I suspected it before I’d even started unwrapping, but it didn’t lessen the glow that spread up from my belly and across my face as I removed the paper. Henry had bought me a small gift box of chocolate, on which was printed ‘Best Christmas Ever because it’s with you’.

He shrugged, ears pink and expression uncertain. ‘It was all they had left, and, you know. I thought it might be funny.’

‘Funnier than your other present, that’s for sure.’ I looked at him, feeling fidgety and almost flustered as he opened his to discover the exact same gift.

His eyebrows raised briefly in surprise before he looked back at me, eyes intent, all trace of humour gone though he was still just about smiling. ‘Thank you. I love it.’

‘Me, too.’

‘Duly noted for future presents: chocolate, yes, creepy animatronics, no.’

‘Duly noted: Henry is going to buy me future presents.’

‘Contrary to all reason and logic, Armstrong Christmases have kind of grown on me. I think I’ll stick around for another one.’

‘Speaking of which…’

‘Definitely time to get back to it.’ He picked up his bag and walked over to the door.

‘Um, haven’t you forgotten something?’

Henry glanced around, momentarily confused.

‘My other present.’

‘You want to bring the elf?’

I looked at him askance. ‘You think I’m passing up the chance to inflict Frankenstein’s Elf on my family?’

Fifteen minutes later we were off, our new passenger strapped into the back seat.

19

It was a careful crawl on the smaller roads, but once we joined the motorway the gritters had done their job and the only reminder of the previous night’s chaos was a thin layer of brown slush. The traffic was quiet, and we soon settled into a steady pace that would have us home in time for a late Christmas lunch.

I was fizzing with anticipation as we headed back to Charis House and the jolliest, cheesiest Christmas playlist would have summed up my mood perfectly. However, I had to acknowledge that, at some point during the past two days, Henry and I had become an us, and it felt completely natural to scroll past ‘Christmas Bangers’ and settle on ‘A Classical Christmas’.

For the first hour or so, I focused on my phone. There were more video messages from home, including Frankie and Daisy imploring me to hurry up and get back, because Grandma said they weren’t allowed to open presents without me. My social media channels also had numerous Christmas GIFs and greetings from viewers, to which I sent replies ranging from a simple ‘like’ to a paragraph, depending upon who had sent it.

Mrs Lewinski hadn’t got a mobile phone, let alone a Facebook account, but she’d spent the last few Christmases alone, so as per usual I gave her a call.