The rain is bouncing off his shoulders and all I want to do is wrap myself around him and give him a hug. I force myself to think sensibly and get to the bottom of this while he’s talking. ‘You’ve done so much for this place, spent so much time helping me and teaching me. You’ve let me use your land for the caravan and the space on your stall. You’ve grown trees for me. You’ve gone out of your way to make sure customers come back this year, and from day one, you’ve said I don’t belong here. Why would you do any of that if you’re not planning on being the next buyer? You’ve made it blazingly obvious that you don’t think I’m going to stay.’

‘I thought that. I don’t still think it. You’ve surprised me every day. You’ve impressed me every day with your fresh ideas and positivity. You’ve made me feel excited about life again because of how much you’re excited about this place. I was trying my hardest not to get close to you, because the last time I fell in love with someone …’ His voice breaks and he stops.

‘They took everything they could get out of you and then left?’

He looks away.

‘How could you ever think that?’ I ask, even though I already know the answer is because of how badly he’s been hurt before. ‘You’re amazing, Noel. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. You’ve made me believe in myself. You’ve made me believe in magic. You’ve made me laugh when it was the last thing I felt like doing. You’ve made me feel capable of jumping headfirst into this huge life change and like I wasn’t crazy for doing it. And you’ve made me feel like I’m home.’