‘Bea, please don’t be offended by me commenting on your personal appearance, but if you could manage not to be so terrified, you’d look stunning. I told you this morning, Baxter loves your work, you’ve really no need to panic.’

‘I’m not panicking,’ I said, now panicking at how panicked I must look.

‘Okay. Maybe tell your face that?’ Melody said, with an apologetic scrunch of her nose.

Henry turned to me, his face so serious it made me feel even worse. ‘She’s right. You look beautiful.’

‘Even though I’m not dressed like the real Bea?’

He swept his eyes up and down my whole body, and for a second I felt an inexplicable zap of electricity. It had been a while since someone had looked at me like that, and it only made me feel even more ruffled. Until, that was, his gaze came to rest on mine. And then I remembered it was Henry, who had known me forever and in all that time had never once lied to make me, or anyone else, feel better.

‘You look like Bea. Just a Bea that we don’t get to see very often.’ He crinkled his eyes. ‘Party Bea.’

He then crooked his elbow in invitation like the elderly gentleman he’d always been, and when I slipped my quaking arm through his and he patted my hand, murmuring, ‘You’ve got this,’ I decided to try my best to believe him.

‘Bea Armstrong!’ The familiar voice boomed across the library, causing the handful of people perched on futons and leather sofas to twist their heads around as one, reminding me of the elves outside.

Baxter Bigwood didn’t leave his position, propped against a grand piano, but he did open his arms and wave them at me, like a rancher gesturing to a timid horse.

‘See this, swanning in nearly an hour late as easy as you please!’ He stopped waving and jabbed a finger at me. ‘That’s the kind of confidence that puts you top of the leader board, before we’ve even started. Melanie!’ He scanned around, as if searching for a lost pair of glasses, despite the fact that Melody was walking right beside me. ‘Update the rankings immediately!’

‘Yes, Basil.’ Melody arched one eyebrow at her boss as she handed Betty to Henry, who was too startled to object, took the iPad out of a hidden pocket in her Santa skirt and started tapping.