I wanted to watch the same naff pantomime every year and amble in the woods where I knew every tiny footpath and most of the people who walked them.

It was my life to choose, and this was it.

And if I was being really honest with myself, I wanted to stay near enough to build on this accidental new friendship with Henry.

Okay, that wasn’t totally honest.

I wanted to see, in extreme private where there was no chance of any of our families ever finding out, whether perhaps we could be more than friends.

Saying no to Baxter Bigwood meant sorting out what the heck was going on with my current job, but for the first time in months, I felt determined enough to tackle that.

I’d just finished sending a brief, assertive, don’t-bother-trying-to-change-my-mind email to Baxter when the dogs started bouncing about by the back door, signalling that someone was approaching.

‘Hi,’ Adam breathed once I’d opened it, chest heaving as though he’d sprinted the whole way here. ‘I got your message.’

He followed me into the kitchen, leaning in for a hug when I came to a stop by the worktop, unsure whether or not to sit down.

‘How’s she doing?’

‘Much better, thanks. It’s going to be a while before she’s back on her feet, but we’re hopeful she’ll get there. I’m going over later.’

‘Excellent! That’s really excellent.’ Adam grinned, his dark-blond hair flopping over his forehead. ‘You’ll have time to go out for lunch with me first, then. I thought we could go to that place by the river, with the enclosed terrace. They’ve got a whole Winter Wonderland thing going on, with roasting chestnuts and a Michael Bublé impersonator.’

‘Oh… that does sound nice.’

‘And, if you need more convincing, there are horse-drawn carriage rides.’ He gave me a meaningful look. Adam knew, because he knew practically everything about me, that I’d been dreaming of a ride in a horse-drawn carriage since I’d read Anne of Green Gables. Once upon a time, we’d talked about including it in our wedding, before weddings became a taboo topic.

Stepping forwards, he placed his hands either side of my face, gently pushing my messy hair back as he met my gaze. ‘I thought this would help take your mind off things.’

I took a deep breath. ‘It probably would. But, honestly, I want my mind on things. I need to stop running away every time things get hard and learn how to process what’s going on, so I can figure out what to do.’

Adam nodded, lowering his gorgeous face closer until his forehead nearly touched mine. ‘I’d really like to help you with that.’