It would give him something to work towards and, hopefully, make sitting his final exams more bearable. Surely, it couldn’t be that complicated to set up a traineeship or apprenticeship. If Ned was onboard, he could suggest a position that would combine working at the plantation with a formal forestry or arboriculture qualification. There might even be scope to do some volunteer work in the reserve too.

‘Bandit!’ I called again, laughing as he came tearing out of the trees.

He had as much energy as Liam and I allowed myself the luxury of imagining the look on Liam’s face when Ned shared the proposal with him. He would think all his Christmases had come at once!

Bandit was panting when we arrived back at the barn and rather than stop and greet the Wynter’s Trees customers who were always pleased to see him, he bypassed them all and headed straight for the office and his water bowl. I followed his lead and found David still at his desk poring over a pile of paperwork.

‘Any chance of a word with Ned?’ I asked him. ‘Is he about?’

David looked up from the papers, took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes before leaning back in his chair and grimacing as he stretched out his back and neck. He’d obviously been hunched over in the same position for some time and I wondered what had held his attention so intently, but didn’t ask. Now I had declared my disinterest in the business, it was none of my, well, business.

‘Afraid not,’ he said. ‘He went off early this morning and said he’d most likely be away all day.’

I was surprised to learn of his defection from the plantation. With just a few more shopping days before Christmas, I would have thought he would have wanted to be more firmly melded to the place than ever.

‘He didn’t say where he was going,’ David elaborated, before I asked. ‘Is it anything I can help with?’

‘No, no,’ I said. ‘It’ll keep, but thanks. I’m going back to help Theo now, so I’ll leave Bandit with you if that’s all right.’

‘Yes,’ said David, putting his glasses back on and picking up the papers again. ‘He’ll be fine in here with me.’

I’d barely made it out the door before I collided with Maya.

‘Shit,’ she muttered, bending to collect the decorations she’d dropped. ‘Sorry, Liza.’

‘No, it’s my fault,’ I said, rubbing my arm which had borne the brunt of our coming together. ‘I should have been looking where I was going. Are you all right?’ I added, noticing her unusually less than sunny disposition.