‘What does that mean?’ said Dan.

‘Dad’s got stuff to do,’ said Alex. ‘They just like it.’

‘They like the hotel?’ pressed Dan.

‘Yes,’ said Alex.

‘They like staying here?’

‘Dan,’ said Bea, with a look that meant Stop talking.

She was blocking him out. They both were, but he wasn’t married to Alex. He waited for a moment, then he went inside.

Neither Alex nor Bea reacted to his leaving. They didn’t speak. The minutes went by. The evening settled like a gauze, hiding detail. Bea looked up at the blurry sky.

‘Remember waiting for the first star?’ she said at last.

‘I still do sometimes,’ said Alex, but he didn’t look up.

‘What else? What else do you do?’ she asked.

‘That,’ he said. He moved his head towards the open pages of the visitors’ book. ‘It’s stupid. It helps.’

Bea looked down at the pages of the book. She picked up two pens and held one out.

‘Anne and Richard Henderson from Stroud,’ she said clearly.

There was a pause, and then he took the pen. She straightened the book for him. Slowly, carefully, he wrote the names.

‘What did they like?’ he said.

‘They liked the weather, and the cooking,’ said Bea steadily.

He wrote.

‘Wait, when were they here?’ he asked, panicking. ‘When did they stay here?’

‘April the 14th,’ said Bea. ‘They were on their way to Paris.’

‘April in Paris,’ he enunciated.

He wrote the names, and date, then put down that pen and she handed him another.

‘Malcolm Elford,’ she said. ‘From Guildford.’

‘Elford-Guildford,’ said Alex, and giggled. He wrote the name and dates himself. ‘Mr Elford couldn’t be arsed to write a comment. He was only here on business.’

He picked up another pen and stretched his arms up. ‘Rebecca and Ian Price from Hull!’ he declared to the evening air. ‘The Prices of Hull!’

‘They loved the food,’ said Bea.

‘They did!’

They put in twenty names, only pausing for Alex to turn on the outside lights.

‘That’s better,’ he said. He closed the book and the only sound was the treetops slightly rustling in the breeze. ‘Does Dan know how shit they were to you?’

‘Me?’ Bea answered. ‘Bits and pieces.’

‘Listen, you don’t have to stay. I’m used to them.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Bea.

‘Seriously, go. He sends me off to do stuff, she likes to think we’re going to turn this place into something – it’s fine. You can come back when they’re gone.’

‘No,’ said Bea. ‘I’m here.’

She found Dan at the window in their bedroom, in the dark, as if he had been watching them in the garden. She switched on the light.

‘Fucking hell,’ she said.

‘Did you sort him out?’

‘Sort of.’

‘You OK?’ he said. ‘We can just leave if you want.’

‘No. I’d like to, but I can’t. I’m really sorry.’

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘We’ll handle it. Why is it so terrible? You haven’t seen them in two years. We’ll be polite, do the in-law thing, I get to charm them –’