He put a hand on a chair and debated whether to drop into it or go running back out the door. What made him stay was the feeling of deep exhaustion he was carrying. He was so so tired.
‘Ethan,’ Louis said, appearing beside him and resting a hand on his shoulder. ‘Come on, please, sit down.’
Ethan nodded, too tired to put up any sort of fight. If he didn’t like what was about to be said he could always bury his head back in the snow later. He pulled out the seat and sat down, eyes dropping to the table. Bo-Bo let out a low whine.
‘How are you feeling?’ Silvie asked him.
‘Like I am the subject of a social experiment right now,’ he answered.
‘I will… order some more coffees.’
Ethan raised his head at the sound of his assistant’s voice and Noel offered him the smallest of smiles that very much said this meeting was not so much about business as it was about an intervention.
‘Shall we start by talking about the hotels?’ Silvie suggested.
Really? This was about the hotels? Then perhaps he could engage a little although… ‘My assistant has left the room to make coffee. Perhaps we should…’
‘I like the new concept for the hotels.’
Ethan turned a little in his seat at the sentence coming from Louis. The man was looking at him, a softness to his expression, the kind he had worn on the doorstep of Ethan’s apartment before he dropped the bombshell that had altered the course of everything.
‘I do not like the new concept,’ Silvie said.
This was more like it. But Ethan had no fight left in him to counter.
‘I love the new concept,’ Silvie exclaimed in sheer excitement. ‘Welcome Paris. Your home from home.’
His body responded before his brain could close it off. He was sitting more upright and he couldn’t seem to settle his shoulders down again. It appeared his movement was no longer under his control.
‘I think you have come up with an idea that will absolutely move the brand forward and it embraces everything a traveller needs as we look to a new year.’ Silvie inhaled. ‘The things we have missed most have been hugs. And I do not necessarily mean hugs from human contact, although, when we all had to be apart I did miss that. I mean the feeling of being supported… of being looked after and cherished…’
Comfortable. The word was in Ethan’s mind immediately. Everything still ached from the revelation of five days ago. And still, every second of every day he was thinking only of Keeley.
‘And… there are going to be more animals at the Tour Eiffel hotel,’ Jeanne blurted out. Bo-Bo barked.
‘The one thing we weren’t quite sure about was rabbits in reception areas, despite the handwashing stations,’ Silvie continued.
‘Mother agreed,’ Louis said, as if believing blame was likely to be levied in his direction. ‘Even the animal shelter agreed.’
‘So, there is now this cool barn in the garden!’ Jeanne said, kneeling up on her chair and making pictures with her hands. ‘There is a donkey and two sheep and the rabbits, plus some really cute little guinea pigs.’
‘It is all being professionally overseen,’ Louis continued. ‘The animal association have helped with that – and they are hoping to raise awareness about animal kindness through the barn initiative. They will be giving out leaflets, collecting donations as the children staying at the hotel spend time in the petting zoo.’
‘But grown-ups are allowed to hug too. Everyone needs something to cuddle sometimes,’ Silvie added. She smiled like someone who had already had the pleasure of a guinea pig on their lap.
Ethan didn’t know what to say. He was taking all this in, but these people looking at him were different than they had been before. Altered from how they had been through the last twelve months. It was like while he had been hiding from the world they had all been reborn. And what had happened with Jeanne? Where had she really been while he had been turning back to Calvados? She was obviously here on the invitation of Silvie, or Louis, or both, and had been party to whatever had been happening over at the Tour Eiffel hotel. The one hotel he had made no attempt to visit at all.
‘And the hotels are all getting a makeover,’ Silvie stated. ‘You have made a wonderful beginning with this hotel and a start has been made at Tour Eiffel. The other hotels will come on board in the new year.’
‘It looks completely different!’ Jeanne said, all eagerness. ‘It looks like… a circus! With drapes and covers and lots of old stuff. Old stuff but nice stuff. Like we found at Les Puces.’
‘We were going for a mix of log cabin and Bedouin tent with a Parisian twist,’ Louis told him. ‘I can… show you the drawings if you like.’
What did he say? It was now like all this information was on board an express train heading on a course straight for his heart. Somehow he knew now what this all was. It wasn’t the Durands changing as people – not entirely anyhow – this was about someone else.
‘The drawings do not do it justice, Louis,’ Silvie insisted. ‘Ethan needs to see it for himself.’
‘Tonight!’ Jeanne added, bouncing up higher on her knees and invigorating Bo-Bo. ‘He should see it tonight!’
Ethan watched Silvie put a hand on Jeanne’s shoulder as if to quieten her and miraculously the girl complied. He rubbed his eyes with his fist. Jeanne’s hair was pinned back from her face and set in a neat bun. He was just about getting used to her without the hat, but this neatness and care was brand new. And he had missed it. Because he had been only thinking of himself. How could he be that way if he was planning to provide a safe haven for the girl? He had to get himself together if he wanted to ensure a place with him was better for her health than living on the streets.
‘What a wonderful suggestion, Jeanne,’ Silvie said clapping her hands together. ‘How about a family meal?’
Bo-Bo let out a bark and shook his head, drool landing on the polished boardroom table.
‘Yes, and you too, Bo-Bo,’ Silvie agreed.
And then something extraordinary happened. Silvie reached towards the dog and scratched the animal under its chin until it began licking her fingers and looked likely to try and mount the woman.
‘I… cannot make it tonight,’ Ethan found himself saying. ‘I have other plans.’
‘No, you do not,’ Jeanne told him.
‘Jeanne, I do.’
‘You have been spending all your time drinking. You think I do not know the haunts of people from the street? I have spent time with Pierre from the secret bar in Montmartre.’
Ethan didn’t know what to say. He had known Pierre for years. It hurt him that Jeanne was even acquainted with the barman who was known for helping those in need.
‘Jeanne, Louis,’ Silvie addressed them. ‘Why don’t you both see what Noel is doing about the coffee?’
Jeanne huffed a sigh and climbed down from her perch on the chair, tugging Bo-Bo down with her. ‘Perhaps he might respond if we had something stronger than coffee.’
‘How about cake?’ Louis suggested, shepherding Jeanne towards the door like a favourite uncle.
‘And some for Bo-Bo?’ she asked.
‘Of course,’ Louis replied.
As the door closed behind them Ethan got to his feet. ‘What is going on here? How do you know Jeanne? What is happening with the hotels? And how did you get Louis to sign off on a barn?’