She shook him off. ‘Angry? Of course I bloody am – I’m furious. You took all the information I shared with you in confidence and turned it into a business opportunity. How am I supposed to feel?’
‘You’ll calm down,’ he said quietly. ‘And when you do, you’ll see that this is the best course of action all round. Gorran gets rid of his debts, the townspeople get the opportunity to invest in some lovely new apartments and I get to make a nice little profit. Everybody wins.’
‘Not everybody,’ Gina ground out.
Max’s mouth thinned. ‘I don’t see why this matters so much – have you forgotten you’re supposed to be moving back to London next month?’
Gina raised her chin. ‘Am I?’
Max stared at her. Then he shrugged. ‘I thought you were. But clearly I’m wrong – I don’t seem to know much about you any more.’ He paused, gazing at the distant horizon. ‘I’m staying at the Scarlet when you’re ready to talk. Room 124. Take care, Gina.’
He walked quickly towards the car park and climbed into a red Audi TT. And that was when Gina’s world really imploded. Because there was only one person who owned a car like that in Polwhipple: Rose Arundell.
Gorran actually jumped when Gina slammed back the door to the office.
‘H-hello,’ he said, taking in her obvious agitation with an anxious grimace. ‘Have I forgotten a meeting or something?’
‘I know what you’ve done, Gorran,’ she said, surprised by how level her voice was. ‘What I don’t understand is why.’
With a sideways glance at an expensive-looking bottle of single malt whisky that Gina suspected hadn’t been there before Max’s visit, Gorran caved in. ‘He made it sound so good,’ he moaned, his head in his hands. ‘No debts and a nice little nest egg for my retirement. What would you have done?’
He looked so wretched that Gina couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. ‘Just tell me you haven’t signed anything yet.’
‘No, not yet,’ Gorran said. ‘But we made a gentleman’s agreement – he’s gone away to get the paperwork drawn up. I can’t back out now.’
Gina shook her head. ‘A verbal agreement isn’t legally binding, even if you shook on it. I’m going to need all the details, Gorran. Don’t leave anything out.’
He opened his mouth to speak but Gina held up a hand. ‘Wait. I need to make some phone calls first. Quite a few people have something at stake here and it’s only fair to include them all.’
She grabbed her phone and called up the first number in her contacts list. ‘Ben? We’ve got a major problem at the Palace. How soon can you get here?’ She covered the handset and pointed to the bottle of single malt. ‘I suggest you put that out of sight, in case someone decides to brain you with it.’
There was a lot of shouting when Gina broke the news. Ferdie let out a volley of ferocious Italian, in amongst which Gina picked out several unflattering descriptive terms, and Manda was equally enraged. Tash the projectionist declared she wanted to rip Gorran’s arms off and Ben looked as though someone had just pounded him over the head with a gigantic rock. And at the far end of the office, Gorran cowered, looking as though he was living his worst nightmare.
‘All right, everyone, that’s enough,’ Gina bellowed. ‘We’re all angry but this isn’t helping. What we need is to work out an alternative plan of action – preferably one that doesn’t involve turning the Palace into a block of holiday homes.’
Ferdie glared at Gorran. ‘Idiota. What were you thinking?’
‘Nonno!’ Gina said sharply. ‘That’s not going to help, either. Gorran has his reasons for listening to Max’s offer.’
Manda pursed her lips, as though there was plenty she wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut.
‘These are the facts,’ Gina said, once she was satisfied that everyone was listening. ‘Max has offered £300,000 to buy the building.’ She took a deep breath and tried to ignore the ache of betrayal in her heart. ‘He’s not stupid, he knows Gorran needs the money so I have no doubt that’s way below the market value of the property.’
‘Che palle,’ Ferdie announced in disgust. ‘What kind of lowlife is this man of yours?’
Gina swallowed hard and didn’t dare look at Ben. ‘It’s just business, Nonno. It’s how they all operate in London. And please don’t call him my man.’ She glanced across at Gorran. ‘Do you honestly want out of the Palace? The truth, please – yes or no.’
He sighed. ‘But the answer is yes and no. I see everything you touch turn to gold here, Gina, and it makes me feel so inadequate. And before I know it, I’ve got a little voice in my head telling me that I’m too old, that I should give it all up before it’s too late. Then I wonder what I would do with myself if I didn’t come here every day and I can’t imagine what Polwhipple would be like without the Palace.’
‘What about me?’ Tash asked. ‘What about Bruno? This place is our livelihood – didn’t you stop to think about how we’d feel when you sold our jobs out from underneath us?’
Gorran hung his head. ‘I didn’t. I’m sorry.’
Gina held up one hand. ‘I know you’re hurt and angry – I am too. But we really need to focus.’ She gazed round at them one by one. ‘I’ve got an idea but it all depends on you, Gorran. Do you want the Palace to close down?’
‘No,’ Gorran said. ‘I don’t.’
‘Not even if it solves all your problems?’ she pressed on, determined to make sure he understood what was at stake.
He met Tash’s sullen stare and hesitated. ‘Not even then.’
Gina let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. ‘Okay. So, this comes out of something Max once said to me – he suggested that what the Palace needed was investors. Silent partners who invest money in the business, for reasons best known to themselves and their accountants, and in return we give them a percentage of the profits and a VIP invitation to attend whenever they like.’
Manda looked sceptical. ‘But who do we know who’s got a spare £300,000 lying around? Because I certainly don’t.’
‘We won’t need that much,’ Gina pointed out. ‘That was the amount Max offered Gorran to buy the building outright. We only need enough to settle Gorran’s debts with a bit of extra cash left over to plough back into the business.’
‘Again, who do we know who might do that?’ Manda repeated.
Gina looked at Ben. ‘I might know some people. I’m hoping you might too.’
He nodded. ‘Maybe. The trouble is that we’ll have to move fast – Max will want to get a deal drawn up and signed quickly, before Gorran can change his mind.’
‘I’ll make some phone calls,’ Gina said. ‘Gorran, you’ll have to stall Max when he starts pressuring you to sign. Tell him you need your lawyer to check the paperwork over.’
‘I don’t have one,’ Gorran replied.
‘He doesn’t know that,’ Gina said patiently. ‘Max moves in circles where everyone has a lawyer, remember? Besides, you’re probably going to need one before too long.’
‘What about the Some Like it Hot screening?’ Manda asked. ‘Should we cancel?’
‘No,’ Gina said. ‘We carry on as though it’s business as usual. We’re going to need all the goodwill we can get if we’re going to make this work out long-term.’
Ben caught up with Gina as they were leaving. He drew her to one side of the foyer. ‘What are we going to do about the town council?’ he asked in a low voice. ‘If Rose is involved then Valeria probably already knows what’s going on. They could demand that we return the money they gave us for the refurbishment.’
‘And refuse to release the payment for the train track renovations,’ Gina added with a groan. ‘I need to talk to Max, find out what role Rose has played in all this. And then I suppose we factor it into our plea for investment.’
Ben reached out to take her hand and she felt a thrill of excitement at his touch, in spite of her jumbled emotions. ‘Are you okay? About Max, I mean.’
Gina prodded the
hurt and bewilderment she felt. ‘Not really. But I will be.’
‘You’re amazing, you know that?’ he said gently, squeezing her fingers. ‘This is all going to work out fine and we’re all going to owe you big time.’
She squeezed back. ‘You don’t owe me anything, Ben. And we’re a team, remember? Whatever happens from now on, we tackle it together. Agreed?’
Ben smiled at her and Gina hoped she hadn’t imagined the flare of something more than friendship behind his eyes. ‘Agreed.’
The lobby of the Scarlet Hotel was quiet, so quiet that the click-clack of Gina’s heels on the tiled floor sounded like bullets being fired from a rifle.
She took a deep steadying breath when she reached the receptionist and did her best to smile. ‘Hello, Shelley. Could you ring up to room 124 and let Mr Hardy know that I’m here to see him, please? Tell him I’ll wait for him in the bar.’
‘Of course, Gina,’ the receptionist said. ‘Miquel will be pleased to see you – he’s been working on a cocktail for your next event.’
‘I can’t wait to try it,’ Gina said warmly.
In the bar, the head bartender’s eyes lit up when he saw her. ‘Wait,’ he said, when her gaze slid to the cocktail menu. ‘I have a surprise for you.’
Gina took a seat at the bar. ‘I really hope it’s a drink, Miquel. I think I’m going to need one.’
Five minutes later, Gina was admiring a tall red and orange cocktail with a lollipop balanced across the top. ‘I call it Sweet Sue’s Syncopated Sling. Or maybe a Sweet Sue for short.’
Gina laughed. ‘No one will be complaining about getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop when we serve this beauty. It’s fabulous.’
‘A bit like you,’ Max’s voice said from behind her.
Instantly, Gina’s happiness evaporated. ‘Hello, Max. What do you want to drink?’
‘Whisky, please. On the rocks.’
Miquel inclined his head to show that he’d heard.
‘Why don’t we take a seat over there?’ Max suggested. ‘Bring my drink over, will you?’
Taking a bolstering sip of her cocktail, Gina followed Max to the table he’d indicated, tucked away in a dimly lit corner of the bar. She’d barely sat down before Max started to speak.
‘Look, I know you’re angry, but I want you to understand that I did this for you – for us. The Palace is going under, Gee – you know it, I know it, half of Polwhipple knows it. At least this way your grandfather gets to keep his business – that’s something, right?’
Gina stared at him in astonishment; he couldn’t seriously have convinced himself he was doing a good thing, could he? She gazed into his eyes and almost laughed as she realised the truth; as far as Max was concerned, he really had done nothing wrong.
‘Tell me what Rose Arundell has to do with all this,’ she said, leaning back in her seat as Miquel discreetly delivered Max’s drink.
‘What?’ Max asked warily.
‘I saw you getting into her car earlier,’ Gina went on. ‘And suddenly quite a few things fell into place. How Rose knew things that Gorran had only shared with Ben and me – things I’d then discussed with you: who had recommended this hotel to you when you came down to stay; how she knew that I hadn’t told you about Ben staying over that night. So I’ll ask you again – what has Rose got to do with your offer to Gorran?’
Max sighed. ‘She said this might happen. There’s no need to be jealous of Rose – we’ve been friends for years. A bit like you and Ben.’
Gina fought the urge to blush then because she’d had, and continued to have, some distinctly non-platonic thoughts about Ben over the past few months. ‘I’m not jealous of Rose. It’s completely the opposite – she’s jealous of me.’
‘Because you turned Ben against her?’ Max asked, sipping his drink. ‘She told me a while ago that you couldn’t bear for him to be happy with anyone except you.’
This time Gina couldn’t stop the heat from rising in her cheeks. ‘I don’t want to talk about Ben and Rose, or me and Rose, or me and Ben,’ she ground out. ‘What I want to know is how involved Rose is with your offer to Gorran.’
Max sat forwards. ‘Fine, I’ll tell you. She rang me up last weekend, to tell me about your cosy murder mystery night with Ben.’ Gina went still. Max threw her an amused glance. ‘Did you think I wouldn’t find out about it? That was what tipped the balance and made me realise I had to do something.’
A roaring started in Gina’s ears. ‘You did this because of me and Ben?’
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ Max said, scowling. ‘It just so happened that I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. When I mentioned Gorran’s financial black hole to Rose, she agreed that the time was right to put in a bid for the Palace. She even agreed it would help you and me get back on track, because it was one less thing to keep you down here.’
Gina felt tears prick her eyelids. How could things have come to this? It was her fault they were in this mess; she was the one who’d introduced Max to Polwhipple, and the Palace. And whether Rose admitted it or not, she was jealous of Gina’s friendship with Ben, which had prompted her to toss a grenade into the heart of Gina’s world. But Max wasn’t innocent; he’d been happy to exploit the situation for financial and personal gain.
‘She was wrong,’ Gina said, swallowing the ache in her throat. ‘You both were. It hasn’t helped our relationship. In fact, it’s killed it.’
‘What?’ Max said, narrowing his eyes. ‘You can’t mean that.’
Gina got to her feet. ‘I’m sorry, Max, but I do.’
He jumped up, sullen irritation all over his face. ‘Bloody hell, Gina, just think about what you’re saying. I know you’re angry, but think about what you’re throwing away.’
Blinking hard against the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks, Gina shook her head. ‘That’s just it – I’m not angry. Not any more. I’m sad and disappointed and hurt but that’s all. And one day you’ll thank me for this. One day you’ll wake up and realise that it was the right thing to do.’ She took a long shaky breath and let it out slowly. ‘It’s over.’
He stared at her as though the seriousness of what she was saying was just starting to sink in. ‘If you walk away now, there’s no going back.’
‘There’s no going back anyway,’ she said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘Goodbye, Max.’
She walked away, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other until she reached the safety of her car. And then she cried until there were no more tears to fall.
Chapter Eight
The next few days passed in a blur. Max tried to ring her several times but she ignored every call and eventually he gave up. She’d have to speak to him at some point – a two-year relationship didn’t dissolve overnight – but it would have to wait until the battle for the Palace was over. When it hurt less.
Gina was unsurprised to hear he’d tried to pressurise Gorran into a quick signature. The cinema owner had stood his ground, insisting that the contracts needed to be read by his lawyers first. And then, on Gina’s instructions, he’d put the paperwork into the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet and done his best to forget about it.
Gina and Ben had been busy contacting anyone they thought might invest in the Palace. Ideally, what they wanted was a silent partner, but they were resigned to taking whatever they could get. Gina was also trying to tread carefully so that she didn’t alert Max to her plan; there were plenty of investors in London who might innocently mention a new project and then Max would issue Gorran with an ultimatum: sign or lose the deal for ever. And faced with losing his dream of financial security, Gorran would almost certainly sign.
By the middle of the following week, both Gina and Ben had a couple of promising meetings lined up but Gina was run ragged between the dairy and the Some Like it Hot screening. She was beginning to wonder whether she’d bitten off more than she could chew by deciding to transform the cinema into a speakeasy; she felt as though she’d bought ev
ery mismatched cup and saucer from every charity shop within a fifty-mile radius. It would all be worth it when she looked around on the night and saw all the delighted faces but for now, it felt like a task that even Wonder Woman would struggle with.
‘How are you doing?’ Carrie asked on Saturday morning, when Gina stopped by the shop to collect a few last-minute costume accessories for her grandparents. ‘All set for tonight?’
‘I think so,’ Gina said. ‘Gorran is convinced Max is going to burst through the doors mid-film and demand that he signs on the dotted line, but apart from that I think everything is in hand.’
Carrie paused to run the purchase of a rainbow-coloured kaftan through the till for a customer. ‘Have you heard from him recently?’ she asked, once the shop was empty again.
Gina shook her head. ‘I know he’s back in London, and he hasn’t made it obvious that we’ve split up, which makes me wonder if he thinks there’s hope that we’ll get back together . . . But no, he hasn’t tried to speak to me.’
Her friend busied herself with wiping some dust from the monitor screen in front of her. ‘And is there hope? I mean, you were together a long time – do you think that maybe when all of this blows over, you might remember the things about him you loved?’
‘I . . .’ Gina paused and tried to marshal her thoughts. There were plenty of things she’d loved about Max – his drive and determination, his attention to detail that meant he’d never forgotten a date or an event that mattered to her, his passion for what he did – all of those things were what had drawn her to him in the first place and she’d allowed them to blind her to the aspects of his personality she didn’t like. Besides, Gina herself was no longer the woman she’d been when they’d first met. She was beginning to suspect she was no longer the woman she’d been before leaving for Polwhipple.
‘No,’ she told Carrie, squaring her shoulders. ‘It’s definitely over.’
Carrie studied her in silence. ‘So where does that leave you?’ she said, after a few moments. ‘Will you go back to London?’
The Picture House by the Sea Page 31