About the book
Spring is returning to Alderwick, and Amanda Tomlin is taking stock. Six months after opening her gallery, she has survived the winter, begun painting again and grown closer to Gary. But the accounts still need attention, and making time for a life of her own takes practice.
For hotel receptionist Chloe Cunningham, a great green wave is the first picture she truly wants for her rented flat. She and her husband, Dirk, are living apart, though affection and familiar habits still connect them. Then a small brass key appears among the painted shingle—an object missing from the photograph taken when she bought it.
Amanda wants to help. Her first attempt to explain the key, however, says more about her own hopes than Chloe’s wishes. As Virginia Jenkins receives a cautious letter from her estranged daughter, the lives around the gallery offer no easy answers. Between shared meals, unfinished paintings and a home gradually taking shape, Amanda must learn how to offer company without deciding where somebody else belongs.
