Zoe and Finn had slowly restored Merrow’s Rest which had been the scene for many a beautiful evening spent with the entire gang, and when she wasn’t being a fabulous host, or travelling the world with Finn as he added to his luxury property portfolio, she was furiously writing, adding yet another heart-pounding romance to her hugely successful, incredibly sought-after bestselling book list.

‘Yes! Please!’ cried Victoria, who loved coming down from London with Oliver, Isobel and Louis. Although they had a beautiful holiday home in Hawke’s Cove, they were regular visitors to Merrow’s Rest and the Hawkesbury estate. After the roaring success that was Russell & Co’s London store, Oliver had been able to take the big step back from the family business that he’d always wanted to do and focus, instead, on his charity for under-privileged children, The Russell Trust.

Lily laughed at Victoria’s response. ‘Will Nisha let you away from VSD for long enough?’

‘I’m sure she will allow me the time away,’ Victoria replied drolly. ‘Actually, she and Jasmine are both working on a pay-it-forward programme that has them utterly thrilled.’

‘Pay-it-forward?’ asked Zoe.

‘For the scholarships?’ Lily asked, and Victoria nodded with such pride in her eyes it was clear it came straight from her heart. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Victoria Scott Designs had been a roaring success and was not only very much in demand, but it had also allowed Victoria to employ Nisha and Jasmine after gifting them with scholarships to attend university.

‘I love that idea,’ Malie said, going a little teary-eyed with sentimentality.

‘Malie?’ Zoe asked, clearly surprised at the deeply emotional reaction.

‘Oh, don’t mind me,’ she said, flapping at her eyes.

‘Hormones,’ all the girls replied at the same time, descending into a round of laughter that was rooted in love and friendship.

‘Mummy, Mummy, Mummy.’ Lily’s heart flared at the sound of her son’s voice and she turned just in time to catch Jamie as he ran into her arms.

‘Hey, sweet pea. You OK?’ she asked, affectionately running her fingers through the mop of thick dark curling waves on his head, even as he tried to veer away from the maternal touch.

‘Muuuuum,’ he groaned, casting a look to the older children, checking no one was watching, before leaning back into her touch. ‘Can we light the lanterns yet? Can we? Pleeeeeease.’

‘Not yet, my love. In about half an hour, when the sun is setting, they’ll look much better, I promise.’

Jamie pouted but finally shrugged a shoulder and told her that it was OK, he could wait.

‘Where’s your sister?’ Henry asked from where he’d been talking to Finn just beyond the edge of the gazebo.

‘Rose is with Louis, looking for crab shells,’ he yelled over his shoulder as he ran off to join the football.

‘I’m just going to go and—’