‘Let’s go then,’ I said, turning back and stuffing the note deep into my pocket, ‘before we freeze to death.’

Beamish didn’t seem to notice the cold, the rain or the weight of my luggage, which he carried out of the station without so much as a grimace. I had to practically trot to keep pace with him but didn’t feel much warmer for the effort.

‘What’s happened to your face?’ I asked, catching a longer look at him as the wind blew back the saturated hood of his coat and he stowed my soaked bags into the boot and behind the driving seat of his mud-splattered Toyota truck. It was an unusual choice of vehicle for a taxi, but then Wynbridge was rather rural. Perhaps it was what was needed to ferry passengers around the country lanes at this time of year.

‘I came off worst in the scrum last weekend,’ he told me, as he pushed his soaked hair away from his face.

I had no idea what he was talking about.

‘Rugby,’ he elaborated. ‘I play rugby for the town.’

Given his bulk I shouldn’t have been surprised. He really was extraordinarily well built. Almost as broad as he was tall.

‘Oh,’ I said, still taking him in. ‘Right.’

It was a shame to subject a face like his to what was probably a weekly battering. Had it not been for the bumps and bruises he could have been quite handsome, in a rough and ready sort of way.

‘Do you want to hop in,’ he said, ‘and we’ll get off. Dolly can’t wait to see you.’

‘Yes,’ I blushed, embarrassed to have been caught staring. ‘Thanks.’

He looked somewhat taken aback as I climbed into the space behind the passenger seat but didn’t say anything. There was no way I was getting in the front. The footwell looked filthy and besides, travelling alone I didn’t feel it was appropriate to sit next to the driver even if Dolly had sent him.

‘Are you comfortable back there?’ he asked, his smile making the corners of his eyes crinkle. ‘With any luck,’ he carried on, firing up the engine, turning up the heat and quickly cutting the volume of the radio which blared out, ‘we’ll be in town before it gets dark and you can get a look at the place, even if it is from the back seat. We’re really gearing up for Christmas now.’

He sounded every bit as excited by the mention of the ‘C’ word as Dolly.

‘Oh right,’ I said, rummaging in my bag for some tissues to wipe my face and my phone so I could text Jonathan and let him know I’d almost arrived. ‘Great.’