Page 68 of Highland Getaway
She looks up at the sky accusingly. I somehow don’t think even a storm would dare defy Izzie, but I’m moved to help her, all the same.
‘Why don’t you come back to the hotel for a bit?’ I say impulsively. ‘All of you? Hunter says they’ll still have power there.’
Hunter’s disgust at this suggestion is so strong I can almost feel his eyes burning into me; and the Fosters don’t look particularly thrilled at the idea either. Hannah, however, starts jumping up and down with excitement, and Ian looks like he’s about to join her.
‘That’s certainly what the ball told me would happen tonight,’ Izzie says, nodding. ‘Thank you, Rosie, lass; we’d be pleased to accept your kind invitation.’
‘Hold on,’ says Hunter. ‘It’s not really up to Rosie to invite anyone to the—’
‘I’ll go and find Callum and tell him where we’re going,’ Ian interrupts. ‘We’ll meet you at the minibus, Izzie. Unless you want to take your car?’
‘Aye, probably a good idea,’ she replies thoughtfully. ‘I can get at least four people in it; and if you bring the van, Ian, that’ll be even more.’
‘No, wait, you can’t—’ Hunter begins, but it’s too late; Izzie and Ian have already darted off in different directions, leaving the rest of us standing there, open-mouthed; me in particular, given that I’m the one who started all of this, and I can already tell from the grim look on Hunter’s face that it’s not going to go down as one of my better ideas.
‘Um, sorry?’ I venture cautiously, risking a glance at him. ‘It’s just, you said it could be a while before the power’s back on, and it’s starting to get cold now. It didn’t seem fair to just leave them to get on with it when there’s an entire hotel they could shelter in.’
‘It’s a power cut, Rosie,’ Hunter points out. ‘Not a natural disaster. I hardly think we need to start thinking about setting up shelters. They do all have homes to go to, you know.’
‘Homes that won’t have any heat or light,’ I reply. ‘Plus, don’t you think it would be a good opportunity to build some ties between the hotel and the community? It’s just a few extra people; and maybe it’ll make them less likely to want to complain to the Laird?’
‘You’re always saying we should try to help people when we can, Daddy,’ adds Hannah, coming unexpectedly to my rescue. ‘And this’ll be so fun!’
‘Aye. Well. I suppose it’s done now,’ Hunter replies, his jaw tightening with thinly suppressed annoyance. ‘We’ll just have to hope they don’t bring too many people with them. And that the power comes back on sooner rather than later.’
‘Oh, I’m sure it will,’ I say, with the confidence of someone who has absolutely no idea what she’s talking about. ‘And, like Hannah said, it’ll be fun. Kind of.’
‘Just promise me one thing,’ replies Hunter, as he takes Hannah’s hand, ready to leave. ‘Promise me you’re going to be the one who tells Dante about this?’
Oh yeah.So much fun.
Chapter 27
Dante is, unsurprisingly, even less enamoured with the idea of hosting a group of villagers in his precious hotel than Hunter was.
‘Are you kidding me?’ he says, his eyes narrowing dangerously when I present him with the idea, having accepted a lift back with Hunter and Hannah so we could give the hotel manager at least a bit of warning. ‘Since when was it your job to invite people to stay at the hotel?’
‘It’s just two or three people,’ I reply soothingly, wondering if he’s planning to speak to the actual paying guests like this, too. ‘And they’re not going to be staying here; just, you know,hanging out for a bit, until the power comes back on. You’ll hardly even know they’re here. And it’ll be a great opportunity for publicity, too; the Chrysalis coming to the rescue of the poor villagers in their hour of need. It’s perfect, actually, when you really think about it.’
Dante looks at me with suspicion; which is fair enough, really, considering everything I’ve put him through since I got here. I wouldn’t trust me, either. And I don’t trusthim, so I suppose, in that respect at least, we’re even.
‘It’s not that Fleetwood Mac lot again, is it?’ he asks. ‘Isobel Lamb and her strange sidekicks? Because I’ve had more than enough of that bunch for one day. Or one lifetime, actually.’
I blink nervously, noticing the way his shoulders keep twitching. I guess he really is feeling the pressure of making this launch a success. I just hope I haven’t gone and ruined it for him yet again.
Fortunately for me, I’m spared the horror of having to answer his question by the crunch of tyres on the gravel outside, heralding the arrival of the bus.
‘That’ll be them now,’ I say, heading gratefully for the door, followed by Hunter, who’s been ominously silent since we left the funfair.
Sure enough, the hotel’s minibus is pulling up outside, and we all line up on the steps as the passengers start to disembark.
‘I thought you said it was just going to be a couple of people?’ Dante splutters, his face paler than ever as he watches the villagers pile out of the bus, some of them carrying what looks suspiciously like overnight bags.
‘Er, I said twoor three,’ I reply weakly, my heart sinking as a purple VW Beetle appears at the bottom of the drive and begins bumping its way towards us, with Izzie at the wheel. Behind it is an old Transit van being driven by Ian, and by the time they’ve pulled up next to the bus, I’m pretty sure Dante is going to require medical attention for the quivering rage he appears to be experiencing.
‘Hiya, Rosie,’ says Izzie, climbing out of the Beetle. ‘We’ll just park here, will we?’
Hannah goes running down the steps to meet her, and I quickly follow, leaving Hunter to deal with Dante. By the time I look back up at the hotel’s entrance, Hunter’s steering him carefully back inside, so he misses seeing Ian and Callum climb out of the van, followed, to my surprise, by a small girl with a cloud of dark curls, and a Barbie in her arms that looks a bit like Millie.
