‘The good with the bad?’ Penny offered, hoping to provide his thoughts some direction.

‘Yes. I suppose. I hate that, though, too. I never like to be too far up or too far down. Never have. I’ve always preferred to be on the level. Never too emotional. But your mother taught me that such was life. That was just the way things worked. Sometimes I was OK with it all. Sometimes I wasn’t. The messy stuff. Arguments. Happiness. Crying. Drama. You have to be there for it all. Sometimes I was. Other times, I didn’t get it right.’

Penny took her eyes off the road and looked at her dad sitting next to her.

‘I think I understand what you are saying,’ she said softly. She knew that Ned was trying to explain something to her – a lesson of sorts. And she was also detecting something else. A note of apology perhaps?

‘Do you?’ Ned asked, and she nodded in the affirmative. Seemingly satisfied, he looked out the window and patted the album with his other hand, as if making sure it was still there.

‘That’s good, Penny,’ he added quietly. ‘Because I think you and I both know that I have never been very good with words.’

Chapter 31

Piece by piece, Elle’s vision began to take place. She was assured by Hazel that the news was being spread throughout the town, so she didn’t have to worry about that. People would come. In fact, if Hazel was to be believed, a buzz of great excitement had begun to spread amongst the whole community.

On Thursday night, when Penny and Ned returned from their travels, Elle gathered everyone into the dining room. ‘I want to thank you for the last two days,’ she said. ‘You’ve worked so hard and it’s time to let you in on the next phase of the plan. There’s going to be a big celebration here on Saturday night. A party of the kind this place hasn’t seen in ages.’

She paused to let this sink in.

‘It’s a special kind of celebration. Depending on how things go, it’ll either signal the next phase in the life of the Bay Hotel, or it will be a spectacular farewell. Either way, it will be a night to remember.’

She stopped again and it was obvious she was figuring out how to say the next thing.

‘As I said, you’ve all worked very hard. But for now, your work is over. For the next few days, I need you to stay out of the dining room and ballroom. Those two rooms are out of bounds,’ she said with an enigmatic smile. ‘I want what happens on Saturday night to be as much of a surprise for you as it is for everyone else. I want you to be dazzled. All I can say is, make sure you’re looking your absolute best.’