‘Then he definitely won’t call it off and I think you can class it as a date regardless of whether he calls it that or not.’

‘Bella’s right,’ her mum said. ‘You were meant to be together. You can just see it when you’re around each other.’

‘Like Bella and Nick Cowley,’ Caro added, a teasing glint in her eye. Now it was Bella’s turn to blush. She hoped Caro wasn’t about to start puckering her lips and making kissing noises. She immediately did and Bella told her to stop. ‘Things seem to be going very well there though. You have to admit it.’

‘Not on purpose,’ Bella protested. Though she’d accepted her feelings for Nick, she still wondered what other people would say. ‘We just seem to keep seeing each other.’ She cut out the Christmas tree shape, moving the card in one hand and scissors in the other.

An influx of toys had been deposited at school as term neared its end, and the four of them were wrapping the last few presents and making tags for the few forms that had been given in that week. The number handed in was declining but with just over two weeks till Christmas Bella needed to make them quickly and get them on the tree if they were to be taken and fulfilled.

‘You can’t keep away from him,’ Caro continued.

That much was true.

‘Have you told him about your trip to the Coles’ house yet?’ asked Cynthia.

Bella stopped work and pushed back her hair. It flopped forward again, and she tucked it behind her ear. ‘Not yet. There just hasn’t been the right time. If I see him when he comes to pick Freddie up from school, I’m always busy sending my kids out and I don’t want to trot over and tell him in front of everyone. At Bluebell Park we’re so busy that sometimes it slips my mind and again, Freddie’s always around. It’s just one of those conversations I don’t want to whisper in front of him and risk Freddie overhearing. As far as he’s concerned, the police spoke to Nick about something to do with work. If he hears something about the Coles, it might upset him, and Nick might need time to digest the information anyway.’

‘It is quite a big thing,’ Nina said. She was sat cross-legged on the floor by the hearth, nibbling a mince pie.

‘I’ve been so busy with all the giving tree stuff that even in the evenings it hasn’t seemed right to just pop in and drop a bombshell like that. I mean, I don’t even know if it’s worked so I might just be getting his hopes up for nothing.’