Rosa knew deep down that he was probably right. ‘OK, I won’t make the doll. I’ll pretend I never got the letter, it was lost in the post.’
‘So does that mean I can get rid of it?’
She swallowed and nodded. ‘Go on then.’
‘Well done. Gold star for you.’ Red lifted the lid of the bin and dropped the balled-up letter inside. ‘Right, I’m going to go and sit in the garden.’
Rosa waited until he was safely settled outside with his cup of tea and a newspaper, then stealthily retrieved the crumpled ball and wiped away the stains left by Red’s tea bag. Just because she wasn’t going to make the doll didn’t mean she had to throw the letter away.
Chapter 16
It was seven in the evening and the room swaps had been implemented. Up on the top floor of the hotel, the anniversary couple were happily ensconced in the Midnight Suite. Here in the private quarters, Didi’s room had been tidied up, the linen had been changed and Shay’s case lay open on her beloved king-sized bed. She’d already wheeled her own overnight case across the high street and left it in Layla’s flat. And Layla, getting ready to meet up with the new love of her life, had given her the spare key because she’d be staying over – again – at Harry’s place tonight.
It was more bed-hopping than Didi was used to, but worth it to keep good customers satisfied. Now, having demonstrated to Shay how her temperamental shower worked, she let herself out of the flat before he could emerge from the bathroom stark naked.
Ooh, imagine . . .
Not that it was likely to happen, but better to be on the safe side. It made sense to wait for him downstairs.
Finding herself a comfortable rattan seat in the orangery, she opened a text from Aaron.
There are speeches. No one warned me about the speeches. They’re going on and on and ON.
She smiled and texted back:
You poor thing, how you suffer for your career. Have some more champagne.
Thirty seconds later, he sent her a photo of himself looking suitably cheerful, brandishing a condensation-speckled bottle of Laurent Perrier. The accompanying text said:
I’ll survive. How about you, doing anything nice tonight?
She hesitated, then typed:
Quick catch-up with Shay before heading over to Layla’s.
Which was technically true but – she hoped – also made the Shay part sound reassuringly insignificant.
Ting, Aaron’s reply flashed up on the screen:
Have fun. But not too much fun! X
‘There you are.’ Shay appeared, his hair still damp from the shower. He was wearing navy trousers, a purply-blue shirt the colour of blackberries and the aftershave she would always associate with him for as long as she lived.
‘Hi. Sorry, I was just letting Aaron know what’s happening.’ Didi showed him the phone screen.
Shay nodded and sat down. ‘Takes things in his stride, I see. As you say, not the jealous type.’
‘He knows he doesn’t need to be. I once had a boyfriend who was jealous.’ She pulled a face. ‘Not an attractive quality. And counterproductive, because it just makes you think they know you could do better than them.’
‘So what happened? Or can I guess?’
‘I finished with him.’
Shay laughed. ‘Of course you did. Right, where are we eating? Any preferences?’
‘Here, I think. Then no one can see us having dinner together somewhere else and think they’ve caught us out on some kind of clandestine meeting.’
‘Like a date, you mean? You’d rather be on display for all the world to see.’ He grinned. ‘Makes sense. Will we be able to get a table here? It’s looking pretty busy.’
‘We’ll get a table,’ said Didi. ‘I know the management.’
Once they’d moved through to the restaurant and chosen from the menu, Shay said, ‘So when did the jealous guy feature in your life? Was he one of the fiancés?’
Didi shuddered. ‘God, no, he was only around for a few weeks. We met at a hotel management conference. He was really keen on me, and the first couple of dates were fine. Then we went out for lunch in an Italian restaurant and he got annoyed because he thought the waiter was being too friendly towards me. That was the first sign.’
‘And after that?’
‘The next time we were at a party and he accused me of fancying one of his friends. I didn’t,’ said Didi, ‘I was just being polite, but he wouldn’t stop going on about it. I said I didn’t think us seeing each other was working out, but he begged me to give him one more chance. So then we met up again a few days later in a park. There was a guy there throwing a ball to his dog, and one time the ball landed at my feet. I teased the dog for a few seconds before giving the ball back, and that was when my psycho so-called boyfriend accused me of publicly humiliating him by flirting with the other guy and using his dog as an excuse.’
‘Nice of him,’ said Shay.
‘So I told him it was over, walked out of the park and caught a taxi home. And that was it, I never saw him again after that.’
‘Good. How about the ones you did get engaged to?’
Didi flashed a smile. ‘Have you been wondering about them ever since Sylvia told you about them on your first day back here?’
‘Maybe. Just natural curiosity.’ He was maintaining a straight face but there was a telltale glint in his eyes. Didi realised she was leaning across the table towards him, and Shay was mirroring the angle. She sat back and took a glug of iced water, adjusting her body language in case other people were surreptitiously taking note. Far better to look as if they were business acquaintances, all above board.
Then again, no reason why she couldn’t tell him about the fiancés. ‘Well, the first one was never meant to happen, for a start. His name was Craig and we got together in our final year at uni. But it was one of those relationships that was always pretty casual, so once we graduated I just assumed we’d go our separate ways. Except I didn’t have the heart to break up with him, so it kind of limped on for a bit longer. When Craig came down to see me on the twenty-third of December, I’d already decided that as soon as Christmas was out of the way I was definitely going to tell him it was over. It cost me a fortune,’ she added wryly. ‘I bought him a really expensive leather jacket because I felt so guilty about being the bad guy.’
‘Go on,’ Shay prompted, clearly enjoying hearing about her dating disasters.
‘Well, my dad was throwing a big party here in the hotel that night, so it was full of friends, people we’d all known for years.’ Just the memory of the evening was making Didi’s spine prickle with mortification. ‘Craig and I had already opened our presents to each other because the next morning he had to drive up to Perth to spend Christmas with his family. He’d given me a really weird orange knitted dress that made me look like a frankfurter, and I had to wear it, even though it felt like my insides were being microwaved. But at least he’d bought me something that hadn’t cost as much as the leather jacket. I was glad about that.’
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their food. Didi picked up her knife and fork and continued, ‘Anyway, so all of a sudden the music stopped and there was Craig standing by the Christmas tree asking everyone to be quiet because he had something important to say.’