to her, looking around him, failing to meet her eye all of a sudden. ‘This place is great,’ he said. ‘A far cry from what Tabitha’s left me with. Look,’ he turned towards her, ‘I do appreciate this. I know it’s after midnight, and you’re probably not in the habit of accepting guests – and dogs – so late. So if you just tell me where my room is, I’ll dry Darcy off, get out of your hair and we can regroup in the morning.’
‘Sure, sure. No problem,’ Robin managed, her head so full of questions about Tabitha, and how come he’d appeared now, and why had Robin never met him while she was growing up, and did he know about the plans that Malcolm and Tim had for the house, and had they found his number and got in touch with him, that for a moment she forgot the reality of the situation. ‘Your room. Yes, of course – let me show you.’
‘Please don’t put yourself out. I’m sure I can find my way. I’ve got navigational skills like Bear Grylls, even if I don’t have his stamina.’ His face fell as he caught Robin’s eye and she didn’t return the smile. It had just dawned on her, through the shock of the unexpected situation, which room she was going to have to put Will in for the night.
‘I’d like to show you if that’s OK?’ She hurried into Sea Shanty and took the key from the top drawer, the icon of GuestSmart winking accusingly at her from the desktop. She would check him in later. ‘My rooms are a bit … unique,’ she managed, taking a towel out of the bottom drawer and handing it to him.
‘Oh?’ Will raised his eyebrows, suddenly looking slightly nervous. They stood in the hallway, facing each other, as the rest of the guesthouse settled into darkness around them. ‘Unique in what way?’ He crouched and rubbed Darcy with the towel. She stood perfectly still while she was dried into a caramel puffball.
‘You’ll see,’ Robin said. ‘Come with me.’ Without asking, and with her heart pounding in her chest, she picked up Will’s holdall and started climbing the stairs towards their destination at the top of the house.
She was going to have to put Will Nightingale, Tabitha’s nephew, and his little dog Darcy, in Starcross.
‘Here we are,’ Robin said, her chest tightening as she stopped on the tiny landing outside Starcross. Will stopped on the top step behind her. There wasn’t enough room for both of them on the landing, and she could feel his breath on her ear, but for some reason she couldn’t open the door. She had a mental block. She looked at the nameplate, pearly white with Starcross written in swirling blue, as with all the other name signs, and wondered if she could do this. Put this tall, imposing, though so far very nice-seeming man in this special room. A room full of dreams and hopes and finding meaning in the stars.
‘Uhm, is everything all right?’ Will asked.
‘Yes, of course.’ She put her hand on the door handle. Pushed it down. And he had a dog. A very cute dog, some kind of poodle-cross, though she wasn’t sure exactly what. She had only ever intended for dogs to go in the rooms on the first floor. Not up here.
‘Robin,’ Will prompted, ‘if this isn’t convenient or … or if the room is really specialist, then I can always—’
‘No no,’ she said, not wanting to encourage his mind to wander. If she hadn’t wanted guests here, then why had she designed it in this way? Angry with herself, she pushed the door open quickly, forcefully, almost falling into the room. She turned on the light and took another two steps, allowing Will to follow her. Darcy ran ahead and put her paws up on the duvet.
‘No, Darcy.’ Will covered the room in a couple of strides and gently lifted her paws off the fabric, stroking her fuzzy coat. He stood up straight, his eyebrows rising as he noticed her looking. ‘Are you sure this is OK? You’re not bending your rules for me, are you?’
Robin shook her head, enamoured by how softly he spoke to his dog. ‘Not much,’ she admitted. Will’s attention turned to the room, to the telescope in front of the balcony doors, a framed map of the constellations next to the glass, the modern, slate-grey furniture with subtle silver accents. She chewed the inside of her cheek. She’d put solar-powered sun and moon jars on the chest of drawers alongside the mini Kilner jars containing teabags and sugar sachets, but realized that unless she turned the LEDs on, guests wouldn’t know what they were.
‘The bathroom’s in there.’ She pointed to the only other door in the room. ‘And details about breakfast, and all the other information about the guesthouse, is in the pack on the dressing table.’
‘It’s a beautiful room,’ he said, as she put his holdall on the floor. ‘Are you a bit of a stargazer, then?’
‘Not at much as I’d like to be,’ she admitted. ‘I have good intentions, but never seem to take enough time to learn what everything is. But I do love the stars, and this room has a perfect view of them on a clear night.’
‘No light pollution over the sea.’ Will was moving slowly around the room, looking at everything. He stopped at the balcony doors, the curtains still open, and flipped the light switch that Robin had put there for that very purpose. The room was plunged into darkness, and she held her breath as Will peered out. After a moment, he turned. ‘It’s too cloudy tonight, so – oh!’
The pinprick lights that Robin had installed in the ceiling began glowing softly, casting the room, and Will, in an eerie bluish hue, like moonlight.
‘Nice touch,’ he said quietly. ‘So you get stars, even if they’re hiding behind cloud cover.’
‘They fade after a while. You can set the time they stay on, so you don’t have to sleep with it like this.’ She pointed to a small timer on the wall behind the headboard, then hugged her arms tightly around herself. It was close to one in the morning, but she felt as tight and fidgety as a wind-up toy desperate to be released. She hadn’t quite prepared herself for a guest staying in Starcross, and had definitely not been ready for Tabitha’s nephew to turn up and be so imposing. Was he imposing? He was certainly making his presence felt, but then Starcross was the smallest room, and there were three of them in it – if you counted Darcy.
‘Does she need some water? I’ve got a bowl downstairs.’
‘I’ve got that covered, at least.’ Will pulled a metal bowl out of an end-pocket of his holdall. ‘I didn’t know what I’d be faced with when I arrived. Clearly, I didn’t account for all eventualities.’ He indicated his sodden shirt.
‘I’d better leave you to it,’ Robin said, backing towards the door. ‘Let you get some sleep.’ She realized she hadn’t given him his keys. ‘Here you go. One key for this room, and one for the front door.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, his voice weighted with sincerity. ‘This room is perfect. Unique, granted, but not in the way I was imagining.’
‘What were you imagining?’
His green eyes fixed on hers for a moment, the smile there rather than on his lips. ‘Maybe I’ll tell you when we know each other a bit better. I’m not sure you’d appreciate it, and the last thing I want to do is get kicked out now I’ve found a great place to stay.’
Robin gave a nervous laugh. ‘OK, sleep well, then. I’m on the ground floor if you need anything. You or Darcy.’
‘Thank
