Ella felt a crimson blush to her cheeks. ‘That’ll be the one, and thank you for giving me a job. I won’t let you down,’ she blurted, wishing the words would stop gushing out of her mouth.

‘We’ve all been there, and in need of a new start. A change of scenery always helps, and if Callie thinks you’re up to the job, then that’s good enough for me.’

‘Thanks,’ answered Ella. ‘We’re just here to pick up my uniform.’

Flynn turned towards Callie and pointed to the top drawer. ‘All the introductory packs are there, and we’ll need Ella’s bank details too.’

Ella stifled a sigh. She was already very much into her overdraft, which meant to start with all of her wages would be swallowed up, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She just needed to be extra careful with her money.

Callie nodded. ‘I’ll go through it all on Monday.’ She headed over to the filing cabinet and picked up the uniform. ‘Here you go.’

‘Thanks,’ said Ella, taking the white shirt and black skirt from Callie.

‘If you’re interested in photographs, you might want to look at the old photograph albums we found in the safe when we started renovations,’ said Flynn. ‘There are some amazing shots in there.’

‘Really, can we take a look?’ asked Ella.

‘Of course. Dad was looking through them before – in fact, here he is now.’

An elderly gentleman was standing in the doorway leaning on his cane. ‘Good afternoon,’ he said, looking at Callie and Ella.

‘Ella, meet my dad, Wilbur Carter. You’ll see him around the place from time to time. Ella is a friend of Callie’s and starts work in the restaurant on Monday.’

Ella smiled up at Wilbur, who was dressed in a burgundy velvet suit with a blue paisley shirt and a red cravat. He reminded her of an eccentric character from an old novel, and his wizened face smiled back at her.

‘I was just talking about the photo albums we discovered. In fact, we’ve had some copied and have begun to hang them out on the wall in the corridor. Go and have a look,’ suggested Flynn, before turning to Callie. ‘Can I have a word with you for a second?’ he said, his voice suddenly one of concern.

‘Of course.’ Callie turned towards Ella. ‘Have a look at the photos, I’ll be out in a second.’

As soon as Ella stepped outside with Wilbur, Flynn pushed the door closed. As Ella cast an eye over the photographs on the wall, she could hear Flynn and Ella speaking in hushed whispers. With one ear Ella was trying to listen in whilst holding her own conversation with Wilbur.