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‘So we pay twenty-five per cent of what . . . the first year?’ Liv waited for his nod. ‘And they fund with another seventy-five per cent? Sounds like a good deal.’

‘It might be. If we had the best part of four hundred thousand pounds hanging around in a bank account.’

Liv studied her nails and tried not to let her disappointment show. ‘I see the problem.’

‘I have to admit, I don’t.’ Evelyn shrugged. ‘It’s only money.’

‘Only money?’ Callum tried not to roll his eyes, and almost succeeded. ‘It’s a helluva lot of money. And unless you’ve won the lottery recently, it’s more than we have any chance of getting.’

‘We could try to find a sponsor, I suppose,’ Evelyn mused.

‘Who’s going to sponsor a little village surgery? No one’s that interested in us. That’s half the problem,’ Callum argued.

‘The Broclington community probably would be,’ Evelyn pointed out.

‘The community here is lovely,’ Liv argued. ‘But it’s hardly the most affluent of places.’

‘Individually, you’re right. But as a community, Broclington is capable of amazing things . . .’ Callum’s eyes now lit up, but Liv couldn’t understand why.

‘It really is.’ Evelyn sniffed. ‘I can’t ever repay the community for what they’ve done. But helping to save the surgery . . . that might be a good way to start.’

‘It would be,’ Callum agreed. ‘So many people rely on the surgery. But do you think we could really pull it off? There’s not much time.’

‘True, but the arrangements for the actual event are already well started, it’s just the cause we’re awaiting an announcement on. But do you think the committee would support this?’

Liv was getting more and more lost by the minute. ‘Support what? Pull what off?’

Callum took a swig of his beer and gestured to Evelyn. ‘It’s your story more than mine.’

Evelyn took a deep breath. ‘Have you heard of our Summer’s Christmas?’

‘The village fundraising thing where you had tinsel and trees in summer? Sarah has told me about it ‒ and Tom sent a couple of photos in one of his emails. He said he was roasting in the beard and hat last year.’

‘It was a little more than “just a little village thing”. In fact it was pretty big,’ Callum explained.

‘How big?’

‘Maybe big enough,’ Evelyn replied. ‘The first year was successful enough to get Summer to America for treatment when her cancer came back a couple of years ago. There wasn’t any hope of finding enough money in the family to pay for the treatment — and that’s where Broclington’s community came in. The traditional summer ball became a Mistletoe Ball, and the summer fete became Christmas themed, and a few very opportune press interviews and over three hundred thousand pounds later, Summer was in hospital getting the treatment that’s saved her life. That’s how Summer’s Christmas was born.’

‘Wow.’

‘Wow is right.’ Evelyn smiled. ‘When I said I couldn’t begin to repay the community for what they have done, I really meant it. They honestly saved my daughter’s life. We held the same event again last year, and it was almost as big and successful as the first time. We raised enough money to help extend the local hospice. And I happen to know the committee were holding off on making the final decision on their charity this year until Summer, Jake and I were back from the States.’

‘So, this really could work?’ Liv asked, and was surprised when she felt Callum’s fingers twist around hers and squeeze them tight.

‘Yes, this really could work. There will be a lot of work we have to do — like setting up a charity for the surgery to make sure everything is legal and above board, but I don’t think that is too difficult, and we’ll need to get a proposal to the committee, and put out press releases . . .’ Evelyn ticked off points on her fingers. ‘In fact, I’m going to go and find my soon-to-be-husband and start getting things moving.’

Callum turned to Liv as the door swung shut behind Evelyn. The look in his eyes made her heart race to the point of palpitations.

His free hand reached up to stroke her cheek, his hand sliding gently down to cup her chin as his thumb brushed against her skin. ‘The commissioners loved your proposal. We’re going to get the money . . .’

‘If we manage to raise the match-funding amount.’

‘Evelyn is pretty convinced we will. But we wouldn’t even be getting a chance to do this if it wasn’t for all of your ideas, and passion.’ His voice dropped on the last word, sending chills down her spine.

‘We should get back to the party.’ Part of her regretted the words even as she said them, the part that really wanted to stay in the quiet room where there was nothing to distract them from each other. Where she could lean into his arms and let him do everything that his eyes hinted at. And the other part of her? It wanted to run away and hide from any more pain or risk.

‘Yes, I suppose we should.’ He placed a soft, lingering kiss on her cheek that stirred the butterflies in her stomach into a full-blown whirlwind. ‘But I couldn’t have done this without you Liv. I hope you know that.’