‘Oh,’ said Theo. ‘I assumed you knew. Ned and David are having a thank you party in the barn on Saturday night for everyone who has helped at Wynter’s Trees this year. Ned told me it’s on track to be a bumper year and he wants to celebrate the success. All the beach hut crew have been invited. It’s going to be quite a night.’

‘Oh,’ I said, arranging the boxes, to hide my embarrassment. ‘I had no idea.’

‘Ned must have forgotten to mention it,’ Theo said consolingly. ‘He’s been so busy.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘that’s probably it. Either that,’ I joked, ‘or I’m not invited.’

Theo looked embarrassed then too.

‘Right,’ I said, slamming the boot shut and trapping my discomfiture inside along with the boxes, ‘I think I’ll take a quick walk along the beach. I’ll keep you posted about how I’m getting on.’

‘Thanks, Liza,’ said Theo, giving me a warm hug. ‘Wren and I really appreciate what you’re doing for us.’

‘It’s my pleasure,’ I told him, even more grateful that I now had a good reason to stay out of the office and away from Ned as well as his other half.

It was blustery on the beach and, aside from the occasional dog walker, deserted. I pulled my hat down and my collar up and set off along the sand. The wind rushed this way and that and as it pushed and pulled me to and fro, my emotions got dragged along with it. As well as walking through the plantation, Dad had often come to the beach when he needed to think things through and clear his head, but my thoughts felt even more muddled when I left than they had when I arrived.

‘What’s all this then?’ Ned asked, when he found me still in Wren and Theo’s hut after everyone else had closed up and gone home. ‘Is Wren really all right?’

‘She’s fine,’ I told him as I carried on, carefully setting out the stock, so I didn’t have to look at him, ‘but she’s not ready to come back yet and Theo would rather be with her for a few days, so I’ve said I’ll open the hut in that time on their behalf.’

‘Oh right,’ he said. ‘I see.’

‘Otherwise, they’ll lose a huge chunk of their annual income,’ I explained. ‘From what Wren said they make a fair bit in the run to Christmas. That is all right, isn’t it? They didn’t ask me to do it, I put myself forward. I mean, you don’t want me, do you?’

‘Absolutely not,’ he hastily said. ‘I don’t want you.’

I wasn’t sure if they were intended to or not, but his words really stung.

‘That’s all right then,’ I swallowed.