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Soon we’re all working on our ornaments. Outside, Horse has a bonfire going, burning the bramble cuttings and fallen branches from other trees around the outside of the forest perimeter. We work in peace for almost an hour.

‘Ready, Will?’ I ask eventually.

And he nods, and we all put our coats on and head outside.

I open the gate to the forest and the dogs run in. Will follows them as they leap and run this way and that.

‘Let’s give the lights a trial run, shall we?’ says Luke. Dinky is circling him in excitement. ‘Let’s fire up the generators and see if it all works. Ready for the weekend!’

He heads towards the generator tucked between a cluster of trees and from within the thicket of branches, starts counting down from ten. We all join in, Will doing the numbers on his fingers with Lara. And then we hold our breath as one . . . and suddenly the place is ablaze as Luke throws the switch. More lights than we’ve ever had before, thanks to Scarlett – I hope she isn’t missing them. Our breath rises up towards them like steam from a train, plumes of it in the cold night air.

I look around, turning in circles.

‘It’s beautiful,’ I say, staring up at the little white lights strung out on branches and supported by long sticks driven into the soil. And I feel the same excitement I used to feel every December when the frost nipped at the end of the branches and it felt like walking through a winter wonderland. Just like now. Tears fill my eyes, making the lights sparkle even more as overhead the stars start to pop out one by one.

‘We’re nearly ready to open,’ I say quietly to the chunky robin, who is perched nearby. Then I turn to the others. ‘Thank you, all of you. This wouldn’t have happened without you!’

‘Or Will,’ says Horse.

‘That’s true,’ I say, as we start to follow the well-tended paths that Horse has created. They lead us through the Douglas firs, with their soft blue-green needles and lovely citrussy scent. Lara and Luke are shoulder to shoulder, pointing at the trees and laughing together, and I think that in a different world – a different time and place – they could be so well suited for each other. But this is just a snapshot in time. A memory for later life. A night under the stars in the Christmas tree forest.

We follow the strings of lights through the Norway spruces, the most popular sellers, the Scots pine and Nordmann firs – ‘lovely lookers, but no real scent’, I remember telling Horse when I first introduced him to the trees.

We move into another patch of Norway spruces, always my favourite. Despite dropping needles, their smell is the real smell of Christmas to me, and they were the first trees we planted here. We are heading towards Ty Coed, where Paddy’s tree stands in pride of place, lit up right at the heart of the farm. The hatch on the small hut nearby is covered in lights too, looking like a gingerbread house.

‘Beautiful,’ says Lara.

‘Stunning,’ agrees Luke.

Horse gives a contented sigh.

‘It’s perfect!’ I breathe.

We all take a moment to gaze at the many lights, Paddy’s tree and the little hut. Finally Horse says, ‘So, got your ornament, Will?’

He nods and pulls it out of his pocket. It’s really beautiful. Made from an old silver spoon from the shiny things box.

‘To remember her cooking with me,’ he says. Tied on with a ribbon is a piece of dried orange studded with cloves and a little bundle of cinnamon sticks. There’s even a label with Ayesha’s name written on it in shaky, slightly wonky writing. But it’s there. He’s done it.

‘And this is my Christmas wish,’ he says, producing the card in the envelope. ‘I wrote it myself.’

I look at Lara, who is smiling with tears in her eyes.

‘He did. He wrote it all himself.’

‘Where do you want to put your decoration?’ I ask.

Will looks up at the tree.

‘Up there,’ he says, pointing to a branch that’s sticking out near the top of the tree.

‘Only one way to get it up there,’ says Horse, laughing. ‘You ready?’

Will nods.

‘Hold on to Ayesha’s decoration tightly,’ Horse says. Then he bends down, picks Will up under his arms in his big hands and lifts him over his head, sitting him on his shoulders.

‘Now then . . .’ He walks towards Paddy’s tree. ‘Tell me where.’