‘You shouldn’t have had to,’ said Elle with a nervous smile. ‘I was out of touch with the way things are done. In London I suppose it’s all rush, rush, and straight to the point, trying to get everything underway as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to take up any of your time, knowing how busy you are, and I realised too late how rude that made me seem.’

Soon enough they were chatting easily, and it was a pleasant conversation for Elle. Della and Jim were old friends of Anna and Ned’s, and had many memories of watching the sun go down over the bay from the dining room, having spent a night talking and laughing with Elle’s parents.

‘She was such a gem, your mother,’ said Della tearfully. ‘Always ready with a joke. She teased your father something terrible for being so quiet. A less patient man would have been driven up the wall. But I actually think Ned enjoyed it.’

‘We want to help in any way we can,’ said Jim. ‘We’ve had less and less time to get up to the hotel the past few years, what with the business and our grandchildren, but the thought of it going is just awful. Anything we can do . . .’

‘Well,’ Elle said. ‘There’s a few things, and luckily, they’re all very simple. Tell me, do you own a good pair of dancing shoes?’

When she left the warehouse an hour later, Della and Jim had been brought into the secret.

Elle smiled. Things were starting to come together.

Chapter 28

She spent the entire day reversing the other terrible day she had spent two weeks before. If the people of the town had considered the eldest Harte girl to be cold and patronising before, now they thought that she was charming, sincere and intelligent, to boot. They could see why young Rob Callahan had lost his head over her. It wasn’t mentioned, but they all felt sorry over the situation.

Elle had even managed to pop back into Mona’s to look for a decent dress. They shared a joke over the suit. ‘I felt terrible letting you walk out the door with it. I seemed to see it happen in slow motion.’

The morning had gone well, no doubt about it. Elle felt more in control than she had in weeks. She had offers of materials and promises of help all over the place. It was the first piece of the puzzle, so to speak.