It would be a blank slate for her too, of course, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Could she really give up everything she’d worked for after all of these years to come here and suddenly run a hotel? They all knew Penny wasn’t up to the task and poor old Ned would likely be content for the rest of his days with his partly-restored record collection.

All of a sudden, Elle felt bone tired. She had put everything she had into this over the past few days, and she just couldn’t imagine getting up tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, to keep pouring little bits of herself into the hotel. Maybe Penny had been right: perhaps tonight should be just a nice way to say goodbye.

Her eyes snagged on the sight of Rob, leaning against the side door, his back to the night. Why wasn’t he dancing with Celeste? He had never been one to shy away from a celebration, loved talking to people, and usually cut a fine figure on the dance floor. She looked around the room and saw Celeste dancing with Wally. Though actually, from this vantage point it looked as though she was holding him up. But he looked happy, and had obviously enjoyed the free wine.

Rob, on the other hand, looked exhausted. He was gaunt, his skin pulled tight over his skull. His skin was tanned from the long hours he had spent outside on the roof. It came to Elle then that they had asked too much of Rob lately.

She had been so busy making sure that everything was right for tonight that she hadn’t considered that it must have been almost impossible for him to get the roof done in time. But he had done it all the same, labouring away by himself while the rest of them laughed and had fun together, and Penny and Ned were racing around the country on their wild goose chase.

And Rob, who had been such a major factor in getting them this far, had been kept out of everything. Because of her, mostly, Elle knew. Because she couldn’t stand to have him near, in case her face, her voice, everything about her gave her away.

Because it was like that. These days she wasn’t lying to herself, and every nerve ending in her body seemed to move to the sound of his name. But it was too late. She wouldn’t lie to herself on that score. He was with Celeste now and she wouldn’t stand in the way of him being happy.

But she could at least reach out to him in the name of friendship.