I pushed at my hair as he clambered to his feet, grabbed his glasses, then offered me his hand. I took it, and he levered me to my feet but didn’t let go afterwards as we walked towards the door.
We found Stephen and Noelle at the bottom of the stairs.
‘Hey.’ Nick still wasn’t letting go of my hand and I tried not to read too much into it or feel self-conscious when Noelle’s eyes dipped to our linked fingers and her eyebrows raised. ‘Everything okay? Did you get them there in time?’
‘No.’ Stephen shook his head slowly and kept shaking it until Noelle gave him a one-armed hug and patted his chest. He looked about as with-it as I felt, the bonus being he probably hadn’t noticed Nick and I holding hands. Not that it mattered because it wasn’t a big deal. Just two consenting adults enjoying some kissing and intimacy for a couple of days. I think that was the plan we’d agreed on anyway – my memory was a little fuzzy.
‘I think he’s in shock,’ Noelle explained with a hint of amusement, but her face was pale enough that freckles I’d never noticed before stood out across the bridge of her nose.
‘What happened? Is Rachel okay? The baby?’ I managed to find my voice, maybe because I noticed a light prickle of sweat in Nick’s palm.
‘Oh yeah, they’re all good. Little girl. We swung by their house to grab her hospital bag but I could just tell she wasn’t going to make it to the hospital, so we got her inside and within I dunno – twenty minutes?’ She looked at Stephen for confirmation of her estimate but he just stared back at her. ‘Yeah, probably within half an hour, she was pushing.’
‘Oh my God. You delivered the baby? And they’re both all fine? That’s amazing.’ I shook my head. ‘Not because it was you helping, but you know, it’s just amazing that you were there and wow, now they have a baby. You absolute star.’ I let go of Nick so I could hug Noelle and she laughed. ‘Do you want anything? A drink? A piece of cake? What do you do after delivering a baby?’
‘Shower and sleep.’ She hugged me back and stepped away. ‘We’ll talk more tomorrow.’ She winked at me and patted Stephen on the shoulder as she walked up the stairs. ‘He might need a drink though. Night, all.’
Stephen blinked and looked after her as though he’d only just heard her.
‘Well done you, too.’ I offered him a smile, wondering if he’d be able to focus on me. ‘That must’ve been intense – trying to drive with all that going on in the car.’
‘Yeah.’ His words were a little slurred and he gave his head another shake, this one short and sharp. He didn’t look at me though; he stared straight over the top of my head to Nick. ‘Yeah, it was intense. I’m sorry I pushed you to take them earlier,’ Stephen added quietly.
There was a heavy silence and I glanced over at Nick. The mouth I’d enjoyed so thoroughly was now a thin line. Nick cleared his throat and pushed his hands into his pockets. ‘It’s okay.’
Silence descended again and if I could have blended in with the wood panelling and sidled off, I felt it would have been appropriate. They clearly needed to talk. But since I couldn’t disappear, instead I clapped my hands together and offered a bright smile, like I didn’t notice the Pinter-esque undertones.
‘Well, it has been alongday and an eventful night for us all. If you’d like a drink, Stephen, I’m happy to get you one, but then I’m locking up, as we’re all back safe and sound.’
Stephen declined my offer and started up the stairs. Nick looked after him but hesitated, glancing over at me, his eyes strangely bright. ‘I should probably check he’s okay.’
‘Sure, of course.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow though.’ He looked up the stairs to where Stephen was turning up onto the next flight and hesitated again. Then he spun in my direction, caught hold of my shoulders and planted a brief, warm kiss on my lips. He pulled away but only a fraction before he was back again, mouth light and teasing, tying and untying knots inside me in a matter of seconds. He nuzzled his nose against mine, lips hovering but he took mercy on me and restrained himself. ‘Goodnight, Beth.’
‘Night, Nick,’ I murmured, finding my voice too late. He was already loping up the stairs two and three at a time to catch up with his brother.
Theft, baking, babies and kisses: it had been a long day indeed.
Chapter Twelve
Sleep did not come easy to me that night, despite my exhaustion. I was wired up like Nick had spiked my vodka with Ecstasy, just lying in my bed, one arm thrown over my eyes, trying desperately not to keep thinking about all the delicious kisses. And eventually the buzz of the Mince Pie Evening going smoothly and Rachel going into labour and then me giving in to my attraction to Nick leaked away; my mind wandering to less pleasant things while my muscles remained tense.
The weather app I’d checked before bed had been pretty clear. This snow was going nowhere. Tomorrow, I was going to have to do it all over again. Manage with what little staff I had, beg Neeta to work on Christmas Day. And if she couldn’t, I was going to have to figure out how to cook a three-course Christmas dinner for nearly two dozen people myself. I was no chef; my last attempt at cooking for a group of people had ended up with one of them puffing up like a piece of popcorn. And I’d never cooked a roast in my life. Growing up in a hotel had meant dinners were leftovers more often than not. My mum knew how to cook, but she rarely did it in the flat for us.
So, if I didn’t fix this dinner issue – the pinnacle of Christmas Day – the Hotel Hopper was going to write a terrible review. And in the wee hours of the morning, no matter how much I told myself that all I could do was my best, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Peter’s kept telling me that my best was unlikely to be good enough.
And just to add to the insomnia, I started to worry about how my grandad was doing and whether my mum was okay looking after him. Or if she was going crazy worrying about the hotel. Orworse, believing it was all fine because I was here ‘handling it’, setting herself up for the shock of a lifetime when she got back.
At some point my brain must’ve switched off because I woke up to the alarm going off at half past five, but my legs and arms felt like they’d been filled up with sand.
I waited until I had a jug of black coffee in my stomach before I tried talking to Neeta, explaining the events of the previous day and asking her if she could come in tomorrow.
The answer was ‘no’. This was not good. In fact, I felt well and truly doomed.
‘How d’you figure that one?’ Neeta placed her own steaming mug of coffee in front of me where I was slumped on the kitchen stool, similar to how Dorie had passed out the day before. Apparently, I’d spoken out loud about being doomed. ‘Sounds like you did an amazing job. Really pulled it out the bag. Today’s gonna be cake in comparison to that. And good riddance to that piece of crap, Henry. You know your mum treats her staff well. He was an ungrateful, grasping, sneaky little shit.’
‘Sure, today might be easier but what abouttomorrow, Neeta? What about Christmas-frigging-dinner?’
