Sylvie smiled at Robin’s attempt to lighten the mood, but her tone was grim. ‘Yes, but it’s failing. It’s had some wonderful years, we’ve been very successful, but it’s not what people want any more. Sometimes you have to count your losses.’
‘Everyone wants to come to the seaside,’ Robin protested, flinging her arms wide. ‘The seaside never goes out of fashion.’
‘What we’re offering is behind the times, then. It happens. Your dad and I are past trying to keep up with newer, more fashionable hotels.’
‘Mrs Harris is still going,’ Robin said, as they turned away from the sea and began walking back. ‘She doesn’t show any signs of closing down, and she doesn’t even advertise it as a Bleak House hotel.’
‘Robin,’ her mother chided. ‘She caters for a different market; she has a steady, loyal clientele who return each year – often more than once. The Campion Bay Guesthouse is slipping through the gaps. We’re not traditional, but we’re by no means trendy any more.’
‘So renovate then,’ Robin said, whirling to face her as the sand gave way to shingle. ‘Give it a makeover. Don’t let it go so easily. When I was running Once in a Blue Moon Days I saw hundreds of amazing hotels – boutique and modern and classic and themed and, sometimes, downright bizarre. I’ve got some ideas, we could work on it together.’ The rug was about to be pulled out from under her feet, and she couldn’t get her head around the thought of having to start all over again quite so soon.
‘Robin, darling. If the guesthouse ran solely on your enthusiasm, then we wouldn’t be struggling at all. Things have been so hard for you over the last year, and you haven’t given up.’
‘I gave up on Once in a Blue Moon Days,’ Robin whispered, looking down at the pebbles.
‘No.’ Sylvie shook her head. ‘You kept working at it until the bitter end, until there was nothing you could do. A luxury event company like that can’t survive on one person’s energy and determination to keep it going. You’re a fighter, Robin, and we’re so proud of you. But your dad and I, we don’t have the energy, or the fight, left in us. We’ve spent a long time talking it over – we’re not taking this decision lightly – but this is right. I know it’s a shock, but we didn’t want to tell you until it was definite.’
Robin’s legs felt heavy as they made their way past Skull Island Crazy Golf, closed down for the winter, and back to the Campion Bay Guesthouse.
Robin had returned to Campion Bay after her London life had fallen apart because it was safe, because she knew what to expect and she could slip back into a familiar, almost mindless, routine. But now that, too, was coming to an end. As the shock started to dissipate, Robin discovered that what was underneath was panic. What would she do if she had no guesthouse to help out with? How would she cope without her parents’ gentle, unobtrusive comfort? She hadn’t felt like partying before their walk, but now the thought of putting on a dress and eyeliner and spending the evening socializing seemed impossible.
She understood why her parents had made their decision. She knew, as soon as her mum had told her, that it was the right time for them to retire. But that still didn’t answer the question thrumming through Robin’s head as she took her coat and gloves off and went to put the kettle on: what would she be left with?
‘Just open it,’ Molly said, thrusting two glasses underneath Robin’s nose and waggling them, her charm bracelet tinkling delicately in the quiet. They were standing in the Campion Bay Guesthouse’s huge living-room-cum-dining-room, the French doors at the back leading out to a small patio garden, the windows at the front looking out on to the sea. It was close to six o’clock and it was dark outside, the lighting low, the textured, teal-green wallpaper making it seem slightly gloomy.
‘The guests won’t be coming down for at least half an hour,’ Robin protested, trying to sidestep Molly and put the bottle of prosecco on the table.
‘But you’ve organized this party,’ Molly said, ‘we’re both here now, and you’ve had a shock. We’ve just got time to sink the bottle before anyone else turns up, and nobody’ll be any the wiser.’ She flashed Robin a grin, her teeth pearly white behind her bold pink lipstick.
Robin tried again, and was again blocked by her friend. She rolled her eyes and began to open the bottle.
‘At least you didn’t discover a secret talent for willpower while you were in London,’ Molly said. ‘That’s a relief.’
Robin laughed and then, realizing she couldn’t remember the last time she’d used those particular facial muscles, grinned at her friend.
She’d known Molly since she was eleven. The petite blonde had been two years above her in secondary school, but once they’d said hello in the short-lived school orchestra – Molly admitting she’d only started to learn the flute as a way to stay inside during the windswept winter lunchtimes – they’d become solid friends. When Robin had accepted a place at university in London, Molly’s daughter Paige was two years old and she’d committed to settling in Campion Bay, but their friendship had lasted the distance. While Robin had been seeking the unconditional love of her parents when she’d decided to come back to Campion Bay, she’d also known Molly would be here. If she hadn’t, the decision wouldn’t have been so straightforward.
‘I can be stubborn when I want to be,’ Robin protested, filling the glasses with bubbling liquid. ‘I just agree with your assessment of the situation.’
‘Assessment of the situation?’ Molly clinked her glass against Robin’s. ‘You mean I’m right, as usual. Let’s make a toast – to new years and new beginnings.’
‘Zero points for originality.’ Robin leaned against the table, which held an array of nibbles and glasses, and her mum’s crystal bowl full of homemade punch. She’d changed into a black, knee-length dress with a high neckline and swooping back, her curls loose – and slightly frizzy – around her shoulders. She looked a lot more prepared for a party than she felt, but she still wasn’t anything to match Molly, whose perfectly made-up face couldn’t hide the natural beauty underneath. Her friend was always immaculately turned out, but then, as the owner of Groom with a View, the beauty parlour two doors down from the guesthouse, she was bound to be. She was wearing a thigh-skimming plum-coloured dress and towering heels, her short blonde hair styled expertly into corkscrew curls.
‘It’s not meant to be original,’ Molly said, after she’d taken a swig of prosecco, ‘but it’s true, isn’t it? For you. You’ve been forced into a new start. You’re beginning to make a habit of it.’
Robin sighed and dropped her head forward. ‘What am I going to do? They’re moving just before Easter, to beautiful, sunny southern France. It should seem a long way off, but it feels like it’s hurtling towards me at a hundred miles an hour. Do you think they’d mind if I went with them? Robin Brennan, once a successful entrepreneur, now committed to life as a recluse, hanging on to her parents’ coattails at the age of thirty-two.’
Molly leaned against the table alongside her, and she caught a whiff of her friend’s heady, seductive perfume. ‘That is not an option,’ Molly said. ‘Firstly, you’ve got too much spirit to live such a humdrum existence, you’d be bored in ten minutes, and secondly, you’re not moving away again so soon. Not now I’ve just got you back.’
‘I’m not moving, not really. Mum and Dad have left me the house, when they could have legitimately booted me out and bought a chateau.’ Robin chewed her lip. ‘But it’ll be weird rattling around in this place without a job or a purpose or my parents.’
‘Right,’ Molly said. ‘So you need to do something. You don’t want to start up Once in a Blue Moon Days again?’ She asked it tentatively, shooting a glance in Robin’s direction then looking quickly away.
Robin stared at the floor, her chest squeezing at the mention of the upmarket events company she had started with her friend Neve. They had planned exclusive days for their clients