He laughed. ‘Okay, I’ll go first. I love you. I love our kid. She’s amazing.’ He gazed at the wall that divided our room from Lumin’s. ‘Sure, it kind of kills me to know how much I’ve missed out on.’ I sighed and he gave me a quick kiss. ‘But we won’t dwell on that. This is about the future and I want the future to be about us. You, me and Lumin.’ His eyes filled with tears. ‘A family.’

I felt my own eyes fill with tears. ‘I feel the same.’

‘That’s just as well then!’

We both laughed. ‘So what now?’ I asked.

His face grew serious. ‘I’ve been thinking. So we don’t disrupt Lumin, I could move to be closer to you both. If it’s not too soon,’ he said with a deep breath, ‘we could get a place together. I don’t want to rush things,’ he added quickly. ‘Especially for Lumin’s sake, I don’t want to come bulldozing into her life, into your life. You’ve done the most amazing job the past few years, bringing her up. I don’t want to rock the boat.’

‘It’s fine. Our daughter’s tougher than you think. But you’re right, she’s settled in the village. And there is an old house I keep driving past that could be an amazing family home with a little bit of McClusky magic …’

His face lit up. ‘That’s the sort of thing I was thinking of. Or Iceland. Remember the farmland Asher owns? I always imagined us living there. I don’t mean soon, but maybe some time in the future.’

I smiled. ‘Iceland. I like the sound of that. But what about your family? They need you here for the business, right?’

He looked towards the door that led out onto the landing and the rest of his family’s bedrooms. ‘Maybe it’s time I cut the apron strings.’

I gave him an incredulous look.

‘Why not?’ he said, face animated. ‘They have Cole. I can help them out remotely if I need to. There are plenty of site managers out there looking for jobs.’

‘What about …’ I paused.

‘What?’

‘Rhonda mentioned something about a land dispute?’

Dylan closed his eyes and lay his head back on the pillow, groaning. ‘Another reason to leave. I don’t want to get tangled up in all that.’

I placed my hand on his chest. Outside, a flock of ducks squawked by, their cries filling the night air.

‘But what if they lose the land to the Howards?’ I asked. ‘Does that mean they’ll lose this house?’

He thought about it for a moment. ‘Is that such a bad thing? New start and all that. In fact, I’ve often imagined this place burning to the ground.’

I sat up, looking at him in shock. ‘How can you say that?’