Chapter Fifteen

The Christmas trees inside the inn looked stunning, even in daylight. Having spent an hour after breakfast, stringing lights and weather-proof baubles with Raven’s help, the outdoor trees also created the perfect ambience and the lights now sparkled in the late afternoon sun. By dusk, which was rapidly approaching, they would turn into a kaleidoscope of colour and, as they were on a timer, no one had to remember to switch them on.

Evie was grateful for that. It meant one less thing to think about which was just as well, because today had been somewhat chaotic. After last night’s ‘tree dressing’ turned into a party, virtually everyone in Snowflake Cove was nursing varying degrees of hangovers today. Evie drank more than she had intended, thanks to a mixture of joyful exuberance due to things seemingly taking a turn for the better with regard to the Starr family’s finances, and guilt, due to the fact that she was keeping something from her best friend. But as she didn’t know exactly what it was she was actually not telling Juniper, she couldn’t do much about it other than enjoy the evening and hope for the best. And she had definitely enjoyed last night – from what she could remember of it.

How the family had managed to get everything done to have the inn ready for the imminent arrival of their new guests was nothing short of a miracle. Without Roland and Robin’s assistance again, it wouldn’t have been possible, but by five minutes to four, preparations were complete and the Starrs were sitting down enjoying a pot of tea and leftover ‘party’ food.

The landline rang at precisely four p.m. and Evie dashed to the reception desk to answer it.

‘This is Felicia Porter-Brunsnorth. We’ll be arriving at the car park in ten minutes, according to the Sat Nav. I assume someone will be there to meet us.’

Despite having clearly told the harpy with two names that they needed twenty minutes’ notice to have the carriage ready, Evie smiled and hoped the panic in her voice was not apparent.

‘The carriage will be waiting, Ms Porter-Brunsnorth. We are so looking forward to meeting you all. Have a safe remainder of your journey. We’ll see you very soon.’ Evie rang off and raced back to the kitchen yelling at the top of her lungs. ‘Dad! You’ve got eight minutes to get the horse and cart over to the car park. They’ll be arriving in ten and I’ll be damned if we’re going to give that cow something to complain about the moment she arrives.’

She had never seen her dad, or the rest of the family, move so fast. It was as if the Starrs had been given military orders and were determined to complete their mission without questions or complaints. John shot outside like a bullet from a gun; Molly put a batch of mince pies in the oven, set out fifteen cups, saucers and tea plates, switched the kettle on and put a pan of mulled wine on the hob to simmer, all in a matter of minutes. Raven rushed around, switching on table lamps and the lights on the various indoor trees, plumping cushions, tidying the small piles of magazines on various side tables and the leaflets in the display rack in the hall. Jessie flew to her room and returned a few minutes later in what looked like a brand new and clearly expensive, dress. It was simply cut, purple and gave her a rather regal air.

Evie checked her ‘final list’ to be certain she hadn’t forgotten anything, followed by her make-up to ensure she hadn’t smudged her mascara or got ‘warm spice’ lipstick on her teeth. She then nipped outside to see if her dad had made it to the car park in time. She couldn’t see him or the cart so that must mean he was either still getting it ready or was in the car park, out of her line of sight.

From the corner of her eye, she saw three, sleek black limousines pass the cottages directly opposite the isle, followed by a large, gleaming white van with the words, ‘Thorn On Your Side’ painted on it. That was tailed by a blue Porsche which in turn was followed by a charcoal-grey Jaguar. The rows of Christmas lights strung between the lamp posts cast colourful reflections on the pristine bonnets and roofs, as if flowers of welcome were being thrown at the parade of vehicles.

‘How the hell are they all going to fit in the tiny car park?’ Evie asked, as Raven came and stood, shivering, beside her.

The sun had set some time ago and there was a definite chill in the air. The darkening, cloudless sky slowly filled with stars as if the universe was randomly switching on its own display of twinkling Christmas lights, but a clear sky meant a cold night at this time of year.

‘Wow!’ Raven said. ‘That’s pretty impressive. The old man’ll be in one of the limos but which one will Zachary be in, d’you think? The Porsche or the Jag?’

‘My money is on the van.’ Evie grinned at her niece. ‘You need a coat if you’re going to stand out here.’

‘I’m not.’ Raven wrapped her red cardigan over her white blouse and the Christmas-themed waistcoat. ‘I’m gonna be helping Granny M in the kitchen.’

 It was good to see Raven in colours other than black but Evie had been astonished when her niece agreed to wear the makeshift uniform.

Last night, Evie had suggested that everyone working at the inn should dress in similar apparel so that guests could tell immediately who was ‘staff’ and who wasn’t. The Starrs each owned several Christmas waistcoats. It was a family tradition that they wore them every year and Evie, her mum and Gran hand-made new ones in October, once the nights started drawing in. The waistcoats were perfect and there were several to go around, so that worked really well. Everyone owned dark-coloured trousers or skirts, depending on gender, so those, paired with white shirts or blouses and topped by either a red or green cardigan, made the perfect Snowflake Inn livery.

Evie wore a dark green skirt and matching cardigan, white button-through blouse and a red waistcoat covered in green and silver baubles, all of which were made from different types of material and some of which sparkled or glistened like the real baubles on the Christmas trees. Her camel-coloured winter coat hid most of it, but it was too cold to be outside without it.

‘Tell Mum they should be here in about fifteen minutes but they may all want to go and settle into their rooms before coming down to hot drinks and mince pies. I’ll ask them when they get here and let her know.’

‘Are you gonna wait out here and greet them? It’s freezing. Why can’t you meet them inside? We don’t want them to think they’re something special, do we? This guy may be rich but he’s not the bloody Queen.’

‘That’s a good point.’ Raven was full of surprises lately. ‘I should be at the reception desk waiting to book them in and hand over the keys.’

‘Yep. Roland went to help Grandpa with the luggage. He’s taken the extra pull-along cart as there are so many people and Granny M says rich people always have loads of luggage. She made him wear a Santa hat like the one Grandpa is wearing.’

Evie grinned. ‘I bet he loved that.’

The Starrs had asked Roland and Robin if they would be prepared to be temporary staff for a few hours a day in exchange for an hourly rate. Robin could only do evenings after closing the Merry’s Christmas Tree Farm each night, but he happily agreed and so did Roland. Teenagers could always do with extra money, and thanks to this booking, the Starrs would have money.

Plus, if Zachary Thorn agreed to Evie’s original plan of a five-minute scene featuring the inn in his TV show, or a few photos or something for the website and Snowflake Inn’s social media pages, the bank account might stand a chance of staying in the black rather than dropping into the red faster than Father Christmas down a chimney, as it had been doing until now.

Raven shrugged. ‘He didn’t seem to mind. Robin’s gonna be wearing one too. Granny M seems to think the men should wear them but we don’t have to.’

Evie pushed back a wayward lock of ginger hair from her face. ‘Thank heavens for that.’ She wrapped her arm around Raven’s shoulder as the stream of vehicles disappeared from view.

‘Let’s get out of this cold? I could do with a glass of sherry to calm my nerves but no doubt the harpy with two names would smell alcohol on my breath and assume I’m a wino.’

Raven grinned. ‘She wouldn’t be too far from the truth. I can’t wait to see if she looks as stuck up as she sounds. I bet she wears designer suits and matching designer glasses and has perfect, blonde hair held back by one of those Alice band things.’

‘And she carries her Tablet with her everywhere making constant notes and issuing instructions.’

‘Following her boss wherever he goes and telling everyone that he’s one of the richest men in the UK.’

‘And that he doesn’t like this or that, or anything much at all.’ Evie shook her head. ‘Seriously though, I hope they enjoy their stay. Think what it could do for us if they do. Whereas I dread to think what it’ll do to us if they hate it here. With all that money, they must be used to the height of luxury. Our rooms are comfortable but they’re hardly comparable to The Grand Hotel in Michaelmas Bay. Zachary and his team must have cancelled their booking at The Grand to come here. It really will be a miracle if one of them doesn’t complain about something. Our only hope is that they complain off camera, not on it and that Ms Felicia Porter-Brunsnorth doesn’t post a scathing review on every travel site she can find.’