It seemed like ‘fair amount of discomfort’ was putting it mildly. At times the electricity was off, meaning no hot water for showers. And one time, there was no water for an entire day.

‘Are we going to throw another big party when the hotel opens?’ Penny asked hopefully.

‘Don’t talk to me about parties,’ Elle grunted. ‘It’s enough trying to make sure we’ve got carpets, let alone thinking about actual people walking around the rooms.’

‘It’ll be all right,’ Penny encouraged. ‘These things always turn out well in the end.’

There was a new lightness about Penny that Elle could attribute to both her relationship with Colin and her newfound understanding of Ned.

Where once her sister had been a bundle of anxiety, fizzing with nerves, she was now calmer, more sure of herself.

Of course, their father had had no idea of the effect that his apparent indifference had had on his youngest daughter but there was nothing that Elle or indeed Anna could do to change that. Penny had always been full of sensitive qualities: kindness, affection, altruism. And it was this sensitivity that had brought on her vulnerabilities where Ned was concerned, and perhaps made her so easily led when it came to men.

It was just that she hadn’t realised all of that until now. Colin had brought out the best in her.

It was funny, Elle mused, how you could hear the same thing from other people again and again, and never truly believe it until one particular person says it in exactly the right way. She, Anna and even Ned in his own way had all told Penny her whole life how wonderful she was, but she didn’t believe it, not until Colin had come along.

It was like how Elle had never believed she was beautiful until Rob told her she was. She’d never felt that way before.

So why not go and see him, if he makes you feel so good? said an annoying little voice in her head. ‘Ah, shut up,’ she muttered aloud. She had had enough about that subject from Penny, without having her own subconscious pitching in as well.

The truth was, Elle was afraid. Afraid to see him up close, to have him look at her and know absolutely what she was thinking. Because he would know she loved him; she couldn’t hide it any longer. The words Penny had said, that he should have been rid of her years ago, still echoed in the depths of her mind.

She still felt guilty, as well. It didn’t matter that he was recovering, it was her that had caused this to happen. Everyone said it: if Rob hadn’t been working so hard, he never would have drifted off and lost control like that. They didn’t blame her directly, but Elle felt that it was an unspoken thing.