Never walk alone- Walk on - 21. Chapter 21

A week later, on a cool, blustery Saturday morning the Devlin-Major family sat in Ryan's SUV on a dockside in Cape Town harbour and watched 'MY Amira', resplendent in her new coat of paint, being loaded onto the yacht trans-porter. She was the last in a small fleet , including a big catamaran and three other motor yachts, that would be heading for Europe.
They had joined Michael and his crew earlier in the morning for a farewell breakfast on board 'Amira', prior to her being moved from the marina into the harbour itself to be loaded, and they had watched, with mixed feelings, as 'MY Amira' motored away from her berth for the last time. As a yacht both Andrew and Ryan really enjoyed her but, although being incredibly luxurious and very capable, she was a reminder of an event that neither of them wished to dwell on, and so it was better that she become a part of the past. Of course, she still had to be sold, but they were both confident that it would happen and having seen the sales prospectus from the brokers just a few days earlier, they saw no reason why she would remain on the market for a protracted period of time.

The person most disappointed with the pending sale of 'Amira' was Cameron who from the first time he saw her thought she was 'sooooo cool', and couldn't understand why his dads were getting rid of something so 'rad'.

Ryan had seen the operation many times while in the Mediterranean, but it was a first time for Andrew to observe the facinating feat. The loading was done when the harbour was quiet as it had the potential to cause a bit of disruption to the normal shipping movements.

The ship was moved out into the channel and held in place by anchors at her four corners as well as her active positioning system. The 'gates' at the stern were opened and the entire hull was then sunk deeper into the water to allow the aft deck to fill up, contrary to all Andrew new about ships. Once that was done, the five yachts, starting with the catamaran, were slowly motored into the well-deck area and secured to the sides of the hull. Steel cradles, four for the catamaran and two for the other yachts, had been welded on to the deck before the area was flooded, and as each yacht was loaded, it was positioned over the appropriate cradles. 'MY Amira' was the last to be loaded and once she was in place, the stern was closed and ballast pumps began pumping out the water, raising the hull back out of the water. The whole process took quite a while as the crew of the transporter had to co-ordinate with the captains of each yacht as the water level dropped to ensure that each vessel came to rest on its assigned cradles. With the water having been pumped over the side, the crew then secured the yachts to the cradles to ensure they would not move while at sea, even in rough weather.

Ryan called Michael on his mobile to check if all was as it should be and was told the loading had been hitch free and that they were settling in for the twenty day voyage to Athens. With the loading complete, they drove home and just before midday, stood on the balcony and watched the transporter steam out of the harbour heading up the West Coast. Once past the northern Namibia border she would turn out to sea in order to stay as far offshore of the West African coast to mitigate the possibility of any pirate attacks..

Later that afternoon, Andrew's laptop pinged, indicating an incoming message and when he checked saw it was the updated proposal from Larry for the resort upgrade, and he immediately began studing it, comparing it with his own estimates that he had worked on after the fact-finding trip to the resort. He had also put together a sample board of swatches for the bedroom and public area decor, and discovered that his estimate was slightly more than the one Larry had sent him, the result of Andrew having chosen slightly better quality fabric for the curtains and bedspreads and the carpets.

He and Ryan were all but certain that Devlin-Major would be making an offer for the resort, the only detail yet to be decided was the offer price, and to do that, the upgrade costs had to be finalised.
But before that, and in order to get a second opinion, Andrew arranged a presentation in the boardroom at Blue Bay for his trusted lieutenants, Claude and Richard.

First he showed them the video that he and Ryan had filmed during their stay which highlighted all the pros and cons, and then asked for their observations and comments, which at times became quite lively, and then went on to present the plan for the upgrade and the costs involved. And after much discussion, a final offer price was agreed upon.
And so, just three hours later than his original promise to Larry, Devlin-Major submitted their offer to the owners via Larry, who was over the moon at the prospect of saving his beloved resort. All they could do now was wait.

Two days later, in the middle of the second week in May, Andrew finally received the details of the George Cross ceremony from Buckingham Palace
It arrived in the form of a very official looking envelope, embossed with the royal crest, via courier, Andrew breathing a sigh of relief when he read it.
The George Cross ceremony had been delayed so that it could be held while Her Majesty was in residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh , and would now take place during the second week in July. Which meant they were in the clear for Claude and François wedding.
When they Skyped with Jamie Snr and Iona later that evening they learned that they too had received an invita-tion to the ceremony as had Donald in his capacity as Lochiel, and the following morning, Andrew received an email from Ken and Jenny that they too would be at the ceremony. The grand plan was for everyone to attend the ceremony and then depart to Achnacarry for three days before flying home. The Devlin-Majors would be staying in Europe, joining 'MY Amira' for five days before flying home themselves.

And the good news kept coming. Two days later, Andrew gave an ecstatic whoop when he received word that their offer for the resort had been accepted even though their offer was significantly lower than the advertised selling price.
Once again he had the distinct feeling that a higher power was watching over them. Andrew had deducted the upgrade costs as well as a 'small' contingency fee, so he was mildly surprised that the offer had been accepted. He immediately contacted their attorneys to get the ball rolling. Their offer had a stipulation that should the offer be accepted, they be allowed reasonable access to the property before transfer of ownership took place, for the upgrade to commence. They had toyed with the idea of shutting down the entire resort for a few weeks during winter, but Larry had pointed out that winter was a busy time for the resort with the possibility of snow a very real possibility during that time. And so the decision was taken to do the upgrade building by building so that only a fraction of the resort facilities would out of action at a time. To complicate matters slightly, all the contractors had to be accommodated while they were working at the resort.
With no time to waste, Andrew got his contractors working on the soft furnishings, placed an order for the new carpets and furniture, including new TV sets, and arranged for the maintenance department of the resort to begin a repainting operation with immediate effect. Andrew wanted the resort to look like a resort, instead of a hodge-podge collection of structures each with an identity of their own. All the exteriors would be done first and as each block was closed for the refurb the bathrooms would be redecorated and then the interiors would be repainted before anything else was done.

Further good news came a week later from Darren and Kerry, who were on Santorini, the final leg of their Greek Islands jaunt. Darren had, after seven years of courtship, finally popped the question and he and Kerry had got engaged the night after arriving on Santorini. They were both beaming with joy and excitement when they Skyped with their Devlin-Major 'family' who, in turn, were equally excited at the news.

However, not all the news was good, and just when Andrew felt comfortable that things were coming together, there were a couple of hiccups.

First, both Jamie and Fiona went down with really bad bouts of flu. Andrew suspected it was because their little bodies were still adjusting to the different climate, and they were really not happy. They got the works! Sore throats, runny noses, hacking coughs, fevers. At one stage their dads were concerned it might develop into bronchitis, but now it seemed they were on the mend. Both were still in bed with Yvonne watching over them during the day until Andrew and Ryan arrived home. The twins also helped to keep them occupied when they got home from school. Their dads were amazed that the twins were not showing any signs of illness. Yet!!

The second setback made itself known when they arrived at Blue Bay Lodge in the last week of May for the monthly financial review, and found Claude in his office, on his mobile, speaking in rapid French, and very upset. When he saw them he indicated for them to come in while he finished his call, which took a few minutes. When he finally diconnected, he sat down heavily in his chair and leaned on this desk with his face in his hands, clearly distraught.
Andrew stood up, moved round the desk and put his arm around him, while Ryan shut the office door.

"Claude, what on earth is going on? Why are you so upset", he enquired gently. Claude sighed and looked at Andrew and Ryan.

"I'm sorry, mes amis. The wedding! We have a problem. I had a call about fifteen minutes ago. Our venue on the wine farm had a fire last night. Completely destroyed. We have to find another venue. And the wedding is one month away", he told them. "I was just talking to François about it. He is even more upset than I"

"Oh, Claude, I'm so sorry to hear that", Andrew said. "Do you know what happened?", moving back to his chair.

"Only what they have told me. Apparently they had a power outage in the area last night. When the power came back on a coffee maker, on a table in front of a window, short circuited and set the curtains on fire. There was no one around, and by the time the fire was noticed, it was well alight, and had already burned into the roof space. The building is almost 100 years old and the wood beams supporting the roof were very dry, so they caught fire very quickly, and by the time the fire brigade arrived, the roof was already starting to collapse. The entire building is gone. Only the walls are still standing", he explained to them.

"Damn!", Ryan muttered. "Fire is my worst fear. Now you know why this place and The Cameron are equipped the way they are. As is 'Belle Catherine'. And 'La...the new yacht will be even better. Andrew has, as far as possible, chosen and specified non combustible materials to be used for the decor. And we're having a similar fire sup-pression system fitted to the one on 'Amira'.

"Okay, our meeting is postponed for today", Andrew said, going into control freak mode. "We need to find you a new venue! Today!", opening his laptop. "Can you order us some tea and coffee, Claude, please"

For the next two hours, the three of them contacted every wine estate with function facilities. And came up with nothing! Everything was already booked up. That is until Ryan googled venues a bit closer to home, in and around the city itself. Several calls later, after numerous disappointments, they struck it lucky. A venue, right in the City Bowl. They had a cancellation and would be able to host the wedding. It wasn't a wine estate, but it was a venue!
Andrew made a tentative reservation, and then they drove to the venue, stopping to pick up François on the way. He also contacted Marge and asked her to pick up the twins when she fetched Byron after school and drop them at the house with Yvonne.

On arrival, they were all gobsmacked. The estate was, in a word, simply stunning. Overlooked by the brooding bulk of Table Mountain, the estate consisted of a manor house built in the old Cape Dutch style, set in a lush, treed garden. As they strolled through the grounds, Ryan commented,

"This place is just gorgeous. If the mountain was not right there in your face you would think you're on a wine estate in the country". And he was absolutely right. It had all the feel of an old, genteel wine estate, but situated just out of the city centre.
They met with the event coordinator who advised that the only reason they had the opening was due to a can-cellation. She took them to view the venue, which was perfect for the reception, and when asked about a venue for the ceremony, she smiled and opened one of three double doors that led out onto a long, wide, open patio with views of the garden and Table Mountain.

"This is where the ceremony will be conducted. It has retractable awnings and drop down screens can be
attached to the sides if the weather is less than perfect. We can keep the doors to the reception venue closed, if you wish, until after the ceremony. I would like to suggest that your guests remain out here until just before you are done with the photographs. We can serve canapés and drinks here or even on the lawns for an hour or so and then open up the doors and invite your guests to take their places before you arrive.
All obviously dependant on the weather conditions, then we'll keep the post ceremony snacks and drinks on the patio, under the awnings. Also, if the weather is iffy and it's cold, we have gas patio heaters to keep your guests comfortable while they wait".

Claude and François were elated at what they had seen and heard and immediately confirmed the reservation for the venue. As Claude was still waiting for the wine estate to transfer his deposit back into his bank account, Andrew paid the deposit for the new venue in the interim. They discussed the menu with the co-ordinator, as well as all the other arrangements and left, happy that everything was back on track, arriving back at Blue Bay in the late afternoon.

They say bad things happen in three's! And the third event cropped up the next morning.

It was a Saturday morning, the first in June, and it was cold, wet and windy! Andrew had set the morning aside to arrange the trip to Scotland for the George Cross ceremony. Ryan had taken the children shopping so there would be no distractions.
The first thing to do was reserve flights to Edinburgh and back, and to Andrew's dismay, the most direct flights from Cape Town via London Heathrow were almost fully booked. There were seats available, but spread all around the aircraft and certainly nothing for a travelling party of six including four minor children.

So the next option was a two stop via Johannesburg and the first airline he looked at was his go-to airline, Luft-hansa via Frankfurt. They had flown on the airline on previous trips and had been very impressed. But once again he came up with nothing! Zilch! Nada! Mildly panicked, he began searching every airline he could think of that flew to Europe. Everything from Cape Town was full!! As much as he hated the additional leg, he reconciled himself to the idea that they had no choice but to go via Johannesburg.

British Airways had seats available, but they would have to change airports and go to London City Airport for the flight to Edinburgh. It was one to consider, but not one he really wanted to do. Lufthansa were fully booked, KLM to Amsterdam were times that really did not appeal to him, and Air France was almost double the price of any of the others. It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, but why the hell should he pay twice what the other airlines offered.

But while he had been on the Lufthansa website, something had caught his eye, and he found what he was look-ing for. Swiss Airlines via Johannesburg & Zurich outbound and Lufthansa from Frankfurt on the way back. He bookmarked the itinerary to discuss it with Ryan. A quick search showed that the Edinburgh -Athens - London legs would not be a problem.

Next turned his attention to accommodation. Which proved to be even more of a headache than the plane tickets. It seemed that no hotels in Edinburgh believed in interleading rooms, leaving a very frustrated Andrew glaring at his laptop screen when Ryan arrived home with the children and throwing his hands in the air when he saw Ryan.

"You will not believe the morning I have had", Andrew told Ryan, exasperated. "First, I struggled to get us flights, and now I cannot find us adjoining rooms anywhere in Edinburgh. And I'm damned if I'm going split us up. I refuse to sleep without you, and I sure as hell am not going to sleep without my kids. Then I rather not go at all! Queen or no bloody queen!", he ranted.

Ryan sniggered, getting a death stare from his beloved husband in return. It was not often that Andrew got rattled. He wrapped Andrew in his arms.

"Easy, my love. I'm sure there must be a solution. You just need to find it. Take a break, have some lunch and then we can both see what we can find", rubbing Andrew's back.

Over Ryan's shoulder Andrew noticed their brood watching them. They had definitely picked up on their daddy's mood and when he saw Jamie's bottom lip quiver, he instantly regained his equilibrium. He extricated himself from Ryan's embrace, knelt down and opened his arms. Jamie launched himself at his daddy and ran into his arms.

"Daddy angry! Why daddy angry?", the little boy asked, hugging his daddy tightly. The remaining three were gathered around them.

"It's okay, baby boy. I'm not angry with you. And you know what? I'm much happier now that you are all back. Did you have fun shopping with dad?".
He felt his son's dark head nodding against him. Three other heads also nodded and smiled too.

"Good, I'm glad you had fun. Can I get a hug from all of you as well?", he asked, looking at Cameron, Elizabeth and Fiona. They didn't have to be asked twice and surrounded him, puting their arms around him.

"Ah, thank you. That feels so much better. I'm not angry anymore. Your hugs have made me happy. So thank you!". The smiles on their little faces confirmed they were happier too. "Okay, let's get some lunch. Who's hungry?", he asked brightly. A chorus of "Yay, we are" answered him followed by a mad dash in the direction of the kitchen.
After lunch, the children all went upstairs to play, while Andrew and Ryan made themselves comfortable on the couch with their laptops. It was time to find accommodation in Edinburgh! Just as they were getting settled, Ryan's mobile rang. When he glanced at the screen the number was an international one.

"Ryan Devlin-Major", he answered.

"Ryan, good afternoon to you. This is Liam Scott from International Yacht Brokers"

"Liam. Good afternoon to you too. To what do we owe the pleasure of this call?", Ryan enquired, glancing at Andrew, raising his eyebrows and turning on the speaker of his mobile.

"Well, a couple of things actually. Firstly, the good news is we have two very interested potential buyers for 'MY Amira'. It seems they have been doing some research and discovered that you are the present owners of 'Amira'. They have a lot in common with you too. They are also a gay couple, own a chain of exclusive small hotels and lodges across Europe, and are keen to get into the luxury yacht charter market. Hence their interest in 'MY Amira'. The thing is, they have expressed an interest in meeting with you, I would guess to get your insight of the charter market, and knowing that you were going to be in Europe in the near future, I undertook to approach you and see how you felt about meeting up with them", Liam explained.
Ryan glanced at Andrew, who nodded and stepped closer.

"Liam, hi. Andrew here. We have no objection to meeting with them. Where will the meeting take place?", Andrew enquired.

"I would suggest on board 'MY Amira". They have chartered 'Amira' for the week prior to yours, with a day between arrival and departure. The itinerary has them arriving back in the marina early in the morning, disem-barking after breakfast and transferring to the Grand Hyatt for the night. My thoughts are that you join them for breakfast, have your meeting and then they can disembark while you settle in for your week. I'm sure your crew will not mind having you on board for the additional twenty four hours".

"Liam, go ahead and arrange it", Ryan added."If they are as interested as you say, then it is probably a good move to meet them face to face. As you are aware, it's not imperative that we sell 'Amira' immediately, but at the same time, the sooner she sells, the better. Are you able to reveal their identities?"

"Fantastic, thank you . I'll arrange it immediately.Their names are Lucas Dubois and Gabriel van der Velde, both Belgian. I will liaise with Michael re. what we have just discussed. It's a pleasure doing business with you gentle-men. See you in a couple of weeks"

All of which meant that the itinerary would have to change slightly, having them leave Achnacarry one day earlier. Which also meant it was fortunate that Andrew had not yet finalised their travel arrangements.

Between Andrew and Ryan, they ultimately settled on Swiss from Johannesburg to Edinburgh via Zurich, and Aegean Airlines from Edinburgh to Athens. The quickest route back proved to be a fairly exotic one.
Ethiopian Airlines from Athens via Addis Ababa. At twelve and a half hours for the entire trip, it was thirteen hours shorter than anything they could find on British Airways, Lufthansa or KLM. The compromise was that the flight departed Athens at zero dark thirty, namely 02h15, but with only a one hour fifteen layover at Addis Ababa, it would get them into Cape Town at 13h45 on the same day. Due to the very early departure, Andrew reserved a two bedroom suite at the Sofitel Athens Airport, located just 50m from the terminal building.

Andrew had to compromise on the accommodation for the two nights in Edinburgh as well, eventually settling for an upmarket 3-bedroom loft apartment at the Cheval Old Town Chambers. The one advantage was that the aparthotel was only five minutes from Holyroodhouse. They could even walk to the presentation if they so wished.

The final arrangements to be made was their transfers from Edinburgh to Achnacarry and back, and from Athens International to 'MY Amira's' berth in the Flisvos Marina, and both were accomplished with no problem. A rental for the drive to Achnacarry and back to Edinburgh Airport, and a limo service from Athens International to the marina.
With the details now arranged to Andrew's satisfaction, more or less, all they could do now was look ahead to a trip that would encompass a whole gambit of emotions.
.