Her outfit wasn’t at all what I had been expecting. A red sleeveless skater dress with a silver ribbon around the waist and reindeer prancing at the bottom. The bodice was covered in tiny diamante crystals which sparkled as they caught the light. With her blonde hair in a fancy up-do she looked exquisite. Where I had been expecting slim-fitting and sophisticated she’d embraced quirky and fun. She was endlessly surprising.

‘Totally,’ I told her, ‘but I wish you hadn’t worn heels, Maya,’ I scolded.

She giggled and rushed off to welcome yet more guests.

‘She makes me feel short,’ tutted Noah, ‘so goodness knows how you feel, Liza…’

‘Noah,’ Michael frowned.

‘What? I’m only saying…’

Michael dragged him off before he could further dig himself into a hole and I followed my nose to the mulled wine that Sophie, Hope’s mum, was doling out.

Before long, the barn was full of people, music was playing and practically everyone was dancing. I’d never known a party like it. It certainly knocked my Christmas nights out with Caitlin and our other exhausted school colleagues into touch.

Ned was looking gorgeous in a navy long-sleeved shirt, which complimented his hair colour and freckles wonderfully, and smart jeans. I tried not to stare as he talked and laughed with everyone because the sight of him filled my stomach with butterflies and made my heart flutter. I was going to need another glass of wine before I plucked up the courage to talk to him even though I had been building up to it all day.

‘Are you having a good time?’ David asked, coming to sit next to me. ‘I haven’t seen you dancing much.’

‘I have been dancing,’ I reassured him, smiling as Noah took Abbie for a spin on the dancefloor in her wheelchair. She certainly wasn’t letting the confines of her chair stop her from having a good time. ‘I’m just taking a breather. It’s a wonderful party, David. It reminds me of the shindig Fezziwig threw for his employees in A Christmas Carol.’

David looked delighted.

‘Ned would be thrilled to hear you say that,’ he beamed, nodding over to where his son and Maya were now cutting quite a dash on the dance floor. ‘He told me earlier that was exactly the atmosphere he was hoping to evoke.’

My heart beat all the faster as I watched him and Maya dancing. They looked so right together. I must have been mad to imagine after our kisses that Ned had ever felt anything for me when he had a woman like Maya by his side.

‘Mission accomplished then,’ I said, emptying the last dregs from my glass before turning my attention back to David.

‘You should tell him,’ he said, as the track came to an end. ‘Ned!’ he shouted, beckoning him over.

‘No,’ I began to protest, plucking at his sleeve, but it was too late.