‘Hi, David,’ I called back. ‘I need to talk to Ned. Has he nearly finished? I don’t want to disturb him, if he’s on a roll.’

Given his recent mood, I wouldn’t dare.

‘He’s got a few more to do, but his arms could probably do with a break,’ David told me. ‘He’s felled a quite a lot this morning, ready to take to Wynbridge tomorrow.’

‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘I know all about that now. Maya’s just been telling me.’

‘We aren’t the only supplier for the auction,’ said David, his voice lowering as Ned turned off the chainsaw and peace was restored, ‘but a lot come from us.’

‘What’s up?’ called Ned, first lifting the chainsaw visor, then one ear defender and then the other.

I couldn’t help thinking he looked rather good in all the gear. The Kevlar reinforced trousers, jacket and gloves bulked out his already sizeable frame, and the steel toe-capped boots made him look even taller. Rugged, rough and ready was the description that sprang to mind before I had the chance to fend it off.

‘What is it?’ he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

‘I want to ask you something.’ I said, fending the fantasy image off.

He opened his mouth to say something, most likely, ‘You’ll have to wait,’ but David stepped in.

‘Your timing couldn’t be better, Liza,’ he smiled. ‘I was just about to take the truck back to the yard and start offloading these trees, wasn’t I, Ned?’

Ned glowered at his father, who jumped into the cab with an agility that in no way matched his advancing years, and set off.

‘What is it?’ Ned fired at me again.

‘Your trip to Wynbridge tomorrow,’ I shot back, coming straight to the point.

‘What about it?’

‘Maya was under the impression that she was going with you,’ I told him, ‘but now she thinks you’ve changed your mind and you’re going to leave her behind.’

‘I have,’ he shrugged. ‘I am.’

‘But she’d really like to go and I think it would be good for her to see how that side of the business works.’

Ned shook his head.

‘Given what’s in the offing, don’t you think it’s important that she has as much knowledge and experience as possible?’

‘And I suppose you told her what’s in the offing,’ he snapped.

‘No,’ I said, lifting my chin. ‘I didn’t actually.’

He looked as surprised as I had been when I let the opportunity to tell her pass.

‘Why not?’ he frowned.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said.

Truth be told, I didn’t know why.

‘Let’s just focus on tomorrow,’ I carried on. ‘Surely, it would be useful for another member of staff to have some first-hand experience of how the run to Wynbridge works, wouldn’t it?’