Page 4 of The Chalet Girl

‘They come to parties at my family’s home, where I chef. I didn’t know Jenny that well.’ Cat had wide, gossipy eyes as if there was some salacious tea to be spilled.

‘Jenny?’

‘Theirniñera– their nanny– but I’ve been in Argentina for a few weeks so I don’t know what the story is with that…’

‘Story?’ Emme pushed.

‘Oh doesn’t matter, you’ll be great.’ The smile was still there, but it definitely faltered for a second.

Emme looked up and down the carriage as the train rolled to its first stop. On one side of the track stood a pretty pale-yellow building with lilac shutters and a pitched roof. The wordGesundheitzentrumwas painted in an ornate font on the façade. On the other side was a basketball court, with children in down coats playing in the last of the day’s sunshine. Some of the buildings around the station had onion-shaped domes on their spires– beautifully preserved medieval architecture spaced out on flat rectangles of grass at the base of the mountain.

‘What’s the family like?’ Emme asked cautiously.

Cat’s voice was loud, which made Emme immediately regret asking.

‘Mama’s uptight. Very British. Sorry.’

Emme shrugged as if to saythat’s OK, I am too.

‘The kids seem OK, bit whingy. Jenny was close to them, I think. Very dedicated.’

Emme already felt inadequate.

‘As for Beeel …’

Cat looked up and down the carriage as if she had some very interesting intel on him, but stopped herself. ‘Actually he works in Zurich in the week, he might be on the train.’ She flirtatiously put a finger to her mouth.

‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said with a wink.

As the train continued to ascend, the lush lake-level meadows dotted with grazing cows gave way to pine trees and the green hues faded to a colder palette of greys and white. The clickety clack of the track was peppered with the occasional sound of a cow bell in the distance, as the train stopped at each station, and fresh Alpine scents permeated the carriage.

‘So you said you’re a chef?’ Emme asked, glad to be shifting the focus from the nerves she felt about meeting her host family.

‘Sí. For a family.’ Cat said the wordfamilyas if it were loaded. They probably were if they lived in the most expensive ski resort in Europe and had a private chef among their staff. ‘The Kivvis,’ she said, as if that explained everything. Emme looked blank.

‘You haven’t heard of them?’

She shook her head.

‘Viktor Kivvi, richest man in Europe? Born penniless, made his money in escalators and elevators.’

‘Wow. He really went up in the world!’ Emme couldn’t help but release a giggle at her own joke.

‘The Kivvis own the prime real estate in Kristalldorf. He built Seven Summits, where I live with the family,’ Cat said proudly.

Seeing Emme’s blank face, she went on to explain: ‘Seven “chalets”. Swiss engineering, very cleverly built into the mountain.’

Emme nodded.

‘The Kivvis ownfourof them. They rent three out– you know Abishek Joshi?’ Cat asked excitedly.

‘Sorry,’ Emme replied, feeling terribly unworldly.

‘Bollywood royalty!’ Cat exclaimed. ‘He and his wife Priya are my neighbours.’

She didn’t get round to telling Emme that a British Formula 1 driver and his Iranian model girlfriend lived in another, and a Danish songwriter and his husband in the other. There was plenty of time for that.

‘Who owns the other three out of the seven?’ Emme asked.