Page 21 of The Chalet Girl

‘Please,’ she frowned. ‘Call me Cat!’ Then she remembered her manners. ‘This is Tiago.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Emme said with a smile, and beckoned them in.

‘My family are away…’ Emme said cautiously, as she led them up the stairs.

‘Yeah, the Borromeo wedding. The Kivvis are there too. Everyone who’s anyone in this town is there today.’ She let out an acerbic giggle.

Emme punched in the code and let them all in.

‘Well this is a nice surprise, thanks for coming by.’

Cat strode in confidently and looked around the capacious living room. Tiago looked dreamily out to the balcony, as if the Silberschnee were luring him. Emme tried not to sweat that they hadn’t taken off their shoes.

‘It’s T’s only night off, like, probably all season, isn’t it?’ Cat turned to him.

Tiago nodded, his face earnest as he ate an apple he’d brought.

‘So we’re going out… you coming to party?’ Cat looked to the corridor beyond Emme’s shoulder to check the kids weren’t about.

‘Yeah, erm, I don’t know, I was going to…’ she trailed off. She was going to spend the evening trying to find the bloody television.

Tiago returned to the kitchen area and jumped up to sit on the thick worktop; Cat examined the appliances.

‘Nice…’ she said appreciatively, gliding a finger along the Gaggenau oven. ‘Clearly never used.’

Emme smiled as if to saythat’s about right,but also had a feeling that house guests sitting on the kitchen surface, banging their trainers together like balls in a Newton’s cradle, might be frowned upon. Emme thought it might be a good idea to go out as soon as they could. She looked at the clock on the slick oven, almost 5pm.

‘So what’s the plan?’ she asked with a new sense of enthusiasm. She was here to start a new life, and she needed to push herself out of her comfort zone.

‘Well Tiago can get us dinner at the Steinherrhof…’

Emme thought this was presumptuous, but noted Tiago nodded genially.

‘Then there’s live music in Down Mexico Way.’

‘Perfect. What do I wear?’ Emme was mentally going through her wardrobe.

Cat turned around, appraising Emme. She was wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, and a thick Breton-striped rollneck jumper. Cat and Tiago wore jeans and ski coats. Emme thought they made a cute couple, all chocolate eyes, off-duty snowboard wear and beautiful olive skin.

‘You’re fine,’ Cat concluded. ‘It’s very casual here.’

‘OK great, I’ll just grab my purse and a lip balm.’

Chapter Fifteen

Under a velvety, dusky sky, Walter looked out across the lake and took a deep breath. It might be his imagination following the diagnosis, but he could feel a sharp pain in his back, like a knitting needle was searing through him and radiating outwards. The pain was inconvenient. The constant infections had been inconvenient. They were stopping him from thinking clearly, and he had to have his wits about him today– he had a hunch today was pivotal.

Lysander had gone to get them another drink but had been distracted by an old polo-playing friend, and Walter Steinherr was alone, on the terrace, when he heard the voice of an angel in his ear.

‘They’re cutting the cake and you’re missing it…’

He turned around to see Lumi Kivvi, wife of his nemesis, radiant, a shawl over her long silver dress to ward off the bite of the evening.

‘Lumi.’ Walter breathed her name as if it were a blessing.

Lumi’s cheeks flushed, and she glanced around.

‘I was just looking for Mika, have you seen him?’