‘Don’t you dare,’ Penny warned. ‘I don’t need to be worried about the both of you.’ Her heart ached for Rob though. He was such a good person. She knew he would continue to break his back for the hotel, despite his pain over Elle. It was just who he was.

She sighed so loudly that Ned gave her a strange look. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘You almost blew the building over with that one.’

‘I’m just wishing that things would work out the way they’re supposed to,’ she said.

At midday, Penny was startled to see Rob standing at the bottom of the ladder, trying to get her attention. ‘What is it?’ she yelled, switching off the sander and lifting up her safety glasses.

‘There’s a guest here,’ said Rob. ‘Says he’s got a reservation.’

What? But that was impossible; she had cancelled what little reservations there were for the next few weeks. ‘Oh, he’s probably just selling something,’ she said, climbing down the ladder. ‘Couldn’t you put him off?’

Rob shrugged. ‘He was pretty adamant that he was supposed to be here,’ he said.

Standing at reception was a tall man with floppy brown hair and thick glasses. He looked to be in his late thirties but was wearing a tweed coat, patched at the elbows, making him seem a lot older.

‘Yes?’ Penny said with some impatience. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Well,’ he replied, looking uncertainly around the abandoned reception area. ‘I’d like to check in please. My reservation is for two weeks, starting from the 11th. Today, in fact.’ He laughed nervously, evidently disconcerted by this rather unwelcoming first impression.

‘No,’ Penny muttered, ‘That can’t be right. I cancelled all the bookings; we’re renovating.’

‘I never received any cancellation,’ he said, looking stricken. ‘This can’t be happening. I’ve come from Sussex in England.’

Penny flushed with shame. What a mess. Surely this surpassed any early mistakes her mother had ever made. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, meaning it. ‘I must have missed you when I sent out the emails. But it’s impossible for you to stay here at the moment. We’re repairing the roof and repainting. There are other hotels in Wexford, the closest town over. I’ll ring a couple and see if they have any vacancies.’

‘But I had my heart set on this place,’ he insisted. ‘My parents stayed here years ago and raved about it. I’m writing a novel, you see, set in a seaside town just like this one.’

‘Well in that case, you’d be even more uncomfortable. As I said, we’re renovating. There’ll be lots of noise.’