‘It’s not your fault, Elle. I know you tried – and you were the best person to go to the bank – I just can’t believe that this is happening. I can’t believe that we are truly going to have to sell this place. When we made all of those plans – and then with Rob coming out here to give us the estimate and especially after yesterday, I just felt so positive that everything would work out. That we would be able to make it work. For Mum.’

As Penny said the words, Elle felt a mix of emotions. Relief in that she and Ned seemed to truly understand the position they were in and that they would have to sell the property, as well as resignation of the fact that they had no other choices. Finally, there was sadness – about so many things, the fact that they were letting go of their mother’s legacy, brokering the place that contained their history and all their family memories. And the worst part?

For the first time in her life, Elle felt that she had let her beloved mother down.

The hotel was a gloomy place that night, the shadows longer and the creaking louder. The walls seemed to shudder in knowledge of their own demise. There were no stars visible from the windows, and Elle thought it fitting as there was no room for joy here tonight.

Penny was in her room, still crying, and Elle hadn’t seen Ned either since she told them the news. They had retreated into their shells again, letting the hotel shelter and comfort them while it still could.

She felt that she would never sleep. The events of the day, the throbbing in her nose, Rob’s harsh words spinning around and around in her head; it all kept her wide awake and wretched.

She wished for Anna. Her mum was the only one who could fix this, who had enough fight to do so. She would have told Doug Grant what was what and where to go. No one messed with Anna’s beloved hotel.

But in her heart, Elle knew that maybe even her mother couldn’t stop this. It was too late, and she must have known before she died what a terrible position the hotel was in. She must have been carrying so much stress, bearing a heavy burden perhaps to the point that it had all eventually been too much for her.

Elle finally did slip into a troubled sleep, tossing and turning to the sound of the eaves of the decrepit roof moaning overhead and her own bad dreams. Before dawn, she slept properly at last, and woke up to find Penny on the end of her bed once again.

‘Have you come to help me pack?’ she asked, with a weak smile.