Then several people arrived at once. James and Chloe, with the twins who were delighted to be staying up late drinking lemonade and eating chocolate. Emma’s parents, who had driven over from Rothbury, soon followed. Her family had supported her so much, not just with the chocolate shop but with everything since Luke had died. She didn’t know how she would have managed without them.

‘Hello, darling,’ her mum greeted her with a warm hug. ‘My, this looks wonderful in here. What a difference.’

A difference that they had kindly funded and Emma was so grateful. ‘Yes, I’m so pleased with it,’ she said. ‘And thank you both so much for your help with it all.’

Her mum clasped her hands together joyfully as she looked about her. ‘You are so welcome.’

‘Hello, Dad.’

Her father, Geoff, was bringing up the rear as usual with a bottle of bubbly and some gorgeous flowers. ‘Hello, love.’

‘Aw, these are so pretty. Thank you. I hadn’t even thought of flowers. They will look great on one of my new tables.’ She gave him a one-armed hug as the bouquet was handed across. She introduced her parents to Max (as a friend). She saw her mother’s eyebrow twitch slightly as she gave her daughter the most subtle of glances; was her mum’s intuition kicking in already or was Emma just feeling sensitive? Emma left them chatting to Bev as she went off to find a vase to pop the bouquet of pink and cream roses in.

Lucy and Olivia then spotted their grandparents and ran up to them keeping them busy with their animated chatter.

When Emma came back just a few minutes later with the flowers in a glass vase, Bev was serving Prosecco to Holly and Adam who had just arrived. Maureen and Ron then appeared, closely followed by Danny from the pub with his latest girlfriend, a pretty girl with a mass of wavy blonde hair, who he introduced as Clara.

Soon The Chocolate Shop Café was more than cosy, more like bulging at the seams as Sheila from the village stores arrived, bringing along old Mrs Clark with her. Emma found a space for them to sit down in one of the new window-seat areas and they had to leave the shop door open at this point so some of the guests could spill out on to the street. A few more friends and acquaintances from the village community arrived, as well as a guy from the local newspaper with a huge camera slung round his neck. That sight filled Emma with a touch of dread – she hated being the centre of attention, but she knew she ought to say a few words. After all, that was the whole point of the evening. So, she topped up everyone’s glasses, including her own, and took a big gulp from it, before dinging on her glass with a metal spoon.