He got the trailer backed into the wide-open doorway of the barn they used for the distillery and jumped off the driving seat, pleasantly surprised by the hum of industry. When he’d been here ten years before, everything had been done by hand. But now sleek machines conveyed the destemmed grapes towards the sorting machine.

‘Anything I can do?’ he asked John as he came up to stand beside the man overseeing the operation.

‘You can keep Mrs Whittaker out of the distillery. That bloody woman …’

‘Consider it done,’ Henry promised.

‘Aside from that, you just have to do the speech.’

Henry felt the blood drain from his face and his stomach turn.

‘Speech?’

Lily stood back from putting the last finishing touches on to the cloth-covered table displaying the large picnic-style food she, Vihaan and Kate had put together. Well, mostly Vihaan and Kate, as they had shooed her out of the kitchen every time she got near.

Absentmindedly she scanned the groups of volunteers, some sitting and some standing around the area they’d created under the white tent. Benches and seating had been put out around the grass bank and throws scattered on the floor.

Each of the tables had large coolers with glistening bottles of white wine and rosé, the reds left out on the side by the glasses. Huge jugs of squash had already been nearly decimated by the thirsty teens who were filling the air with sounds of teasing and laughter. She caught sight of Kev staring longingly at Emma, surrounded by a group of her friends and the sight reminded her of Victoria, Malie and Zoe.

And suddenly she wished they were here, wished they could see this. Because this was why she loved Hawke’s Cove. The community coming together, the different generations and groups of people all laughing and celebrating a successful harvest. She knew that her friends thought she should have seen more of the world than she had. Done some of the things they had, escaped the confines of their childhood and experienced life out there. But, she thought, shaking her head, she really did have everything she needed right here.

She continued to scan the crowd for something – not quite sure what she was looking for – until she caught sight of Henry making his way towards her. It stole her breath and made her heart soar.

He was looking down, so he couldn’t see her staring. He looked so devastatingly handsome, his skin sun-kissed and building to a deep tan, his hair ruffled by hard work and the wind. His khaki T-shirt was no longer pristine, but slightly muddy and stained by grape juice from where he’d clearly wiped his hands on his flanks. The muscles in his strong arms were displayed to perfection, and the eye was drawn to narrow hips where his T was half tucked in at the waist of his jeans. It made her mouth water.