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‘I know. Terrible idea,’ I reply. ‘But I thought we were serious, that my life was on the right track – that we were keeping it a secret because our work didn’t like employees dating each other…’

I can feel my throat tightening, so I sip my drink before I can continue.

‘Except he was already in a relationship with someone. Living with them, in fact. And that person was his boss. So, my boss’s boss.’

Ivy’s face changes.

‘Oh, Lia.’

‘When she found out, she sacked us both,’ I reply. ‘I don’t blame her, to be honest.’

‘But you didn’t know,’ Ivy points out.

‘But no one believed me,’ I reply. ‘They thought I must have known. People looked at me like I was “the other woman”. Like I’d set out to sleep my way up the ranks. I couldn’t afford to stay in London without the job, and honestly, even if I could have, I couldn’t walk into another interview with my head held high. It’s not like I was going to get a glowing reference…’

‘Oh, Lia, that’s awful,’ Ivy says.

I look down at the mince pie again because if I look at Ivy, I might cry, and no one should cry in a shop this joyful.

‘I’ve only told Mum,’ I say. ‘And now you. That’s it. I plan to keep it that way.’

‘You have nothing to be ashamed of,’ she insists.

‘Yeah, but no one actually believes me,’ I point out. ‘Even if I was innocent.’

Was I innocent? I really didn’t know that he was seeing someone else, but maybe I should have? Maybe I should have asked more questions. Maybe there were signs and I ignored them because I liked the version of my life that I could have had with him.

Innocent or not, I was definitely stupid.

She reaches over and squeezes my hand.

‘Well, that’s the good thing about being back here,’ she says. ‘No one knows. And no one needs to know.’

‘Yeah, there’s always that,’ I reply with a sigh.

‘Marram Bay is a great place for starting again,’ she says with a reassuring smile. ‘You have lots of people here who care about you.’

‘You always were so optimistic,’ I point out.

‘Lia, I run a year-round Christmas shop,’ she jokes. ‘I have to be.’

That makes me laugh, which is exactly what I need right now.

‘So what are you going to do now?’

‘No idea,’ I reply. ‘I guess I’ll have to stick around for a while, while I figure out my next steps.’

‘Well,’ she says, glancing around the shop, ‘with Christmas looming, I’ll be looking for more staff soon. Tourists love autumn here, but November onwards is when this place starts getting ridiculous. If you wanted something to keep you busy, I know it’s not exactly dream job material, but I would happily employ you – no references needed.’

She flashes me a cheeky smile.

‘That’s lucky,’ I say with a laugh. ‘That’s so kind of you, Ivy, thank you. I might take you up on that.’

‘No pressure,’ she insists. ‘I just thought I’d offer.’

‘Thank you.’

It’s a lifeline when I need one. Plus, perhaps dream jobs are overrated – my last ‘dream job’ turned out to be more of a nightmare.