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‘It’s true,’ Jake agreed as he knelt to help Summer tie her laces. ‘If you feel hot in shorts and T-shirt, then imagine how hot Tilly feels. She’s wearing a giant fur coat all the time. And, she doesn’t have nice sparkly trainers like yours to protect her feet when the pavement gets hot, and she can’t sweat like we can.’

‘Sweat is gross.’

‘It can be a bit. But it does keep you cool.’

‘S’pose.’

‘Here, take a jumper please.’ Evelyn pulled on her own cardigan and handed one to her daughter.

‘Muuuuuuum, it’s August. It’s too hot for jumpers.’

‘It might not be this early.’

‘I don’t want it.’ Summer put her foot down stubbornly, and Jake had to hide a grin as he realised that she’d clearly inherited her mother’s morning grumps – the same ones that she’d warned him about.

‘How about you just tie it around your waist? That way your mum’s happy because you have it, and you’re happy because you don’t have to wear it unless you want to. OK?’ And then he’d be happy because his carefully laid plans might actually work out, rather than being derailed by an argument.

‘OK.’ Summer tied the jumper round her waist and smiled up at him, all traces of stubborn argumentativeness gone as she slipped her hand into his. ‘Come on, Mum. I’m hungry.’

Their timing was perfect. Just as they reached the end of the street, Sarah, Callum and Sooty sauntered past. Jake had no idea where Callum had got it from, but as well as the blue snowflake bandana that he’d expected to see, Sooty was also wearing a clever costume that turned his front half into Santa, complete with a beard and matching red hat. The bells on his collar jingled jauntily as he trotted along, barely limping from the arthritis that Jake knew was in his hips.

‘Oh wow. Look, Summer! It’s Santa Paws!’ Jake whistled to Sooty. ‘Come say hi, old man.’

‘Aww, he’s so cute.’ Summer knelt to pet him, and Jake took advantage of her distraction to quickly tie a matching snowflake bandana around Tilly’s neck. He held his finger to his lips and winked at Evelyn who shrugged away her confusion. She trusted him, and that knowledge filled him with happiness.

He gestured to the top of the road, and what Summer hadn’t seen: over a hundred dogs and their owners all heading towards them, and every single pup was wearing a bandana, or tinsel, or bells or full-on costumes. Pride filled him as he watched them all appear, his patients and customers turning out to support him, and Summer and Evelyn.

Summer looked up, her eyes widening in amazement as she took in the sight. ‘There’s so many dogs.’

‘They’re all here for you.’ Jake lifted her to her feet. ‘We’re having a sponsored dog walk to help raise money for your treatment.’

‘This is so cool! Mum, how cool is this?’

‘Very, very cool,’ Evelyn agreed while shooting Jake a look of such love and gratitude that his stomach turned itself in knots. He loved nothing more than seeing her happy, and his breath caught when he realised that there was nothing he wanted to do more than make her smile this brightly every day for the rest of his life. The realisation was like a punch to the gut, and for a moment he let himself consider a future where Summer’s hand would tuck tightly into his again and again, just like it was now. And where Evelyn would keep smiling at him the way she was right then.

But within moments, they were surrounded by a pack of excited waggy tails, wet curious noses, and ears being shoved under their hands as dogs demanded attention and greeted them all.

‘Shall we go?’ Jake laughed as a spaniel dressed in tinsel shoved her nose under his hand. ‘Hello, girl. Are you impatient for your walk and breakfast?’

‘Are we still getting breakfast?’ Evelyn asked.

‘Yes.’ Jake nodded. ‘The plan is we loop around the south side of the village, through the park, past the cricket pavilion, and finish at the village hall – where the WI and Margaret from The Brockle’s Paws are putting on breakfast for everyone.’

‘This is amazing.’ Evelyn gave him a brief kiss before slipping her arm through his as they began to walk. ‘I feel like I spend half my time lately saying thank you to you, but thank you again. This really is wonderful.’

‘And again, you’re more than welcome.’ He smiled down at her, glad to have made her happy, and to have found another way to contribute to helping Summer.

That Thursday, two days before the big launch of Summer’s Christmas events, was sunny and bright but Evelyn still shivered as she walked across the village to the park. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, zipped up over shorts, in a vain attempt to find some warmth.

The enormity of the next few days, and what they meant to Summer’s future, was impossible to push to the back of her mind any longer. She’d been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of so many people – most of whom had been strangers a few weeks ago – and thousands and thousands of pounds was already sitting in the bank account labelled “Summer’s Christmas”, but it wasn’t enough.

Nick had formally registered the group as a charity, which he assured her meant they would be eligible to claim additional money back through tax relief, but it still wouldn’t be anywhere close to enough. Everything was pinned on the activities and events of the weekend, and Evelyn struggled with the knowledge that her daughter’s life would be decided over a few hours of a weekend – and that almost the whole event was reliant on the fickle British weather being kind. The forecast was good, but Evelyn was well aware that wasn’t always reliable.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, the whole event was being set up and run entirely by volunteers. She was gobsmacked, and grateful beyond words, for everything that everyone had done so far. The Broclington community, and so many other people, had been so generous with their time and money. But she still wasn’t entirely over the hurt that Charlie had caused her, and how badly she’d been let down by him and his parents. So as much as she tried to be optimistic, she struggled to not expect that everyone would let her down sooner or later. It was that knowledge, that she was entirely reliant on other people, that sent shivers through her veins.

When she rounded the corner to the cricket pavilion her breath caught, choked by the emotion that thickened her throat. Despite the fact that it was so early that even Tilly hadn’t bothered to get out of bed before Evelyn left, the park was bustling with people already.

Two young men she didn’t recognise were carefully unrolling a huge white canopy which would no doubt pop up into a beautiful marquee within hours. They laughed and joked with three other people she didn’t know who were emptying a van of what looked like a giant, wooden jigsaw puzzle. The doors to the cricket pavilion were already open, and more voices echoed inside, so Evelyn went to see what was going on, and where she could help.