Page 22 of A Winter Wish

“Some people would call it a restaurant.”

Lexie rolled her eyes at him—he was the type to bring out an eye roll. “Right, I got that, thanks.”

Theo headed farther in—and Lexie could see that everyone else was already there, Mike at the middle of the table, currently handing round a bottle of white wine. There were about ten of them in total and they already seemed to know one another, if the way they were chatting away was anything to go by.

“We’ve been working with the family who runs this place pretty much since the company began,” Theo said, and Lexie glanced up at him. “It’s a small restaurant, and when Richard found it they weren’t doing too well. It’s a touristy town, but that still doesn’t make it easy, competing with the fancy hotels or places that look a certain way. But this place honestly has the best food.” He gave a little shrug as she continued to look up at his face. “It’s part of the whole ethos of the company—work with small, local places, support the community and people like these guys, who work hard and love what they do. It adds to the feeling of discovering the place behind the tourist traps.” He paused, then added, “It’s one of the things I love about this company—about what your dad built here. I’m not sure I said that enough to Richard, but…” He trailed off, and Lexie looked away, unsure what to make of the hint of emotion in his voice. The hint of someone who might not just be mean for the hell of it—but who genuinely might miss her dad. Maybe miss him more than she was capable of? She didn’t know how to answer that.

Instead she glanced around the restaurant again. She loved stumbling on places that weren’t the Hilton or the chains aimed at tourists, loved the idea of getting to know the community that way. And she hadn’t quite clocked that her dad’s company was all about that, too. She’d assumed the smaller hotels advertised on most of their trips were more about marketing than a company ethos, but maybe they weren’t. Had this been important to her dad? Or was it just to try to be trendy, stand out from the crowd? She hated that Theo probably knew the answer to this when she didn’t.

Lexie grabbed Theo’s arm as he made to join the table. And added another thing to the hated list—that she noticed how solid his arms were, even beneath his coat. “Look, Theo—” she began, intending to pick up the conversation about selling the company. But she was cut off by Mike’s booming voice.

“Lexie! Theo! Come and join us, we’re all just getting settled. Lexie, I’ve saved you a seat opposite me. Come on, come on. Everyone, this is Lexie.” He beamed around the table and she got a few smiles and one awkward wave.

Theo looked down pointedly at her hand on his arm, and she let go. She plastered a smile on her face as she went to take her seat opposite Mike, in between a redheaded woman in her thirties—the one who had waved—and a man in his forties, who was talking to another man next to him in a low voice.

“Feeling better, Lexie?” Mike asked, immediately filling her glass with wine. She took a sip—why not?—and was surprised at how good it was. She shouldn’t have been, really—this was France, after all. But it was much better than the expensive wine from the chalet—this was cool and crisp and dangerously drinkable. And even she, with her limited wine knowledge, could taste the citrus undertones.

“Much, thanks.” She glanced down the table. Theo had taken a place at the end and a woman wearing a pale blue blouse, in her thirties, maybe, with short brunette hair, was leaning in, nodding along at whatever Theo was saying, while the man opposite her—her husband?—looked a bit bored. The woman looked charmed, though. And Theo was smiling, telling some kind of story. So, it was only her he was a dick to, then.

“You’re just in time for the starters,” Mike said, smiling to the two waiters as they came out. “Put them down anywhere, chaps, they’re for everyone.” Either the waiters spoke perfect English, or they already knew what to do, because soon the table was filled with starters for them to pick at. There was lemon ricotta bruschetta, lemon crab bites, mini salmon cakes with lemon, and a fancy white bean lemon dip.

“Lemon is incorporated into every dish,” Mike explained, unnecessarily.

“What if someone doesn’t like lemons?” Lexie asked wryly, before she could stop herself.

At the end of the table, she saw Theo look up. He briefly caught her eye and his lips twitched like he might be about to smile, but he didn’t give in to it. Mike, however, didn’t seem to get the joke.

He took a crab bite, then leaned across to Lexie conspiratorially. Either side of them, people were engaged in conversation. “Now, Lexie, tell me. How are you doing?”

Lexie put her hand over her mouth as she swallowed her first bite of bruschetta. And OK, she could immediately see why Richard had picked this place. The food was amazing. How did they get a simple bruschetta to taste so good? The ricotta melted in her mouth, with just enough burst of lemon, managing to be both sweet and sour. She swallowed sooner than she would have liked to answer Mike’s question. “I’m all right, thanks. How was—?”

“I know it must be tough. Your father was very dear to me, of course, very dear. I do know he was a bit of a rascal, though, back in his day.”

Lexie was trying hard to like Mike, but him describing her dad as a “rascal,” like he was just a kind of playful puppy, made her want to grit her teeth. She took a sip of wine instead.

“I know it must be hard, having been thrown into all this. Have you talked to the solicitor, to see if there’s any way out of it for you?”

Lexie spooned some of the bean dip onto her plate. Presumably Theo and Ange had filled him in about her reluctance to take on any responsibility for the company. “I asked—and I got a friend of mine who’s a solicitor to check, but they both agreed the terms were pretty clear.” And she didn’t want to talk about it. “Do you always have one of you on the trips? From R&L I mean?”

“No, not always. We mainly use local guides, so part of the job is recruiting those people, working with them to offer the best experience with customers. Support the local economy, you know.” He said it with a wave of the hand, like it didn’t really matter to him—but Lexie knew that kind of thing did matter. “But it’s good for us to be here on the ground when we can. Makes the customers feel loved and appreciated—it’s the reason they come back to us. The personal touch, you know. Plus free holidays for us—a perk of the job.” He gave a jovial laugh, and Lexie tried to join in. “Now,” Mike said, dropping his voice and adopting a serious face once more, “is there anything I can do to make this easier on you? From what I understand you’ve chosen to take a step back from the running of things. A wise decision, I might add.”

“Is it?” For some reason, the way he said it made her bristle. She didn’t know why—it had been her decision, after all. But it was said like maybe she couldn’t handle it. And that, she realized, was what was annoying her so much about the way Theo was being. They were behaving like she couldn’t do it, as opposed to simply not wanting to.

“Absolutely. If you’re not planning to take the company on long-term, then I think it makes perfect sense to let it tick along with Theo. And of course I’m here, too. I might not have an active stake like you two, but I do care about the company—like Theo, I’ve been with your dad on this since the inception. I was here before Theo, even—your dad brought me in very early on. Perhaps he mentioned we were friends before this?”

“Ah, no.” Lexie cleared her throat. “My dad and I…I didn’t really know much about his life anymore, to be honest.” There had been a time, when she was little, when she’d wanted to know everything about his life. Wanted to know what he did when he wasn’t with her. Wanted to know, if she was being honest with herself, why his new life was better than his old one. But over the years she’d stopped asking.

“No, no. Understandable. Anyway, maybe we ought to have a think about this mess you’ve been left in.”

“Nothing to think about.” She raised her voice very slightly, in case Theo was listening. “When the company is sold it won’t be my mess anymore.”

“Ye-ss,” Mike said slowly, his eyes flickering around the group of them.

Lexie flushed. She shouldn’t have spoken so callously—and so loudly. Luckily, no one else seemed to have heard her. For the first time, it really hit her—people’s lives were going to be affected by this. Not the clients—she was sure they’d find someone else to have holidays with. But Mike and Ange—the other people who worked there—they might lose their jobs, depending on who took it on. She could see why they didn’t love the idea of her coming in, making money, and leaving. A rush of guilt flooded through her, even as she tried to push it away. It wasn’t her fault. Her dad had put her in this position.

“I’m sorry, Mike,” Lexie said, meaning it. “I know this can’t be ideal, me coming in and, well…” She picked her wine up.

“Not at all, not all. Hardly your fault, eh?”