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‘And Lara,’ he laughs, and then adds, ‘And Luke, Dinky, Tegan, Louie, Dewey and Huey and Gloria.’ He does a little skip beside me as we leave the room, clearly happy to have revisited his memories and helped Ayesha to revisit hers. ‘Stinker, Angel, Santa, Nosy and Elf,’ he recites, slipping his hand into Horse’s big hand too as the three of us walk down the hall.

Outside, the trees are stripped of their leaves, trying to keep themselves alive while sunshine is rare. That’s what happens, isn’t it, when you’re just barely keeping yourself going? Until the springtime comes again, and sunshine comes back into your life – sunshine you didn’t even realize you were missing.

Chapter 28

‘Do you think she remembered me?’ Will asks.

We are in the Land Rover on the way back from the care home. It’s cold, clear and crisp, with the last of the day’s November sunshine pushing through the branches of the trees.

‘I think she did,’ I say, glancing at Horse, who’s driving and looking straight ahead; I wonder if he’s thinking about Nadiya. They’ve clearly formed a friendship. I turn back to Will on the back seat. ‘You remember that smile on her face after you gave her the samosa?’

He nods.

‘That’s what you have to remember. You brought back happy memories for her with your food. You made her smile.’

‘Like she did for me,’ he says, ‘making memories for me to keep.’ He looks out the window for a bit, then says, ‘I wish she could come and see the Christmas trees once we open, like Nadiya will.’

‘I think that might be a bit much for Ayesha,’ I say. An idea comes to me. ‘But we could make a special decoration to hang on a tree, and then whenever you look at it, you’ll think of her.’

‘We could all do it!’ he says eagerly.

‘We could. Make a decoration for the people who were, and are, special in our lives. Just like Ayesha remembered you today. And maybe her son, too.’

‘I’d like that,’ he says firmly. ‘We could put them on the big tree, Paddy’s tree.’

A lump travels up my throat and then settles again. Horse looks sideways at me, reaches into his pocket and hands me back the bandana with a smile.

‘Keep it,’ he says.

I give a little cough and blow my nose. ‘Yes, Paddy’s tree,’ I reply.

‘We could each hang a wish on it, too. A Christmas wish.’

‘That sounds like a lovely idea,’ I agree.

‘Can we do it when we get in?’

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘And another bonfire?’

‘If Horse is happy!’

‘I’m happy,’ he says, and I can see that he is. And I’m happy for him.

Back at the farm, we find Luke and Lara in the kitchen. Will has soon roped them into his new project, and boxes from my craft room are spread out across the round table.

‘Okay, well, let’s start by making a decoration each for the people special to us.’

I look at the ribbons spiralling out of one box; another with broken jewellery I never threw out. There’s some silver cutlery I thought might come in useful, and other bits and pieces of forgotten treasure I’ve been meaning to clear out.

‘I’d like to make one with sparkles,’ Will says. ‘Ayesha always used to have sparkles on her dresses and scarves.’

‘Then that’s what we’ll do,’ Lara says.

‘There should be some useful shiny things in here . . .’ I move a couple of stacked boxes to see the ones underneath. One of them has old CDs in it, and some offcuts of wool in little balls.

Will finds some cards in another box and hands them round. He wants each of us to write out a wish and put it in an envelope, then write our names on the front. ‘I’m going to write my own,’ he tells Lara.