Belinda nodded. ‘Of course.’ She hesitated. ‘Max has been given a promotion at work. A marina in the Vendée. They’re going over there to live in a few months.’ She hoped Molly didn’t hear the catch in her voice. ‘They’ve asked me to go with them, but…’ She shrugged.

‘In my experience, things always work out for the best,’ Molly said and patted her arm. ‘This will too. Ah, here’s Nigel with the coffee.’

Belinda was grateful that Molly didn’t pursue the subject in Nigel’s hearing.

Nigel put the coffee on the table next to a pile of files, including one Belinda couldn’t help notice labelled Camping dans La Forêt. He turned to give Belinda a cup of coffee.

‘Everything all right the other side of the river?’

Belinda gave him a brief nod as she took her drink. ‘Yes, the madness of Easter has died back. Everything is ticking over. In fact, now that you’ve sold Moorside and you’re spending more time here, I haven’t really got a lot to do.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I think I’d earn my keep more back in Brittany at the moment.’ She felt bad about not telling them that returning to Brittany had been at the foremost of her mind for days, ever since she’d looked through the box of her mum’s belongings. Now it wasn’t just about getting the campsite fully functional, although that was important too of course.

Nigel regarded her thoughtfully before picking up the campsite file. ‘I think I overreacted asking you to come back and stay. I didn’t think Molly was going to be such a model patient. I was actually going to suggest today over lunch that you returned to Brittany. We’ll take a look through the file and decide which jobs can go on hold and which should be marked urgent.’

Molly stood up. ‘I’m going to leave you two to sort out the details. I’ll be in the conservatory if you need me, with my book.’

‘Alain tells me the campers that have turned up were happy to stay despite the lack of facilities,’ Belinda said, trying not to show her relief that Nigel was all for her returning to Brittany early.

‘He told us that too when he rang yesterday but said there were a couple of things that needed sorting.’

Belinda bit back on a retort about Alain not talking to her, saying instead, ‘Off the top of my head, that would be the old café-cum-restaurant, the cabins still haven’t been refurbished completely, the drive potholes need filling in, the communal washing-up area and the loos need updating. And then there is the question of deciding where to put the glamping pods and sourcing them.’