She shrugged. ‘Ah, I think we like the drama. It might seem crazy, but when you find the one you really want, you’re willing to go through a bit of grief for them.’ Rob remained silent. ‘You might think you’ve already had your fair share, Rob, but the hard part is actually being in the relationship.’

He looked at her. ‘Celeste, I think I know what you’re trying to do, but you don’t know anything about what went on between me and Elle.’

‘What went on between you isn’t important now, that’s in the past. What I can see is that you both genuinely care for each other. Don’t let that slip away just because of pride. Hers or yours.’

Rob dropped her off at Departures and drove away. He was glad that she and Dan had worked things out (as usual) but the house would be pretty lonely without her. He had got used to having another person around.

This was his first day off in weeks and he meant to enjoy it. He would go back home, take the dogs down to the beach and throw sticks for them. The shore was bound to be a mess of driftwood, kicked up from last night’s storm.

Approaching Mulberry Bay some forty minutes later, he drove through town and up along the coast road. Everything had the same dream-like quality that had been haunting him for days. When he moved his head, streaks of colour followed his movement, as though the thing he had just been looking at dismantled itself as soon as he looked away. He knew that he needed a break, needed some rest, but it hadn’t been possible while he was fixing the hotel roof.

But now, he could enjoy the sunshine and try and rid himself of the events of the past few weeks. Was Celeste right? Should he try again with Elle? He wanted to. He had known since the first time she came back that he didn’t want to let her go.

But it wasn’t simply a matter of what he wanted. Elle had told him that she didn’t think it was a good idea. But if they saved the hotel, wouldn’t she be staying in Mulberry Bay? Wouldn’t that perhaps give them time to slowly get to know each other again? They could rediscover each other without moving too fast.

He would think about it. He still thought that Elle simply wasn’t interested in him, that she viewed their relationship as a thing best left in the past. It probably seemed trivial to her now, what they had shared. If she could write it off as meaningless, why couldn’t he?