A Tide of Lover's and Seashells by Laura Briggs

Author:Laura Briggs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cornish romance, cornwall romance, cornish romance series, cornish village series
Publisher: Laura Briggs

Chapter Eight

"I'm afraid there's no record of the delivery company contacting us," Brigette said to the guest across from her. "Perhaps they've gone astray somehow. I'm terribly sorry."

The guest was the horse rider, I discovered, as I carried the box of new brochures to the front desk, restocking the little turning rack. Today, she was wearing a beautiful knit Shetland jumper with jeans, however, looking much less formal than in full riding kit.

"I see. How disappointing." The guest's brow drew low, her look troubled.

"If you like, Lady Valerie, I can attempt to check our email's rejection box and see if it was sent there by mistake," she said. "We do receive a large volume of mail, so it's possible. Or I can contact the company and see if they have a shipment on record for our address."

"Of course. That would be helpful," she said. "It's the delay that disappoints me, since I had hoped to begin arranging the showcase pieces early."

"Do you have an email of record yourself, confirming the arrangement?" asked Brigette.

"I'm afraid that the project's financial director has it, not me, and he's unavailable due to a personal emergency," said Lady Valerie, apologetically. "I don't have any of the physical paperwork, which I should have brought with me, clearly. It's rather distressing." She still had her smile, but it was fading quickly.

"Of course, we'll do everything we can to clear this misunderstanding," said Brigette, who had the phone's receiver in hand. "Perhaps I can explain matters to someone in the shipping depot."

"Perhaps I might be of assistance in this matter, Miss O' Brien." As if Mr. Trelawney's sixth sense for difficult situations had alerted him to this one, he appeared from the passageway belonging to the housekeeping office, connected to the main hall where his office's private stair was located. In his hand was a file from the main records cabinet — where all non-secret hotel information was kept stored with color-coded tabs, courtesy of Brigette.

He had been speaking to her, but he noticed the guest involved now, and, for a fraction of a second, I thought Mr. Trelawney was actually caught off guard by her.

A mistaken assumption on my part, because Mr. Trelawney was never caught by surprise by anybody, even the very surprising or strange who visited us, much less someone who seemed as ordinary as this particular person. The female guest gazed at him as she waited politely for her situation to be addressed. She looked perfectly charming and polite — nevertheless, something in her quiet demeanor seemed to actually be affecting his usual businesslike poise. He didn't address her directly regarding the situation, but turned back to Brigette.

"If you would be so good as to acquaint me with the pertinent details," he said.

"It appears that a valuable shipment on behalf of the gallery show has potentially been mishandled or lost," said Brigette. "I'm certain that a word from you would inspire the shipping company to rectify the situation immediately. The package is extremely valuable, apparently.

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