‘Thanks. I feel important, having a key,’ Ella grinned, grasping it in her hand. ‘Will you be gone by the time I get back?’

‘I’m not sure, but say hello to Dolores from me and keep those fingers crossed. Hopefully this afternoon we’ll come up with the best plan to keep The Lakehouse afloat.’

‘I’ve got everything crossed,’ Ella said before grabbing her bag. ‘Right, I’m off. I’ll catch you later.’ When she reached the bottom of the stairwell, she closed the door behind her and watched Roman for a second. He was leaning against an old battered green Land Rover, reading a newspaper.

She coughed lightly and he looked up. A huge smile hitched on his face as he closed his newspaper and stood up straight.

‘There you are… meet Bette!’ Roman patted the Land Rover with such affection that Ella burst out laughing. ‘She’s reliable,’ he continued. ‘Never failed to start, in all the years I’ve owned her.’

‘Bette? You’ve named your car Bette?’ Ella walked around the battered old car, which had seen better days.

‘After Bette Davis, my grandma’s favourite actress, and as my grandparents bought me the car, they got to name her.’ With a gentlemanly confidence Roman went to open the door, but struggled with the lock. ‘However, she can be a little temperamental at times.’ He tried again. Finally, he proudly opened the door.

‘Temperamental, eh? Just like any woman.’ Ella bit down on her lip to suppress her smile. Climbing into the passenger seat, she was surprised to see how immaculate Bette was inside. She was cleaned and polished to within an inch of her life.

Roman whizzed around to the driver’s side and slipped into the seat beside Ella. He adjusted the mirror and put the key in the ignition while Ella pulled on the seatbelt, but it wouldn’t move. She tried again. ‘I think Bette is having a moment.’

‘Mmm, she’s playing up at the minute.’ Leaning across Ella, Roman pushed his wild fringe out of his face before grabbing the seatbelt, which he gave an extra-hard tug.

‘Here you go. Don’t worry, she’s as safe as houses,’ he reassured, pulling at his own seatbelt. ‘If you fancy putting on some tunes, all we have is an old-fashioned tape deck.’ He waved his hand towards the glove compartment. ‘It’s full of tapes.’

Ella opened it up to find it stuffed to the brim with old cassette tapes. ‘Mix tape?’ She waggled it in the air. ‘What’s this one?’