The Women Who Ran Away - Sheila O'Flanagan Page 0,73
you’re ready.’
Once in her room – or, to be more accurate, the suite named for Ernest Hemingway that Ken had reserved for her – Grace called Aline to let her know she’d arrived. She held the phone at a distance so that her daughter could see the elegance of her surroundings as well as the Hemingway memorabilia. Aline was impressed, and said that booking Grace into such a beautiful hotel showed how much Ken had loved her.
Did it? wondered Grace as she recalled the loveliness of the Fleur d’Île. Had Ken thought that she, on her own, deserved better than they’d shared together? Or was it because he’d stayed in this same room himself when he’d done his lecture tour five years earlier – in which case he’d been treated very well indeed by his hosts. He hadn’t said anything to her about his accommodation in either Pamplona or Alcalá de Henares, where he’d also lectured as part of the series he’d given on Hemingway’s influence on modern literature. The success of his talks had led to him being asked to fulfil additional engagements in Toledo and Granada, both also part of her treasure hunt itinerary. Maybe all the hotels he’d stayed in were equally upmarket and had triggered an interest in the better things in life even if they’d never shared them together.
Grace looked around the room again. She’d clearly undervalued Ken’s work and the esteem with which his colleagues had regarded him. She’d let him down.
She tuned back in to Aline, who was suggesting that the two of them should take a girlie break together sometime.
‘Why don’t you join me in the apartment later in the summer?’ said Grace. ‘September, perhaps?’
‘Are you planning to be there till September?’ Aline was shocked.
‘Of course not. I’ve a return berth on the boat in five weeks. But I may go back later. By plane, though.’
‘Could be a plan,’ said Aline.
When she’d ended the conversation, Grace took a couple of paracetamol to combat the tension headache that was starting to form at the base of her skull, mainly as a result of the unwelcome thought that she might have underestimated Ken and his lecture tours. She wondered how he’d spent his time after his talks. She’d never asked. She’d assumed it had all been academic stuff that would be above her head. But had it mattered to him that she hadn’t been bothered enough to want to know? Was this why he’d wanted her to come here now? To show her how well regarded he’d been? To prove a point?
She thought about the clues for Pamplona. Ken had said they were easy, and they were. She hadn’t needed Deira to tell her that the Old Man was Hemingway. That was obvious. And given that Ken had actually booked her into his room, she knew the answer to the clue already. The number was 201. All she needed now was to take a photo of Hemingway near a place he had loved. She’d agreed with Deira it was probably the café that had featured in The Sun Also Rises. The Café Iruña. It was nearby. There were even information leaflets about it in the room. So it would be no trouble to find it, upload a photo and solve the clue before dinner.
Deira had been right when she’d told Grace not to worry about her, because it took her less than five minutes to find her own hotel. It was smaller than the photos on the website had made it appear, but it was clean and well maintained. A tiny lift brought her up to the top floor, where her room looked out over the old town. She left her case against a wall and took her phone out of her bag.
There was one message.
From Gavin.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she opened it.
I can’t believe you had the nerve to contact me. This is bordering on harassment. And you have form in harassing me. For your own sake, Deira, you have to stop. I’m not getting in touch with you again. Please don’t even think of responding.
She exhaled slowly. The text she’d sent him before setting out on the drive had simply asked him to call her. She’d said it was urgent. She hadn’t said anything about the car.
Maybe that had been a mistake. Maybe he’d been thinking about the last time she’d asked to talk to him urgently.
So she couldn’t really blame him for his response.