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“It’s me who should be thanking you. You’re amazing at your job, by the way.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Daisy said. “If I wasn’t so good at my job, Kevin would never have got away with this.”
Allie shook her head. “None of this is your fault. The only person really at fault here is Kevin. And probably his girlfriend and her son.” She opened her arms to give Daisy a hug, and they embraced tightly.
“I need to go and tell Grandad all of this before I open the club,” Daisy said. “At least it’s raining, so it shouldn’t be too busy today.”
Allie nodded. “Go and tell Ron. Then why don’t the two of you meet me in the office over at the clubhouse in an hour?”
“What are you going to do about Kevin?”
“I’m going to tell him not to come into work today, then I guess I’ll need to call the police and speak to our lawyer. And talk to my dad. Once we know for definite what’s happened, I’ll need to let the rest of the staff know. And I’ll also need to get in touch with the employees who were let go.”
“Will you offer them their jobs back?” Daisy’s eyes brightened.
“I guess so. They were good workers?”
“Yes. Can I message Cynthia already? She’ll be over the moon.”
Allie nodded. “Tell her she’s welcome to come in and speak to me, otherwise she can expect to hear from me later.”
After closing the door on Daisy, Allie let out a long breath.
She had the feeling it was going to be a very long day.
CHAPTER 43
Several times over the course of the day, Allie longed to be out in the restaurant taking orders and chatting with customers. The phone calls and messages had been constant throughout the day, and she wouldn’t even have found time to eat if it weren’t for Daisy depositing a plate of food on the desk in front of her at lunchtime.
She was on the phone to the local police officer for the third time that day when a quiet knock came and the door eased open. If it was Daisy with a coffee, Allie would struggle not to kiss her.
Even better, it was Hugh with a coffee, and her whole body sagged at the sight of him.
“I can go again,” he mouthed, setting the mug on the desk when he saw she was on the phone.
Shaking her head, Allie walked around the desk and took his hand, making certain he didn’t go anywhere. It only took a minute for her to finish the call, then she set her phone aside and slumped against Hugh’s chest.
“I’m so happy to see you,” she said. The feel of his arms around her was exactly the comfort she needed.
“Your messages seemed a little frantic earlier and then I tried calling a couple of times but the line was always busy. Daisy just filled me in on everything. It’s crazy.”
With a sigh, Allie led him to the couch at the side of the room and they sat close together.
“My day has been insane,” she said. “One phone call after another … police and lawyers and ex-employees.”
“But Kevin’s admitted to everything?” Hugh asked, draping an arm around her shoulders.
“Yes. He admitted it as soon as I spoke to him. He said it had been his girlfriend’s idea and he’d gone along with it to help her pay off some debts. Apparently he wanted to put a stop to it, but his girlfriend insisted they continue. I’ve also had an angry phone call from her saying it was all Kevin.”
“Wow,” Hugh said. “So what happens now?”
Allie shrugged. “There’ll be an investigation and a court case. They’re probably looking at prison time.”
Hugh looked utterly speechless, which was pretty much how Allie felt. She couldn’t comprehend it was real.
“You look exhausted,” he said, when she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I am. I feel as though I could sleep for about a week, but I still have about a million things to do.”
