The Garden of Lavender and Time

Settled in Cornwall again, Maisie still has a book in the top one hundred -- and a film rights deal to boot, thanks to Arnold -- although she's still a maid at the Penmarrow, at least for now.

Life seems impossibly idyllic as of old, with Dean resettling at his cottage in Port Hewer and its guest room now regularly occupied by Alex. Maisie remembers to call him 'Sidney' on a full-time basis as he teaches her the secrets to chess, and begins reading the forgotten manuscript to his unfinished fourth novel.

When Sidney makes the decision to sell his London flat, it looks as if his return is permanent. Adele isn't happy about that choice, however, and making her feelings all too clear to the one person she knows could change his mind. Additionally, the one secret Dean hasn't told Maisie changes everything about the fourth novel's role in the career of Alistair Davies. At the Penmarrow, wedding bells hint at a future shakeup that could alter the hotel's fate -- as well as that of one member of staff in particular.

The future still looks bright however, as Maisie and Sidney ponder the strength of the bond they have re-forged, and what a future together will look like. Now Sidney considers a decision that will make Cornwall his home permanently -- and offers both her and Dean a chance to return to the last moment of happiness all three of them shared as friends before the accident.