by Lynda Stacey
‘Oh bejesus, it’s freezing. He was a good tipper, so I had to wave him off, didn’t I?’ she said as she turned to the drinks cabinet and poured a large glass of whisky. ‘But then again, I did give him a few of the optional extras.’ She gave out a dirty laugh, placed a tongue in her cheek and held the glass in the air. ‘This and a hot bath will be my treat tonight,’ she announced as she sipped at the drink. ‘What about you, Annie? Are you finished for the night, or what?’
Annie seethed inside. Bella had asked the question in the knowledge that she hadn’t had any work all night. All the punters had chosen either Bella or one of the other girls, meaning that Annie would have to hit the streets as the clubs came out and would most probably still be working way after they’d all gone to their beds. What’s more all tonight’s men had arrived, done the business and gone quickly. They’d all paid up without an issue and, by the sounds of it, Bella had ended up with a few quid extra for her multiple services.
‘Think I’ll take a walk down the road, see if anyone’s looking to score a trick or two in their car,’ Annie answered as she slumped towards the stairs. Her legs ached and her heels were raw with wearing charity shop stilettos that were far too tight. Kicking them off for a moment, she began to climb the stairs. It was winter and she needed to change; the skimpy underwear that she currently wore would be no good out in the cold and the rain, but her distinct lack of clothes meant that her choices were limited.
‘Well, I’m going to lay in a bubble bath for at least an hour,’ Bella said as she smugly turned on her heel to follow Annie up the stairs. ‘Think I’ve got enough to pay Griff off now, so tomorrow, my darling, the punters are all yours. I might even have the day off and go do some Christmas shopping,’ she smirked. ‘Buy my mammy and daddy something nice for the big day.’
‘All right for some,’ Annie threw back. ‘So how do you do it, Bella? Two grand is a lot of money for you to have come up with that quickly.’ Annie tried to calculate the amount of work Bella must have had over the past two days. She pondered for a moment; at around fifty quid a go that would have been forty blokes, and surely there hadn’t been that many that had come through the doors? In fact, she knew there’d only been twenty at the most, and with that in mind, Annie tried to think back over Bella’s movements. Had she been in the house all the time, or had she been out working on the side? She shook her head. None of them could earn that in a day or two, no matter how many extras they offered, not unless those extras were drugs.
Annie tossed the stilettos through her bedroom door but hovered on the landing, while she watched where Bella went. Whatever Bella was up to, whatever she was doing, it wasn’t a few quickies with the punters, and Annie’s mind went to the small bag of heroin she’d produced to help her out. Was she dealing? Was she selling it along with the sex? If she was capable of earning two grand that quickly, and apparently that easily, then she could earn it again.
‘Looking forward to seeing my mammy Christmas day,’ Bella said, ignoring Annie’s question. ‘They’ve invited me for Christmas dinner. First time in three years and I reckon it’s all cause I helped my mum. She must have really appreciated it.’ She looked pleased with herself, but Annie was annoyed. She could feel the steam coming out of her ears as she stamped around at the top of the stairs. Bella was gloating just a little too much and Annie could feel herself getting more and more angry. But her anger would be short-lived. Annie had a plan and in the end Bella could gloat as much as she liked, but it’d be Annie that won the war and her that would have the money. After all, why shouldn’t she? Bella had known what she’d been up against, she’d known what Griff had demanded, what he’d threatened and she’d known what he was capable of, yet even with all that at stake, she didn’t seem to care. All she cared about was saving her own neck and paying her own debts.
Pushing the door to her room wide open, Annie went inside, kicking rubbish to one side as she went. She sat on the bed and began picking up her outdoor clothes from the floor, but then tossed them back where they’d come from. She didn’t want to go out there tonight. It was too cold, it was raining and whoever wanted to score would be half paralytic by now. She sighed. ‘There has to be an easier way,’ she whispered to herself. Then she thought of the money. Could she really take Bella’s money, or was it better to admit defeat, and to just give Griff the child? Annie knew what those animals would do to Lily, but did she care enough? Was it better to sacrifice her daughter than to take the wrath herself? It was the first time Annie had really wondered whether Griff would actually take her. Was it worth it to clear her debt? And if not, could she deprive herself of the drugs while trying to pay Griff off?
She thought of the heroin. Could she go without it? She shook her head. ‘Not a chance,’ she said to herself as she scratched at her arm. The track marks were more than apparent, her arm was filled with sores, and she made a study of where she’d next find a space in which to inject.
Along the corridor a door opened, and then slammed shut, right before she heard the water run in the bathroom.
‘You said you were going to lay in the bath for at least an hour,’ Annie repeated the words that Bella had used and walked to the door. ‘Well, good for you,’ she whispered as she stood with the door half open, listening to the sound of the water swooshing around and Bella singing. Her mind went back to the day before. Bella had drugs hidden in her room. Annie smiled. There were only one or two places big enough to hide anything and Annie thought about the floorboards, how loose they always seemed and how she’d often hidden things under there herself. And with a good-sized hiding place, she was sure that Bella would have hidden the money there too. Again, Annie listened to the noise of the water swishing around behind the closed door. With Bella saying she was going to take such a long and luxurious bath, she’d be gone long enough for Annie to go in, find the hiding place and take it all for herself.
Chapter Seventeen
It was still early in the day, but with only six days to go until Christmas, preparations at the hotel were well underway. All the staff ran around frantically, doing multiple tasks, and all the main rooms were being prepared, cleaned and decorated. Jess seemed to have the longest list of all and she began ticking each job off, one at a time. The Christmas tree was to be removed from the grand hall – being real it had soon lost its perfection and a new and pristine one was to be put in its place. Jack and Len were already getting on with it. The old tree was too big to remove in one piece and therefore had to be cut up and taken out, all with as little disruption to the guests as possible. However, the new tree was much easier to erect and could easily be brought in through the patio doors. It was still wrapped up tightly in netting and while that was still in place, it could be positioned before the netting was removed. The tree could then be dressed, with everyone getting involved, before the first guests came down for dinner.
Once that was done, the dance floor needed to be constructed, the disco confirmed, and the food, balloons, streamers and crackers were all to be collected from the supplier, along with the miniature wicker baskets. Every guest staying on Christmas Eve would receive a small wicker hamper, each filled with goodies, and placed in the bedrooms as a surprise to welcome them on their arrival. All the baskets still needed putting together and Jess had wondered if she might enrol Bastion to help with the task. Everything just had to be ready, everything had to be perfect and it all had to happen on time. The guests were paying a lot of money to be there and they were all entitled to total perfection.
Her thoughts turned to Christmas Day. Dinner would be served promptly at one o’clock, preceded by champagne, an array of cocktails and the most sumptuous aperitifs. It was up to the whole team to ensure that everyone enjoyed every minute of their Christmas, but ultimately it was up to Head Chef Bernie, Nomsa and the kitchen staff to provide the best food possible.
‘Jess, did you phone the disco man to check the booking and make sure he gets here early on Christmas Eve to set up? Christmas Day will
be far too busy and we really don’t need the disruption of him having the doors open, letting all the warm air out.’ Madeleine flicked through the diary. ‘I want him in the corner of the library, and a string of balloons hung from the ceiling and the same on New Year’s Eve, just like last year.’
Jess smiled. Maddie was the most organised person she knew and never ceased to amaze her. She’d been a bestselling author before coming to the hotel. She’d written to earn money while Poppy was a baby, but the writing had had to stop as soon as she’d inherited the Hall. Running Wrea Head Hall took all of her time and she’d had to learn a whole new profession within weeks of her arrival. Her whole life had changed yet, without hesitation, and with the help of Jack and the management team, she’d blossomed in the role of running the hotel. She did everything as her father had, ensured that the guests came first and, above all else, she did it all with an air of professionalism that Jess truly admired. But today Madeleine looked tired and flustered. It was as though there were too many things on her tick list and she picked up one piece of paper from the desk after the other.
‘Maddie, when you say the disco man, do you mean the DJ?’ Jess walked towards her, smiling, and watched as Madeleine juggled three jobs at once.
‘That’s Mr and Mrs Kent booked into Room Nineteen on the twenty-ninth, tick. I’ve ordered room service for Room Two, tick, and the lady, Mrs Bramfoot, in the Ellis Suite would like an iron and an ironing board, which Nomsa is about to take up. Tick tickety tick.’ Madeleine paused and looked up from the desk, caught her sister’s eye and burst out laughing. ‘Yes, of course. He’s called a DJ. Now can you be a love and call him, check he’s still turning up and at what time? And let Len know that I’ve put him in charge of making sure the dance floor is constructed properly. I can’t risk people tripping on it, especially during the conga.’ She turned back to the computer and tapped on the keyboard. ‘Oh, and check the DJ man’s fee, make sure he isn’t going to charge too much. I think last year, let me see, yes, last year he charged three hundred for Christmas Day, and the same for New Year’s Eve. If he wants much more than that, haggle.’
Jess put her clipboard down and glanced into the main hall where she watched both Jack and Len now moving settees, tables and chairs into more suitable positions, all in readiness for removing the old tree.
Jack stood upright, his hand going to wipe his brow, and their eyes connected. He raised a hand and gave her a smile. He then awkwardly put his hand in his pocket, took in a deep breath and looked unsure of what to do next. He wasn’t good at keeping secrets and normally blurted things out the first moment he could. But for just a few days, knowledge of the baby would stay between them and she held a finger to her lips and smiled, making Jack do the same.
She looked back at where Maddie sat. She normally told Maddie everything and it was killing her not to tell her about the pregnancy, but she’d promised Jack and in her book a promise was a promise. Besides, there were other things going on at the Hall. She’d only just come to terms with the fact that she might have a father, who was slowly regaining his strength after his mild bout of pneumonia. Over the past few days Jess had spent as much time with him as she could, but Christmas was the busiest time at the Hall and there was much work to do, so they’d only had the chance to have brief snatches of conversation that lasted just minutes at a time. Most of the conversations had taken place in the kitchen, where he seemed to spend most of his time with Nomsa, and it seemed to Jess the two were fast becoming inseparable. She’d bought a DNA test online and had sat for over an hour that morning just looking at the box, wondering how and when she’d approach Bastion with it. Half of her wanted to run to him immediately, to get to the truth and find out if he really was her father, but deep down the other half of her was terrified, just in case he wasn’t.
‘It’s all going to be all right, I promise,’ she whispered as she rested a hand on her stomach. She looked up and noticed that Jack had been watching and once again she lifted a finger to her lips, before turning her attention to the room keys, which she systematically hung in order. She then picked up one of Maddie’s to do lists and began ticking off things that had already been done. ‘Right, looks like Jack and Len have got the Christmas tree organised. So, I’m now going to go and ring the disco man.’
Madeleine took the list out of Jess’s hands and passed a different list to her. ‘Here, sorry, I made a new list.’
‘Why am I not surprised?’ Jess said with a laugh, looking down the new list.
‘You okay?’ Madeleine asked. ‘You seem distracted.’
She had to look busy, had to keep working, had to think of a reason that would stop Madeleine asking questions. ‘Oh, I don’t know, Maddie … okay, yes I do know. It’s the DNA kit. It came and I don’t know what to do.’
‘Hey, I thought we’d spoken about this, Jess. You don’t have a choice. You have to do the test, and you have to do it sooner rather than later. Before you get too attached to them both … you know, just in case.’
Jess looked down at the floor. ‘Just in case he isn’t my father?’ she questioned as she raised an eyebrow. ‘I know you’re right, Maddie. You always are. But … I really, really want him to be. And what do I say to him? Here’s the kit, now take this swab and if you don’t mind could you go and rub it around your mouth because I need you to prove you really are my father and not some random black guy who’s taken up residence in a nice hotel for the Christmas festivities?’ She tried to laugh, tried to pretend that everything was okay, but it wasn’t and she knew that Madeleine would keep pushing until the test was done.
‘I’d say yes, that’s kind of what you do. Besides it’s not like he isn’t expecting it, is it? You did have this conversation with him at the hospital, didn’t you?’
Jess nodded, but tried to avoid eye contact. Her normal bubbly personality had disappeared and she could feel herself begin to shake. ‘But, what … what if he isn’t, Maddie? What if he isn’t my father? What do we do, throw them both out? They’ve got nowhere to go.’
Madeleine looked her up and down. ‘Jess, you have to get a grip on this. If he isn’t your father, then he isn’t your problem and he certainly isn’t mine. Now, yes, I agree it’s Christmas, the hotels are full and not even I would throw them out, not if they have nowhere to go.’ Again she tapped on the keyboard. ‘But there is a limit to what we can do. He’s a grown up, he has to take responsibility for himself. I mean, the council, surely they’d do something for them, especially as he has Lily, they’d be sure to push him to the top of the “needy” list.’
Jess nodded again while staring at Jack in the grand hall. If only she could tell Maddie about the pregnancy. She knew exactly how Maddie would react. She’d bounce around, kiss her a lot and she’d want to celebrate the new life of her first niece or nephew. She’d want to arrange a family dinner to tell everyone else and she’d want to go shopping for baby clothes. Jess sighed, knowing that all of that had to wait. She’d promised Jack and so she would have to hold on to her secret for a little while longer.
‘Jess?’ Madeleine looked up at her. ‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’
‘No, no, I’m fine,’ she lied. ‘I’m just feeling a bit lost today. I … I was cleaning out Emily’s room yesterday. It took its toll on me, all the memories of that day, they all came back.’ She hadn’t known what else to say.
Madeleine’s hand reached out and landed gently on her shoulder. ‘Oh, Jess, that must have been hard on you. Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing? I’d have helped you. We could have done it together.’
Jess shook her head. ‘I promised Emily that I’d do it. It was the last promise I made to her and, anyhow, Jack helped me.’ She paused. ‘Emily had written some letters, you know, before …’ Jess announced, making Madeleine jump up from her seat and pull Jess into a hug.
‘Letters … really? Oh, Jess … I mean … what do they say?’ Madeleine stood back and looked directly into Jess’s eyes.
‘There were four. One addressed to you, one for Jack, one for Arthur, which you’ll have to read to him, and one for me.’ She took the letters out of her pocket and passed Maddie the envelope. ‘This is the letter she left for you.’
Madeleine’s hand went to her chest and rested on her heart. ‘Oh, Jess.’ She turned away and sat back down at the desk. ‘This makes me really sad.’ She looked down at the keyboard. ‘Do you think that she knew … you know … that she was dying, and that she wouldn’t be here … for Christmas?’
‘I don’t know. But she obviously wanted us to open them after she’d gone, and not before. She must have had a reason.’ Jess looked back into the grand hall, where Jack and Len were wrestling with what was left of the tree in a comical Laurel and Hardy style, making her laugh out loud.
Her whole insides ached with longing; all she wanted was to walk up to Jack, hold him and kiss him. But that wouldn’t be allowed, not down here. There was a protocol to be followed in front of the guests and Jess let out a deep breath.
‘Well, are you going to open it?’ Jess sat down and watched as Madeleine hesitated before she tore open the envelope.
‘Maddie, my beautiful girl,’ Madeleine read out loud. ‘Oh, bless her.’ She looked up at Jess before continuing.
‘I am writing this letter to you because I know you’ll share all the details with my grandson, Christopher, or Bandit as you all now call him. I also know that men are not much for the written word, so I’m hoping that you will kiss him goodbye for me and tell him how much I loved him.
I’m also grateful to you. You have no idea how much coming back to the Hall meant to me and you opened your home to me without a second thought. I feel at peace in the knowledge that I spent my last days here and that my Arthur will be well looked after during his final years, although according to the doctors, it’s doubtful that he has long to go on this earth either. I hope that you see fit that one day we will be buried together. Just as we should be.