‘Nothing outrageous, just accommodation. That’s usually what happens on projects like this. Erin spoke to …’ Keith pulled a face. ‘Lisa-Marie?’

‘Yes, Lisa-Marie Hill.’ Tara hadn’t seen the parish council accounts but she knew they just about covered the basics in a good year, let alone one as disaster-filled as this. They had the budget for a Nice Celebratory Meal, not several nights at The Swan hotel.

‘It’s just that …’ she started, then stopped. This wasn’t her problem. This was for Keith to sort out. Or Conrad, or someone else.

Except it was. She was the one who’d brought Keith here. Indirectly.

Keith seemed to read her face. ‘Look, if you’re worried about how much it’s costing, Libby’s done us a special rate. And Rob’s very keen to get me involved in some other local projects so it makes sense if I’m here for a few days at a time, throughout the month. I’ll only bill them for days I’m working on the hall.’

Tara ran her hand through her hair. ‘Dad, I don’t think they’ve got any sort of cash available right now.’

This is not your problem. This is not your problem. If he wants to look like a tit then that’s his problem.

They stared at each other.

‘I suppose there is one other option,’ said Keith.

‘What?’

‘The studio.’

Immediately Tara thought of Diane, and her prediction. Keep him at a distance.

‘Well, isn’t that a good solution?’ He raised his palms in frustration when she didn’t answer. ‘Didn’t you say your mum had been running it as an Airbnb? Presumably it’s set up to be self-contained? You can charge whatever the going rate is. Bound to be less than The Swan! Well, I assume so …’

‘I don’t think that’s such a great idea.’

‘Why not?’ Keith’s eyes locked on hers; Toby’s eyes, dark and keen. He pushed his hair off his forehead in an impatient gesture and an odd automatic panic shimmered through Tara. ‘I wasn’t going to mention it, but I did have a slightly awkward conversation with someone who assumed I was staying with you anyway.’

So that would make The Swan hotel bill even more of a shock. Tara struggled with her conscience. Charging him to stay in the studio would at least maintain a boundary, but … of course she couldn’t charge him. How weird would it look, if she was deliberately creating an expense for the council instead of letting her own dad stay in her holiday accommodation?

‘Let me talk to Alice,’ she said, and Catherine appeared at Keith’s shoulder and whisked him off to talk to the chair of the town’s trade association.

As it turned out, Alice found Tara before Tara found her.