The Wake-Up Call by Beth O'Leary

Author:Beth O'Leary [O'Leary, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

• • • • •

We drink our coffees in the bar, and then have our smoothies on the walk back to the car. In defiance of Lucas, Pedro cheerfully made me something delicious, spiked with fresh ginger and stuffed with tropical fruit. It’s admittedly quite refreshing, but I maintain that this is not breakfast. Coco Pops: now, that is breakfast.

Mrs. Muller passes us on her way from the dining room as we enter the hotel. Her hair is in a silk wrap and she has a paintbrush tucked behind her ear.

“Morning, Mrs. Muller!” I call.

“Muses striking!” she calls back with a languid wave. “Don’t talk to me!”

I nod. Fair enough. Mr. Townsend smiles up from his armchair, folding his newspaper on his knees as we approach.

“Lucas!” he calls. “May I call upon you to take me to Budgens tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

This is a fortnightly tradition—Mr. Townsend likes very particular snacks in his room, and Lucas likes any excuse to drive his car.

“Coffee afterwards, yes?”

I glance at Lucas in surprise. It’s not like him to socialise with a guest, but Mr. Townsend said that as though it’s become a regular feature.

“I’d like that. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Lucas says, with a nod of his head, “I must speak to Arjun.”

“How was the night?” I ask Mr. Townsend as Lucas disappears into the kitchen. We don’t have an overnight receptionist at the moment, but Mr. Townsend usually knows exactly what’s been going on—he goes to bed late and wakes up early.

“The young ’un slept like a log,” Mr. Townsend says, nodding towards the Jacobs family’s room. “Just one two a.m. feed. Those blackout blinds you ordered have worked like a charm.”

“And you?”

“I got more than enough rest,” he says with a smile. “Maisie used to say we’re better with a little fatigue in our systems. It keeps us fighting.”

I pull a face, scanning the lobby for jobs that need doing. “She sounds hard-core.”

“She was an actress,” he says. “Theatre. I think she just wanted an excuse to stay out even later than she already did. That woman could dance the feet off a caterpillar.”

“Sounds like a girl after my own heart,” I say, rearranging the fir branch on the mantelpiece. Though actually it’s been ages since I’ve danced. Except for that day in Shannon’s flat, which I am now having to try very hard not to think about.

“So, what’s he got planned for you?” Mr. Townsend asks, nodding in the direction Lucas went.

“Sorry?”

“It is Lucas Day, isn’t it?”

“Who told you that?”

Mr. Townsend tries looking mysterious for a moment, and then gives up and says, “Ollie.”

“Who told him? No, don’t tell me, it was Arjun. So does everybody know?”

“I don’t think Barty does,” Mr. Townsend says. “But Barty never seems to know what’s going on around here, does he?”

I manage not to laugh at this, and give myself rare full marks for professionalism. A family pass on their way to brunch in the dining room, and Mr. Townsend and I pause politely before launching back in.

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