‘You’re back!’ said David, even though I knew he had heard them come in when I did. ‘How did it go? Where’s Maya?’

‘She’s gone home,’ said Ned, looking happier than he had been all week. ‘She’s pretty tired, having driven all the way back. The whole day was wonderful though. They took the lot. It’s going to be a bumper auction for Wynbridge this weekend and the chap from the council was thrilled with the tree for the market square.’

As well as donating a tree for the green in Wynmouth, I knew that another had been given to Wynbridge and a third to a winter garden in Norwich. It was good to know that Dad’s philanthropic spirit lived on.

‘And what about the Wynthorpe Hall trees?’ David asked. ‘You dropped those off too, didn’t you?’

‘Yes,’ said Ned, picking up the day’s bundle of receipts, before glancing at the computer screen his father was updating. ‘All good there too. I reckon Angus’s festive spirit could have given Nicholas Wynter’s a run for its money.’

No matter how keen this Angus was on Christmas, I’d have still put my money on Dad winning the race.

‘And what about here?’ Ned asked, throwing a look in my direction. ‘No hiccups?’

‘Everything ran like clockwork,’ I told him. ‘Like I said before, it’s a great system you’ve got set up.’

Ned inclined his head, but carried on flicking through the receipts and when I remembered the terse note he’d left, I wished I hadn’t praised his failproof planning.

‘I got Liza working on the netting machine,’ David enthusiastically said. ‘She’s quite the expert now.’

‘A skill that will no doubt come in handy when she has absolutely no connection to Wynter’s Trees in the future,’ Ned muttered under his breath.

‘Ned,’ David warningly said.

I felt my face turn red.

‘Sorry,’ said Ned, but he didn’t sound particularly contrite.

‘We thought it might be handy for me to know, in case Liam needed a hand at the weekend, didn’t we?’ I smiled for David’s benefit, rather than Ned’s. ‘I think I’ll head back to the lodge now. Night, David. Thanks for today, I really enjoyed it.’

It came as a surprise, but I really had. The day had flown by and it had been both fun and informative.

‘You were a great help,’ David kindly said.

‘Before you go,’ said Ned. ‘I want to tell you both something I heard about this place from the owner of Wynthorpe Hall.’

‘That’s Catherine Connelly, isn’t it?’ David asked.

Why did that name ring a bell?

‘Yes,’ said Ned, ‘that’s her. She said she and her son had visited a few days ago and she’d lost her wallet.’

‘A Chanel one,’ I said, suddenly remembering.