The eagerness in his tone tugged at my heartstrings. David had tried so hard to look after me in the past and I’d blocked him at every turn. Going forward, I decided I would accept his kindness and his help. That is, assuming he would remain kind and helpful once I’d told him what I was planning to do.

‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘I’m fine, but you’re right. Some things have been harder than others. For a start, it was a shock to see the truck out of action.’

I hated the thing with a passion and yet the sight of it permanently grounded had still taken some getting used to.

‘But I wrote about that,’ he said, his brows knitted together.

‘And as you know,’ Ned reminded him, with a mischievous grin, ‘Liza doesn’t always read her emails. Do you Miss Wynter?’

‘No,’ I blushed, staving off the desire to stick my tongue out at him. ‘I don’t. Although last night, I did work my way through a lot of what you’d written, David, and I’ve got a much better idea about things now.’

Ned looked impressed.

‘And what do you think about the beach hut project?’ David keenly asked.

‘I really like it,’ I told him. ‘Ned knows I was a little sceptical at first, but now he’s explained about the quality of the designers who will be stocking it, I think it’s a wonderful idea. And I love the community focused projects too. You’ve got a great resource here, especially in terms of outside space and it’s great that it’s being used to its full potential.’

Ned looked even happier.

‘Well, that is wonderful,’ smiled David, ‘but you just said, you’ve got a great resource here. Surely you mean we, don’t you, my dear? This is still a co-owned business don’t forget, even if you do prefer the role of silent partner.’

‘Um,’ I said, taking a deep breath and sitting up a little straighter. ‘I’m pleased you picked up on that, David, because there’s something I want to talk to you about in terms of my role in the business.’

Ned pushed back his chair and picked up the open file of papers on his desk.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ he said.

‘No, don’t go.’ I insisted. ‘This involves you too, Ned. In fact, it’s more about you than your dad, but I didn’t want to say anything until we were all together.’

He sat down again and he and David exchanged a questioning look. I tried to remember how I’d formed the words before I went to sleep, but now the moment had arrived, they’d all got jumbled in my head. I knew this was what I wanted, but now it came to asking for it, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.