‘I can see that Dolly did have her heart in the right place. She knew you were living a lie and wanted to give you the space to see it. She genuinely thought she was doing the right thing, by you at least.’

‘She was offering me an escape,’ I whispered when he didn’t say anything else. ‘My time here and the Wish List have been all about rediscovering the person I was before I fell under Jonathan’s spell.’

‘And at least that worked,’ said Beamish, his tone softer. ‘And you know,’ he added, ‘we were great friends, weren’t we?’

‘Oh yes,’ I agreed, ‘the best. We might not have known each other for long, but something between us just seemed to click. I’ve never had a friendship like yours, Beamish, except perhaps with Dolly.’

I hated the thought of losing them both.

‘Let’s still be friends then,’ he said, standing up and pulling me to my feet. ‘Friends forgive each other, don’t they? Why don’t we start again?’

‘Really?’

It was the very thing I had been wishing for but I hadn’t thought it would be granted.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘unless you don’t want to?’

‘Of course I want to,’ I told him. ‘More than anything.’

‘That’s settled then,’ he said, pulling me in for a hug. ‘Let’s forget about the bad bits and focus on the good.’

‘All right,’ I agreed.

I felt the weight of guilt lifting from my shoulders just as the sun began to peep through the breaking cloud and the sound of distant drumming met my ears. The solstice celebration was about to begin.

‘I’d really love that,’ I said, my eyes now shining with much happier tears.

‘Life’s too short not to, isn’t it?’ he grinned.

‘It certainly is,’ I swallowed, my thoughts tracking back to Dolly.

‘Come on then,’ Beamish carried on smiling. ‘Let’s go and welcome the return of the sun and the beginning of our re-formed friendship.’

We set off towards where the music was coming from and I knew I really couldn’t have wished for a happier outcome.

I didn’t understand everything that was said and done during the ceremony which was conducted by Molly and during which every member of the Connelly clan played a part, but I did enjoy searching for the yule-log which Catherine insisted I should choose and take back to Dolly.

‘I know she will have no doubt made the chocolate equivalent,’ Catherine smiled, ‘but this is important too.’

I picked a smallish log that I would be able to manage to get into the taxi for the return journey.

‘How did you get here?’ Beamish asked as we made our way back towards the hall as the sun dipped out of sight and darkness began to settle around us.