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“How are you doing?” Dylan asked after lunch. He’d come into the kitchen to return some dirty mugs and dishes he’d picked up, and was getting a cloth and spray to wipe tables down. “You look like you could do with a sit down.”

“Bit of a rough morning,” Lucy admitted. “My eyes do not want to stay open.”

“How about I make you a cup of tea?”

“That’s a good idea, but I can make it — I do run a coffee shop, after all.”

“Let me make it for you,” Dylan said. “Why don’t you take it outside for a few minutes? I can take over from you; the lunchtime rush seems to be over and some fresh air might help. I can always give you a holler if Jo and I need you.”

“That sounds good,” said Lucy, surprised at how easily she was giving in to his suggestion to rest during the work day. But he was right, she did need to step out for a bit, and he was hanging around here anyway. She may as well make use of him being there.

The tea, fresh air and stepping away from everything did make Lucy feel quite a lot better, and she managed to get through the rest of the day, though she was very grateful when it was time to close up.

Dylan disappeared for a couple of minutes while she and Jo were wiping things down, and returned with one of his protein bars for her. She grabbed for it, which made him laugh.

“Grab your coat,” he said. “You can nibble that on our walk.”

Lucy gave an exaggerated sigh. “Come on,” he said. “I’m desperate to get out. I’ve got a client who’s been driving me crazy today. I need to walk and complain.”

“All right,” said Lucy.

With everything he did for her, it was the very least she could do to join him for a short walk and listen to him have a whinge. She put on her hat and coat while he finished mopping the floor, and they set out, both armed with a protein bar. She nibbled on hers, trying to make it last as long as possible, while she encouraged Dylan to vent to her about his client, who kept changing what he wanted and then forgetting what he’d asked for. His work sounded complicated, and it was hard to imagine easy-going Dylan in his jeans and hoodie being trusted to set up and test security systems for websites. But it seemed he was rather good at it.

“How did you even get into your work?”

“Computers were sort of my escape when I was a teenager. I spent a lot of time on them, and then I got into coding at school. There was a club after school, and, basically, I’d take any excuse to stay there. Then I was allowed to stay late on the computers any evening I wanted, and I started to do stuff to help the teachers. It basically built from there.”

“Cool,” Lucy said, trying not to focus on the idea of him having such an unhappy home life that he’d rather stay at school. She could remember being thrilled when the final bell of the day rang and she got to go home to watch television and have dinner with her parents.

She realised she’d finished eating her protein bar, and she felt the best she had all day.

“Speaking of computery stuff, I’ve been working on ideas for a website for the coffee shop. It would be great if we could go over them at some point. I was wondering about online ordering for the lunchtime deliveries. It would save you having to answer the phone to take orders all the time, for a start.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Lucy said. “And it would make it easier for people to have all the choices laid out before them with the pricing.”

“Exactly. Aren’t I brilliant?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Lucy retorted, “but you’re maybe not a terrible business partner.”

“I’ll take that,” said Dylan. “I knew I’d win you over eventually.”

“We’ll see. The jury’s still out.”

“Oh, and it’s almost December.”

“And?” Lucy replied.

“All the other businesses are decorated for Christmas. Shouldn’t we get our decorations up before the town lights get turned on on Saturday?”

“Yes, yes, I know,” sighed Lucy, as they turned back on to the high street. She’d really dropped the ball there. Back in August, she’d been so organised testing out mince pie recipes, and here they were in the last week of November and Christmas had been the last thing on her mind. “I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I will. There are some decorations from last year in the stockroom. I’ll get them out and put them up. And I’ll ask Jo to bake some festive goodies and double check the arrangement for the Christmas lights switch-on.”

“You’re not going up on a stepladder to hang decorations,” Dylan replied, firmly.

“I’m pregnant,” Lucy said, “that doesn’t mean I can’t go up a stepladder.” Even though it was the last thing she felt like right now. Her working days were feeling very long.

“Well, I think it does, so let me help.”

“Fine,” said Lucy. She genuinely lacked the energy to argue.