Page 18 of The Christmas Highland Lodge

I noticed Stephanie and Max were bathing me in wide smiles. I glanced over at the cabins and back at them. ‘You said you have taken on board environmental considerations, so you could easily continue to incorporate them into the lodges.’

Max and Stephanie exchanged intrigued smiles. ‘In what way?’

I called on my degree learning and mentioned things like kindle cone fire-lighters, reusable paper decorations and even newspaper decorations for the tree. ‘I’ve seen dinky little felt decorations and stained-glass baubles.’ I carried on. ‘You could also have wooden snowflakes and biodegradable glitter, which instead of plastic, uses forest wood pulp.’

They both appeared impressed.

‘Did you say they would be available throughout the year to stay in too?’

‘Absolutely. We’re serious about making a success of this,’ emphasised Max. He jerked his head back at the four vacant cabins. ‘So once Christmas was over, what do you think you would do with them for the rest of the year?’

Blimey. They were really pushing me, to see how imaginative and forward-thinking I was. I took a nervous breath. ‘Well, I would suggest simple tweaks to each interior, to reflect the season or the event. That would mean you wouldn’t have to invest in more pricey interior makeovers.’ I started to describe how red and pink hearts and decorations could be put up for Valentine guests. ‘There could be glowing love heart lamps everywhere and a bottle of champagne and chocolates in each cabin.’

I carried on, drawing on more ideas and started to talk about Easter. Yellow, cream and white furnishings could be drafted in to reflect the springtime celebrations, together with vases of daffodils and fluffy toy chicks. ‘There could be Easter egg hunts and find the Easter bunny and strings of yellow lights in the woods.’ I realised I was wittering on and stopped.

‘No, please continue,’ urged Max. ‘That sounds terrific.’

I felt my cheeks ping. For Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I suggested laying on croissants and tea and coffee in the cabins for guests to enjoy. ‘You might even be able to come to an agreement with the local beauty parlour for them to give a reduced voucher for a manicure or pedicure for the mums and perhaps a cheap round of golf or a reduced-price visit to one of the distilleries for the dads.’

Stephanie awarded Max a triumphant grin.

‘Then at Halloween, it could be all pumpkin decorations, orange lights, ghost stories…’

My voice tailed off as I watched the two of them, gazing at me.

Stephanie wrapped her arms around the navy gilet she was wearing. ‘I knew it. I just knew it that first time I came into your shop, Lottie.’

‘Knew what?’ I blushed, feeling like an awkward teenager.

‘That you are a very hard-working, creative and conscientious young woman,’ jumped in Max. ‘You’ve done such a brilliant job with Christmas Crackers.’

‘Thank you. It’s just a pity I couldn’t have carried on with it as promised.’

Max’s craggy, dashing features were sympathetic. ‘That’s dreadful and no way to conduct business.’

‘Everybody’s talking about it in Craig Brae,’ qualified Stephanie, shaking her head in disbelief.

‘I thought they might. Word soon gets around.’

Stephanie pointed to the empty cabins. ‘Well, onto more positive matters. We’d love for you to come and work with us, Lottie. You would do such a fantastic job, turning this accommodation into something really special.’

I blinked, processing it all.

‘We have a dedicated team of decorators, ready to overhaul them,’ emphasised Max. ‘Millie’s vision, as you have seen, was the polar opposite to ours.’

Stephanie nodded her blonde shoulder-skimming hair. ‘They are already all reserved for Christmas. We only have a matter of weeks and it’s going to take some effort, but we know it’s do-able.’

I blew out a cloud of apprehensive air. It sounded a wonderful opportunity.

Max let his hands rise and fall by his sides. ‘You are a terrific businesswoman with a great eye for detail and lots of drive. Anyone can see that.’

I hadn’t known what I had expected when I came up here, but I hadn’t expected this, that was for sure.

Max reeled off a salary that was double what I was earning currently. ‘You will be responsible for overhauling the cabins for each occasion; overseeing their revamps; making sure they are marketed and promoted; and coming up with social media enterprise. Essentially, you will be the lodges’ project manager. You will also receive six weeks’ holiday a year.’

My stomach performed an impressive series of forward rolls. ‘Crikey,’ was all I could manage. Could I do this? It was going to be one hell of a challenge.

Pictures of Christmas Crackers popped behind my eyes. ‘But the shop,’ I stuttered. ‘It’s closing down in a few weeks.’