Bella’s hand shook as she gazed out at the assembled crowd, ready to switch on the lights on Santa’s new grotto. From the excited faces she’d seen so far, the children liked it and she loved making Christmas magical for them.

Most of Meadowbank had gathered, and she hoped that at least some of those would also take a tag from the giving tree. She’d printed a stack of flyers at school (with Mrs White’s permission) and Mr Whittaker and some of the other volunteers were giving them out. If only a quarter of them decided to take part that would mean a huge number of families were going to get some help this Christmas, but her aim was for every single tag to be taken before this whole thing was over. To one side she saw the smiling faces of her family. They’d been so supportive through these last two weeks she had no idea how she’d have made it through without them.

After Evan’s surprise appearance at the school gates last night, she’d gone home to find the cottage the same as she’d left it that morning. Evan had found the box of his belongings at the bottom of the wardrobe and at the bottom of it she’d found their photos. Seeing them cast aside like that, memories not worth remembering, Bella had collapsed onto the floor crying until her head ached and her eyes burned with running mascara. Then, she’d picked herself up and gone downstairs.

While she made the tags for the giving tree, listening to Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, she’d drunk most of a bottle of wine. The printing and cutting had been soothing, taking her mind off the exchange while it bubbled around in her subconscious. Every Christmas song that tugged at her heartstrings had made her more and more determined to make this Christmas as special as possible for those who might not otherwise have a good one, and eventually, she’d rolled into bed, her tasks completed.

The cold fresh air that blew over the fields and flowers of the park blasted away the cobwebs, and among the gloom of her present situation and the cold, wintry season, she felt a glimmer of hope. Seeing Evan last night had been painful, but it had given her some closure. There were questions she’d never know the answer to, like if Pepper was a better kisser than her or if she were sexier in bed, but they were ones she was probably better off not knowing. Their conversation had at least transported her out of the limbo she’d been stuck in.