Her mother nodded. ‘It sounds as if you’re as much good for him as he’s been for you.’

‘I’m beginning to think so too. Did I tell you we’re meeting on New Year’s Eve?’

‘At least twice already,’ her mother said, laughing. ‘You talk about this Brody a lot. Much more than you ever did that Jeremy fellow.’

‘Do I?’ Anna said. ‘I hadn’t realized.’

Her mother gave her a knowing look. ‘And you don’t think there might be a spark there between you when you finally meet?’

‘Mum… You’re as bad as Gabi! I’ve already told you I don’t think of him that way.’ She pulled a brightly wrapped package from underneath the tree and handed it to her mother, shaking her head.

Her mother was planning on serving up a traditional English Christmas lunch, so there was plenty of work to be done before the select handful of friends they’d invited turned up later, so as soon as they’d finished dishing out presents and clearing away the wrapping paper, all three of them headed into the kitchen.

Anna began to chop onions for her mother’s favourite stuffing recipe – pork with fresh chestnuts – and as her knife hit the chopping board in a repetitive motion, she couldn’t help thinking about what her mother had said about Brody, and each time she did, there was a worrying fluttering in her stomach, a tickling she recognized but quickly decided she’d really rather not label.

ANNA WOKE ON Boxing Day to a most spectacular view. Her parents had the large back garden her father had always dreamed about, with woodland beyond, and that morning it was covered in five inches of snow. Unlike London, nowhere near the amount to faze the locals or stop them going about their business, but just enough to make it look as if the whole world was a clumsily iced Christmas cake.

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door, and her mother appeared, carrying a tray. ‘Thought you might like breakfast in bed,’ she said as she laid it on the mattress.

Anna pushed herself up to sitting. ‘Oh, Mum… You shouldn’t have. Not after all the work you did yesterday.’

Her mother shrugged as she poured tea from a teapot. ‘I don’t get the chance to spoil you much, so just let me, okay?’

Anna smiled at her. ‘Okay,’ she said, then settled down to eat her breakfast while her mum sat in the armchair near the window. When she was finished, Anna stretched again and prepared to swing her legs around and place her feet on the floor. ‘I could stay in bed all day if I put my mind to it.’

Her mother picked the tray up. ‘Then why don’t you?’

Anna frowned, the soles of her feet only an inch above the thick carpet. ‘But we’re supposed to be going to that open house Colin and Janet are throwing, aren’t we?’