It probably wouldn’t have taken quite so long to check through it all had Beamish not insisted on kissing me every time I passed under the mistletoe which Dolly had made him hang above every doorway, including those upstairs. She chuckled every time she saw us and said on more than one occasion that our partnership was the most perfect last Christmas present she could have wished for.

‘And talking of presents,’ she added the next time she commented, ‘yours will be arriving in a little while, Hattie so keep listening out for the doorbell, won’t you?’

Beamish cut the volume of the radio and grinned.

‘All right,’ I said, feeling somewhat uncertain.

Given that Dolly had gifted me an entire house and also explained that there was a small financial legacy to accompany it which would mean I wouldn’t be struggling to pay the bills while I established my new work routine, I didn’t think I needed another present, but knew better than to say as much. Dolly in a determined mood wasn’t a force anyone with an atom of sense argued with or contradicted.

A few minutes later the bell did ring and I was the one ushered to answer it.

‘Will it need signing for?’ I asked looking back over my shoulder as I pulled open the door.

Dolly and Beamish stood side by side, smiling idiotically.

‘No,’ Dolly laughed.

‘Hello, sweetheart.’

My eyes swung back to the door.

‘Mum!’ I gasped, ‘Dad!’

I couldn’t believe it.

‘Oh my god! What on earth are you doing here?’

I flung myself at my mother who wrapped me in her arms and held me tight.

‘I’ve missed you so much,’ she sobbed.

‘I’ve missed you too.’

I wasn’t quite crying, as I looked over her shoulder at my father’s face, but I was close to it. For once Dolly didn’t complain about the heat disappearing up the street and left us to our moment of joyful reunion.

‘This is such a surprise,’ I sniffed as the tears finally made a bid for freedom and I stepped back to let them in. ‘I didn’t think we were going to see each other until after the new year.’

‘Well,’ said Dad, hugging me hard as he followed Mum inside, ‘we didn’t like the thought of having to wait and when Dolly telephoned, inviting us to pay a surprise call, we thought we’d take her up on her kind offer and come straightaway.’

‘When did you do that?’ I asked Dolly.

She looked a little flushed, but not at all guilty.

‘As soon as Beamish told me of your decision to delay your reunion because you didn’t want to leave me,’ she explained. ‘He told me you were going to email and change your plans so I thought I’d interfere, just one last time.’

‘But how did you get their number?’