‘He looked good in a Father Christmas costume,’ Loretta braved saying as they walked. When Daisy said nothing she added, ‘I don’t understand what’s wrong with him? He’s hot—’

‘Mum!’

‘Well he is! And he’s so kind, the right age, clearly interested …’

‘You’ve said all this before. And he might be interested, but I’m not.’

Loretta sipped her wine, the warmth a pleasant addition to the chilly night air. ‘Your sisters will be back in Butterbury before we know it, perhaps you could all decorate the tree together.’ She couldn’t gauge Daisy’s reaction, what with the darkness as they navigated the quieter part of the road without a footpath and Lorettahad to fall in behind her daughter.

‘Whatever you like, I really don’t mind, Mum.’

Out of her three daughters Fern seemed the most settled in life, but then again she was always a bit too serious so that concerned Loretta. Ginny seemed to have found a balance with travel and work but had very little time for personal relationships. And then there was Daisy, who was in Loretta’s life on a dailybasis and although at times Loretta wasn’t sure she was completely happy with the choices she’d made along the way, at least she was a lot more together than she’d been in her teenage years. She was the one who’d worried her parents the most of all when at fifteen years old she’d gone completely off the rails. Loretta had to wonder sometimes whether Daisy had ever truly got back on course.

Parentingappeared to be a delicate dance between backing off, stepping in when needed, giving advice and knowing when not to. And it seemed this Christmas would be no different.