I wasn’t sure that if Beamish had a secret girlfriend tucked away somewhere that he hadn’t mentioned, I would have been so ready to forgive, but none the more for that, I was very grateful that he was.

‘And Dolly’s gut feeling was right about Jonathan, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it was. She knew he was no good for me but didn’t want to risk our friendship by saying too much. She knew I was going to need her eventually and thought it best to just bide her time. I can’t believe I was so blind to it all.’

‘Well, they do say love is blind,’ Beamish pointed out.

‘It wasn’t love,’ I said, ‘I thought I was in love with him but I wasn’t. I know that now.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because,’ I said, stretching up and brushing my lips softly against his again, ‘what I feel for you is completely different.’

‘Oh really?’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you’re the real deal, Beamish. My feelings for you run far deeper.’

‘In what way?’ he asked, kissing me back.

‘Well,’ I said, ‘for a start, I don’t care if you’ve seen me with no make-up on and still in my PJs at lunchtime. I don’t care if we bump into each other and I’ve got the wrong clothes on. With Jonathan it was all show, I was always on show. I was more of an accessory on his arm, one willing to accept his opinions rather than share and stick up for my own.’ I stopped and bit my lip.

‘It’s all right,’ said Beamish, ‘I don’t mind you talking about him.’

‘It’s not that,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It’s embarrassing, looking back and seeing how stupid I was, how easy to manipulate. I’m not a doormat, am I?’

‘No,’ said Beamish, pulling me back into his embrace. ‘You’re not. Jonathan was the problem, not you. Men like him are so convinced that they’re the centre of the universe that they leave no room for anyone else to enter their orbit. The idiots.’

I snuggled back down, thanking my lucky stars and Dolly, of course, for bringing me to Wynbridge and introducing me to Beamish.

‘Anyway,’ he said, tickling me and making me giggle, ‘I know I said I didn’t mind you talking about him, but I’ve heard enough for one day. I want to talk about you now, Hattie.’

‘Me,’ I said, ‘what about me?’

‘Well, for a start, are you still planning to visit your parents before Christmas? There’s only a couple of days left now.’