This exact thought had been spiralling around in my mind for hours but I hadn’t mentioned it. Lorcan had an uncanny way of knowing what I was thinking. For someone like me, who very much kept themselves to themselves, it was extremely unnerving and I wasn’t at all sure that I liked it.

‘You didn’t have to do that.’

‘Well, it’s done now so you can have a lie-in.’

‘I don’t do lie-ins.’

He stopped on his way to the door. ‘Come again?’

‘I don’t do lie-ins. It’s a waste of the day.’

‘What if you don’t have any plans?’

‘I always have plans.’

‘Not from what I saw on your calendar.’

‘That was work. That’s different. There’s always something to do.’

‘No, there isn’t. Sometimes there’s nothing to do at all.’

I stood straighter. ‘Perhaps for you. But I like to make use of my time.’

‘As do I. Doing nothing is a perfectly good use of time.’

‘We’ll have to agree to disagree on that point, I’m afraid.’

He gave an incline of his head and moved to the door, one hand on the dark gold of the solid oak.

‘See you tomorrow.’

I nodded briefly and began to close the door.

‘Nice jammies, by the way. Always was a fan of Snoopy.’

I closed the door with a solid thunk and ignored the deep chuckle I heard from the other side of it.

* * *

Turning over in the deliciously comfortable bed, I noticed tendrils of sunlight dancing and swaying on the thick rug beside it as they escaped from under the curtains. I slid my hand over to the bedside and looked at my phone. After Lorcan had left last night, I’d pounced on the sandwich, which had turned out to be made just perfectly, with home-made bread, thick slices of roasted ham, not like the wafer-thin sheets I got from the supermarket, and just the right amount of mustard. The tea, as Lorcan had promised, had indeed been soothing and, once tucked into the cosy bed with a full tummy, I’d been asleep within minutes. Blurry eyes focused on the phone: 10.10 a.m. I bolted upright, rubbed my eyes and looked again: 10.11 a.m. With everything else that had happened yesterday, I’d forgotten to set an alarm! Oh my God! Half the day was already gone!

Within ten minutes, I’d washed, dressed and was downstairs in the bar area. I was sure breakfast would be over by now but if I could get a cup of tea, that would at least be something. I looked around, and headed towards where I heard voices coming from the bar.

‘Well, good morning there, miss. Did you sleep well?’ Gerald’s friendly face beamed at me from where he was sitting at a table as a woman I assumed to be his wife bustled up to me.