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‘It really is.’ Jake struggled to get the words out past the lump in his throat.

‘And before I can go, we have to raise loads of money, so we’re going to have Christmas in summer … for me! And I’m going to be a Christmas princess!’

‘That sounds amazing.’

‘I’ve missed you, Jake.’ She placed a kiss on his cheek that melted his heart as fast as the cheese on the burgers.

‘I’ve missed you too, Summer.’

‘And … we’ll have to live in Boston for months. I’ll miss my friends, but it’s OK, because I would have missed them when I was dead. So I don’t mind missing them for a little bit if it means I get to keep them for years.’

‘That makes sense.’ The lump in his throat was choking him now.

‘But I don’t want to miss you again.’ Summer snuggled against his neck as he carried her into the kitchen. ‘So I think you should come to Boston with me and Mum.’

He saw Evelyn’s panicked look, and tried not to feel hurt as he sat Summer down at the table and focussed on dealing with her feelings and question. ‘I don’t know if I can. I have a lot of animals to look after, and if I came with you, who would look after all my patients?’

‘A different vet?’

‘Would you be happy if you went all the way to Boston and had to see a different doctor?’

Summer’s brow wrinkled as she thought about it. ‘Probably not. But will you think about it?’

‘I promise I will.’ He handed the food to Linda, who wrapped him in a big hug and kissed his cheek in almost the same spot Summer had.

‘There aren’t enough words to thank you for what you’ve done for my girls. You really are an angel.’

‘It really wasn’t that big of a deal.’ He tried to shrug off the compliment.

‘You and I both know that’s not true. Know that you have my eternal gratitude, and that there will never be any favour too big for you to ask. You’re as good as family, in my eyes.’

‘Thank you.’ Jake nodded earnestly, understanding how much it meant for her to say.

‘Nanny, Jake, can we nearly eat? I don’t want my Badger Burger to get cold and all the cheese to go hard.’

‘Badger Burgers?’ Linda pulled a face, teasing Summer. ‘They don’t sound very tasty. Maybe we should throw them away and have a nice, healthy salad.’

‘Noooooo,’ Summer complained. ‘They’re not real badger. Jake wouldn’t eat badger and neither would I. Badgers are too cool to eat. It’s just mushroom and cheese. But it’s black and white and a bit grey, so it sort of looks like a badger.’

‘I guess it does.’ Linda studied them as she plated up the meals and handed them around. ‘Let me have the bill for these Jake, and I’ll pay you back.’

‘Nope.’ He shook his head. ‘You can consider it the first donation to Summer’s Christmas.’

‘The first of many, hopefully.’ Evelyn raised her glass.

‘Cheers to that!’

‘Cheers!’ Summer clinked her glass with all the others.

‘Evelyn, if you and Linda have a few minutes after lunch, there’s something I’d like to show you.’ He tapped the phone in his pocket, thinking how thrilled they’d be to see everything Nick and his team had been working on in the last few days.

‘Of course.’ Linda didn’t give her daughter a chance to respond, and he was a little relieved that she’d not had the chance to refuse him.

When he’d started looking for something that might help Summer, it had been out of love and desperation. Though he’d never said the words to either of them, he knew it was truer than anything he’d felt before. And there was a part of him that hoped that one day soon, Evelyn would let him back into their lives. It was the same part of him that cried out in loss when she pulled away from him, and the part that had been in agony when Summer fell ill again. But even if she didn’t, even if all he could ever have with her was friendship, he’d find a way to be happy with that. He’d find a way to be happy with whatever made them happy.

They were midway through the burgers when the phone started to ring.

‘Leave it.’ Linda shrugged. ‘If it’s important, they’ll leave a message. Let’s enjoy our lovely food.’