‘You’ve hardly been there two days!’ said her friend. ‘It might not be quite what you expected, but honestly, Anna, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you sound as enthusiastic about something as you have been about this move. Besides, where will you go if you don’t stay there?’

‘I don’t know,’ Anna said, ‘but somewhere I at least have the hope of getting a job.’

‘But I thought you were going to take the time to work out what you really want to do from this point?’ Cathy asked.

Anna sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. ‘I was.’

‘Look,’ said her friend. ‘It sounds to me as if you need to take a breath. You’re so used to that crazy kitchen, it’s bound to feel weird to have such a sudden change of pace on top of everything else that’s happened in the past few months. Why not take a few weeks – as a holiday, if nothing else. You deserve one. I think you need one.’

‘I should have gone to Spain, like you said.’

Cathy laughed. ‘Knowing you, you’d have been just as restless there, too. Take some time out and… stop for a while. The place is yours. You’re not going to lose any more money on it if you keep it to yourself for a bit, and it’ll mean not having to outlay more money for something else, won’t it?’

Anna chewed her lip and looked out at the glint of sun on sea. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Either way, it sounds to me like a sound investment as a holiday let,’ Cathy pointed out. ‘Quirky places to stay are the in thing. And this couple you’ve met, Pat and Frank – they sound lovely.’

‘They are,’ Anna agreed. ‘They’ve invited me to a party at the weekend, to meet some new people.’

‘That’s great!’ Cathy said.

‘Is it?’ Anna asked.

‘Of course it is,’ said her friend. ‘Meeting new people is always great.’

‘I think I’ve forgotten how,’ Anna admitted. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a night out without Geoff. And every time I went somewhere with him, he was the one everyone wanted to talk to, not me.’

‘Exactly,’ Cathy said. ‘And you’re not standing in his shadow anymore. Even if you don’t end up staying there permanently, where’s the harm in getting to know your neighbours?’

Cathy was right, Anna realized. She needed to remind herself how to make new friends, new connections. Crovie was as good a place to do that as any – especially, actually, if she wasn’t going to stay permanently after all.

Start saying yes instead of no, she told herself. Don’t close yourself off. Be open to everything, or try to be, and especially while you’re here.