He pummelled my hand and then Ned’s and spun Chelsea around in a wonderful show of affection. The sight made me feel quite choked and Chelsea was still teary when they left. She’d barely uttered a word. I don’t think I’d ever known her to be speechless before.

‘Give us a ring later if you want to talk anything through,’ Ned said to Liam as we waved them off, ‘and to let us know she’s all right,’ he added with a wink at Chelsea.

‘She’ll be fine,’ Liam grinned, looking a million times happier than he had when he’d arrived. His tie was skewwhiff and his previously flattened hair was stuck up on end. ‘That said, I’m hoping she’ll be like this until at least Boxing Day.’

Seeing him so happy further confirmed that as soon as the new year arrived, I would be putting proper plans in place to start my training and launch my business. Wynter’s Trees had already transformed Liam’s life and I knew there were plenty more students just like him, who would benefit from the place too.

‘I know exactly what you’re thinking,’ said Ned, as we walked back to the office and he pulled me into his side. ‘And I couldn’t agree with you more.’

I was thrilled to hear it.

Chapter 28

Wednesday was an exciting blur as last-minute shoppers descended in droves, the butcher delivered the goose, pies and other meat Ned had ordered, and then in the afternoon a huge grocery shop destined for the lodge arrived too.

I knew that Ned and David had planned to have Christmas lunch together, but the fridge and cupboards were fit to burst with enough supplies to see us through the whole of January and when Ned arrived back from the meeting to cancel his loan with the bank, I pointed that out and he explained that was the idea.

‘I’m going into hibernation,’ he told me, looking proudly at the vastly stocked kitchen. ‘After the rented trees are back in the plantation and checked, Wynter’s will be closed and I’m planning to do absolutely nothing from then until February the first.’

‘I see,’ I smiled.

‘You will be joining me, won’t you?’ he temptingly asked.

‘You know,’ I purred, ‘I think I will. I can sort out arrangements for my flat and book my training while you’re checking the trees and then we can hunker down. It will be the perfect time to get our plans for next season in place, won’t it?’

Ned rolled his eyes.

‘Crikey!’ he laughed. ‘You’ve changed your tune! You’ve gone from not wanting to think about the place at all, to not being able to stop going on about it.’

‘Well,’ I said, pretending to pout, ‘that’s your fault, isn’t it? And I thought it was what you wanted.’