Always and Forever, chapter 1

I'm looking forward to this book! All Else Confusion made me cranky, so this will be a nice change. I have a "larger print" version of this book - it's not a trade paperback, as older large-print Bettses are, but a mass market paperback with slightly larger type. Most of the people I know who like Bettses (aside from me, I mean) are over 60, so I shouldn't be surprised by the larger print.
Amabel, our heroine, runs a B&B with her mother, who is visiting Amabel's sister in Canada. Amabel isn't happy about being left at home alone, but puts a brave face on it. She's a jolie laide - "with a face which, while not pretty, was redeemed by fine brown eyes" and long, pale brown hair (p. 5). She has a dog, Cyril, and a cat named Oscar.
One day, during a storm, Dr. Oliver Fforde and his mother knock on the door, asking to stay because the weather's awful for driving. He drives a Rolls Royce, by the way, which is a nice change from Bentleys. Of course Amabel is a good cook and a good host, and it's not surprising that Oliver and Amabel get along well. In the days that follow the Ffordes' departure, Amabel proves to be a capable B&B manager. Oliver stops by one day to see how she's doing, and takes her out to lunch.
At the end of the chapter, Amabel receives a letter from her mother, explaining the delay in her return from Canada: she has met a market gardener, and after they marry they will convert the B&B into a working garden, so Amabel should feel free (that's a strong hint, there!) to go find a career. Amabel assesses her skills (p. 30: "She could cook - not quite cordon bleu, perhaps, but to a high standard - she could housekeep, change plugs, cope with basic plumbing. She could tend a garden... Her pen faltered. There was nothing else."). Of course she has A levels, but she decides that working as a waitress, or for the National Trust (as a house guide, or in a teashop) would be a better fit.
I was delighted by her mother's letter, because I didn't know how to categorize this book before I read it. Her mother's cool assumption that Amabel will keep the B&B running until her mother's return several months hence, and the strong hint that she won't be wanted after that, make this book an ungrateful family title. Yippee!