She opened the door and we both stepped outside. The wind whistled round my ears so loudly that although I could see Evie’s mouth moving, I couldn’t hear a thing. Above us, the sky was charcoal grey and menacing. The noise of the trees blowing and bending so violently sounded like the roar of the sea. In the distance I heard a rumble and I felt a wave of fear ripple through me.

‘Is that thunder?’ I yelled, but Evie didn’t hear me. I grabbed her arm to lead her to the double gates at the side entrance to the vineyard. Matt came running up behind us and tapped my shoulder. I spun around to read his lips.

‘The rain will be here in minutes,’ he bellowed, holding his palms up.

I nodded. It wasn’t raining yet, but it was in the air, I could feel it. ‘I’m calling the harvest off now.’

He stuck his thumb up. ‘Just tell people to pick up a crate, even if it’s only half-full and bring it to the winery.’

Evie shouted as loud as she could. ‘I’ll run right to the bottom and let as many know as I can. Lottie, you focus on the top section.’ She sprinted off and I envied how nimble she was. Even if I hadn’t been pregnant, my feet were aching too much to run like that.

‘Where’s Clare and the quadbike?’ I yelled.

He pointed to the path. ‘She and Ben are loading up the trailer with the last full crates.’

Overhead there was a second thunder roll and the two of us separated: me towards the vineyard and Matt back to the winery.

‘Stay safe,’ he warned, calling over his shoulder.

The quadbike was heading towards me between the line of conifers and the first row of vines. The tall thin evergreens were swaying dangerously from side to side and even from a distance, I could see Clare was frightened. She was clinging on for dear life, lying almost flat over the steering wheel and driving at a snail’s pace so as not to tip up the trailer and lose the precious cargo. She hadn’t even spotted me so I stepped back, pressing myself into the trees out of her way as she passed by.

Just then Godfrey appeared at the end of the row, staggering under the weight of a full crate, with Starsky yapping at his feet. The dog ran out in front of the quadbike and I yelped in horror.

‘STOP!’ I cried, barely able to look.

Clare spotted the dog at the last second and jammed on the brakes. I don’t think she’d even heard me, although Starsky had. He scampered up to me unharmed.

‘You silly dog!’ I said, scooping him up out of harm’s way.

Godfrey heaved the crate on to the trailer and waved at Clare to carry on.