‘I hate the thought of you thinking that I don’t appreciate your concern,’ he said, looking at me intently.

‘I know you appreciate it, Joe,’ I told him, ‘and I also know this isn’t just any old run-of-the-mill sort of situation either.’

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

‘That’s all right then,’ he smiled, ‘that’s settled. And you know, I have high hopes for today.’

‘High hopes?’

‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘I’m hoping we might be able to say goodbye without any confusion, mixed messages or argumentative undertones.’

I supposed that had become a bit of a habit.

‘Hey now,’ I said, finally locating the vase and plunging the roses into it, ‘don’t go mad. Let’s not count our chickens until you’re walking out through that door and heading back to the farm, shall we?’

I made us tea and halved the gargantuan slice of coconut coffee cake Sophie had sent me home with the day before.

‘Are you sure you don’t mind sharing this?’ Joe asked, appreciatively eyeing the plate.

‘It’s imperative that I do share it,’ I told him as I handed him a cake fork, ‘because if I keep eating everything Sophie tries to feed me, then I’m going to be at least two dress sizes bigger before I wave goodbye to Wynmouth.’

I hated the thought of saying my farewells, whatever size I was going to be when I had to do it.

‘That’s not going to be happening just yet though, is it?’ Joe asked.

‘What, me piling on the weight, or saying goodbye?’

‘Saying goodbye,’ he laughed. ‘I can see you’ve already put a bit of weight on.’

‘Hey!’ I objected, batting him with a cushion and almost knocking the plate out of his hand. ‘I thought you wanted to leave on friendly terms today?’

‘I do,’ he laughed, hiding the cushion down the side of the sofa. ‘I do. You know I’m only teasing. You aren’t really thinking of leaving already, are you?’

‘No,’ I swallowed, ‘not just yet.’

There was a part of me that was beginning to think about it though, in spite of my tipsy request to stay on. Not that I wanted to go, of course, but now, having decided that I was quitting my job, I needed to tell Dad and I also needed to clarify a few things that I had discovered in Mum’s diary because I just couldn’t get some of them to add up.

‘Well, that’s a relief,’ said Joe, bypassing the fork and taking a massive bite straight from the slice. ‘Oh, my god,’ he groaned, after chewing for a few seconds. ‘Oh. My. God.’

‘Oh my god, stop,’ I sniggered, before taking a bite myself, ‘if anyone walks by, they’ll be wondering what the hell’s happening in here.’