‘So, what do we do?’ asked Bryan.
‘I think,’ Kevin said with a malicious glean in his eye, ‘we get someone at that wedding and sabotage it.’
‘What? Isn’t that going a bit far?’ Though Bryan tried to swallow down his fear, his voice dripped with it.
‘I don’t think so with the damage she’s done to our reputation.’
For the first time, Bryan wished they’d never started this campaign against Holly Lodge. Everything seemed to be spiralling out of control and a tiny, annoying part of his brain told him it was his fault. But it was too late. Without a doubt, if head office found out what they’d been up to, Kevin would blame him for everything, denying any involvement and leaving him out to dry. Bryan had no choice but to go along with it now. There was no turning back.
‘If we can tell the bosses that our only real competition has gone under,’ said Kevin, ‘and we’ve got a monopoly here, there’s every chance they’ll overlook the video and the recent bad reviews, and we can keep our jobs.’
‘But what about the number of complaints we’ve had? They’ll know about those as well.’
‘Only the ones that go direct to head office.’ Kevin shrugged.
‘But …’ However hard he tried Bryan was having trouble grasping things. ‘We’re supposed to report on all complaints we receive here, face to face. Formal or informal.’
‘Do you want to keep your job or not?’ Kevin snapped. ‘If we keep a lid on the smaller, minor complaints we’re getting here face to face—’ Kevin mimicked the way Bryan had said it and he felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end ‘—and pull the Find the Sun event off without a hitch, we won’t be looking at the sack, we’ll be looking at bonuses.’
Still reeling from his mockery, Bryan stayed calm. ‘So how do we get someone into this wedding?’
‘I’ve already thought of that,’ he said smugly. ‘She’s hired Niall Peters as the chef and I know his business partner who takes care of staffing. I’m going to make sure Tallulah is included on that list as a favour.’
‘Tallulah? Don’t you think she’s done enough? She’s only a girl.’ That damn scruple was flicking his conscience into life again.
‘What are you, her skint father? This is the last thing she needs to do, and I’ve promised her a whacking great Christmas bonus if she can.’
‘The mayor’s ball is before that. Can’t we send her there rather than to a wedding and ruin someone’s day?’
‘There’s that conscience again, Bry.’ Kevin wagged a finger in his face. ‘And anyway, Tallulah’s just seen her in the town, and said she’s sure Nell recognised her. It’s too soon for her to work the party. Nell Jones will figure it out. We need to wait until this wedding. By then she’ll have forgotten who Tallulah even is. The girl’s plain and easily forgettable. Plus the wedding will be more impactful. She can – I don’t know – destroy a few decorations, knock a couple of bottles of wine over, chuck a fly or two in the soup.’
Byran’s mouth had gone all dry. This was all spiralling out of control. Tallulah was just a young girl desperate for money. If his mother could see what he was doing, she’d be absolutely appalled. He knew that by letting this continue he was letting himself down and Tallulah too. But what could he do? Kevin’s enormous bright white teeth and tight smile were slightly menacing, and he really didn’t want to go back to working in second-rate hotels with damp and bug infestations. ‘Okay,’ he agreed quietly. ‘If there’s no other way.’
Chapter 18
On Monday morning, Tom sat in the consultant’s waiting area at the hospital. He hated hospitals. Hated them with a vengeance. It was the smell. That awful disinfectant smell. If they smelled of flowers, or something much nicer people probably wouldn’t get as nervous. It was just so … clinical.
Last Thursday he’d had an appointment here for some tests and somehow, he’d snuck away without Janie or Nell knowing even though, the next day, she’d quizzed him at the carol concert. He’d managed to palm her off with a rather flimsy excuse and she’d been too kind to press him further. Kieran knew and had thankfully covered for him. He’d wanted to tell Nell, especially when he’d seen the concern in her eyes, but it would have spoiled the carol concert and he still couldn’t form his concern into words.
Kieran had driven him here today after Tom had been advised not to drive until they knew what was wrong. Kieran had agreed fully, advising Tom in no uncertain terms that driving with, as he put it, ‘wafty eyes’ was a really bad idea considering he’d already had one accident. As grateful as he was for his friend’s support, Tom had asked him to wait in the café. He just couldn’t stand the sympathy radiating off him. All it did was make him worry even more. After all, he’d managed to get through all the tests on his own and now he was at last going to get the results. With any luck, the heavy weight in his stomach would be gone in the next half an hour and he could maybe get some glasses to sort things out and then his life would return to normal. He sat forwards, both arms resting on his knees, his scarf dangling from his hands. Though he kept telling himself that, he couldn’t quite believe it.
Tom sat back, having read the notice board in front of him several times. He now knew the importance of having
