When Rob pulled up to the hotel, he thought that the building itself looked strangely changed, as though it too, was affected by the mood of the day. The windows were all flung open, curtains flapping in and out of the frames. In the bright sun you couldn’t see where the exterior needed painting, or the worn wood of the timber. As he often did, Rob tried to imagine it restored to glory, filled to the brim with satisfied guests.

He drove around the back and parked the van, and as he did so, Elle came around the corner, arms full with laundry. Looked like she really was giving this a go then. It surprised him. He thought she’d be off like a shot back to London when the funeral was over and the associated familial necessities attended to. But maybe things were that bad here that she needed to stick around and see what needed to be done, for the sake of her mother’s memory.

He studied her as she hung freshly washed sheets on the line. In the sun, her hair shone like a struck match. He remembered how she had worried about freckles when they were younger, always asking him to smother her in sunscreen. He pushed that thought away, the vision of him caressing the creamy skin on her back. He had mixed feelings about her staying longer. A part of him wanted her to go back to London so he couldn’t be reminded of what they had lost. When she was here in town, it felt a little at odds seeing this sophisticated, shinier Elle from years before, turning up in familiar places, like the restaurant last night. Though he’d forgotten how she could slice you open like an orange, just with one of her looks.

Well, they’d just have to get used to being around one another again. He would do everything he could to help her and Penny get the hotel back on its feet, then Elle would go back to London and things could get back to normal.

Chapter 6

When Elle, Penny and Rob sat down in the kitchen to discuss plans, they were surprised to see Ned come in and join them. He set a carafe of coffee on the table, and a plate of biscuits and sat down with them.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not here to interfere,’ he said to them. ‘I just want to see how things are coming along.’

Over the next two hours, they wrangled over a list of what needed to be done.

Mostly Elle and Penny argued from their different viewpoints, Penny firmly in the corner for leaving everything much the same, Elle arguing for parts of the building to be torn down and completely rebuilt.