A breath I hadn’t realised I had been holding, rushed out of my lungs and the crowd surged forward. Some people headed straight for the huts, while others made a beeline with their little ones to queue for an audience with Santa and the rest were seduced by the smell of the delicious food Hope and Sophie had cooked up. That pair were the pied pipers of the food world.

‘I’m just going to take Bandit back to the lodge,’ I said to David, before Ned reached us. ‘He’s a bit restless.’

‘Good idea,’ David agreed. ‘Then you can have a proper look at everything.’

Bandit made no protest when I settled him in front of the log burner with a chew from his treat box and I took a moment to compose myself before venturing back outside.

The atmosphere was amazing. The scent of mulled cider and wine filled the air, mixing and mingling with the food. There were carollers singing, lights twinkling and overall, there was the sound of laughter. The queue for photos in front of the Chevy was almost as long as the line to visit Santa and the throngs of people going in and out of the huts carrying brown paper parcels and bags suggested that the tills were ringing too. It was all absolutely perfect and I hoped everyone would continue to come back in droves in the run-up to Christmas.

As I wrapped my gloved hands around a warming mug of cider, and looked about me, I knew that this clever idea was exactly what Wynter’s Trees needed to move it forward and that the clever, handsome and kind man behind it, had fast found his way into my heart.

Chapter 7

In spite of the fact that the inaugural event carried on far longer than any of us expected it to, almost everyone was back early the next morning. The huts would be opening again at the weekend and then, other than Mondays, staying open every day right up until Christmas and, as a result, the beach hut team needed to take stock of what they had sold and try to calculate how much more they would need in order to meet future demand.

David had sensibly suggested that we all meet in the barn before getting down to work so we could compare notes and address any problems the previous evening might have flagged up. I was surprised to find I felt very much like a member of the team and a willing one at that, and in anticipation of the meeting, I was awake extra early.

I took the opportunity to enjoy a few peaceful minutes looking over the plantation boundary and into the edges of the reserve as the sun came up. It was a fresh start, but invigorating too and I felt wide awake and much refreshed by the time I joined the others.