‘We missed you all too much. Christmas isn’t Christmas without your loved ones, is it? Nan’s known we were coming for the past few days but we thought we’d surprise you.’ Mo extricated herself to hug Nan and Brett, too.

The Bus safely parked, Jeremy hurried up for another round of cuddles and the family ignored the jostling of the shoppers around them as they caught up on all the news.

Teo’s plaintive voice broke in. He looked decidedly chilly in his chef whites. ‘Hannah, are we going to get my demonstration going?’

‘Sorry!’ she called back hastily. She beamed around her family. ‘This morning’s crazy.’

‘We’re ready to see Middledip again so we won’t linger,’ Mo declared, hugging her again. ‘You’re in your element amongst all these pretty shops, aren’t you? I’m proud of you, Hannah.’

The afternoon whizzed by in a flood of people flowing in and out of festively twinkling shops as if they had only this one day to accomplish all their Christmas shopping. Christopher Carlysle sought Hannah out. ‘Bloody amazing,’ he boomed. ‘Can’t thank you enough. The traders should finally be happy we’ve kept to our agreements.’

It was as if he’d never been rude or unfair. Hannah smiled sweetly, her mind more on the continued non-appearance of Nico and family than Christopher finally dismounting his high horse. She heard her name called for the hundredth time that day and hoped six p.m. would hurry up so she could call at Honeybun Cottage and check everything was OK.

Nico’s day began badly.

The girls had jumped in the bath together and he’d been sorting out clean towels when he’d heard Josie give a horrified squawk. ‘That’s my dad’s phone!’

Nico whipped around but was too late to stop Maria scrubbing his phone industriously with a yellow, duck-shaped sponge.

‘I jus’ washing it!’ Maria protested indignantly, hiding the phone … underwater.