She shook her head. ‘It’s weird, the hotel has been part of our lives for so long, I never really knew how much I was comforted by the thought of it just being here, part of the family, if you like. The thought of it being run by someone else just sends me spinning.’

‘I get it. Sometimes you don’t really know what you’ve got until it’s gone,’ Rob said gently, and Elle knew that he was talking about more than the hotel. She looked at him, not sure what to say. ‘I . . .’

‘Let’s not talk about it now, Elle. I don’t think you need this day to get any more intense.’

It was true. But to be fair, she didn’t think there would ever be a time when she and Rob were ready to talk about what happened between them.

‘Can I just ask one thing?’ she said to him.

‘What’s that?’

‘How come you never got married?’

‘I don’t think it’s really fair of you to ask that question, Elle. Why didn’t you get married?’ He sighed. ‘You know how it is. Penny does, certainly.’ He chuckled. ‘She and I are forever bending the ear off one another about our relationship woes. Though I think your poor sister has had more bad luck than me. Ah, you try your best with people but you just never really find anyone who’s right, I suppose, anyone who’s worth it, I mean. And time goes on, and you’ve been ambling along on your own so long you don’t know how another person would even fit into your life at this stage. It got so I’d tell myself: not everyone needs to be in a relationship.’

‘Exactly,’ Elle nodded vociferously, sounding like they’d just discovered they shared the same birthday. ‘That’s how I feel, too. Not everyone needs to find that “special someone” and get married and live happily ever after, and all that. Maybe some people are just meant to be alone.’

He shrugged. ‘Well, if you feel so happy about it, Elle, maybe you truly are better off alone.’

They stared at each other for a minute, realising that each had hurt the other. Elle opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

‘Come on, I’ll take you home.’

They drove back towards the hotel in silence. Rob wanted to say something, anything, but it felt like Elle had built another wall of ice up around herself.

At the hotel, she got out and closed the door, saying only: ‘I’ll have your shirt cleaned and back before I leave.’

And that was it. He might never see her again. Had he waited so many years for this, only to ruin it in a matter of seconds? Don’t be stupid, he told himself. There was nothing to ruin. She said it herself: she doesn’t want love.