I ignore the little pang. He did say that, and Fergus and Fiona did tell me it was nice to see his stall in action after October because usually it goes quiet. ‘And what about the trees? The Peppermint firs, Chels. He’s been taking care of this certain type of tree that Evergreene grew. He said it was because they were a special, scientifically perfect variety, but how can I ever tell now? How can I trust anything he’s said?’ My voice wobbles and I have to stop myself and take a few deep breaths, because I did trust him. I trusted him so much, and now I keep going over everything he’s ever said and questioning his hidden motives. I wish I could go back to before I knew and carry on thinking how lucky I was to have moved in next door to the most generous and thoughtful neighbour in existence.

‘If you didn’t care about him, you wouldn’t be so upset,’ she ventures. I can tell from her tone of voice that she’s half-expecting me to hang up on her.

I did care about him – that’s the problem. I’ve never felt the way Noel makes me feel before. And now to find out that he’s hidden something that changes everything …

The wind howls, making such a screaming noise outside that it echoes how I feel on the inside. Half the roof of an outbuilding sails past, crashing into the skeletal trees and lodging itself on the wire fence on the opposite side of the road.