Before his concierge could reply Ethan stepped up and stepped in. ‘Christmas, Louis, it is all about “birth” and “new life”. And it is also about children. The festive petting area is somewhere the kids staying here can share a hands-on experience with their family.’ Ethan smiled. ‘Happy family, Happy Christmas.’
‘This,’ Louis began, his cheeks turning so red Ethan wondered if the man might have an allergy to rabbits as well as penguins, ‘is a health and safety disaster waiting to happen! Animals! In a five-star hotel!’ Louis scoffed. ‘Is this a joke? Some sort of twisted payback about the animal shelter inheriting a share of the hotels?’
‘What?’ Antoine gasped. Ethan noticed his concierge was now wearing latex gloves.
It was Ethan’s turn to be angry now. He put a hand on Louis’s shoulder and moved him towards the small rabbit enclosure, but away from Antoine. ‘You cannot speak of private business matters in front of the staff. It is confidential and it unsettles them.’
Louis snorted. ‘So, now you are all about the business? Now, at the final hour, when you have been basically neglecting everything my sister built up and running the hotels into the ground for the past twelve months.’
‘That is not fair, Louis,’ Ethan said, narrowing his eyes. ‘You know how tough things have been for the whole tourist and travel industry.’
‘And I also know you have been spending your time frittering away my sister’s money while my mother has been trying to work out an exit plan from her involvement with the hotels without ruffling your feathers,’ Louis continued, pointing a finger in Ethan’s face. ‘I do not care for your feathers!’
Ethan bent over the small wooden fenced enclosure and plucked up a baby rabbit, holding it in his hands and smoothing his fingers over its fur. ‘You do not care for anything other than money,’ Ethan said, rubbing the space behind the rabbit’s ears. ‘That has always been your way. That is why you are nothing like your sister. You lack all of her joie de vivre and passion. You left France, you left your family, to chase the cash in the US and you never once looked back. Ferne’s drive was for life. Yours, it is still for dollar signs.’
‘Speaks the man who is holding a rabbit in the middle of a reception area! You, Ethan, are ludicrous! And you always have been!’
‘And you,’ Ethan said pushing the rabbit towards Louis, ‘are terrified of anything you cannot make into a spreadsheet! Numbers! Averages! Be careful not to actually get emotional about anything!’
‘You won’t win,’ Louis told him.
‘And still you are so stupid! This is not about winning!’ Ethan retorted. ‘It is about taking the hotels in a different direction. A direction I know Ferne would be so proud of.’ He cuddled the rabbit to his chest. ‘Fluidity. That was what Ferne was all about. Smooth. Elegant. Adaptable. She would think always outside of the box.’
‘And look how that ended for her,’ Louis bit back.
If Ethan hadn’t been holding the bunny, if a family of four with two excited children hadn’t bounded over to the pen of animals as soon as they arrived inside the hotel, he would have struck out at Louis’s careless comment and given the guy another red mark on his face.
‘Did you even know your sister at all?’ Ethan spat.
‘I knew her as well as I was able to know her, with someone else always there. Someone who always seemed to be right there in what should have been my place!’
Louis’s comment rocked Ethan for a moment and he began to see a different look in the man’s eyes. What was hiding there? Regret? Sadness? Envy? No, it was not possible that Louis might be jealous of him. Unless this really was not about possessions and wealth… but family.
‘Louis, I—’
‘Where is your plan?’ Louis interrupted, the shutters up again.
‘Well, there are going to be many changes,’ Ethan told him. ‘And I am going to showcase them all at Christmas. Then I will present Silvie and the representative from the animal shelter my plan for the development of the chain over the next three years.’
‘You have made a three-year plan?’ Louis immediately scoffed.
‘It is not finalised yet but—’
‘As I thought! The way you always are! All of the dramatic presentation and nothing to back it up!’
‘You will see,’ Ethan said. ‘I am going to make the hotels even more of a success and I am going to do it on my terms and… in Ferne’s honour.’
Ethan hadn’t expected the raw emotion to come rolling up over him but there it was, wrapping itself around him, seeping through his skin, finding its way into every cell until it found his heart. The tiny rabbit was quivering in his hands, and then Louis broke the silence.
‘My mother wants you to come to lunch,’ Louis said, still sounding a little stiff. ‘That is really why I am here.’
‘Today? Now?’ Ethan asked, checking his watch as he still balanced the bunny in his palms.
‘You could not make dinner at the house to meet—’
He didn’t need to hear any more. ‘And I cannot make lunch today. I have too much to do here. Plus, a three-year plan to finish.’
‘Ethan,’ Louis said a little softer. ‘We cannot keep running away from the fact that Ferne has gone.’
‘That is where you are wrong,’ Ethan answered, pressing the rabbit to Louis’s chest and giving the man no choice but to take it. ‘I am not running away. For the very first time I am creating a future to run towards.’ He smiled then, enjoying Louis’s disgust at having to handle the animal. ‘Do not forget to wash your hands,’ he said. ‘There is also an antibacterial hand gel station by the door to the bar. Bye.’
Fifty-Six
I ned to see a pic. I want to no what he looks lik. Dying girl shud get wot she wants.
The spelling was all off and that wasn’t Erica at all. There was also an emoji of a skull and crossbones that might have been funny if it didn’t have such tragic connotations. Keeley ran her fingers over the text and imagined the effort it would have taken for Erica to press the icons considering how weak she was.
‘Is everything OK?’ Ethan asked, pressing a kiss to her temple as they walked alongside each other. They had got off the Metro only five minutes earlier, with their final location apparently a surprise for her. A new crisp layer of snow on the ground, Paris was becoming more and more festive as every day passed. It was getting to that stage where Keeley was becoming accustomed to being here, getting used to speaking a few words of French, craving the chance to have cheese without a disapproving Lizzie look and strolling along the cobbled streets discovering the tourist trail of the city as well as its hidden parts. Including the parts of Ethan she had discovered last night…
Keeley smiled at him. ‘You’ll think it’s silly if I tell you.’
‘I would never think that,’ he assured her.
‘Well… my friend at the hospice I told you about… Erica. She… wants to see a photo of you.’ She was blushing straightaway. She might have slept with this gorgeous guy, but were they at the taking photos stage? Which one usually came first in this whole holiday romance scenario? Probably, weirdly, not the taking photos part.