SPOILERS!!!
I forgot to mention several characters that are also part of the novel.
Another guest this weekend is Colin Turner, who is a business. Twelve years ago Colin made a mistake by having an affair with Karen Griffith when his wife was going through post-natal depression five years after her last difficult delivery. Colin missed affection, but Karen was only ready to give him sex. As a result of their dalliance, Karen got pregnant and had a baby girl, Chelsay. The affair ended, but now once a week Colin spends a weekend with Karen and their daughter. This time they are going to Claire’s hotel. We can see that Karen is a very shallow, curse woman, and Colin only puts up with her because of Chelsay. The girl is lovely, but Colin can see that she has food problems as her mother keeps feeding her junk, sugary food, and this is one of the issues he wants to discuss with Karen. I like this subplot; Colin is a good man who made a mistake, and he tries to do his best by everyone. I wonder what will happen this weekend. Will he be found out?
Two other characters are Trevor and Monique Parfitt, who are investors in Claire’s hotel. They enjoy a luxurious life, and at first sight they look like the perfect couple. Yet, we know that there is some darkness in their life. Trevor reflects that his wife keeps hoping and expecting a phone call. From whom? Maybe their child? I can’t imagine what else could be so important. Maybe they fell out with their child? Or perhaps the child was kidnapped? We don’t know. This weekend the Parfitts have come to talk to Luca and Claire as they want to open another hotel in London. Luca is all for it, but Claire has her reservations, but she lets Luca get the upper hand.
The story with Nick and Claire becomes more and more interesting. We know get confirmation that Claire kept mum about Isobel’s disease. The woman’s plan was to have the best possible Christmas and New Year’s, and then using a trip to see some friends as a excuse, she would bid goodbye to her family and then go to a hospice. The only one who knee all her plans was Claire, who struggled and suffered to keep her secret. I think Isobel was unfair to demand secrecy from Claire, who was only seventeen. If she wanted to do this, she should have kept the secret to herself and avoided involving someone else. I can imagine that after her family learnt Isobel was dead, Nick must have known about Claire knowing, or maybe Claire told him herself. In the conversation that Nick and Isobel have, she mentions that back then Nick told him he didn’t want to see her again, so she went, and Nick tried to find her but he couldn’t. So this is what ended their relationship.
Claire tells most of her story to Angelica, and then when Luca appears and sees her drinking, he knows that something is not right. When Nick makes his appearance and Claire introduces him as an old friend, Luca becomes suspicion. He is right to do so. All day long, Claire can’t keep Nick away from her thoughts and seeks him out. Once she finds him on the quay and they hug and the conversation about the past ensues. Then before dinner, Claire realises that she is still in love with him and can’t cope with his presence. So she decides to go and tell him to go, so she climbs to his room. After some awkward moment, what was unavoidable happens, and they end up in bed. Nick tells her to go away with him, but Claire is uncertain because of what she would be losing. Nick claims that he has made up his mind. Does he mean that he won’t be marrying his fiancée? We don’t know the girl, but it is unfair of him to dump her only a week before the wedding, but it would be wrong to marry her if his heart is not in it and he is in love with somebody else. And what about Claire? I don’t think he is happy with Luca, so despite everything they share in terms of money and the business, she should consider what she feels.
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