Bed & Breakfast Next to the Pink Roses Hotel

So what had changed?

Jesse wanted to talk to Mrs. Steel about the details of their new properties on the island and, Kathy supposed, about their intriguing telephone conversation. Luckily, the Musgrove family left the building right after the reading of the will. They intended to pack, so they said, and fly back home that same evening.

"We'll see you at the house before you go," answered Jesse, "for a proper farewell. We too have to catch a plane tonight."

There was still a grave expression on the three faces when they got into the elevator, but it had to be admitted that, besides that worrying fact, their behavior had been extremely polite and, had it not been for the suspicious absences and the lawyer's advice, Kathy would probably not have doubted that everything regarding Mrs. Sloan's testament had gone smoothly.

While her now acknowledged partner went over a few points with Mrs. Steel, she preferred to wait in the ground-floor lobby in a comfortable armchair. She was feeling dizzy - her stomach part agitated, part hungry - and Jesse not only understood but encouraged his pale companion to take a rest, with the unnecessary promise that he wouldn't take long and would later inform her of everything.

When she'd just installed herself in the wide armchair, the elevator door opened and Jesse appeared holding a machine white tea in one hand and a cereal bar in the other.

So there she was, feeling better by the second with her impromptu breakfast, and letting her mind wander over her most recent preoccupation: Had he said they had plane tickets for tonight? It was hard to decide whether to be angry or grateful. He was making plans that included her without her knowing, but, on the other hand - she looked at the steaming tea -, he was solving things out for her.

But was this what she wanted? That thrill every time he pronounced the word we?

And the thrill was not the worst part. What really should be worrying her, she thought, were the times she felt comfortable expecting him to do what he was doing. No, no, no, Kathy. You're in dangerous waters. She gave the cereal bar a bite. Hazelnut. David would have known she didn't like hazelnuts that much. Oh, great. Now she was thinking about David. Did she not have enough on her mind?

Let's just be practical here. She didn't have the energy to focus but on one thing at a time. And the most urgent was to decide whether or not to accompany Jesse on what was surely a trip to the island. To be fair, he had warned her that this would be the next step to take. She had chosen not to make up her mind on that point until everything was settled here - until she actually believed she had inherited something - and now the time had come - so fast - when she couldn't postpone it anymore.