‘Your dad mentioned you have siblings?’ Alice said when there was a short lull in the conversation.

‘Yes, there’re four of us. I’m third in line. I have two brothers and a sister.’

‘Your dad certainly made up for being an only sibling, then,’ Alice said with a chuckle. ‘It’s a shame Iona only had your father. This family has a habit of breeding like rabbits.’

‘Gran loved babies,’ Elle agreed. ‘I think she’d have had a houseful if she and Pa had been able to.’ It had been something she’d heard Gran tell her mother once, after her third great-grandchild was born. Babes are the most precious gift of all. I often wish I’d been able to have a houseful.

‘Ah well, sometimes it’s just not meant to be. Do any of your brothers and sisters have children of their own?’ Alice asked.

‘My eldest brother and my sister both have kids. Lachlan has two boys, and Lauren has a daughter.’ She took out her phone and shared some photos.

‘Oh, what bonnie wee cherubs they are,’ Alice crooned, before passing the phone around to the others.

The afternoon flew by as they happily chatted, and Elle couldn’t believe it when she glanced at her phone and saw the time.

‘I guess I’d better get checked into my room before it gets too late,’ she finally said when there was a break in conversation.

‘Will you come back for dinner? We can’t have you sitting up there in that big old place all alone on your first night in town,’ Alice said, though it was clear that she wasn’t exactly asking; it was more of a statement.

Elle liked Alice’s bossy mothering. It reminded her of Gran. It was so different to her own mother. Caroline simply wasn’t the mother-earth type. Elle frowned at the thought. She wasn’t exactly a snow queen either—she melted when her grandkids were around, and Elle remembered cuddles and goodnight kisses when she was growing up. It was just that lately there didn’t seem to be anything more than disappointment and frustration between them. She missed the way they used to be.

Elle tried to hide her sudden sadness behind a smile. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’

ELEVEN

Eleven

Elle caught her breath as she drove slowly through the gates of Durn House. It was at the end of the road, within walking distance of Alice’s house, and it looked every bit the fairy-tale manor in reality as it did in the website photos.