As Bette disappeared at the end the road Ella stepped out from behind the letter-box and began to walk towards the village shop. McCartney pulled on the lead and as Ella looked down, he promptly cocked his leg against the lamp-post without a care in the world. As Ella waited patiently for McCartney to finish his business, something caught her eye in the middle of the road, the same place where Roman had just pulled up. Stepping out into the road, Ella picked up an appointment card with Roman’s name on it. The appointment was for Wednesday, at Oasis Lodge. Ella had no clue what Oasis Lodge was, but it looked like some sort of medical card. For the time being Ella slipped the card into her bag and planned to hand it back over to Roman in the morning on the way to work.

Chapter Six

Ella was collapsed on the sofa when Callie returned from work. She’d busied herself for the rest of the afternoon by cleaning the flat before snuggling up on the settee watching a Frank Sinatra movie alongside McCartney whilst snacking on a packet of biscuits.

Callie threw her coat over the chair and poured them both a glass of wine. ‘And why are you eating biscuits? We are about to go and devour one of Meredith’s roast dinners and you’re stuffing biscuits into your mouth,’ questioned Callie, kicking her shoes off her feet and wiggling her toes. ‘And the flat looks amazing by the way,’ she said, snagging an impressed glance around the room.

‘You’re very welcome. I want to do my bit, and believe me, I’ll have room for a roast dinner, I can assure you of that,’ said Ella, scrunching up the top of the packet and laying them down on the table.

Callie held up her wine glass. ‘I needed this,’ she claimed. ‘What an afternoon. Mentally I’m exhausted. We’ve thrown a few marketing ideas around but we seem to be missing that spark, that idea that would just put The Lakehouse back on the map. Flynn still wants to keep it classy, so doesn’t wasn’t any cheesy gimmicks, but the rest of the staff are suggesting two-for-one cocktails etc. etc., but he doesn’t want this restaurant to become like any other on the High Street.’

‘Surely, it’s worth thinking about it, even if it’s only in the short term.’

‘We’ll get there, we have to.’ Callie took a gulp of her wine. ‘However, we have good news! The TV news crew have confirmed and they are coming tomorrow. Flynn is hoping the coverage will generate bookings.’

‘Well, it can’t do any harm, and all this is happening on my first day. How exciting!’

‘Very, and what about your day? What was the text all about… Roman has a daughter?’