He gave me a lopsided smile. ‘Deal. So now what? Do you want to go for breakfast, or …?’

My heart ached at the flatness of his voice; the sooner I got out of his sight the better. I made a show of looking at the time on my phone.

‘I think I’ll just head off, if that’s okay,’ I said bravely, pushing the duvet back, ready to get out of bed. ‘I’m sure you’ve got a lot of organizing to do.’

‘It can wait a bit longer. Come here.’

He folded me into his arms and held me tight. I clung on to him, imprinting the feel of his stubble and the smell of his skin and the warmth of his affection into my memory. This was going to be the longest six months of my life …

Three hours later, the train pulled into the station at Fernfield. I collected my belongings, which didn’t amount to much – I’d even left my cool bag in Fiona Love’s studio – and stepped on to the platform. The crisp air was a good few degrees cooler than London and I shivered as I headed for the car park.

There’d been a couple of messages on my phone, including one from Evie to say that she and Darren were bringing home Roni and Skipper, their rescue dogs, today and would I like to call round later to say hello. There hadn’t been any message from Jensen.

I paid the parking fee and climbed into the van. Before I started the engine I called Betsy.

‘It’s Lottie,’ I said brightly when she answered. ‘I’m in the village and on my way home; do you need anything from the shops while I’m out?’

‘Oh, there you are!’ she said. ‘We knocked at your cottage but there was no reply.’

‘We? Is Marjorie with you?’

‘No!’ Her voice was brimming with excitement. ‘You’ve got a visitor. A handsome male visitor.’

Jensen! I almost gasped with delight. He had obviously raced me back to declare he loved me and that he wasn’t going to take the job in Cape Town because he couldn’t bear us to be apart. To hell with my principles, I thought; this time I wasn’t going to argue.

‘How on earth did he manage to make it back from London before me?’ I said, laughing. ‘Tell him I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

‘Will do.’ Betsy half-covered the mouthpiece and called out loudly, ‘Harvey, dear, she’s on her way.’

My blood turned to ice with terror and I ended the call without saying another word. My heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t think. I gripped the steering wheel and forced myself to breathe.

What the hell was he doing here? What was I going to do? Evie. I’d call Evie. With fumbling fingers, I searched my phone for her number. She answered on the first ring.