She was in the garden, amongst the tall eucalyptus trees that had been planted before her time, but had always been waiting for her. She was in the wild flowers that sprung up with abandon once she got too busy to weed them out.

Anna was the hotel. Her memorial wasn’t some heavy gravestone in the plot beside the church; it was right here. The Bay Hotel was where she belonged.

And where I belong too, Elle realised.

‘I like that you’re so good to my sister, as well as my dad,’ said Penny to Colin. They were still sitting up late, drinking hot cocoa after everyone else had gone to bed.

‘Well, I liked Ned from the start, and I would be good to Elle even if she was a weak-minded, mean-spirited witch, but I like your sister too. She’s determined. I just wish her and that Rob fellow would get their act together.’

‘How do you know about that?’ Penny demanded, looking sideways at him.

‘Oh, it’s not hard to see,’ he shrugged. ‘They’re absolutely mad about each other.’

‘I don’t think Elle is, though. She’s turned him down twice. And Rob’s too hurt to give things another go.’

‘I don’t think you can put much stock in that,’ said Colin. ‘The first time, they were both very young, from what I can gather. The second time, she was grieving for your mother. The third time could indeed be a charm.’

‘I don’t know. I wish you were right, but I just don’t see it. It’s funny,’ she said. ‘All my life I’ve been yearning to be close to my dad and reconnect with Elle, and I’ve been trying to think of so many different ways to make it happen, when all of a sudden it feels like it has. Obviously finding the albums and understanding why he let them go was a huge part of everything with Dad. And as regards Elle, I’ve spent all this time being jealous of her, and now I’m just not.’

‘What were you jealous of her for?’ Colin asked, curious.

‘I don’t really know. For going off and forgetting about me, I suppose. Going away and leaving us to deal with the hotel ourselves. Being Dad’s favourite, hurting Rob. But none of those things were bad things, and she certainly didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I don’t know why I’ve spent so many years feeling upset, but I’m not any more.’

Colin looked thoughtful. ‘Hmm, we’ve done so well with your dad, what’s another quest in the scheme of things? Do you think there’s some way we could get her and Rob together?’

‘Don’t even think about it,’ Penny warned, meaning it. ‘I’ve tried that before, with disastrous results.’