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“Sooner than that, if possible.” Anne-Marie pursed her lips. Her features softened, though. “I’m so glad to hear Zack is back home. And Tom always seems so nice and so good for him.”

“Agreed. Very much better than that Freddy.” Lottie frowned at the memory of the young man who had messed her nephew around.

“Ugh. I had a bad feeling about that one from the start,” declared Anne-Marie, pushing her reading glasses onto her head. “Nasty piece of work.”

Lottie nodded, recalling holding a weeping Zack in her arms a few Christmases earlier, when Freddy simply didn’t show up to the castle, despite saying he would. No word, nothing; he’d simply vanished. That was the day she’d learned the term ‘ghosted’. She knew in that moment that no mother could ever have felt more protective and tiger-like towards her child than she did towards Zack.

“Anyway, enough about him. Are the boys heading down for dinner this evening?” Anne-Marie put her glasses back on and made some notes on the list of residents who would be with them over Christmas itself.

“I think Freya’s talked them into heading to the pub this evening,” said Lottie, who was now scrolling through her phone. “Look.” She turned the screen towards Anne-Marie. “Looks like the storm is definitely headed our way, and soon.”

Anne-Marie peered at the phone. “I was hoping it might skirt around Fort William. That happened in the autumn.” She sighed. “I’d wager we’ll lose some of our Christmas guests if it’s very bad. Some people simply won’t be able to come.”

“I’m so pleased Zack made it.” The thought had hit Lottie approximately once every ten minutes since his arrival.

“Can you add storm prep for Danny when he arrives? I think we need some of those shutters closing.” Anne-Marie pointed to the ever-growing list of jobs for Danny.

“Yeah. I’ll call him now, actually. He should be here pretty soon. I’ll let him know in advance what we need from him. I can always help him with the prep if he needs it,” said Lottie, finding his number.

“Don’t you want to head to the pub with the bairns?” enquired Anne-Marie.

“I don’t think I’ll have the time,” said Lottie.

Danny arrived an hour later with his toolkit and a cheeky grin. “Sorry about the other day, Lotts. Here safe and sound now.”

“Well, we have our work cut out, I’m afraid. But if we can get it all done in the next couple of hours, I’ll treat you to a slice of Anya’s special Christmas cake and a hot chocolate.” Lottie grinned.

“You know how to get round me,” said Danny, running a hand over his carefully manicured stubble.

“We have a storm to prepare for.” Lottie handed Danny the list and folded her arms as he read through, frowning at some of the fiddlier jobs.

They spent the next two hours working methodically through the jobs – closing and locking wooden shutters, clearing drains, moving anything not fixed down outside. With Zack and Tom already at the pub, Danny managed to find time to fix the honeymoon suite’s toilet more effectively than Lottie had managed to.

“I’m a bit worried about the Christmas trees outside the front,” said Lottie as they got closer to the bottom of the list. “If the weather’s going to be as rough as they predict, they could blow over and cause chaos.”

“You’re not wrong,” said Danny, wiping a bead of perspiration from his forehead. “Their lights are connected to the mains as well, aren’t they? The last thing we need is electric cables all over the place. At the very least, we need to unplug them overnight. Perhaps we can lash them to the building?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” said Lottie.

Chapter Seventeen

HANNAH

Hannah was more than three pints in, and now she had company. Freya had kept her topped up with ale, and when two men came in – one of whom appeared to be Freya’s brother – she’d sat with them at a table near to Hannah. Freya had introduced Zack, and his boyfriend Tom.

Zack appeared to be one of the friendliest people on earth, and had immediately invited Hannah to join them. Surprising herself, she had accepted.

“So,” said Zack, “what was Lotts like at university?” He looked across at Tom, adding, “That was before we scuppered all her plans.”

“I doubt she sees you as scuppering her plans,” said Hannah. She didn’t know Lottie well, but she could see the pride in her eyes when she talked about her children – it was abundantly clear that Freya and Zack were exactly that.

“God, I would,” said Freya, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Oh, I know that,” agreed Zack, gently elbowing his sister. “You’d have abandoned us in the street.”

“Ha bloody ha,” said Freya with an eyeroll.

“Has it always been just the three of you?” asked Tom. “I mean, has she ever been with anyone, romantically, I mean?”