‘Do you know,’ she said, sounding perky, ‘I think you might be right. I was shaking like a leaf to begin with and gripped Godfrey’s arm so tightly that his wrist turned white, but then I got into my stride and … Oh, the power, I had the audience in the palm of my hand. I felt like a celeb. And then Clare turned up at the end with her son Ben. My eyes nearly popped out; he’s so handsome. I went all tongue-tied again.’

That was probably the longest speech I’d ever heard from her and her excitement made my heart fill with joy.

‘So we’ll be booking more events, then?’ I smiled.

‘Definitely. I’m thinking of ringing Good Morning Derbyshire to see if they’d like to come for a tour.’

‘The TV news show?’ I stared at the phone in disbelief. This was the woman who wouldn’t say boo to a goose only a week ago.

‘Absolutely. Butterworth Wines has been hiding in the shadows far too long,’ she said determinedly. ‘And so have I.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ I said, slurping the last of my coffee.

As soon as Pippa signed off, a call came through from my dad.

‘Hi, Dad!’

‘Not disturbing you, am I?’

‘Not at all, it’s lovely to hear from you!’

The two middle-aged ladies sharing a strawberry tart at the next table smiled at me and then each other indulgently.

‘Just wanted to say congratulations, love. Agnes and I have just listened to your interview on the internet.’

‘Ah, thank you!’ I said with a wave of love, imagining them both listening avidly in Germany. ‘I’ve never been so nervous in my life.’

There was a pause down the line.

‘I’m not surprised.’ He sounded hurt. ‘In my day, a young fellow asked the father’s permission before proposing to his girlfriend. Fancy me finding out from the radio that my daughter’s engaged to be married.’

I laughed. ‘I promise you, Dad, if a man were really to ask for my hand in marriage, you’d be the first to know.’

‘So you’re not engaged?’

‘No it was just a ruse, don’t worry.’

He sighed and I could picture him scratching his beard. ‘I’m confused.’

It took me a few minutes to convince him about my fake engagement and the two ladies at the next table didn’t even bother to hide the fact that they were totally enthralled by my tale. But eventually Dad saw the funny side, at which point I heard his voice tremble and he told me how proud he’d been to hear me talk on the radio.

‘And I didn’t realize you were so passionate about wine, love?’