He bursts out laughing again. ‘See? I laugh now. I didn’t laugh before. And I know people around here will tell you that I’m pleasant and friendly and I help them out where I can, but all of my interactions have been superficial. Every time I give them a smile, it’s surface only, inside I’ve felt nothing. I always picture my heart as cold, dark, and hard, like a lump of coal, and the only thing that’s made it glow again in the last few years was getting Gizmo, and then you came along and made me laugh about drunken trees and something lit up inside me.’

‘When did you get him?’ I ask, mainly to distract myself because the idea that I could make anyone’s heart glow when I’ve felt so cold and detached for the past couple of years is making me feel so fluttery and overheated that I might actually be in danger of throwing up, passing out, or both. And that’s really not the way to end this amazing night, with this amazing man who makes something inside of me glow too.

‘I didn’t get Gizmo, Gizmo got me. He picked me out as his new dad the moment we saw each other. Evergreene always donated a tree to the nearest animal shelter, and I went to deliver it. Walked into reception and one of the volunteers was about to take this little Chihuahua out for a walk. I had the tree over my shoulder so she stopped to let me through the door, and he ran over and put his paws up on my leg. It was love at first sight.’ He’s getting choked up as he speaks. ‘I had no intention of getting a dog, and if I had then it would’ve been a working farm dog, not a toy handbag dog. I used to laugh at little dogs like him walking along the road in their jumpers and coats. But the moment I saw him, I dropped the tree and picked him up, and there was never a moment of doubt that he was coming home with me. I made the woman wait while I registered and reserved him and then went out for the walk with them, and honestly, I was in tears most of the way. It was this wave of emotion that I never thought I’d be capable of feeling again. That was seven years ago and he still makes my life better every day.’

There’s something about a man who isn’t afraid to admit how much he loves his dog that makes him seem like a genuinely good person. And completely irresistible. I squeeze his hand and move until I can get my lips somewhere near his, but I just end up smashing my mouth against the side of his face, halfway between his eye and ear.