Page 10 of Just the Beginning

Anya took the phone. ‘Hello?’

‘Oh hey, Anya. I didn’t mean for Issy to chase you down the street or anything; you could’ve called me later.’ Rick sounded different, not his usual confident self.

‘That’s okay, I was only at the crossing. What’s up?’

‘So you know I told you I was coming to see my uncle Davy?’

Anya frowned, wondering where the conversation was going. ‘I heard you saying something to your mum about Maud being worried about him. Is he okay?’

‘Yes and no. He had a nasty encounter with the edge of a cupboard door and cut his head.’

‘Oh, goodness, I hope he’s okay.’

Rick exhaled hard. ‘I have to tell you, when I walked into his office and saw the blood all over his shirt I feared the worst, but I’ve patched him up and given him a cup of tea and he seems fine. I’ll give him a ring later and check up on him.’

‘He’s lucky he’s got you to look out for him.’ Anya raised her eyes to see Issy still smiling at her over the counter. Feeling a bit awkward, Anya turned away slightly and lowered her voice. ‘Look, I’m glad to hear Davy is all right; I’m just not sure what him bumping his head has to do with me.’

‘I’m getting to that bit. He’s doing brilliantly for a man his age – hell, he’s doing brilliantly for a man half his age – but managing the hotel is a lot. He’s still sharp as a tack, but there’s no getting around the fact he’s slowing down a bit. I’ve had achat with him and we’ve both agreed he could do with some help. And that’s where you come in.’

A flash of hope leapt inside her, but she tamped it down. She’d meant what she said about turning her hand to most things, including cleaning, but she had zero experience when it came to being a personal carer for someone. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure it’s for me. I can look after a child, I have plenty of experience with that, but I wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to someone older.’

Rick’s deep laughter filled her ear, settling over her like a gorgeous cashmere blanket. ‘Oh, God, sorry no that’s not what I meant. Davy can look after himself just fine; what he needs is a personal assistant to help him with running the hotel.’

Warmth flooded her cheeks and she ducked her head even though he wasn’t there to see her blush. ‘Oh, I see! Well, again I’m not sure I’m any more qualified for that.’

‘There’s nothing that complicated, I promise. You’ll be answering the phone, greeting guests and helping them out with stuff like restaurant bookings and ordering taxis, maybe running a few errands for Davy. There’s a cleaning team that comes in and does the room changeovers, so you won’t have to worry about that. Look, I know this is out of the blue but you’d be doing me a huge favour. It doesn’t have to be forever, but it’d give you something to tide you over the summer while you find your feet and get Freya settled into life down here.’

‘It sounds like you’re the one doing me a huge favour.’

Rick chuckled. ‘Consider us even, then. It’s taken a lot for Davy to even contemplate it, and the fact you’re practically one of the family will make it that bit easier. We haven’t thrashed out all the details yet, I just told Davy I’d run the idea past you and see what you think. I’ll sit down tonight and work out whatthe going rate is and put together a draft contract for you to review.’

Legs wobbling, Anya groped for the nearest chair and sank into it. A job for the summer, working with someone she knew and trusted. Money in her pocket and bit of breathing space to figure out what she was going to do in the longer term. ‘I don’t need a contract.’

There was a long silence, followed by a sigh. ‘Okay. Well, look, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and if I hear of anything else, I’ll let you know.’

From the clear disappointment in Rick’s voice, he’d obviously misunderstood. ‘No, I meant I don’t need you to send me a contract first, because I’d love to help Davy at the hotel. I mean, Iwillneed a contract at some point, but I know you’ll do right by me when it comes to salary and things.’

‘Oh, thank God!’ Rick burst out. ‘Look, I’m sorry to drop all this on you but I really need to get to the shop before Mum kills me. Can I call you this evening and we can go through the details properly?’

‘Of course.’ She remembered the card he’d given her earlier. ‘I’ll text you my number, or better yet, why don’t you come over and we can talk it through face to face? I’ll make us a bite to eat. It won’t be anything fancy: a bit of pasta?—’

Rick cut her off. ‘Anything would be fine, just tell me what time and I’ll be there.’

‘Oh great, umm, well I normally try and get Freya settled and in bed by seven. Why don’t you aim for just after then, if that works for you.’

‘Sounds perfect. I’ll print off one of the standard contracts Davy uses for the hotel and we can go through that, work out hours and what have you. I’ll see you later.’ He ended the callbefore she even had a chance to say thank you, never mind goodbye.

Anya stared at the phone in her hand for a long moment before she looked up at Issy who was still grinning at her like the Cheshire cat.

‘Well?’

Anya felt her own smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. ‘Looks like I’ve got time for that slice of caramel shortbread after all.’

7

Rick handled closing time at the shop. It felt like the least he could do having left his mum to run the place for most of the morning. Not that she’d minded in the least. Rachel Penrose had greeted him with her usual smile and a kiss when he’d finally got his head together after leaving Davy with a half-dozen Steri-Strips sealing the cut on his head and a hot, strong cup of tea with extra sugar in it. He’d only agreed to leave because his uncle had threatened to renege on the whole deal, and having already told Anya he had a solution to her immediate financial situation, he couldn’t bear the idea of having to let her down.

There’d only been a couple of customers in the last hour, which had given him time to download some sample contracts – one his uncle used for the hotel and the one they used in the shop for temporary workers. He and Anya could go through them after dinner and put something together that suited everyone. Davy had emailed over a list of the hourly rates he currently paid to the various employees at the hotel. Rick had done some poking around on a couple of the big nationalrecruitment websites as well as the jobs section on the local paper’s website and found half a dozen comparable salary ranges.

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