‘Does this count as Christmas food?’ I asked Dolly as I munched my way through what was probably more than my fair share of the sweet yet earthy treats. ‘Can I tick festive food off the list now I’ve eaten these?’

‘What is this list you keep mentioning?’ Beamish asked. ‘You were on about it the other day.’

I wasn’t going to tell him, but Dolly had no such qualms about sharing our secret.

‘It’s my secret weapon for making Hattie fall back in love with Christmas before she leaves these shores in the New Year,’ she told him.

‘And so far, it’s been nothing but hard work,’ I grumbled.

‘Give it time,’ Dolly said back.

‘But you’re going to Abu Dhabi, aren’t you?’ frowned Beamish. ‘Christmas there’s a bit different to here.’

‘I know,’ I told him. ‘I have been before.’

‘And did you like it?’

‘Not really,’ I said, wrinkling my nose, before quickly adding, ‘the Christmas bit, I mean.’

‘Then surely this list is a bit mean, Dolly.’ He frowned. ‘Why would you want to send Hattie off with a hankering for all the things you’re making her experience again when you know she won’t be able to have them out there?’

I hadn’t thought about it like that, but I wasn’t too worried. She still had a long way to go before I was back in love with any of it.

‘It’s about giving her the chance to make some memories to take with her as much as anything else,’ said Dolly, justifying her plan. ‘I want her to look back on this time we spent together fondly and remember Wynbridge in winter for all the right reasons.’

‘What might be the wrong ones?’ I frowned.

Dolly didn’t answer.

‘In that case,’ said Beamish, ‘you’ll have to show me this list. I might be able to help with it. I’m assuming you’ve put a kiss under the mistletoe somewhere near the top.’

‘Funnily enough,’ I tutted, ‘kissing isn’t featured anywhere on the list at all.’

‘Well,’ he said, screwing up the now empty chestnut bag and grinning. ‘We’ll have to see about that, won’t we? Or would your admirer not approve, Hattie?’

Jonathan most certainly would not approve of me kissing someone else, even with a bunch of mistletoe in the vicinity.

‘Right,’ said Dolly, before I could answer. ‘Why don’t we split up, that way we can buy our presents in secret? Let’s meet back here in an hour and then we can get going with the tour. Unlike the mistletoe, that’s definitely on the list.’

Whereas at the switch-on I had felt a little out place being among everyone who knew each other, I now found a few more familiar faces among the throng and there were plenty of people who knew me, even if I didn’t know them.