‘I was actually hoping I would get the chance to talk to you alone,’ I said, taking the opportunity as it was just the two of us.

‘Oh?’ she frowned.

‘I wanted to say sorry for what happened on Monday. It was my fault that Ned snapped at you,’ I explained.

Maya shook her head and slipped off her mud encrusted boots, before accepting a coffee and a seat on the sofa.

‘In that case,’ she said, looking far happier than I currently felt to be on the receiving end of his persistent bad mood, ‘I should be thanking you.’

‘Thanking me?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He’s been a changed man since that meeting. I don’t know what you said to him, Liza,’ she laughed, ‘but he’s totally transformed, especially where I’m concerned.’

‘Is he?’ I swallowed.

Around me, he was all brooding and Heathcliff, but given the dreamy expression on Maya’s face, I fathomed he was the ultimate Hallmark hero in her company.

‘He is,’ she grinned. ‘He took me to the pub to apologise and he’s been so sweet and attentive ever since. I was beginning to think he was a lost cause, but since Monday he’s completely changed.’

The smile lighting up her pretty face suggested that he’d done considerably more than apologise. Had I realised that simply upsetting him would have thrown him into Maya’s waiting arms, then I would have done it far sooner.

‘He’ll be dragging you under the mistletoe in no time,’ I said, the words sticking in my throat, ‘rather than the other way around.’

Her playful wink told me all I needed to know.

I should have been happy that he’d finally realised that Maya was the girl for him, but now I’d got them across the finishing line, the victory felt rather hollow. At least, if I left early, I wouldn’t have to endure watching their relationship blossom. I might have convinced myself Ned wasn’t the man for me, but now it turned out, I didn’t want him to be the man for anyone else either.

‘Now all we have to do,’ Maya thoughtfully said, drumming her fingers against the side of her mug, ‘is find a match for you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all spend Christmas together? Me and Ned,’ she dreamily added, just to make sure I knew what she was getting at, ‘and you and Mr Still to be Revealed.’

Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse.

‘But before we do that,’ she said, biting her lip, ‘I don’t suppose you can tell me what that meeting on Monday was about, can you?’