The staff kitchen smelled of burnt toast when I went in to fill the kettle.
Ruby was scraping a slice over the sink. Her holdall was tucked under the table, empty now, with the pillow gone from its straps.
“That toaster's broken,” I said.
“You could have put a sign on it.”
“It's only the right side.”
She held up two black slices. “Good to know.”
I took a mug from the draining board and filled the kettle. I could have gone back to my room and waited for her to leave. Instead, I stayed by the counter.
“Mara's put you in the end room?”
“Yeah.”
“Window opens now. They fixed it.”
“Luxury.”
She put the burnt toast in the bin and took two more slices from a bag. This time she lowered only the left lever.
“Do you want tea?” I asked.
“Please.”
I got another mug. The kettle rattled as it began to boil.
“Why did you come back?”
Ruby glanced at me. “Because there's a job.”
“I know. I meant, I thought you liked the place you went to.”
“I liked being paid.”
“Are you not?”
“The work finished. So did the room.” She opened the fridge and took out a little tub of butter. “They let me stay three extra nights while I looked for somewhere. That was generous, according to them.”
“I didn't know.”
“Well, now you do.”
I poured the water. Her spoon lay beside the sink, and I handed it over without looking at her.
“Sorry,” she said.
I shrugged.
“I mean, you asked.” She stirred the tea. “I didn't mean to bite your head off.”
The toaster popped. She checked underneath both slices before putting them on a plate.
“Mara advertised the room with the job,” she said. “I knew I could do it. I've got money saved, but not enough to sit in a guest house waiting for someone to hire me.”
I knew exactly how far wages could go when you had to pay for somewhere to sleep. It was why I'd taken the Harbour House job in the first place. It was why Callum and I had checked that room in Eastmere three times before sending any money.
“We're leaving on Sunday,” I said.
Ruby spread butter to the corners of the toast.
“Mara said you're finishing.”
“I've got another job. So has Callum.”
“Right.”
“In Eastmere.”
She nodded, looking at her plate. She hadn't asked where we were going or whether we had somewhere to stay.
“Did you know?” I asked.
“Know what?”
“That we were going.”
“People leave, Lena.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She stopped with the knife against the edge of the plate. Then she set it down.
“I haven't come back to discuss your boyfriend.”
The tea was too hot. I put my mug down before I spilled it.
“I wasn't going to—”
“Weren't you?”
For a moment we just looked at each other.
I was thinking about the kiss in the yard. She might have been too. That made it difficult to sound innocent.
“I have to work with you,” I said. “I'd like it not to be horrible.”
Ruby pulled out a chair.
“Then let's talk about something else.”
She sat down with her toast. I carried my tea to the chair opposite her.
“The toaster,” I said.
One corner of her mouth lifted. “I'm not ready to forgive it.”
“The lift?”
“Also an enemy.”
“We've had the bath in twelve replaced.”
“Really?”
“You don't have to kneel behind it with a cloth any more.”
“Mara finally believed there was a leak?”
“A guest complained.”
Ruby leaned back, laughing once. “Of course.”
For a few minutes it was easy. She told me she'd cleaned a room at her last place while the guest sat on the bed eating soup. I told her about the man who rang reception to ask how to open the curtains. We drank the tea. She finished her toast.
Then the back door opened and Callum came in.
“There you are.”
He held up my scarf.
“Found it on my arm when I got round the corner,” he said.
He knew the way through the staff passage. He'd worked here as a porter when I started, and he still came round to see me. I took the scarf and looped it over the back of my chair.
“Thanks.”
His eyes went to Ruby's empty plate, then to my mug on the table.
“Tea party?”
“Something like that,” I said.
Ruby stood. She carried her plate to the sink and ran the tap, although there was barely anything on it.
“You can leave it,” I told her. “I'm washing mine.”
“It's fine.”
She washed it herself, dried her hands, and picked up her empty holdall.
“Callum. A minute?”
His smile faded.
“What for?”
“Outside.”
He looked at me. I held the mug with both hands, suddenly sorry I'd sat down.
“Go on,” I said.
They went out into the yard, leaving the door partway open. I took our mugs to the sink. There were pastry flakes stuck to the sleeve of my jacket, and I brushed them off while the hot water ran.
I hadn't meant to hear anything. Their voices were quite clear.
“Have you packed the bedside drawer yet?” Ruby asked.
“No.”
“I've still got things there.”
“Then get them.”
“I want to know you haven't thrown them out.”
“I haven't touched them.”
There was a pause.
“Can I come now?” she asked.
“I'm going back in a minute.”
I turned the tap off. Callum had told me about the clothes and the charger. There she was, asking about his drawer before she'd even spent one night back at the hotel.
I had never looked in that drawer. It was on the side where he slept. I kept a spare T-shirt of mine over his chair, my shampoo in his bathroom, things scattered about as if I'd always be able to come back for them.
Ruby knew a place in his room I didn't.
The door opened wider and Callum stepped inside.
“You heard?”
“A bit.”
“She wants some stuff back.”
“So I gathered.”
He reached for the scarf on my chair and began winding it loosely round my neck.
“What were you two talking about?”
“The bath in twelve.”
“Seriously?”
“And where she's been working.”
He tucked one end of the scarf through the other.
“What did she say?”
“Her job finished. She needed the room.”
“Right.”
“That makes sense, doesn't it?”
“I didn't say it didn't.”
I caught his hand before he could fuss with the scarf again.
“Did you know she was applying?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her about Sunday?”
He glanced towards the door. “Might have. When she asked about collecting things. Why?”
“She wouldn't answer when I asked if she knew.”
“Well, that's Ruby.”
He said it gently, with a little shrug, as though she were a difficult hinge we both knew about.
I let go of his hand.
“Don't look like that,” he said.
“Like what?”
“As if I've done something.”
Ruby was outside. I could see the edge of her grey sleeve through the doorway. She wasn't moving.
“I only asked.”
“I know.” He bent and kissed my forehead. “I'm tired. I don't want my last week here to be about her.”
“Neither do I.”
“Tomorrow evening, then. Just us. Beach at eight?”
I hesitated. I wanted him to stay now. I also wanted him to take her away from the kitchen and bring every last thing out of that drawer so she'd never have to ask again.
“Eight,” I said.
He smiled, and I made myself smile back.
When he went out, Ruby stepped away from the door so quickly that her holdall caught on the latch. She tugged it free without speaking.
They left by the side gate, walking apart.
I watched until the gate swung shut. Then I unwound the scarf and went upstairs to pack the red suitcase.