“Get Gran and Cyb and I’ll tell you,” Nate decided. “May as well get it all done and over with in one go.”
“Sounds ominous,” Stan grumbled, leaving to fetch the others.
It was only fair to let Stan suffer a little bit before he set all their minds at ease. After all, as enjoyable as dancing with Carrie had been, that wasn’t exactly the way he’d wanted to go about it.
Nate still didn’t know what, besides bloody-mindedness, had possessed him to kiss Carrie Archer that first night on the terrace. But he did know that as each day went by, he found himself wanting to do it again, more and more.
Even when she was driving him up the wall.
“What’s the news?” Moira asked. The three Seniors crammed into the tiny backstage area where, hopefully, Carrie wouldn’t see them, get suspicious, and come to find out what they were up to.
Nate sighed. They were the worst plotters since Guy Fawkes and his cronies.
“She’s still not planning to sell, whatever her boss wants. The aim is still to turn this place into a wedding destination hotel.” He paused for the resulting sighs of relief. “But there’s a lot of work to do here if she’s going to convince her boss.” It had been running at a loss for the last six months, Nate knew, ever since Nancy took ill. Anna Yardley had to be looking at putting some significant money into it, if she decided it was worth her while.
“The place is fine as it is,” Stan grumbled, causing both Cyb and Moira to roll their eyes, much to Nate’s amusement.
“You clearly haven’t seen the survey,” he told Stan. “It’s not just the cosmetic stuff, there’s some real fundamental stuff that needs fixing.”
“And this carpet really has to go,” Cyb added, prodding at the paisley carpet with the toe of her sensible-heeled shoe.
Nate ignored her. “Carrie is going to need a lot of help to make this work.” He wasn’t sure even she realized how much.
The Seniors all nodded, without apparently appreciating his point.
“She’s got two weeks, no budget, and a bride who really wants to get married here. And us. That’s it. So we are going to give her all the help she needs,” he added in a firm tone.
The nods came slower this time, but they did come. Eventually.
“I could certainly help with choosing the soft furnishings,” Cyb said, looking around at the matching paisley-patterned curtains surrounding the backstage area. “My Harry always said I had quite an eye.”
“Of course we’ll help,” Moira said. “Any way that she needs us.”
They all turned to look at Stan. Eventually he glanced away and shrugged. “Well, it’s not like she could do it without us.”
Nate took that as all the agreement he was likely to get. He just hoped it would be enough.
Chapter 4
“Can’t we go back to meeting at the Avalon?” Cyb asked. In the corner of the Red Lion, a fruit machine paid out, resulting in flashing lights, chinking coins, tinny music and whoops of satisfaction from the crowd of young men gathered around it. The novelty of their new meeting place had most definitely worn off.
Stan gave her a stern look. “Not exactly the best way to keep our plans secret, now, is it?”
“But why do we have to be secret? We’re helping Carrie.”
Cyb looked to Moira for backup, but the other woman shook her head. “Because she’s Nancy’s granddaughter.”
Which made no sense at all. Cyb sat back in her chair and let her arms droop by her sides. “Well, I’m stumped.”
“Look at it this way,” Moira said with a gentle smile. “If you wanted Nancy to do something, even if it was for her own good, what did you have to do?”
“Pretend you wanted her to do the opposite,” Cyb answered promptly.
“And why was that?” Moira continued.
“Because she was an ornery old...” Stan started, but Moira shushed him.
“Because she always wanted to do everything herself, and do it her own way. You had to convince her everything was her own idea,” Cyb said, finally seeing where Moira was going. “You think Carrie’s the same?” And if so, she wasn’t the only one. Cyb cast a speculative glance at Stan.
Moira laughed. “From the stories Nancy used to tell, I know she is. So we need to tread carefully.”
“Fine,” Cyb said slowly. “But how do we do that?”
“Well, first we need to inform your blessed grandson of the plan,” Stan said to Moira, his voice gruff. “You know he got someone in to raise the terrace this morning? Without so much as a by-your-leave to Carrie.”
“How do you know that?” Moira asked.
“Izzie called me before you ladies got here.” He held up his aging mobile phone, which Cyb happened to know used to belong to his youngest granddaughter, as if it were the latest in modern technology. “Got to stay connected, haven’t we?”
“Did she really mind? I mean, it needed doing didn’t it?” Cyb asked, worried. After all, there was little point putting in new carpets and curtains if the whole building might fall down around them.
“Yes it did,” Moira said firmly. “It’s going to need a whole lot more doing to it, too. But at least this way it won’t have sunk into the marsh before they can get round to it.”
“And who’s going to do all that work, I’d like to know,” Stan muttered. “After Nate got rid of the builder, too.”
“She’s got a builder,” Moira told him, leaving Stan looking surprised. “Nate called some friends of his, and they’re coming out to the inn to give her a proper estimate this afternoon.” She gave Stan a sideways glance. “I imagine it was one of them at work on the terrace this morning.”
Stan stared at her, obviously not wanting to ask how she knew more than he did, until Moira pulled a considerably shinier and more streamlined phone from her handbag. “Nate keeps me informed.”
Cyb held back a fond smile. Yes, he wasn’t without his faults, but Stan was a good man. A caring, passionate man. And Harry had been gone a very long time. Maybe it was time for her to start living again, at last. Once she’d figured out a way to make Stan think it was his idea.
Stan cleared his throat, shrugged, and tried to take back control of the meeting. “Well, obviously the most important thing is that we keep the lines of communication open between ourselves. But let’s get back to the real issue. If we don’t want Carrie to know we’re helping, how are we going to help?”
“And without that awful boss of hers ever knowing we had anything to do with it,” Moira added.
They all sat in silence for a moment, considering their options.
“Well, let’s look at this logically,” Stan said, but Cyb wasn’t really listening. She was remembering how surprised Carrie had looked the night before when she’d realized how detailed their 40s night had been. How much effort they’d put in. “We want to help her, but she can’t know we’re helping...” Stan went on.
“I’ve got an idea,” Cyb interrupted, before she could think about it enough to convince herself it was a stupid idea, like so many of hers. “Carrie needs to deal with the big problems, right? Keep the inn standing.”
Stan sighed. “Yes, Cyb. That’s what we’ve been saying. So how can we help her? Moira? Any ideas?”
Moira shook her head. “I want to hear Cyb’s idea.”
Cyb couldn’t remember the last time anyone actually had wanted to hear one of her suggestions. They were happy to let her ramble on about the good old days, but when it came to things that mattered, everyone turned to Stan and Moira. But not this time. “Well, if we can’t help with the big things, we need to take care of the details, all the little things Carrie won’t have time to think of.”
There was silence, for a long moment. Cyb was just about to laugh and pretend she was joking when Stan spoke.
“Right. So. What sort of details are we talking about here? Perfumed soaps and things?”
Cyb smiled so widely she could feel new laugh lines forming. Maybe convincing Stan about other
things would be just as easy. Then she started telling them the rest of her idea.
* * * *
Carrie stared at the piles in front of her and sighed.
She’d finally caved and moved into Nancy’s office, a tiny, cluttered room behind the kitchen, just about big enough for a desk and a chair. Until then, she’d only popped in long enough to grab a file or a folder she needed to compile her lists. The sheer level of disorganization made it impossible to work in there.
But she couldn’t possibly get everything done camping out in the Green Room. It was time to start taking this seriously. Beginning with clearing out the damn office so she had somewhere to work.
She’d hoped to have it done before Nate’s builder friends showed up that afternoon, but she’d barely even cleared enough space to sort papers in. Maybe she could just bin it all and start again from scratch.
Jacob brought her some coffee after she’d been working for an hour or so.
“You are a coffee god,” she told him, taking a grateful sip.