‘Oh Tess, don’t worry,’ she laughed. ‘I think I know what you meant and with this weather, I can’t blame you. You must have read every book in the place by now!’

‘Pretty much,’ I fibbed.

The only words I had devoured were the ones from Mum’s diary.

‘This all smells delicious, Mum,’ said Hope, releasing me so she could give one of the pans a stir.

The sight of mother and daughter working in well-practised unison brought a lump to my throat. I swallowed it away and banished the tears I could feel brewing.

‘Leave it now,’ said Sophie, tapping Hope’s hand with the back of a wooden spoon. ‘That one can just sit and simmer. I haven’t been able to make anything too adventurous, what with the limited facilities,’ she said to me, ‘but perhaps that’s no bad thing.’

‘Mum’s saving her best recipes for the beach party,’ grinned Hope, then spotting the wobbly smile on my face, quickly asked, ‘are you all right, Tess?’

‘Yes,’ I croaked, before clearing my throat. ‘I’m fine.’

I had to admit, I hadn’t given the solstice celebration all that much thought, but Sam, Hope and Sophie had. We sat in the bar and they told me what they had arranged so far. The council had voiced no objection to the idea, so the three of them had forged ahead, planning the menu, drinks and a list of entertainment ideas.

‘And we were wondering,’ Sam said to me, ‘if you would consider designing the posters, Tess, and adding the event to the online community notice board.’

‘Sam said you were a dab hand with the marketing things for the pub event,’ said Hope, smiling fondly at him.

‘She was brilliant,’ Sophie agreed, before heading back to the kitchen. ‘An absolute star.’

‘But we wouldn’t want to eat into your holiday time,’ Hope quickly added. ‘We don’t want you to feel obliged to get involved . . .’

‘Although it would be great to have you on board,’ Sam added.

It was impossible to resist the pair and, in truth, I was keen to take part. I had thought, before I arrived, that some peace, quiet and solitude would help get my life back on track, but the last few days were proof enough that I was wrong about that. What I needed was another project to sink my teeth into to help balance out the thinking time and give me some perspective. It turned out that you could have too much quiet, even if you had been craving it.

‘I’d love to help,’ I told them, ‘as long as no one thinks I’m butting in. I’m only a holidaymaker after all and I wouldn’t want to stand on any local toes.’

Sam shook his head.