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I watch him go, thinking how good it was to see him so joyful – even if we could all have done without the chaotic dog. Tegan trots closely behind him, her fat little bottom waddling from side to side, and they disappear into the kitchen.

‘Maybe spend more time with her, blow off some of her energy. Get her to respond to her name,’ Luke is saying to Scarlett through gritted teeth. She twinkles her eyes at him in response. Dinky is now sitting obediently at his feet. The ducks have stopped running and look like they’re having a good bitch about the young dog, turning this way and that, quacking to anyone who’ll listen. Completely indignant.

‘Next time, I’ll buy you jewellery for a birthday present instead of the pedigree dog you asked for!’ I hear Luke saying. Then he turns to me. ‘. . . I think it might be better if we come back another day. Without Dinky.’

I’m about to agree – perhaps it would be better for them to rebook – but Scarlett throws up her manicured hands and looks at the sky.

‘But we’re here now. And I really want to see it!’ she says, like a child who’s used to being indulged and getting her own way.

‘Yes, as we’re all here,’ says the estate agent, no doubt seeing a potential sale within her sights. ‘Seems silly not to.’

Luke sighs, then turns to Lara. ‘I’m sorry about your coat. Again. Please do let us know how much it costs to get it cleaned.’

Scarlett shakes her head. ‘It’s just mud. Let it dry and it’ll brush off, I’m sure.’ She gestures at the muddied coat. ‘Works every time,’ she tells Lara. ‘Really.’

I’m almost impressed by her confidence. Nothing seems to stand in this young woman’s way.

‘Sorry,’ says Luke once more, and I’m beginning to feel slightly sorry for him. He catches my eye and then nods towards the farmhouse behind me, as if he’s trying to tell me something.

I follow his gaze and turn to see Willow standing in the doorway, his black plastic bag at his side. And I realize straight away what he’s thinking. Oh, bugger!

‘No, no, Willow,’ I say, hurrying towards him and bending down. ‘You’re not leaving.’

He looks up at me, frowning in confusion. I take a breath. ‘When I said that you’d stay here until a new family could be found . . . It won’t be like this. These people aren’t your new family, Willow.’

Out of the corner of my eye I can see that Luke looks concerned and Scarlett looks horrified, although I barely remember she’s there at this point. Willow looks at the two strangers, and my heart twists. All he’s had in his life lately is strangers. How was he supposed to know this wasn’t his next lot of carers?

‘It won’t be people just turning up to take you away with no warning. That’s not how things are done.’ I look at Lara for backup. ‘Is it, Lara?’

She shakes her head.

‘Lara is looking for the right people to be your new family, and she’ll tell you when she’s found them.’

‘How about we go inside and make a cup of tea, Willow?’ Lara says. ‘Put your things back in your room and have a chat?’

He nods and drops his head, turning away and slowly dragging the bag of belongings behind him into the farmhouse, with Tegan right behind him.

‘I can sit with him for a bit,’ Lara says to me. ‘If you need to show these people around? He and I will have a good chat.’ She gives me her reassuring smile.

‘Well, if you’re sure,’ I say. I’m shaky and upset at the thought of what Willow must have been feeling.

‘Of course.’ She nods. ‘I love spending time with him. And we can go through that questionnaire I mentioned afterwards, if there’s time.’

‘Thank you,’ I say.

‘He seems like a lovely boy,’ says Luke with a smile, nodding through the farmhouse window at Willow on the sofa with Tegan.

‘He is,’ Lara and I both say. Then I take a deep breath and muster a polite smile for Luke and Scarlett. ‘All right – let me help you get a feel for the place. Why don’t you start with the forest? I can point out the rest of the land to you, as well. And the forest keeper’s cottage, Ty Coed. It’s small, two bedrooms, but very sweet.’

‘Thank you. We’ll keep the dog on the lead, I promise,’ Luke says.

‘Thank you so much,’ says Scarlett. She smiles widely for the camera and lifts her chin as they walk towards the gate into the field of trees. I see her pointing back towards the large barn, where all of Paddy’s junk still awaits clearing out. Once again, I silently promise myself I will tackle it soon. ‘We could rebuild that as stables,’ Scarlett is saying. ‘We’ll need water feeders putting in, and a sound system. Maybe the flat above would work for when we get a groom to live in . . .’

She’s talking about my crafting room. I need to not listen, I think. It’s like someone talking about you while you can still hear them.

I turn away and focus on the warmly lit farmhouse, where Lara and Willow are now sitting together at the round kitchen table. No doubt she’s explaining that he will be staying here for a while longer; that I’ll be his kinship carer, and then a new family will be chosen for him. And he will be chosen especially for them. I lean on the fence overlooking the forest and find myself thinking about his laughter as Dinky cavorted around the yard. Clearly, he’s happier with animals than with humans right now.

As I’m brushing away a tear, I hear another vehicle coming up the drive. A family car pulls into the farmyard. It stops, and a man gets out.