Holly could see that he was tired, he had been working double shifts at the hospital for most of the week, so she suggested, ‘Why don’t you come back to the house to have dinner with the family? It’s time they met you.’

He stared at her intently for a moment, hoping that this meant she was ready to take their courtship another stage further. Harry had never met a girl like Holly and knew now that he had fallen deeply in love with her.

‘But surely they won’t be expecting me?’

Holly laughed. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. Cook always makes far too much food so there’ll be more than enough to go round and I’d like you to meet my mother and my grandfather properly.’

‘In that case I’d be delighted to accept your kind invitation,’ he answered and lifting her hand he kissed it gently before tucking it into his arm. It was turning out to be a good day, even if he was so tired he could have slept standing up!

Even though his visit was unexpected, the family greeted him warmly and over dinner Harry got on like a house on fire with Holly’s grandfather as they discussed the ever-increasing unrest abroad.

‘It’ll lead to a war, you just mark my words,’ Gilbert said as he bit into a juicy pork chop covered in apple sauce, just the way he liked it.

‘Father, please!’ Emma glanced at Harry apologetically. ‘This is really no topic for the dinner table.’

‘Hmph! I suppose you’d rather talk about the plans for the wedding,’ he grunted with a wicked wink at Harry. ‘You don’t know what I have to suffer,’ he confided with a martyred sigh. ‘The women are runnin’ about like headless chickens getting everything organised. This should turn out to be the weddin’ of the century! An’ she said she didn’t want a fuss when they first got engaged an’ all. Women, eh?’

Harry smiled good-naturedly. ‘I do believe it’s supposed to be one of the happiest days of a woman’s life, or so my mother tells me. She’s always dropping hints about when it will be my turn,’ he added with a twinkle in his eye as he glanced towards Holly who blushed furiously. Suddenly she wondered if inviting him to meet the family had been such a good idea after all.

As soon as he left, her mother told her, ‘What a delightful young man. And a doctor too!’

‘Now don’t go reading too much into it,’ Holly scolded. ‘Harry and I are merely good friends.’

‘Hmm … merely good friends,’ her mother teased but then thankfully she had to dash away to get ready for Walter to call for her.

Ivy had more than a word to say about the situation too when she caught Holly alone in the dining room. ‘You’re a dark horse.’ She grinned. ‘Why didn’t you tell me it had got to the stage where you wanted him to meet the family?’