As the sun started to set in a cloudless sky James McDonald sat at the table overlooking the small, natural harbour on the southern tip of Grenada. It had been another glorious day and he enjoyed a cold beer while he waited for Jane to finish her telephone call to one of her sons. He watched a couple slowly paddle their dingy from their yacht to the hotel’s landing stage. Both had a made an effort and James thought they looked smart in an expensive, but casual sort of way. He was thinking how much in his life had changed since he and Jane had said their goodbyes on the platform of Edinburgh station after their last overnight trip from London almost eighteen months previously.
He was suddenly aware that Jane was standing beside the table and behind her was William the hotel’s manager, immaculate in a white tuxedo jacket. He held her chair for her and when she was seated stood back and a waiter placed a large and tonic in front of her. ‘Another beer sir?’ James shook his head.
‘You looked miles away darling. Anything in particular?’
‘Yes. I was thinking about what has happened to us since the platform in Edinburgh and how it could have been so different for me.’
‘It has been similar for both of us although we have sort of come to where we are by different routes. When I left you I was leaving London the next week to look for a hotel in Barbados and here we are in Grenada.’
‘Yes but I nearly missed everything that has happened to us since we parted that day. It was a cold February morning, a year ago, with snow on the ground in Edinburgh. I was in the office early going through emails. Deleting the junk or ones from shops or things I belonged to and had forgotten to cancel the direct debit. Then I came to one from roomnumber5 and deleted it. Suddenly I realised it must be from the lovely lady with whom I shared room number five on the overnight sleepers to Edinburgh. So I retrieved it from the recently deleted bin. After all it was four months since I had seen you.’
‘Well thank goodness you did retrieve it. And you agreed to my request. Meet me in Grenada in one week, ticket will arrive by courier.’
‘That certainly had me wondering. But the surprises didn’t stop there. When we got to the hotel you were staying in, on Grand Anse Beach, the guy who opened the taxi door said ‘good afternoon Mrs. McDonald, pleased your husband’s flight was on time. At Edinburgh station you were Mrs. Fox. And another thing.’ He waived his hand in the general direction of a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket next to their table. ‘Have I missed something?’
Jane glanced at it. ‘I’ll get to that in a minute. I was Mrs. McDonald on the train and if you remember had a driving licence in that name as identification when I purchased the domestic airline tickets to get me back to London. During the months before I emailed you I lost out on two hotels in Barbados. Each time the agent called me and said the vendor had changed their mind and my purchase would not proceed. I suspected the hand of Mr. Fox had been in play. I couldn’t prove anything of course. So I decided to change islands and identity. I had the driving licence so I got in touch with the chap who provided it and asked for a passport. It’s not perfect but it gets me around the Caribbean. Passports are getting much harder to forge and one day I suspect someone will notice mine is an old style and therefore should have expired three years ago but it says it still has two years to run.’
‘You took a chance buying this place from the liquidator of the company developing it but it seems to have turned out well. My staying here for four weeks will be the longest I have been here.’
'Yes, I suppose it is but your help has been invaluable when you have been here and also responding to the numerous questions I emailed to you. Setting the purchasing company up in the Isle of Man and channelling the documents and funds through Guernsey has, hopefully, thrown Mr. Fox off my trail. Although I sometimes wonder about the two American chaps who turned up one afternoon when the fitting out was well under way. William spotted them and pushed me into the storeroom. He told me to stay behind the boxes of kitchen equipment until he came back. Fortunately you were here and told them you owned it and had never heard of me.’
‘That’s all in the past. We never saw them again. I remember when we first looked at it there were ten guest bungalows behind the beach with no bathrooms, electricity, windows, decks and a myriad of other features missing. The main building in the elevated position behind them just an empty shell but with stunning views. Now it all looks amazing, you really have done a wonderful job and the sunsets are a bonus.’
‘Thank you. I believed in it from day one. The person who was the biggest help was William. Do you remember he was waiting for us with the keys to the padlocks? He had the vision of what it could be like and he sold his ideas to me.’
‘Wasn’t the agent his uncle or something?’
‘Yes he was. If you remember we wandered round separately. The idea was that we could each make up our minds about it without being influenced by the other. I walked round with William and he convinced me to buy it. More importantly he sold himself. We could tell he was a smart cookie. He told me he was a graduate trainee with Sandals Hotels and would shortly be spending three months in head office in Jamaica before being posted to a management position on one of their, I think he said, sixteen resorts. He said he would leave Sandals and not go to Jamaica and he convinced me he had the right contacts through his uncle and father, who was an electrician, to get the building work finished. Through his training course had contacts with interior designers and people with the other skills we would need. The only condition was that I would appoint him manager of the finished hotel.’
‘Well he certainly delivered. I know I wasn’t around much during the building phase because it wasn’t easy for me to leave my clients in Edinburgh, not that I would have been much use on a building site.’
‘Perhaps not but your visits since the works were finished six months ago have been a bit more frequent. When you arrived a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that you hoped to spend more time here and thought there may be a possibility you could work from here for part of the year. But you haven’t said any more about that.’
‘No, I know I haven’t. You know me, I don’t like to say anything until I am sure something is going to happen. But there are no secrets. A chap from Miami who was staying here a couple of months ago, you must remember, huge navy blue yacht with a crew of eight I think it was, has put some work my way. Setting up a trust fund. One of his business colleagues who was on the boat with him has also been in touch and I’m meeting him here next week.’
‘That’s wonderful news. Will you be able to stay here for longer periods and still keep some of your Scottish clients?’
Before James had a chance to answer William arrived by their table. ‘Sorry to interrupt you Mrs. McDonald but I thought you would like to know chef has a new sauce with the lobster tonight and although he hasn’t mentioned anything I know he would like you to try it.’
‘Then I certainly will. No starter for me, just the lobster and a mixed salad. Same for you James?’ James nodded.
‘Shall I open the champagne madam?’
‘No leave it for a couple of minutes please.’ William withdrew.
‘What is it with the champagne? It’s not something we normally have.’
‘True. But do you know what the date is today?’
‘Yes of course it’s the first of...no it’s the 29th of February.’
‘Exactly so it’s my prerogative to ask you if, once I’ve rid myself of Mr. Fox, if you will marry me?’
‘Well. Erm I… I didn’t see that coming. Erm well…’
BACK
He was suddenly aware that Jane was standing beside the table and behind her was William the hotel’s manager, immaculate in a white tuxedo jacket. He held her chair for her and when she was seated stood back and a waiter placed a large and tonic in front of her. ‘Another beer sir?’ James shook his head.
‘You looked miles away darling. Anything in particular?’
‘Yes. I was thinking about what has happened to us since the platform in Edinburgh and how it could have been so different for me.’
‘It has been similar for both of us although we have sort of come to where we are by different routes. When I left you I was leaving London the next week to look for a hotel in Barbados and here we are in Grenada.’
‘Yes but I nearly missed everything that has happened to us since we parted that day. It was a cold February morning, a year ago, with snow on the ground in Edinburgh. I was in the office early going through emails. Deleting the junk or ones from shops or things I belonged to and had forgotten to cancel the direct debit. Then I came to one from roomnumber5 and deleted it. Suddenly I realised it must be from the lovely lady with whom I shared room number five on the overnight sleepers to Edinburgh. So I retrieved it from the recently deleted bin. After all it was four months since I had seen you.’
‘Well thank goodness you did retrieve it. And you agreed to my request. Meet me in Grenada in one week, ticket will arrive by courier.’
‘That certainly had me wondering. But the surprises didn’t stop there. When we got to the hotel you were staying in, on Grand Anse Beach, the guy who opened the taxi door said ‘good afternoon Mrs. McDonald, pleased your husband’s flight was on time. At Edinburgh station you were Mrs. Fox. And another thing.’ He waived his hand in the general direction of a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket next to their table. ‘Have I missed something?’
Jane glanced at it. ‘I’ll get to that in a minute. I was Mrs. McDonald on the train and if you remember had a driving licence in that name as identification when I purchased the domestic airline tickets to get me back to London. During the months before I emailed you I lost out on two hotels in Barbados. Each time the agent called me and said the vendor had changed their mind and my purchase would not proceed. I suspected the hand of Mr. Fox had been in play. I couldn’t prove anything of course. So I decided to change islands and identity. I had the driving licence so I got in touch with the chap who provided it and asked for a passport. It’s not perfect but it gets me around the Caribbean. Passports are getting much harder to forge and one day I suspect someone will notice mine is an old style and therefore should have expired three years ago but it says it still has two years to run.’
‘You took a chance buying this place from the liquidator of the company developing it but it seems to have turned out well. My staying here for four weeks will be the longest I have been here.’
'Yes, I suppose it is but your help has been invaluable when you have been here and also responding to the numerous questions I emailed to you. Setting the purchasing company up in the Isle of Man and channelling the documents and funds through Guernsey has, hopefully, thrown Mr. Fox off my trail. Although I sometimes wonder about the two American chaps who turned up one afternoon when the fitting out was well under way. William spotted them and pushed me into the storeroom. He told me to stay behind the boxes of kitchen equipment until he came back. Fortunately you were here and told them you owned it and had never heard of me.’
‘That’s all in the past. We never saw them again. I remember when we first looked at it there were ten guest bungalows behind the beach with no bathrooms, electricity, windows, decks and a myriad of other features missing. The main building in the elevated position behind them just an empty shell but with stunning views. Now it all looks amazing, you really have done a wonderful job and the sunsets are a bonus.’
‘Thank you. I believed in it from day one. The person who was the biggest help was William. Do you remember he was waiting for us with the keys to the padlocks? He had the vision of what it could be like and he sold his ideas to me.’
‘Wasn’t the agent his uncle or something?’
‘Yes he was. If you remember we wandered round separately. The idea was that we could each make up our minds about it without being influenced by the other. I walked round with William and he convinced me to buy it. More importantly he sold himself. We could tell he was a smart cookie. He told me he was a graduate trainee with Sandals Hotels and would shortly be spending three months in head office in Jamaica before being posted to a management position on one of their, I think he said, sixteen resorts. He said he would leave Sandals and not go to Jamaica and he convinced me he had the right contacts through his uncle and father, who was an electrician, to get the building work finished. Through his training course had contacts with interior designers and people with the other skills we would need. The only condition was that I would appoint him manager of the finished hotel.’
‘Well he certainly delivered. I know I wasn’t around much during the building phase because it wasn’t easy for me to leave my clients in Edinburgh, not that I would have been much use on a building site.’
‘Perhaps not but your visits since the works were finished six months ago have been a bit more frequent. When you arrived a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that you hoped to spend more time here and thought there may be a possibility you could work from here for part of the year. But you haven’t said any more about that.’
‘No, I know I haven’t. You know me, I don’t like to say anything until I am sure something is going to happen. But there are no secrets. A chap from Miami who was staying here a couple of months ago, you must remember, huge navy blue yacht with a crew of eight I think it was, has put some work my way. Setting up a trust fund. One of his business colleagues who was on the boat with him has also been in touch and I’m meeting him here next week.’
‘That’s wonderful news. Will you be able to stay here for longer periods and still keep some of your Scottish clients?’
Before James had a chance to answer William arrived by their table. ‘Sorry to interrupt you Mrs. McDonald but I thought you would like to know chef has a new sauce with the lobster tonight and although he hasn’t mentioned anything I know he would like you to try it.’
‘Then I certainly will. No starter for me, just the lobster and a mixed salad. Same for you James?’ James nodded.
‘Shall I open the champagne madam?’
‘No leave it for a couple of minutes please.’ William withdrew.
‘What is it with the champagne? It’s not something we normally have.’
‘True. But do you know what the date is today?’
‘Yes of course it’s the first of...no it’s the 29th of February.’
‘Exactly so it’s my prerogative to ask you if, once I’ve rid myself of Mr. Fox, if you will marry me?’
‘Well. Erm I… I didn’t see that coming. Erm well…’
BACK