, I replied. I didn’t tell him I’d found the shop where Alex and I had bought the most delicious hot loukoumades doughnuts, and that I was greedily stuffing my face with one.

  I got on the last of the tenders back to the ship. It was dinner time and I was second sitting so I went to my cabin and freshened up first.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our first night’s show,’ the entertainments manager boomed out in four languages. Now there was a woman who didn’t need a microphone. ‘And here with our opening number, all the way from Russia … our dancers!’

  I sat back and watched six pretty, thin, bored-looking girls in skimpy costumes perform a simple-looking routine with six chairs, to that song Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome from Cabaret.

  Looking around the tinselled ballroom with its obligatory Christmas tree in one corner, I could see the average age of the passengers was about double mine. What was I doing here? And more importantly, what was this floating holiday camp doing as part of Henry’s company? After the hotels I’d visited, I just couldn’t see it. Hopefully tomorrow would be a bit less Hi-de-Hi!

  How was your first night? Hope entertainment and dinner good – H. Henry’s text came in while I was deciding whether to bother with breakfast or not.

  Average, average, and average. Haven’t been sick yet tho B. I thought I’d better put the smiley face so I didn’t sound too grumpy. At least today we had the whole day on Rhodes, an island I hadn’t been to before. And we would dock in the port, so no ship to shore tenders.

  Skipping breakfast, I was first in the queue to disembark and I practically skipped down the gangplank. Now to find something nice for breakfast.

  Sounds like it will be an interesting report – H. I read as I sat down to look at the breakfast menu in a lovely café in the old town. Now this was more like it.

  I texted Henry back, No. It will be AVERAGE!!!

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  I arrived back in UK a couple of days before Henry, so I had plenty of time t
o work on my report before showing it to him, doing a little Christmas shopping, and meeting Daisy for lunch.

  ‘So, Miss Jetsetter,’ she gave me a hug and we both sat down at the table I’d grabbed in Dominic’s. How’s it going?’

  ‘Well, the places I’ve visited for him here have all been fabulous, but four days on a Greek cruise ship was just …’

  ‘I thought you get seasick?’

  ‘I was all right on this boat – evidently stabilisers do work. No, it was everything else – the whole Butlins in captivity thing I couldn’t stand. And the endless buffets with the same food every day. Going ashore each day were the only bits that kept me sane. And fed.’ I nodded at the menus. ‘Shall we order?’

  ‘Vegetarian lasagne and a hot chocolate, please,’ Daisy told the waitress.

  ‘Steak and kidney pie and chips and a decaf latte, please,’ I added.

  After the waitress had gone, Daisy said, ‘It looks like you left Sitting Pretty at about the right time.’

  ‘What do you mean? Davina’s not selling up, is she?’ Henry hadn’t mentioned anything, and surely he’d know. He knew all the business goings on in Wintertown.

  ‘I don’t know. Nothing’s been said, but there’s something in the air at work at the moment. And we’re not taking on any new clients or sitters.’

  ‘What, no new Christmas clients?’ There were always new clients at Christmas with people wanting to go away and spend the holiday with relatives.

  Daisy shook her head. ‘It’s like she’s trying to run the business down, but I don’t understand why.’

  ‘I’ll see if Henry knows anything,’ I told her. ‘If anyone can find out what’s going on, it’s him.’

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  Henry didn’t know anything but said he’d look into it when we got back after Christmas. He’d had a good chuckle at my report and confessed that he’d been thinking of disassociating himself with the cruise line and that my report had been helpful in making up his mind.

  Now we were on a cold morning train to Birmingham, with three very welcome hot chocolates and bacon rolls in front of us. Amelia was telling me all about her Sunday school nativity performance.

  ‘And my wings were bigger than the other angels and when I turned round they knocked baby Jesus out of the crib.’

  ‘Oh my goodness,’ I laughed, while Henry put his hands over his eyes – he’d been there to see it and was evidently trying to forget. ‘What happened next?’

  ‘Mary picked him up to put him back in, but his leg fell off and one of the shepherds picked it up and wouldn’t give it back …’

  Amelia entertained us – and the other passengers – most of the way to Birmingham, en-route to Llandudno Junction. It was a bitterly cold day and it turned out to be a blessing that our train got in just late enough to cut our half hour wait into ten minutes.

  ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Amelia asked soon after we’d boarded this one.

  ‘Uh-oh,’ Henry whispered to me, after telling her that no, we weren’t nearly there yet. ‘Now she’s started asking, she won’t stop until we get there. Are you any good at I Spy?’

  The hotel looked so welcoming as our taxi trundled towards it, the three of us huddled in the back despite the heater being on full blast. An elegant Victorian building – it overlooked the promenade and out to sea and there was a stylish red ribbon-festooned Christmas tree welcoming us into the lobby.

  We’d arrived in good time for afternoon tea and, after choosing our rooms and unpacking our bags, we were soon sitting around a table with a mouth-watering selection of finger sandwiches, cakes, mini mince pies, and slices of Yule log.

  ‘Have a sandwich first,’ Henry told Amelia as she reached straight for a piece of chocolate log.

  I reached for a sandwich too. ‘Mmm,’ I mumbled, ‘turkey and cranberry. Lovely. What have you got, Amelia?’

  ‘Ham. I like ham. Do you like ham, Beth?‘

  ‘Yes, I do.’

  ‘Do you like my daddy?’

  Poor Henry didn’t know where to put himself.

  The hotel had a child-minding service, so Henry and I were able to enjoy a quiet dinner overlooking the wintery sea. The conversation however, was a bit stilted and I hoped he didn’t feel awkward around me because of what Amelia had asked.

  ‘How’s your salmon?’ he asked, picking up his wine glass.

  ‘Delicious. How’s your sea bream?’

  ‘Excellent.’

  I hoped we’d be able to get back the easy camaraderie we’d fallen into before. Should I tell him that it was all right? That I knew he was gay, or at least bi, and that I didn’t want anything from him other than the friendship we’d started to have? I wanted to, but I didn’t know how to start up a conversation like that, let alone finish it, so I kept quiet. Things were still a bit stilted when we said goodnight and went to our rooms.

  The next day was Christmas Eve and whether it was Amelia’s excitement or not, everything seemed to be back to normal. In the afternoon there’d be a treasure hunt in the lounge, bar and reception for the half a dozen children staying, with mulled wine and mince pies for the adults, so after a splendid breakfast, the three of us wandered into the town to make a few last minute purchases. I’d packed wrapping paper, so I went back to my room before lunch to wrap the handmade chocolate bells I’d bought. Then, after a light lunch of Welsh broth, the treasure hunt began.

  There was much laughter and a few squawks of indignation from children and parents alike as a lot of good-natured cheating – obviously to make sure each child found a prize – went on.

  ‘Gorgeous mulled wine.’ Henry offered me a top up.

  ‘Mmm, thanks. Another pie?’ I held out the plate for him.

  ‘Go on then, just one more.’

  ‘Look, Daddy!’ Amelia shrieked with excitement at the surprisingly tasteful snow globe she’d found as her prize. ‘It’s snowing inside, look!’ She shook it up again and giggled in delight as the little white bits floated around and down.

  She was still clutching it when he tucked her up in bed and I went in to say goodnight.

  Dinner that night was much more fun – nothing to do with the mulled wine, I was sure.

  ‘How do you fancy sharing a lobster Thermidor?’ Henry asked me. It was on the Christmas Eve special menu as a dish for two.

  ‘I’d love to,’ I smiled, happy that things were back to normal. I raised my glass and he clinked his against it.

  ‘Looking forward to seeing what Santa’s brought you in the morning?’

  ‘I don’t think he’ll have brought me anything. He wouldn’t know where to find me this year.’

  ‘Oh, I think Santa Claus is a very resourceful man,’ he smiled enigmatically.

  ‘It’s Christmas! Father Christmas has been!’ Amelia’s cries probably woke up anyone else who might have been asleep in the hotel – they certainly woke us up as we both went running to her room, trying to shush her as we went. ‘Look, Daddy, look, Beth!’

  ‘That’s lovely, darling. Aren’t you a lucky girl,’ Henry said. He’d done what my mum used to do when I was little and left a pillowcase at the bottom of her bed with presents in it. She was already tearing the paper off a Frozen Olaf hot water bottle.

  ‘Look, Daddy, it’s real Olaf. He won’t melt when Mummy puts hot water in him, will he?’

  ‘No darling. He’s a special Olaf. He won’t melt.’

  I slipped away to let them enjoy this time, especially as he only got to do this with her every other Christmas, only to find a pillowcase at the bottom of my bed too. A big grin spread across my face. Henry had done that for me – that was so sweet. I was glad I’d bought a selection of travel size L’Occitane men’s toiletries to go with the cashmere scarf and gloves I’d bought him. I quickly unwrapped the bundle of bathroom products and rewrapped them individually, then I took the pillowcase off the spare pillow and put the little parcels and the bigger one in and crept towa
rds Henry’s bedroom.

  ‘Beth, come and join us,’ he called out.

  ‘Just a minute,’ I called back, slipping the pillowcase by the end of his bed and going back to collect mine. ‘Look!’ I exclaimed, as I went back into Amelia’s room. ‘Father Christmas brought me something as well. Do you think he’s left something for Daddy, too?’

  Amelia raced out of the room as Henry grinned ruefully at me and said, ‘I doubt it, he doesn’t usually.’

  ‘Look, Daddy, look!’ His daughter came haring back in. ‘Father Christmas left something for you too!’

  The look of surprise on Henry’s face was priceless.

  The hotel’s chefs surpassed themselves with their Christmas dinner. The turkey was the moistest I’d ever eaten and the crackling on the pork was as salty and as crispy as it could possibly be. There must have been a dozen different vegetables, all cooked to perfection – not a grey sprout in sight.

  ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to eat again this year,’ Henry rubbed his washboard stomach. ‘What a good idea to serve the pudding a couple of hours after the dinner. That way we can enjoy both.’

  ‘Not being able to eat again this year didn’t last very long,’ I teased, looking down at the gorgeous, smoky-grey, pewter broach of a cat that had been one of the gifts in my pillowcase. It looked so like Talisker – I loved it.

  Henry saw me looking and smiled. ‘I’m glad you like it. I thought of you the moment I saw it in the shop. Tal’s very fond of you.’

  ‘Nothing to do with me giving him food, by any chance?’ I stroked the broach – it was lovely.

  ‘No. He’s had other sitters and he’s never bonded with any of them the way he has with you. And that was even before you … you …’

  ‘Turned your spare room into a squat?’

  He laughed and I couldn’t help joining in.