No one was at the huts that morning but I had seen Maya’s car arriving as early as usual. I made sure I gave her plenty of time to bestow upon Ned her daily greeting and only went over when I caught sight of her walking out of the barn.

Ned had been less than willing to answer her seductive call the day before, but I bet when the moment came, he had risen to the occasion and given it his all. Not that it was anything to do with me. My head was focused on our imminent conversation and I had no intention of scrutinising his face for further traces of lipstick.

‘Good morning, my dear,’ smiled David. ‘Ned tells me you want to talk.’

He looked delighted at the prospect.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I do. And as I know you’re both busy, I’m not going to keep you long.’

I was surprised to feel my stomach roll in reaction to what I was about to say. It wasn’t as if I was uttering the words for the first time. I had made my intentions clear weeks ago, but the look on David’s face and his chipper tone gave the impression that he hadn’t heard them, let alone taken them onboard. It finally dawned on me that agreeing to do things his and Ned’s way had been a mistake. By staying on at Wynter’s Trees, I had given them hope. False hope as it turned out.

‘Sorry,’ said Ned, as he rushed in with Bandit close behind. ‘I lost track of time.’

I half hoped, half hated the idea that that was because Maya had got him in a spin.

‘You’re not late,’ I nodded to the clock. ‘I’m a few minutes early.’

‘I was getting the veranda boxes out of storage,’ he elaborated, as he hung a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door before closing it. ‘I found the stag easily enough on account of the massive antlers, but the doe and fawn twins were harder to track down.’

‘Not a sentence you’d generally hear in everyday conversation,’ David chuckled, ‘but a fairly run of the mill one for Wynter’s.’

I nodded in agreement.

‘Did you find them?’ he then asked Ned.

‘Find who?’

‘The doe and fawn twins.’

‘Oh yes,’ Ned said. ‘They were tucked behind the snowman Liam insisted on inflating before he left on Saturday. Apparently, that was one of his favourite things to look at when he used to visit when he was little.’

David laughed again and I began to think we’d never get down to business if they kept talking about woodland creatures and seven-foot snowmen.

‘So,’ I said, pulling their attention back to me, ‘as I’ve already said, I know you’re both busy, so I won’t keep you.’