They were like a second family to her now and seeing her ideas being put into practice in the hotels was a great feeling. The variety between the three Milton hotels made the job interesting. One was in historic Tavistock, another was on the quay in Dartmouth where she lived and the third was a real seaside hotel in Torquay with clients who returned year after year with their families for the acres of golden beach across the road. All different and all providing different challenges in the clientele they attracted and the way they were run. The thought of leaving, even for a few weeks, and managing a campsite didn’t appeal. Especially one that was in Brittany.

Belinda had almost everything back in place that she’d dreamed of having while growing up. Her plan for surviving life after divorce had, once she’d woken up and realised she needed a plan, succeeded. She’d successfully climbed out of the second black hole in her life and was in a happy place. A place where she wanted to remain. She was happier with her current lifestyle than she’d ever expected to be after the cruel way Peter had left her the day after Chloe’s wedding. She loved her tiny penthouse flat at the top of the old hotel in Dartmouth, her evenings with Jane, her best friend, shopping in Torquay and walking BB, her dog.

Three years ago, when she was wallowing in the depths of despair after the divorce, followed nine months later by her mother’s death, Chloe had found a little wriggling grey and white puppy, huddled under the hull of one of the boats laid up for winter in a nearby riverside park. Despite asking around, no one claimed him and Chloe had brought him home to Belinda, insisting it was meant to be.

‘You need each other, Mum,’ she’d said. ‘He’ll be your Best Buddy.’ She was right. Belinda and the dog had quickly bonded and became inseparable. The vet pronounced him to be a Tibetan terrier when they took him to be checked out and vaccinated. ‘Best Buddy’ quickly became shortened to BB and he’d become a familiar sight, padding along at her side as she strode through the hotels. There was no way she could leave him behind.

Belinda and BB spent Christmas Day with Chloe, Max and the twins, Aimee and Charlie. With the twins nearly three years old, it was the right age to turn the day into a real family celebration. It wasn’t until the twins were tucked up in bed and the adults had collapsed in the sitting room that Belinda told Chloe and Max about Nigel’s latest acquisition and how he wanted her involved.

‘He wants me to go and stay over there for possibly three months.’

‘Brittany?’ Chloe said, looking at Belinda concerned. ‘Are you going?’