“Nothing,” I said, taking in the hotel’s new paint job and the little patio out front. “It cleaned up well.”

“I haven’t been here for a few years myself,” Geordie said. “I wonder if Eddie’s still running the place.”

“I remember liking him—he was so easy to tease. But why wouldn’t he be there? I thought he was the owner.”

Geordie nodded. “But he was always talking about moving to someplace warm.” He pulled the car into a parking space alongside the hotel, then turned to me. “Shall I get the chair?”

“Not just yet, but I will need you to help me get out of this seat.”

That’s the problem when a chair’s too low—I can’t get the leverage to stand on my own. I made that mistake once on the sofa in my room at Bramley’s and had to stay on it all night until Sophie came looking for me in the morning. Mostly I stick to my wheelchair. It’s comfortable and easy to get out of when I need to, plus it’s mobile, so I don’t even have to get out of it if I’m feeling lazy.

I also use it out of the house a lot because I tire too quickly, and it’s no fun walking with me when tortoises and snails are whipping by on either side. But I’m kind of self-conscious about meeting new people in it. No matter how nice they are, you’re forever Wheelchair Girl in their minds and it puts this whole weird colour into your relationship.

So, while I knew I’d use it later, for now I wanted to hobble into the hotel with my canes and just be Cane Girl. When you stand upright, even when you can barely do it like I get when I’m tired, people at least see you as pretty much normal.

Geordie came around to my side of the car and helped me out. I leaned against the car while he got our stuff from the backseat and admired this young handsome guy who was walking our way from the front of the hotel. When Geordie got his head out of the car, he grinned and introduced me to Con Connelly, the Knotted Cord’s new guitarist. He was the one who’d called to ask Geordie to fill in and, while I didn’t know him personally, I had seen him playing in various bands over the years. I just hadn’t known his name.

“Let me grab that,” he said, taking my bag from Geordie.

They were both nice about pacing me to the hotel’s foyer. Without me, they could easily have gotten there in a fraction of the time.