A Perfect Paris Christmas - Mandy Baggot Page 0,105

rungs up the ladder as far as romantic suitability was concerned.

‘Oh!’ Silvie gasped. ‘Did I not say? Not over lunch?’ She pressed her napkin to her lips.

‘You told me that Ferne was in hospitality but…’ Keeley began.

‘We are… Perfect Paris!’ Louis announced. Keeley half expected him to do jazz hands to highlight the point. So, the hotel they were staying in was owned by Silvie and Louis?

‘Are you for real?’ Rach asked. ‘That’s amazing. I mean it’s… spectacular! The gourmet food and the… animatronic festive things… I might have thought Sleeping Beauty on ice was a bit out there on a rink the size of a postage stamp but… it’s artsy, isn’t it? People love artsy, especially at Christmas time.’

‘Keeley,’ Silvie said softly. ‘Is everything OK?’

Keeley knew she had gone a little quiet but she was processing. Somehow it felt a little odd that they had been staying in the hotel where Ferne had worked. Had Ferne actually worked there?

‘I’m… fine.’ Keeley took a sip of her wine from her glass. ‘Did Ferne work at the hotel? The one we are staying in?’

‘Sometimes,’ Silvie replied. ‘Although her office was at the flagship hotel in the Opera district. Perfect Paris was her dream after she stopped buying puppets. She wanted to create a haven of luxury in the middle of the city.’

‘And it is luxurious,’ Rach agreed, smiling at Louis.

‘But times are changing,’ Louis said. ‘One of the reasons I am here was to arrange the sale of the hotels. We had a number of larger brands interested in buying the chain but, there is now an obstacle to overcome and—’

‘And we do not need to talk about such boring matters as business at the dinner table,’ Silvie interrupted.

‘What was the other reason for you being here?’ Rach wanted to know.

‘To meet Keeley, of course,’ Silvie said softly. ‘Tell me, how was the ballet the other night?’

Keeley’s heart arrested. Had Louis not told Silvie that Rach had met him at the ballet instead of her? Now she didn’t know quite what to say and she hurriedly filled her mouth with food so someone else had to answer on her behalf. The goose wasn’t slipping down quite so easily now.

‘Ah,’ Louis spoke up. ‘Unfortunately Keeley was…’

‘Not feeling well,’ Rach chipped in. ‘A temperature and a sore throat. Only a slight one. Nothing major.’

‘You are sick?’ Silvie questioned, putting all her focus on Keeley. Her concerned look forced Keeley to munch until she had to swallow.

‘No, she’s fine,’ Rach said. ‘She’s fine now. But she was a little, tiny bit, under the weather for the ballet. So, I met Louis in her place.’

Silvie’s expression was suddenly a mix of disappointment and upset and the woman reached for the wine bottle before any of her staff could get there to do it for her. Topping up her glass she looked to Louis. ‘You did not tell me.’

‘I…’ Louis started, sounding flummoxed. ‘I told you the ballet was wonderful and that we had a very nice time.’

‘Yes,’ Silvie hissed. ‘But I presumed you had gone to the ballet with Keeley!’

‘I thought the ballet was wonderful too,’ Rach jumped in. ‘I even cried. And I don’t really cry at stuff like that. You know, I’m more of a “got my finger caught in the coffee machine” kind of crier than the emotional kind.’

Keeley reached out and put a hand on Silvie’s arm. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t go to the ballet. I was going to. I thought about it, maybe even a little too much and then, I don’t know, it all suddenly felt… a bit too much. And I know that sounds incredibly selfish when you’ve invited me here and everything but… I thought you would understand.’ She took a breath. ‘I hoped you would understand.’

Keeley waited then, watching for Silvie’s reaction. She hoped she hadn’t upset her host and irrevocably changed the dynamic between them. Silvie had said there was no pressure. But perhaps she hadn’t meant that quite as sincerely as she said she had.

‘Mother—’ Louis began.

‘It is alright,’ Silvie breathed, offering Keeley a small smile. ‘When we have finished the goose, shall we go to see Ferne’s room?’

Keeley nodded. ‘Yes. I would really like that.’

Forty-Seven

‘Voila,’ Silvie said later, opening the door of one of the rooms upstairs.

They had finished the main course and were waiting for the chef – yes, Silvie had a chef – to arrive with the dessert. While Rach seemed slightly wine-besotted with Louis, Keeley was now eager to