The carol singers were in fine voice and with a few snowflakes fluttering prettily down, the scene beyond the hut door couldn’t have been more perfect. It wasn’t that many days ago that I had reminded myself not to fall in love with Wynter’s Trees because it wasn’t like this for many weeks of the year, but with those potential ideas on how to extend the plantation opening times now bubbling away in my head, I realised that scenes like this had the possibility to become the norm, rather than the exception.

‘Penny for them,’ said Chelsea, making me jump.

We were leaning either side of the hut doorway as the visitors finally began to head back to their cars.

‘Oh,’ I said, pushing myself upright then rubbing my hands together and blowing on the ends of my fingers which weren’t covered by my gloves. ‘I was just wondering if I might have made a mistake about something, that’s all.’

I hadn’t expected to be so forthright and felt my temperature spike as a result.

‘Not another muddle over some trees, is it?’ Chelsea teased.

Clearly news of my mistake had reached Liam’s ears.

‘No,’ I laughed. ‘Nothing like that.’

‘Want to talk about it?’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I really appreciate the offer, but I think I need to figure this one out for myself.’

‘Well,’ she said, leaning over and rubbing my arm, ‘let me know if you change your mind.’

‘I will,’ I told her.

‘Hey,’ called Liam, as he jogged over from the grotto. ‘You’re here. I haven’t even messaged you yet.’

Rather than just opting for a hat, he was dressed in a complete elf outfit, including shoes with bells on, and looked nowhere near as self-conscious as I would have. In fact, he didn’t seem bothered at all. He really was one in a million.

‘I haven’t been home,’ Chelsea told him, holding back the comment that I knew must have been brewing. ‘Liza begged me to stay and give her a hand.’

Liam looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

‘I couldn’t have managed without her actually,’ I grinned.

Chelsea pulled off her hat and ruffled her hair.

‘And I’ve had a great time,’ she said. ‘I’d love to work somewhere like this. Although, somewhere with a bit of heat might be a bit more comfortable. I’ve got used to the temperature in the care home now. Shifts in there are stifling.’

Now we’d stopped moving, I could feel the chill reaching further than the ends of my fingers.

‘You should give that some serious thought,’ I told her. ‘You’re a great saleswoman.’

‘I’ll lend you this if you like,’ said Liam, pointing at his costume. ‘It’s kept me warm tonight.’

‘And drawn some comments, I would imagine,’ Chelsea chuckled.

Liam shifted from one foot to the other and stared at the ground.