It was well past midnight by the time I heard Ned come in and, assuming my ears weren’t playing tricks on me, he had Maya with him. I strained to listen and knew there were definitely two voices talking in the room below and one of them was female. I rolled over in the bed and pulled the duvet right over my head as Bandit scrambled to get out.

‘Traitor,’ I muttered.

A couple of minutes later, I heard light footfall on the stairs.

‘Liza,’ I then heard Ned whisper, ‘are you awake?’

I ignored him and he quietly closed the door. I gave it a few seconds, then rolled on to my back and looked at the clock. How long should I give them, I wondered, before I made my move? I didn’t have to wait long. The noise of the shower was the perfect cover and I snuck out of bed, arranging the pillows to look like I was still in it, and then went downstairs.

I’d had the foresight to stash everything I’d packed out of sight behind the sofa. Obviously, I couldn’t take everything I wanted with me, but hoped David would send the rest on to my flat after Christmas. I lingered for a moment to look at the tree, remembering the day Ned and I decorated it, along with all the other things we had done together, mostly because he’d gone to the trouble of arranging them and then, with a heart filled with longing and regret, not only for the man I was leaving behind, but also for what might have been at Wynter’s Trees, I picked up my bags and walked out of the lodge for the very last time.

The boot catch on my car had a habit of sticking so, rather than risk setting off Bandit, who was upstairs with Maya and Ned, I shoved everything on to the back seat. I knew getting out of the gate was going to be tricky so rushed to open it before I started the car. That way I could shoot off and leave it open. I would apologise for the security breach when I messaged and asked David to send the rest of my things on.

Everything went like clockwork until I put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car made a sort of grinding noise, but didn’t start. I turned the key back, counted to five and tried again. Although temperamental, it generally got there in the end. I just had to be patient and hold my nerve.

‘Third time’s a charm,’ I whispered, crossing the fingers on my left hand and squeezing my eyes shut.