I was wet through and covered in mud. Storm Sandra was in full force and I didn’t have the energy to fight her any more. I put my hand on my tummy to soothe the baby, but it was still, at least it had stopped head-butting me. You’re tired too, eh? Like Mummy. I’m so tired, so very tired …

There was a stabbing pain along my side. I pressed my hand into it, flopping over on to my hip, and winced. I’d probably strained a muscle lifting that tree trunk. Still, no harm done, crisis over. Around me the activity continued: Dad sawing the tree into pieces and everyone rolling sections of the trunk away. I vaguely registered the sound of a siren and then someone leaning over me.

‘Lottie? Lottie, it’s Evie, don’t cry, lovely girl. Come on, let’s get you inside. Godfrey’s going to be okay, a paramedic has arrived.’

The roar of the chainsaw stopped and I heard people running and Godfrey groaning and Agnes’s voice soothing him. The rain and the wind were relentless. Evie brushed strands of my hair from my face and then swore under her breath.

‘What the hell?’ said a gruff male voice. It was vaguely familiar, but I was too tired to open my eyes.

‘Everything’s going to be fine now, Lottie,’ Evie murmured. ‘Let’s get you inside, you need some rest.’

Someone lifted me up roughly. I didn’t register who it was or have the words to whisper my thanks. I tried to say that they’d got the wrong person – it was Godfrey not me who needed to go to hospital – but it was too much effort. I closed my eyes and a coat was laid over me, covering most of my face to protect it from the downpour. I was being carried now, back uphill, and even though my body was shivering uncontrollably, I felt warmer, safer already, and I turned into the man’s chest. The smell of him was so vivid, so particular, that its effect was like smelling salts. I inhaled again and felt a sob forming in my throat. The paramedic wore the same cologne as the man I’d fallen in love with. The smell reminded me of happy times, chasing starlings through the vines, seeing my baby for the first time on the scanner, snuggling together on his sofa …

My eyes sprang open and I gasped.

‘Jensen?’ I blinked. This must be a dream, a delicious dream. ‘I thought you were on a flight to …?’ Where was it again? My brain felt all fuzzy.

‘Just as well I’m not.’ His voice was strained. Partly with anger but also from struggling through this rain and mud with me in his arms. ‘What the hell did you think you were doing?’

‘Harvesting grapes before Storm Sandra hit? It got a bit messy that’s all.’