‘No,’ he grinned, smoothing it down, ‘this is definitely mine. I’ve got a whole collection of them and from what my dad has told me about yours, I don’t think I could fit into his. They wouldn’t be long enough, would they? Although,’ he said, his eyes sparkling, ‘I am every bit as much of a fan of the festive season as your father was.’

I felt my face flame as I realised he was right. He was much, much taller than Dad and there was no way he could have squeezed himself into any of his jumpers. The one Ned was wearing was oversized, even on him and looking at the pattern more closely, I could see it wasn’t the same. It was very similar, but not identical.

‘Sorry,’ I swallowed, still lingering on the lodge threshold. ‘I can see it’s different now. The sight of it just took me by surprise.’

‘No worries,’ he shrugged. ‘Can I take your coat?’

I took a further step into the room and gave Ned another tick on my mental checklist. His love for all things festive would be a great help when it came to asking him to buy my shares. Anyone as keen on Christmas as my father had been would be thrilled at the prospect of owning somewhere as seasonally spectacular as Wynter’s Trees.

‘Thanks,’ I said, handing over my coat.

‘I hope you don’t mind that I’ve moved in,’ Ned carried on, heading towards the utility room on the far side of the kitchen, which was where the barking seemed to be coming from.

‘Moved in?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘After the last break-in Dad and I decided I needed to be permanently on-site, but of course you know that already.’

‘Did you?’ I frowned again. ‘Do I?’

‘Yes,’ he said, looking back over at me. ‘Dad emailed you about the damage to the barn from the last break-in months ago and then about me opening up the house.’

‘I must have missed the update,’ I said, wondering which of the many emails I’d received and merely skimmed over held those particular nuggets of information.

‘Dad has said that you tend to be a bit slack in the inbox department,’ Ned admitted.

‘Has he?’

Given that David had let me know, I could hardly take umbrage at the fact that Ned was living in the lodge and actually, he looked so at home I couldn’t help thinking that was yet another plus point. Him already being so settled in the place would make his taking over feel like a logical next step rather than a great change and upheaval. Had I been fond of the lodge and had a hankering to live in it myself, his presence might have rankled, but as it was, this arrangement was just fine.