Page 112 of The Chalet Girl

‘You know, I don’t think Emme does enough with the kids,’ she declared.

‘You don’t? She always seems busy when I’m home with her.’ Bill mopped a splash of ragu from the corner of his mouth with a white linen napkin and declared himself finished.

‘Well, you’re hardly home,’ Lexy countered.

A waitress came to clear their plates.

‘Everything alright with your dishes?’ she asked, as she gathered the detritus.

‘Top notch,’ Bill said appreciatively while Lexy gave a brief smile.

When the waitress left, Lexy resumed the conversation, much to Bill’s apparent chagrin. Why was he being so cagey about this nanny?

‘Well, I think she’s too busy with her social life. She’s gallivanting around town too much when she should be helping out more. She should be teaching the children to read more fluently. She should be helping them with their German, for god’s sake.’

‘Does Emme speak German?’ Bill asked, his eyebrows in a knot.

‘I can’t remember, but what’s the point of a nanny who doesn’tenrichthe children?’

‘They learn German at school,’ he added idly.

Lexy looked around the restaurant, and she felt so agitated and uncelebratory that she wanted to cry.

‘Look, what’s the real issue here, Lex?’ Bill cleared his throat and took a sip of beer from his tube glass. ‘I know it’s hard for you to trust after Jenny, but I promise the same thing won’t happen again.’

And with that, Lexy felt a rage coil up her, flooding every vein. What was worse was that Bill would never know the extent of how his words stung.

Chapter Sixty-Four

On Saturday morning Cat decided to deep clean the kitchen and do an inventory of herbs and store-cupboard ingredients. She was feeling uplifted by Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Emmeline Eversley from their impromptu movie night, although the awakening of Harry Harrington vomiting in his bed as the credits rolled had put a slight dampener on the warm and fuzzy glow. Cat was making a list of herbs and spices that needed restocking when Lumi walked into the kitchen, fixing a brooch to her cashmere sweater.

‘Would you like lunch today, ma’am?’ Cat asked keenly.

‘No thank you Catalina, I’m meeting an old friend.’

‘In which case, when I’ve finished this I might go snowboarding this afternoon. Would you be wanting dinner?’

Lumi pondered it.

‘Hmmm, I’m not sure right now.’

Viktor had taken Mika with him to Helsinki, to try to ignite some interest in the business and make him useful. Lumi had already had texts from her son saying it was a disaster and that his dad was being ‘a prick’.

Somehow, her son’s pain rolled over her. She was too blissfully happy riding the wave of a rekindled love affair to worry about her young prince. He’d find his way. Young people always did.

‘What do you want to do with your life, Catalina?’ Lumi asked suddenly. Cat was taken aback. What was she meant to say? She didn’t particularly want to cook for a family for the rest of her life. But she didn’t want to bite the hand that fed her.

Lumi looked at her as if to say,go on.

‘Well, erm, I would like to open my own restaurant one day.’

Lumi looked enchanted.

‘Oh really! Where?’

‘Who knows? Buenos Aires. Paris. Zurich. Here.’ The idea was gathering pace. ‘Argentinian traditions with a Swiss twist.’

‘You do it so well,’ Lumi conceded.