Leaping out at Kents Bank (barely before the train had stopped), Jamie slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, then sprinted through the small wood that skirted the grounds of Mary Vale House. Following the track that led to Mary Vale Farm, Jamie spotted a little plume of smoke rising from the cottage just beyond the farm gate. Jumping over the drystone wall, he rushed to the front door that was standing wide open.

‘ADA!’

‘Jamie, Jamie!’ she answered and flew into his open arms. ‘Darling,’ she sobbed, as her tears mingled with his kisses.

‘Oh, my love,’ he murmured into her glorious hair, which had grown even thicker and longer in his absence. Holding her close to his heart, Jamie could have willingly stayed right there for a very long time, but their baby, complaining at being squeezed too hard, gave Ada a protesting kick in the ribs, causing her to laughingly pull away.

‘Gosh!’ Jamie exclaimed, as his eyes swept over Ada’s vast burgeoning tummy. ‘You’ve grown.’

‘I should jolly well hope so,’ Ada grinned.

Tenderly feeling the shape of her tummy, Jamie enquired, ‘Aren’t you uncomfortable?’

‘I was when I was working full time,’ Ada admitted. ‘Less so now – at least I get to lie down and rest when I need to.’

Jamie pulled her close again but this time less forcefully. ‘I have been worrying myself sick about you,’ he confessed.

Seeing the tears in his hazel eyes, Ada gently stroked his thick, tawny-brown hair.

‘I’ve been very well,’ she soothed. ‘My only complaint is your child has very strong legs and powerful little fists.’

‘Then I’ll have to have a word with him or her,’ he answered in a mock stern voice. ‘No more kicking Mummy!’

‘Come on,’ Ada urged and drew away. ‘My mission is to feed you up while you’re home, so sit down while I make you some tea and you can sample my first-ever gingerbread.’

‘Not until I’ve had a tour of our cottage,’ Jamie insisted.

After inspecting the cosy little sitting room, the baby’s room and finally their large airy bedroom with breathtaking views of Cartmel Forest, loud with the call of songbirds and cackling pheasants, Jamie returned to the kitchen, where, while eulogizing about Farm Cottage, he polished off most of the gingerbread and a whole pot of tea. Finally, his long journey, excitement and non-stop talking got the better of Jamie, who, as his energy levels dropped, visibly slumped before Ada’s eyes.

‘Come on, my darling,’ she said tenderly, as she took him by the hand. ‘You need to catch up on your sleep.’

Obediently following his wife upstairs, Jamie grumbled, ‘I don’t want to waste our precious time together sleeping.’

‘If you don’t get some rest, you’ll nod off with your head on the kitchen table,’ she teased.

Once upstairs in their bedroom, bleary-eyed Jamie struggled to get his clothes off.