Elle rolled her eyes. ‘Oh come on, Penny,’ she said, refusing to believe this for a second. ‘You and I both know I’ll be sticking around here a little longer than we thought, thanks to the hotel. You and Rob might have trouble hiding things for that long.’

Penny stood up. ‘I don’t know when you got so bitter, Elle. How could you think I would do that to you? I know how you felt about him.’ She shook her head. ‘Apart from that, I really do see him as a brother. It’s laughable to think of anything else.’

‘Really?’ said Elle, her heart lightening a little.

Penny sighed. ‘Mum was expecting Rob to be her son-in-law one day. When you never returned from college, and we realised that would never happen, we couldn’t all just pretend we didn’t know each other any more. He’s been like a brother to me, and a son to Mum and Dad. It just didn’t happen the way we all expected.’

Elle believed her, but this almost felt worse somehow. All of them, through the years, forming a little family, loving each other and having good times, without her. As though she wasn’t really essential to any of their happiness.

When she didn’t say anything, Penny shrugged and got up. ‘Well, that’s how it is, anyway.’

‘OK. Thanks for telling me. I mean, it’s not so much that I cared either way; it’s just I didn’t like the thought of it being a secret.’

‘Right,’ said Penny. ‘Of course. It’s not like you would have feelings for Rob after all these years.’

As her sister left, Elle thought she caught a glimpse of her rolling her eyes as she said this. But that couldn’t be right. Penny was never sarcastic.

After breakfast, Elle followed Penny through the house with a notepad and pen. They were intent on going room by room, inspecting the premises, and making a log of the repairs and renovations that were needed. This would allow them to help Rob price the project out so that they could approach the bank for finance with a realistic number in mind.

Penny was eager – but Elle already felt tired by the entire endeavour, as she believed they were still looking at this situation non-objectively and through rose-coloured glasses.

‘So I think that we should start in the ballroom,’ smiled Penny. ‘After all, that’s the focal point for weddings and parties. It should sparkle, don’t you think?’

‘Sparkle requires money, Penny. Don’t forget that.’ She looked down at her pad of paper and scribbled, ‘Sparkle = do’ at the top of the first sheet.