Page 21 of So This is Christmas

JENNIE

Jennie kept her voice low in the hallway at Walter’s apartment as she said to Nick, ‘How are we going to tackle this?’ They’d been trying to get Walter a home help for the last couple of months. Now he was on his own, they thought it was the best thing to do.

Nick hung up his coat. ‘I don’t think we push it yet. We’ve got another agency to try.’

Walter had Jennie and Nick nearby but with them both working full-time, he needed something more now Greta had gone and he didn’t have a partner to watch out for him.

Jennie was terrified that being alone for so much of the time he would have an accident, that they might lose him too, and she couldn’t bear the thought.

Walter, however, hadn’t liked anyone they’d sent his way.

Either they were too nosy, too bossy, or they just weren’t the right fit and he didn’t feel comfortable.

He’d insisted on doing the interviews himself and that the decision would rest with him.

It had seemed a good idea at the time but he was discounting everyone.

‘We’re running out of options,’ said Jennie as Walter’s voice called out a hello to the both of them.

On her way to the kitchen, she looked at her phone as a message pinged through. It was Elliot again. He was in Alsace for business, which was more of a relief than it should have been. She still hadn’t told him the truth and she had to do it soon, but right now she had Walter to worry about.

She put her phone on silent and entered the kitchen first, somewhat taken aback to see a woman sitting with Walter.

With Nick right behind her she turned briefly and said to him quietly, ‘This is a good sign.’ And then she beamed a smile in the woman’s direction and held out her hand. ‘Hi, I’m Jennie.’

‘Sophie.’ The woman shook her hand. She looked right at home. Walter looked happy.

Nick introduced himself too and for a minute Jennie thought perhaps finally they’d found their home help and she could stop being so paranoid that something was going to happen to Walter.

‘I was so sorry to hear the news about Greta,’ said Sophie.

Nick nodded. ‘Thank you. We miss her every day. We’re really pleased you’ve come to meet Walter.’

Sophie frowned and Walter looked confused, but then his expression cleared. ‘You two think this is one of those home helpers you sent to meet me. This is Sophie. Sophie from England.’ He said it like that should explain everything.

‘I’m from the Tapestry Lodge,’ said Sophie.

Nick was the first to understand. ‘Bea’s care home. I’ve heard a lot about you from Mum over the years. She and Bea were determined they’d get you here someday, I’m just sad Mum is no longer around to see it.’

Sophie looked between Jennie and Nick. ‘I’m sorry too, and I’m sorry to tell you that Bea passed away earlier this month. I came to bring the Christmas letter to Walter and Greta, and to tell Greta what had happened.’

‘Oh, now that is sad.’ Nick sat down at the table, one hand scraping the back of his neck, a habit he’d had ever since Jennie met him. ‘And you really brought the letter here yourself?’

‘Bea left me a note which I got after she died. She requested that I come here and I realised I wanted to tell Greta the news in person rather than in writing.’

Nick beamed. ‘My mum liked you already,’ said Nick.

‘But she would’ve liked you all the more for doing something so kind.

’ Jennie didn’t miss the fact that it was blindingly obvious he liked Sophie too.

She hadn’t seen him look at a woman like this in years.

Or maybe it was the emotional pull of the moment.

Sophie put her hand onto an envelope on the table. ‘Bea and I had only just finished putting the Christmas letter together but I hadn’t got around to posting it and then…’

‘I’m glad you came,’ said Walter, his hand covering Sophie’s.

To have such closeness with Walter already caused Jennie to wonder how long this woman had been sitting here at the table.

Sure, Greta had met her once and seen her over a video call or two, but she didn’t know her and Jennie for one was going to be wary of a stranger.

She would never forget Ruby and the other bad pennies along the way.

She had to be vigilant for Walter’s sake and Nick should be too, although right now he looked too smitten to be sensible.

She observed this Sophie person so at home already, taking out two more plates from the cupboard, slicing up the fruit cake and distributing servings as if she lived here.

Jennie forced herself to say, ‘Thank you,’ but she took charge of making herself and Nick a cup of tea.

‘The Tapestry Lodge sounded like a good place for Bea,’ Nick said to Sophie. ‘Mum always said Bea was very happy. I think she was glad she got to see Bea settled there before she returned here. She would’ve felt terrible otherwise.’

‘It was lovely that I got to meet Greta, albeit very briefly. She was a wonderful lady. And the lodge suited Bea – close to London so she didn’t feel so much like she was having to move away.

There’s plenty of nature and countryside not too far away too.

’ She smiled. ‘Bea cherished the outings; she always wanted to go. There are some pictures of a recent trip in the letter.’

‘Do you live close to the lodge, Sophie?’ Walter asked.

‘Not far. I’m in Greenwich.’

Jennie spun round. She was from Eltham, only a few miles from Greenwich. She didn’t say a word, she didn’t want to talk about that time of her life especially with a stranger, but the reference to somewhere so close to where her life had gone so wrong flustered her.

Talk moved on to the Christmas letter tradition and as Jennie sat down with her cup of tea, she finally placed this woman.

‘You were at the hotel earlier,’ she said to Sophie.

‘I was… Oh, you were by reception. I remember.’ Sophie explained to Walter she’d gone to the hotel first to see whether he or Greta might be there. ‘The receptionist I spoke to hadn’t heard of you or Greta. I thought it was odd, I thought maybe she hadn’t worked there all that long.’

‘Why would she know who Walter and Greta were?’ Jennie asked before either of the men could get a word in.

Sophie seemed confused and looked at Walter. ‘Because it’s your hotel.’

The cake in Nick’s hand paused mid-air on its way to his mouth. ‘Their hotel?’

‘Well, yes.’ When Walter and Nick began to laugh Sophie looked even more discombobulated. ‘The Wynter Hotel. It’s your hotel, right?’ She looked at Walter. ‘You and Greta own the hotel, Nick runs it and Jennie is head of housekeeping.’

So she’d done some research. And it was enough to make Jennie sceptical about her motives for coming here. Money was a powerful motivator, after all, and she wasn’t about to be fooled.

Walter shook his head. ‘It seems Bea’s imagination ran away with her and she got completely the wrong end of the stick. Or she plain forgot the truth.’

‘Oh dear.’ Sophie put her face in her hands. ‘Now I feel very silly. Bea told me and everyone else in the lodge that her best friend Greta owned the Wynter Hotel. And I mean, it was easy to believe, given you share the name. She was often confused about things but on that she was quite clear.’

Jennie sat there taking it all in as Walter explained how they’d been in the hotel business a long time, how they’d been in England for a while until Greta wanted to return home to Vienna, especially after Nick and Jennie found work here.

Nick admitted, ‘I personally love having the Wynter surname on my name badge. This mix-up happens a lot and sometimes I get respect from our clients or guests just because of my name. I’m sorry to say I don’t ever make it clear unless I’m asked. I actually would love to own it.’

Jennie watched Sophie squirm. Maybe she wouldn’t hang around if she’d come here expecting to worm her way into the Wynters’ lives and the hotel now she knew the facts.

‘I can’t believe Bea got so confused,’ said Sophie, ‘but it always made her happy to think about the hotel. She told me she’d stayed in one of your rooms. Was that even true?’

‘Now that part was, and there’s a story behind it,’ said Walter.

‘The year after Greta and I retired we came to Vienna and stayed at the Wynter Hotel. We had heard of it before; it’s always had a good reputation, was often featured in travel magazines, and of course we shared the name.

Well, we fell in love with the place. We ended up investing in a couple of hotel rooms.’ His eyes twinkled.

‘It was Greta’s idea, and a good one. It’s been a relatively steady 8 to 12 per cent return on our income over the years, with peaks and troughs.

Better than a bank account with terrible interest rates.

And it was a part of something with our name which always felt mischievous to us.

We were the Wynters checking in to the Wynter Hotel.

I swear if another guest overheard us at reception, chatting and announcing our name, that we were staying in our usual room, they’d think we owned the place too.

Bea did indeed stay in one of our rooms at the hotel. ’

‘That must be where the confusion came from,’ said Sophie. ‘I never knew you could buy a hotel room.’

Jennie let Walter do the talking. He was enjoying himself and he looked more relaxed than he had been in months. Jennie hoped this woman was genuine, she really did. And Nick didn’t seem to have any suspicions as he helped himself to a second slice of fruit cake.

‘They’re good rooms,’ Walter went on. ‘Greta and I have spent our anniversary there the last couple of years, our birthdays, and the odd night when we just felt like it. We’ve had lunches in the brasserie too, it really is quite wonderful.’

‘It’s a beautiful hotel,’ Sophie agreed. ‘The Christmas tree is quite something and all the decorations on the outside too. How did you come to work there?’ She addressed Nick but looked at Jennie afterwards.

Nick answered first. ‘I always wanted to work in Europe and when I saw the job advertised at the Wynter Hotel I told Mum, and I could see how much she hoped I would get it because it was a tie to the hotel they’d invested in as well as her home city.

I got the job, Jennie applied shortly afterwards, and then before I knew it we were all living over here. ’ Nick’s eyes lingered on Sophie.

Their gazes were still locked until Jennie said to Sophie, ‘Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you know Bea so well?’

‘She told you, Jennie.’ Walter waved a hand in refusal at Nick’s suggestion he have another piece of fruitcake. ‘She works at the Tapestry Lodge.’

‘But how did you know Bea so well?’ she repeated. Wasn’t there a rule, like with nurses and doctors, how they couldn’t get involved with their patients? Had this Sophie overstepped a boundary?

‘Bea and I were friends – different generations obviously, and I wasn’t supposed to have favourites, but we were close. She was there for a few years. It was her home and I looked forward to seeing her every day.’

Nick sympathised. ‘You must miss her.’

‘I really do.’

Jennie let it go. She didn’t want to, but she could see Walter getting agitated at her inquisition and Nick’s warning look told her to back down.

All right, she would. She’d be nice, but she wouldn’t drop her guard.

Not until she knew more about this woman who’d suddenly come into the Wynters’ lives.

Yes, Greta knew her via Bea, but what did Bea know about her, really?

If Bea was confused enough to tell Sophie and the rest of the people in the lodge that Greta and Walter owned a major five-star hotel, then she might have been confused enough to trust someone who was out to take advantage.

And Jennie would move heaven and earth to make sure that never happened to the Wynters again.