The problem with this plan, she reflected, was that each bit of it depended on another. If one piece was missing, the whole thing would be a failure. She needed the support of her family and the town, as well as for the hotel to show some semblance of grandeur, for the initial part of the plan to be a success. After this came the especially hard challenge: facing Doug Grant once more to try to convince him to give them a loan. Her stomach quaked at the thought, but she told herself not to worry about that until it was absolutely necessary.

She made her last call of the day just as the sun was beginning to touch the water. Ryan’s Antiques and Restorations was still open and Arthur was on duty. He often stayed until late in the evenings, pottering about in the back of the shop. He no longer had a great deal to go home for, and was only too happy to let his son Wally off to spend time with his young family.

‘Ah, it’s you again, is it? You’d better come in quick so you can rush back out again.’

‘I’m so sorry about last time, Mr Ryan,’ she said. ‘Believe it or not, I was trying to be polite.’

‘I’ve often noticed that people from cities have a funny way of being polite,’ he remarked. ‘A very funny way.’

‘I should have known better, though,’ Elle said. ‘I might have lived away for a long time, but I’m still a Bay girl through and through. It’s just a pity it’s taken me this long to realise it.’

It wasn’t that hard to win Arthur over in the end. He had an eye for a pretty face and he truly wanted to help save the hotel. It occurred to him that if this girl and her scatty sister were running the place, there was no reason he couldn’t go up there the odd night and have a bit of a chat. Stave off his loneliness a bit. He was used to it, but listening to his own thoughts did get very boring.

Besides, he thought as he saw Elle off, a bit of a get-together was exactly what this town needed.

The next day, Elle stayed back at the hotel and helped with the more physically demanding tasks.

Penny moved down the end of the ballroom to begin sanding from one end. Elle started from the other. It was a big job but they both felt the satisfaction of seeing the scars and dents being ground out of the floor.

‘Well, I’m glad to see you muck in,’ said Penny. ‘After yesterday, I thought you were going to leave us with all the hard work while you went off and had coffee with half the town.’