Terri was well ensconced in the spare bedroom, and Laurel was beginning to feel one person too many at The Nookery, now the main bathroom had to be shared three ways instead of two. Although they hadn’t actually seen each other since last Christmas, Terri and Rea spent loads of time together. They’d always got on well, sharing interests in the home and garden and even liking the same things on TV. Rea had finished work for her Christmas break and now Terri walked to Gabe’s paddock every day with her to see Daybreak. It only needed the sale agreement to be signed and money transferred and Daybreak would officially be Rea’s. Rea hadn’t hacked yet, but she rode in the safe familiarity of the paddock. Her love for Daisy had provided a trigger to her venturing out of the house but it seemed to be pretty, grey Daybreak who helped soothe her anxieties the most. Gabe’s nephew Ben – who was on the other side of the family to Bertie – was soon to build the stable. It was lying in pieces outside the paddock, ready. Meanwhile, Daybreak was wearing two rugs and sharing Snobby’s field shelter whether the curmudgeonly old pony liked it or not.

Rea and Terri also spent hours poring over the brochures Terri had downloaded for suitable properties on sale in Middledip old village, where she was interested in living. Her hot favourite was a sweet cottage just around the corner in Main Road, only a few minutes’ walk away. It had two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and most of the downstairs had been knocked into one open-plan space, which Terri said ‘saved on doors’.

Ten times a day it crossed Laurel’s mind that she could leave Middledip if Terri was so close. She felt guilty, because she’d made promises to Daisy that she’d stay a while, but surely Terri was a good enough substitute?

She was certainly sufficiently free to leave the village to go Christmas shopping in Cambridge amongst the stores decorated to their ceilings in glittering Santas, holly, snowflakes and lights, her steps automatically taking up the rhythm of the brass band playing Christmas songs at the arts and crafts market. She expected to enjoy getting a taste of a city again and then feel reluctant to return to Middledip. But she didn’t. Middledip felt like home again. She’d come to relish having country walks on her doorstep and the peace and clean air of the streets compared to gridlocked traffic of West London. Trees, hedges, gardens and cottages were relaxing compared to end-to-end shops and offices. So now, added to ‘should she leave?’ was ‘could she leave?’

From the work perspective, it would be easy. Find a place, pack up and go, just as she’d exchanged Chiswick for Middledip.

Her Everyday Woman painting was almost complete. She’d thought it represented her finding herself and dancing for joy. Now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was just a short, curvy woman making a fool of herself because there was nothing to dance about when the admiring man in the shadows might be beyond her reach.