The Staycation by Cressida McLaughlin

Author:Cressida McLaughlin [McLaughlin, Cressida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2021-12-10T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Wednesday

‘These cherry trees are beautiful,’ Hester said in the lift, Marty half hidden behind the wide swathes of blossom, the two trees like oversized bonsais, perfectly shaped and in black marbled pots. They had just about managed to get them on the trolley, and Hester was sure her unexpected strength was due to the nervous energy firing through her veins like a ball in a pinball machine.

She was going to tell the truth. Jake would be OK with it, or he wouldn’t. It was time, it seemed, for her to start being honest with everyone around her: to accept the consequences and see where it left her. It was ironic that it was her project for Jake that had encouraged Cassie to be more demanding, as if somehow, somewhere deep down, he already knew she’d been lying and was making her face up to it.

‘The restaurant was very accommodating,’ Marty said smoothly, which she thought meant that they had paid handsomely to borrow the trees. She would see later: he sent her his costings after every evening, and she added them to her spreadsheet. Some of the prices had made her eyes water – getting a visit from Jackman the joey especially – but Cassie had assured her she had carte blanche to do what she needed to. Hester had wondered whether that instruction had come directly from Jake, or if Paradise Awaits had simply charged him a premium for his strange request. That thought made her even more nervous, because she was potentially about to bring the whole thing crashing down.

‘What are we going to do with Jake?’ Marty asked now, as they reached the floor of his suite and the lift doors opened with a swoosh and a ping. ‘Is he up to his usual circuit after last night?’

He wheeled the trolley out and Hester followed, staying close in case either of their trees decided to topple over. ‘He should be. The doctor said he was struggling because he hasn’t been doing his breathing exercises: that he’s been letting the pain rule him when he should be working through it. How anyone’s supposed to not let that sort of pain rule them, I don’t know. The walk to Soho was probably too much,’ she added, wincing because he’d done that for her. ‘But he still needs to keep moving.’

‘Right then,’ Marty said, knocking on the door. ‘We’ll tell him to sod off for a bit and do that while we sort out the room.’

‘We should have got him out before now. It’s going to ruin the surprise.’ She gestured to the trees. She should have cared more, but Jake already knew about Japan, and this evening was about something else now, anyway. For her, at least.

‘He’s had a guest up with him,’ Marty said.

‘Oh?’ Hester wondered if it was Rosalie or Beth. Maybe Tamsin had agreed to come too, so she could gaze adoringly at him.

‘Some friend of his called Richard,’ Marty said, and knocked on the

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