Page 82 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘Practical,’ she replied, ‘what with videoing it and everything. The anti-fraud guy was very pleased, wasn’t he?’

‘The anti-fraud guy thinks Daisy is a Christmas miracle,’ Avery confirmed. ‘I’m inclined to agree.’

‘I think we need to open the brandy,’ Harry decided, stalking over to the sideboard.

Because she and Avery had driven in separately, they’d had to drive home separately, and it was late when they got back to the manor. Mo’s contact had called Avery on the way back to Mistingham – Avery had spoken to him on hands-free – and he had apparently seemed confident that they could shut the scammer’s operation down, perhaps even take action in the next few days. A visibly relieved Avery had updated Daisy before they headed into the warmth of the manor, where they’d explained the whole situation to a horrified Sophie, Harry and May.

‘I can’t believe this.’ May spoke from behind her hands, and Daisy thought she was more upset than anyone. ‘I can’t believe this is happening, and that you didn’t tell me, Avery.’

‘I didn’t want you to be concerned about it.’

‘How could I not be concerned?’ She looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. ‘Anything could have happened to you! And now you’ve gone to anti-fraud or whatever, he’s going to want revenge, isn’t he?’

Avery got up and sat next to her. ‘That isn’t how they operate. He’s done it to other small firms, and Artem – that’s who I spoke to – seemed completely on it. He said he already knew about this group, and my case will help them.

‘He also said that threatening letters, the odd punch, are as far as they go: that they’d rather disappear and set up somewhere new, start grifting again, than retaliate with violence, ramp up the possibility of serious charges. There’s no risk to us.’

‘So why didn’t you just refuse to pay him?’ May asked.

‘Because I didn’t know any of that. I didn’t know how far they would go, or what they were capable of, and I couldn’t risk it – risk them hurting you or Jeanie or anyone I love.’

‘But you didn’t tell me,’ May said. ‘You’ve been going through all this, and you didn’t confide in me.’

Avery shrugged. ‘I deal with stuff on my own. You know that.’

May’s tears were falling now. ‘Is this why you were so keen to take on Mary and Winnie’s build, even though you didn’t have the experience?’

His smile was lopsided. ‘I had already agreed to work on their house, but the timing was perfect. I needed to stay away from Jeanie, to not give them an excuse to harass her. Mistingham seemed like a good place to be, so …’ He laughed. ‘And, you know, I was apprehensive about taking on the project to begin with, but I am absolutely killing it, so it’s done me a favour when you think about it. Showed me what I can really do.’

‘I can’t believe you’re laughing,’ May said.

‘I can’t believe you’re crying,’ Avery replied, his voice gentle. ‘You never cry.’

Harry handed out glasses of brandy, and sat next to Daisy while Avery and May hugged. ‘That was a good thing you did. You’re brave, you know that?’

‘I couldn’t stand by and do nothing,’ Daisy said. ‘I wouldn’t let it happen to anyone if I could help it, let alone Avery.’

‘Yeah.’ He nudged her shoulder with his. ‘It seems to me that you’re a little bit soft on him.’

Daisy’s pulse thrummed. ‘Soft on him? What is this, the 1950s?’

Harry laughed gently. ‘He’s been a good diversion while you’ve been here.’

Daisy wrinkled her nose. She knew he was baiting her, using the word ‘diversion’ on purpose, for a man she could no longer imagine being without. But her flat was in London, and so were all her business ties – that was the future she had laid out for herself after her divorce.

‘He’s been the best,’ she said simply, and clinked her glass against his.

The manor’s floodlights only spilled so far into the parkland, and beyond their light the darkness was overwhelming. Only stars broke through the black, little cracks that twinkled and winked and pulsed, and Daisy could hear the eternal motion of the sea, the swoosh of the waves as they pulsed in and out.

She hadn’t been on the beach nearly enough since she’d been back, but she still felt tied to the sea, as if she needed to smell it, see it and hear it to be at her happiest. Its rhythm grounded her, and even though the air was frigid and damp she wasn’t ready to go back inside.

She had left the others in the warm, May and Avery talking intently, Harry brooding, Sophie making the last few dance cards, though she kept looking up, as if to check Daisy and Avery were still there.

It had been a shock for all of them, and Daisy’s meeting with Lars, her worry that she might have somehow led him on, felt like weeks ago, not hours. Darkness, Terror and Clifton were roaming the grass, sniffing out nighttime scents, and she was comforted by their presence.

‘Found any hell hounds?’

Daisy turned, smiling at Avery as he approached. He hadn’t put his coat on, his light grey hoody making him look like a ghost in the floodlights. ‘Not yet,’ she said. ‘I thought I heard a howl, but …’