‘Oy!’ Alice’s bellow caused us both to jerk back in surprise. We turned to see her standing where the orchard gate opened onto the meadow, frantically waving her arms. ‘Have you seen the time? They’re going to break those lovely new gates down if you aren’t here to open them in the next thirty seconds!’

Daniel checked his watch. ‘Whoops. We’d better go.’ He jumped to his feet, pulling me with him. We both started jogging up the meadow towards the orchard, when he suddenly stopped, still holding onto my hand, and pulled me up against his chest. ‘Stuff it. They can wait another ten seconds. I’m not sure this can.’ He tipped his head towards mine. ‘What I was going to say, before being so rudely interrupted, was that… I love you, Eleanor. I have fallen completely, utterly, head-over-heels for you. I love everything about you, and the things I don’t know yet, I can’t wait to find out because I’m so certain I’ll love them, too. I can’t imagine life without you. And I’ve been waiting for weeks to say that.’

I stood there, speechless, every inch of me aglow.

‘It would help my blood pressure if you said something…’ He squinted, smile faltering.

Should I say it? Could I? Would it be wrong to tell him how I feel, when I was still holding back so much?

‘Daniel!’ Alice again.

‘I love you, too,’ I whispered, stretching up to kiss him soundly on the lips before dragging us both into the orchard and through the trees. My heart was floating along about three metres above us, but my conscience was dragging through the dirt.

33

The next few hours were a whirlwind of scones and jam, pouring teas and coffees and handing out soft drinks. It seemed as though the whole village had turned out to, at the very least, have a nosy and check out how the other side were behaving. However, to my enormous relief, there was no sign of any celebrity guests, and as the day wore on I began to relax, even more sure that Nora wouldn’t be showing up.

One surprise guest, however, was Daniel’s mother, Billie. She ordered two cream teas, sitting with her husband, Rob, in the shade of the gazebo, glancing around in amazement the whole time.

‘Everything okay?’ I asked, ducking over to collect their plates and mugs.

‘It’s incredible,’ Billie replied, shaking her head. ‘I thought… I thought it would be odd. Seeing the orchard full of people, some of them who never knew Daniel’s dad, who don’t understand or care what this place is. I haven’t been in here since… since we lost Charlie. I wasn’t sure I could do it. But seeing what you’ve done, the beautiful decorations, the laughter.’ A gaggle of small children ran past us, squealing with joy, as if to prove her point. ‘I keep seeing their faces, how much they’d have loved this. It’s perfect.’ She used a paper napkin to blot both eyes. ‘I don’t suppose you have any space on this orchard committee you’re setting up?’