‘The trees are fine,’ he cut in. ‘It’s been one of the best years so far, growth wise.’

‘I was just about to say that…’

‘This is about me, Liza.’ He said, sounding frustrated. ‘This is to do with Wynter’s and me.’

‘You?’ I gasped, abandoning my inbox and taking him off speaker. ‘You aren’t ill or anything, are you, David?’

I knew my question gave away that I hadn’t in fact read whatever it was he’d written about, but I didn’t care. I just needed to know he was all right. I couldn’t lose him too.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m not ill.’

I felt my shoulders drop at least three inches.

‘I’m retiring.’

‘You’re what?’ I choked.

‘I’m retiring,’ he said again.

I pulled out a kitchen chair and flopped down on to it. That was the last thing I had been expecting him to say.

‘That’s the last thing I expected you to say,’ I blurted out, the words echoing my thoughts.

David chuckled. He sounded far happier about the prospect than I did. What was going to happen to Wynter’s? David was Wynter’s now.

‘And before you start to panic,’ he smoothly carried on as if it was all decided already, ‘I’m not leaving you in the lurch. I’m planning to sell my shares in the business to Edward.’

‘To Edward,’ I repeated.

Edward was David’s son. He’d worked alongside his father since returning from his aunt’s forest farm in New Zealand a couple of years ago. I’d never met him, but I knew he was as mad about Wynter’s as David was. In fact, I got the impression that the whole family, which was spread across the globe, had sap rather than blood running through their veins. I supposed he would be the right person to take the reins.

‘He’s been working with me here for almost two years now and he knows the business inside out,’ David forged ahead. ‘He’s more than ready to take it on. He’s got some great ideas about how to keep Wynter’s current and your dad’s plans moving along. He’s got far more vision than I’ve ever had. I’ve kept things ticking over, but Edward can see far into the future.’

I knew what he was saying made perfect sense, but it didn’t stop me having a moment of panic. David couldn’t leave. Dad and I might not have seen eye to eye about a lot of things, but David was my last link to him. I had lost so much of my parents; I couldn’t lose him too.

‘But you can’t retire,’ I blurted out. ‘Wynter’s Trees just wouldn’t be the same without you, David.’

‘I’m sixty-nine,’ he gently reminded me. ‘I should have gone years ago. I only stayed on…’