At this point he looked at Sam and the pair shared, not quite a smile, but something close to it. Hope nudged me and I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t know what that was about either.

‘He was sorting out the mess I’d made of things,’ Charlie said, his cheeks flushed red again.

‘And has he managed to do it?’ Sam asked, his eyes still on Joe.

I got the impression that he already knew the answer.

Joe nodded and smiled and clapped his brother on the back. Charlie wrapped his arms around him and almost lifted him off his feet. I don’t think I’d ever seen Joe look so elated, not even after our roof-raising duet in the karaoke bar.

‘Yes,’ he sobbed. ‘Yes, I have. The contract hadn’t got so far that the farm couldn’t be saved and I can tell you all for certain that none of the Home Farm land or property is going to fall into Sunny Shores’ hands now.’

A collective cheer went up and Joe looked at me and smiled and I blinked back a tear. I felt incredibly guilty to have been the one who had gone public on this whole debacle, but at least there was a happy ending. The irony wasn’t lost on me, however, that just like the diary scenario, had I tackled the situation head on, there wouldn’t have been the subsequent misunderstandings, heartache and wasted time. It was a valuable life lesson and one that I wasn’t going to forget.

‘Everything has been unravelled,’ Joe added for the benefit of those close enough to hear, ‘and while Charlie goes off to travel for a while and live the life he has been dreaming about, I’m going to take over the running of the farm. There’ll be some changes to what we grow and how things are managed, but there won’t be a holiday complex springing up out of the hedgerows!’

Everyone cheered even louder, happy that the brothers had found a way to keep the farm and find a compromise which ensured they both got what they wanted. I guessed that Charlie had been reluctant to take on any of Joe’s ideas and suggestions because he just wanted to be rid of the responsibility.

‘I had been hoping,’ Joe continued, coming out from behind the bar once everyone had settled down a bit, ‘that Charlie and I would be able to keep this business to ourselves.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, feeling the tears well back up again as I imagined how the atmosphere could have turned if he’d had to tell everyone that he hadn’t been able to pull out of the deal.