They’d asked Alex for a business plan and sought more clarification about his investors, funding model, architectural plans, budgeting. Six months passed before they agreed to go ahead with the project, after seeking further assurances that there would be no impact on the Montgomery’s core business. No noise issues, specifically. Young travellers in hostels were notoriously more spirited than the hotel’s usual well-heeled guests.

The Monty Hostel had now been operational for five months. It was still early days, but so far, it was successful. Its occupancy rate regularly hit seventy per cent. A living wall of plants shielded the hostel from the hotel. That, and the separate entrance, minimised any impact on the Montgomery. The hostel was already showing a small profit. It was still considered to be Alex’s solo project, under Deirdre’s supervision, but Lawrence and Olivia both received weekly updates.

As for Rory – Edgar had never quite ‘got’ his second son. Rory was very different to Alex, Olivia often told him. More artistic. Dreamier. But still intelligent. He just needed to find his own way.

While Alex had studied hotel management, Rory chose art and design. Olivia had hoped it might be useful at the Montgomery – with a refurbishment, perhaps. But Rory simply returned to working full-time in different roles: as concierge, in reception, even occasionally as a waiter. He was good with people. Sweet-natured. Guests enjoyed meeting a ‘real’ Montgomery too, Olivia knew.

In the following months, Olivia had often diplomatically enquired about him putting his design degree to use. Each time, he’d given her the same gentle smile she remembered from his boyhood.

‘I do have something in mind, Olivia. But I need to give it more thought. Talk it over with Milly.’

Milly was his long-term, now long-distance girlfriend. They’d met at university. In the bar, not in class. She was a gifted IT specialist. Her parents had come to Britain from India when she was only a baby. Olivia had met them at her and Rory’s graduation day. They’d been so proud of her. ‘I taught her everything she knows,’ her mother had said with a laugh.

Within a year of graduating, Milly had moved to Berlin after being approached by an American tech company based there, developing new apps and digital solutions for the insurance industry. Berlin was where it was all happening tech-wise these days, Olivia learned.

She’d half-expected Rory to follow Milly, turn his back on the hotel. But instead, they kept their relationship alive with regular trips between Edinburgh and Berlin. When Rory turned thirty, and told Olivia he had some big news, she’d felt sure it would involve an engagement. He surprised her. Six years after graduating, he told her he’d finally decided to put his design degree to practical use by opening a side business. Designing and handcrafting children’s jigsaw puzzles, of all things.

It was well underway by the time he told her about it. He’d rented workshop space in an industrial estate half an hour from the Montgomery. Everything was done by hand, to Rory’s designs, using high-quality wood and paint. He sold some via the Internet, he told her, but mostly at craft fairs and markets. Olivia had studied the website, designed and coded by Milly. The puzzles were beautifully made. When she asked if he was making any money or even covering his costs, he just smiled.