The Little Swiss Ski Chalet

by Julie Caplin

  ‘That’s surface happy. Anyone can be happy like that, but you deserve more.’

  ‘Don’t be nice to me. I’m trying to be brave.’

  ‘Is it Luke?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Is he coming back?’

  ‘No,’ she said with a finality that inside she couldn’t quite accept. For some crazy, stupid reason, she had a secret, romantic hope that he would turn up for the opening of the café, which was why she’d blasted it all over the café’s new Facebook page and Instagram account, although if he was in the middle of the Atlantic, it was hardly likely.

  Amelie raised both eyebrows.

  ‘He isn’t, no matter how much I wish it. Let’s talk about you.’ She hugged her. ‘Congratulations. I am so so so pleased for you.’

  ‘I think I’m still in shock. At my age, I didn’t expect anyone to fall in love with me, never mind me fall in love with them.’

  ‘What, you always have men chopping wood for you?’

  ‘Always.’ Her eyes danced with impish amusement.

  Mina jumped up. ‘I know, we can have a joint celebration – an engagement party combined with the dry-run opening of the café, and invite all your friends in the village as well as the guests. I was wondering about a theme. I’ll do everything with love hearts and flowers.’

  ‘That’s a wonderful idea, but you should also invite local hotel owners and other businesspeople in the area so that they’ll recommend it to people.’

  ‘Brilliant, and I was going to have a laptop open and ask people to leave Tripadvisor reviews. I’ve been taking pictures of cakes for social media, and I’ve already got tons of followers. People seem to love cake!’

  ‘And why wouldn’t they? But a joint party sounds a very good idea, and I’m sure Johannes would like to contribute some champagne.’

  ‘That’s not necessary.’

  ‘Oh, I think it is,’ Amelie said with an irrepressible smile.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Mina woke, her brain springing into action as soon as her eyes opened, racing through her checklist. Breathe, she told herself. Everything was done that could be done in advance. She’d baked all the cakes in advance, iced the biscuits yesterday, Johannes had brought the specially made chocolate love-hearts over last night, the paper napkins she’d ordered at the last minute had turned up, and she’d ironed her favourite dress, which she’d had poor Hannah – ‘Your Post Office bitch’ – send over not long after her china.

  Rolling out of bed, she opened the balcony doors and wrapped the throw from the bed around her shoulders. She would never tire of this view. It still held the same magic for her, the mighty guardianship of the mountains, the clear, brilliant sky, and the pretty village with its sturdy buildings, nestling in the valley. It spoke of longevity, tradition, and steadiness, which she found reassuring. All this would be here long after she was gone.

  She traced the path of the river Rhone. Although out of sight here, it had shaped the long valley with its collection of twelve villages from Biel to Oberwald. Soon summer would arrive, and she couldn’t wait to see the mountain meadows, the wild flowers, and walk along the scenic hiking trails and show the place off to Derek and Miriam, whom she’d persuaded to come out in June. They’d love it here, she was sure they would, and Derek would be enthralled with the train journeys he could plan. The thought of train journeys brought unwelcome memories.

  Enough daydreaming, she told herself, and marched back into the room, getting straight into the shower to wash her hair. She took her time blow-drying it, and decided to come back to do her makeup later when she put her dress on. Even as she skipped down the stairs, she knew she’d take a detour to check the guest register, just in case. She skimmed a finger across the diary page for that day, and then over the next and raised an eyebrow – Frau Müller, it appeared, had been given a reprieve. Pausing for a moment, she closed her eyes and forced a cheerful smile on her face. What will be, will be. Straightening up, she strode into the kitchen.

  ‘Morning, Amelie.’

  ‘Good morning, you’re full of beans.’

  ‘Big day.’

  ‘It is. Would you like some breakfast?’

  ‘Not just now, thank you.’ Her appetite had taken a hike. Probably nerves.

  For the rest of the morning, she and Amelie put the finishing touches to the cakes, and prepared a selection of canapes including several Swiss favourites that Mina had not come across before: avocado slices and horseradish mousse rolled in smoked salmon; tiny rounds of bread topped by toasted cheese and a dressing of honey, vinegar, mustard, garlic, and rosemary; and tiny pinched dumplings of pastry containing spicy sausage meat. The official opening was due to take place at one o’clock, and they both kept a careful eye on the time. Mina also kept an ear out for noises in reception and a couple of times lifted her head at the sound of the front door to the boot room opening and closing. Once, hearing low male tones, she even went out on the pretext of needing to go to the loo.

  ‘Hey, Mina.’

  Kristian carrying a heavy box was holding open the door for Johannes who was carrying a second box.

  ‘Kristian. Lovely to see you. Do you think you have enough champagne there?’ she asked with a laugh.

  ‘Wouldn’t miss the grand opening. And Jane’s coming this weekend.’ He frowned down at the box. ‘Don’t you think this is enough?’

  Johannes rolled his eyes and shouldered his way through the kitchen door. ‘It’s plenty. People only need one glass.’

  ‘It’s a party.’ Amelie’s eyes twinkled as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as he put the case of champagne down on the table.

  ‘Hmm,’ he grumbled, and winked at Mina. ‘There’s plenty more, if we need it. Thanks Kristian.’

  ‘Can I leave you in charge of flutes?’ asked Amelie, peeling off her apron. ‘Some of us need to go and get ready for a party.’

  ‘These are all chilled. The buckets are downstairs, along with the flutes, and I’ll leave the spare bottles outside on the terrace.’

  ‘Would you like me to check Kristian in, and then I’ll go straight up and change?’ asked Mina.

  ‘If you don’t mind. I need to find a nice shirt for Johannes,’ said Amelie with a steely glint in her eye.

  ‘What’s wrong with this one?’

  Mina and Kristian left them discussing the matter.

  Mina slipped her favourite dress from its hanger. The shirt-style, with buttons all way down the front, had a flared midi-length skirt, and felt feminine and floaty when she wore it. Vanity had elevated it to favourite because the rich blue silky fabric seemed to accentuate her eyes and turn them almost royal blue. Only her pensive smile as she studied herself in the mirror gave any hint of her feelings.

  ‘Showtime,’ she said to her reflection, gathered up her wrap in case it got colder later and her bag, and left the hotel room, grateful that Amelie had insisted that, with room to spare, she stay put for the time being. With a foolish gesture she stroked the door to what had once been Luke’s room and told herself off for being fanciful.

  As soon as she came down the stairs to the café from the kitchen, Johannes handed her a glass of champagne. ‘This will calm your nerves,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you.’ She took the glass with a steady hand; her nerves had nothing to do with the opening.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ said Amelie, and raised her glass. ‘To Mina, for bringing everything together.’

  To her surprise, Johannes kissed her on the cheek before adding a hearty, ‘To Mina.’ He actually looked a little emotional.

  ‘It looks wonderful, doesn’t it?’ she said, taking a sip of the champagne. ‘You know some great craftsmen.’

  ‘A team effort, but it would not have been possible without your enthusiasm and determination, Mina. You had the vision. Is it how you saw it?’ he asked.

  ‘Better.’ Mina sighed, utterly thrilled with how it all turned out. ‘I think I might cry.’

  ‘Don’t do that, li
ebling.’ Amelie hugged her which brought the tears closer. ‘This is a celebration. You can cry at the wedding. Which reminds me, do you think that you could make our wedding cake?’

  Mina’s eyes widened and she threw her arms around her godmother. ‘I’d be honoured. Ooh, I’ve got loads of ideas for wedding cakes.’

  Amelie patted her. ‘There’s plenty of time. Well, a few weeks.’

  ‘A few weeks!’

  ‘Don’t tell everyone, but we don’t want a lot of fuss, and why wait? We’re both old enough to know what we want. It will be a small wedding, only ten or so people, but we’ll have a party afterwards for everyone.’

  ‘A wedding cake.’ Ideas were already flooding into her head.

  ‘Why don’t you concentrate on today first?’ Amelie patted her cheek. ‘One thing at a time.’

  ‘You know me. Always onto the next thing.’

  ‘Well not today, this is your day too. Look its nearly time.’

  In the way that she’d learned was typically Swiss, many of the invited guests, especially the older people, arrived at exactly one o’clock, with none of the fashionably-late rubbish that so often characterised things at home. Even though she knew by now to expect it, she was still surprised to see the orderly prompt queue waiting outside the new door, which had been painted forest-green to match the inside wall. In no time at all the café filled with noise, cheerful chatter bouncing off the walls. Claudia and Frank turned up with a beautiful potted plant and insisted on being given a guided tour of every inch of the kitchen, tasting room and café area.

  ‘You’ve done an amazing job. This is beautiful,’ exclaimed Claudia. ‘I can’t wait to bring our first tour here. We’ve planned a really interesting route so that we can stop here for lunch.’

  Mina felt a little overcome by their support. ‘That’s so kind of you.’

  ‘It’s business,’ said Frank. ‘If we show our customers a good time and take them to nice places, they’ll recommend us to their friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways of advertising.’ Then he winked. ‘And there is nothing like cake to keep tired hikers going.’

  As she laughed with him, she noticed some newcomers arrive at the door. ‘Excuse me, I ought to go and say hello.’ Throughout the next hour, people kept arriving and Mina found her attention constantly straying to the door.

  Kristian arrived with Jane, the Italian family popped in, and various villagers as well as guests from a neighbouring hotel.

  ‘I very much like this.’ Mrs Huber, one of Amelie’s neighbours, spoke in stilted English and pointed to the tea plate she held in her plump hands.

  ‘The Gotthelftorte?’

  ‘Nein, der Teller.’ She chinked the plate between her finger and thumb.

  ‘Ah, the plate. Thank you, I brought them from England.’

  ‘Very good.’ She nodded approvingly and beckoned another older woman over. The two of them compared their plates and started a lively conversation in German, little of which Mina understood, despite her German improving over the last month. Now she’d decided to stay there was no excuse not to speak the language instead of relying on other people to translate all the time. Her eyes slid, yet again, to the doorway.

  She noticed Johannes circulating topping up everyone’s glasses and steeled herself for the official bit coming up.

  Ting. Ting. When Johannes tapped his glass everyone, with extreme politeness and notable deference, stopped talking.

  ‘Welcome everyone, and thank you all for coming to this wonderful occasion. Today we have two celebrations, and my fiancé and I…’ He paused as a ripple of laughter ran through the room. ‘We would especially like to thank Mina for allowing us to hijack her grand opening. Mina.’ He beckoned her forward.

  She swallowed and checked the door once more. With an inward sigh, she wound her way through the gathered crowd to Johannes and Amelie’s side. She’d really hoped.

  Schooling her face into a serene smile, which hid the wrenching disappointment inside, she turned and faced everyone, touched by the warmth of the smiling faces reflected towards her.

  ‘Thank you all for coming, and for being so welcoming. I’m looking forward to living here and getting to know all of you in the coming months. Starting up a small business in a small community is both daunting and exciting. You’ve all seen me setting up, I hope that you’ll all see me thrive. At the same time, I know how important it is for us to support each other, so I’m open to any ideas or ways that I can help your businesses, too.’ She beamed at everyone. ‘Now that’s the boring bit over, more important is the celebration. I’d like you all to join in with me and congratulate Amelie and Johannes on their engagement.’ She raised a glass. ‘To Amelie and Johannes.’

  Everyone cheered and raised their glasses.

  Johannes made an extremely, pink-faced, brief speech about how wonderful Amelie was and how happy he was, and then extorted everyone to leave five-star reviews on Tripadvisor, pointing to the laptop in the corner of the room.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in a happy haze, and finally people drifted away, many of them leaving fulsome comments, until only Kristian, Jane, Mina, and the happy couple were left.

  Mina gave the door one last forlorn look. She’d been so hopeful, so convinced, although she didn’t know why.

  ‘Well, that was a triumph,’ said Amelie starting to collect up plates.

  ‘It was great,’ said Jane, picking up glasses, and nudging Kristian to do the same. ‘I’m sure it’s going to be a huge success.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She heard the door and whirled around, her heart suddenly in her mouth.

  Frau Huber poked her head around. ‘Still here. Good. I have something for you.’ She walked in with a slow, rolling gait, followed by her son carrying a large box. He placed it carefully on one of the tables. ‘Come. Come.’ The older woman pointed to the cardboard flaps. Puzzled, Mina opened the box. Inside were lots of paper-wrapped odd-shaped parcels. She unwrapped one of the parcels. Inside were six china tea plates with a delicate pale-blue design, edged with white.

  ‘This is beautiful.’

  ‘My grandmother’s china. And my aunt’s. And my sister’s mother-in-law.’

  ‘My goodness.’ Mina unwrapped another bundle of tea plates and a couple of cups with elegantly shaped china handles.

  ‘No good to me.’ She spoke in rapid German, with a few clucks of disparagement, and Mina only picked up a few words. She glanced towards Amelie for translation.

  ‘Frau Huber says you can have it. She has no use for it, and would rather it was being used.’ Amelie laughed. ‘She says there’s no point giving it to her son, Franz, he is too clumsy and his fingers don’t fit the cups.’

  Frau Huber’s eyes gleamed with amusement and she patted her son on the arm. Mina smiled back.

  ‘That’s incredibly kind of you. Danke schön, Frau Huber. Would you like some money for it?’ Although she’d spent most of budget already, once her flat was let out more money was coming, and of course the money from her parents’ house would be coming soon.

  ‘Nein, nein.’ Frau Huber waved her hand. ‘I have another box for Franz to bring later.’

  Mina laughed, unable to believe the other woman’s generosity. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Look at him,’ she said in her heavy accent.

  Franz rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t want it. I’m too scared to even look at it.’

  Mina laughed again. ‘Well, that’s extraordinarily generous of you. I would love to have it. Thank you. Perhaps Franz would like to be paid in cake occasionally?’ Mina knew there would be times when cake needed eating up, it was good to know grateful recipients in advance.

  His eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.

  The Hubers left and the tidying up was done remarkably quickly. As they said, many hands made light work, but Mina’s heart was heavy. She’d really thought that Luke would come.

  ‘I’ll just stay a minute,’ she said as the others prepared to leav
e.

  Amelie gave her a fond smile. ‘See you upstairs.’

  Switching out all but one small lamp, she sank into a chair, her arm resting on the table and checked her phone. She’d posted the time of the opening on Facebook and Instagram, on both her personal and business pages. In her heart of hearts she’d honestly believed that Luke would turn up. She’d believed in serendipity.

  ‘And that’s what you get, Mina Campbell, for believing in superstitious, romantic rubbish. This is real life, not a flipping film. You’re a scientist, for goodness’ sake. You of all people know that cakes are made with chemical reactions, not magic. The correct quantities of x and y equal z.’ She spoke out loud, cursing herself for being such an idiot. ‘It stops here and now.’ Luke wasn’t coming. He’d really gone. How could she blame him? She hadn’t expected to miss him so much, or for it to hurt like this, or for him to sidle into her thoughts each and every sodding day. She’d lost count of the number of times she had would-be conversations in her head with him, imagining telling him about the triumphs of her day and the funny things that had gone wrong. Did he feel the same way?

  Probably not. He knew where she was, he could have sent her a message for today. He knew how much it meant to her.

  She had to accept he wasn’t coming back. It bloody sucked, and went against the grain for someone who always found a way, for someone who didn’t give up. It really bloody sucked. She realised she didn’t do defeat awfully well. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the future and all the positives, the heaviness of loss grated.

  It was over and she had the face the fact that serendipity didn’t exist.

  Chapter Twenty-Six