It was the perfect weather for ice skating when Juliet threw open the curtains on Tuesday morning. Crisp and clear. There was a slight frost on the ground but the sun was already turning it to vapour and little smoke-like wisps rose up from the pavement and dissipated into the cool, morning air.

She showered, threw on a pair of black ski pants, a black jumper with a flashing green and red Christmas tree emblazoned on the front, and black, knee-high boots. A memory flashed into her mind; she had worn similar boots all those years ago when she had sat on the bench waiting for Harrison. She quickly dismissed the image, brushed her lashes with a dab of mascara, covered her lips with winter cherry lip balm and dashed downstairs.

Her ice skates hung over the back of one of the kitchen chairs, exactly where she had left them last night. Who knew that being made redundant and having to move home would have an upside? If not for that, she would have left her ice skates in her flat in Bristol. Other than the lake at The Grange, there was nowhere within a thirty-mile radius of Mistletythe to skate, and she would not, for one minute, have expected to be able to skate at the lake, in the normal course of events. But nothing about this festive season so far was normal. The redundancy, moving home, the heart-to-heart with her family, and Luke Bow offering to let her skate on the lake; definitely not the usual Christmastime.

'Morning all,' she chirped, as she sat at the kitchen table for breakfast and everyone returned her cheery greeting.

'You're full of the joys of Christmas,' Rosa said, kissing the top of Juliet's head as she stood behind her and leant over to pour her a cup of coffee.

'It's a beautiful day, and I'm going skating on the lake. There's a lot to be joyful about. What are your plans for the day? I'll be back in time for lunch.'

'I plan to do as little as possible,' Bernard said, a huge grin on his face as he scooped up a spoonful of porridge. 'There's a new murder mystery I'm longing to read.'

Rosa pulled a face. 'Perhaps I'll do the same, darling. Oh wait. Someone needs to clean the kitchen, bake some more mince pies, write the list for the big Christmas shop, do the washing. Need I continue?' She blew her husband a kiss.

'No, no. Message received and understood. Tell me what you need me to do, my darling, and I'll happily do it.'

'I'll give you a list,' she replied, with a loving smile.

'I can do some of that when I get back,' Juliet said. 'And Zoe will help, won't you?'

'Huh?' Zoe glanced up from the magazine she was reading. 'Won't I what?' She glanced at each of them in turn.

'Help around the house, sweetheart,' Rosa said, refilling Zoe's coffee cup.

'Yeah. Of course I will. After I've taken Cinnamon for her walk. Just tell me what you want me to do, and consider it done.'

Rosa smiled. 'Goodness me. Father Christmas will be proud of you all. What a band of merry little helpers you all are this morning. We must have family heart-to-hearts more often if this is the result.' She walked back around the table and rested a hand on Juliet's shoulder. 'What would you like for breakfast, sweetheart?'

'Just toast for me. But I'll get it, Mum. You sit down before your porridge gets cold.' Juliet got up and walked over to the toaster. 'Anyone else for toast?'

'Yes please,' each of them said in unison, and Cinnamon barked and raised her head.

Juliet laughed. 'Even the dog wants some. I shouldn't have asked. Thank heavens it's an eight-slice toaster.'

'Are you driving to the house?' Rosa asked.

Juliet tensed slightly. 'No. I thought I'd walk across the park, through the apple orchard and sneak in the back gate. Luke said it would be unlocked when I mentioned it yesterday. I really don't want to come face-to-face with old Bow.'

'Harrison?' Zoe said, grinning.

Juliet grinned back. 'Not that one. The other one.'

'I don't think there's much chance of that,' Rosa said. 'From what Daphne tells me, Rufus rarely goes further than his bedroom, his study, or the dining room. It's a good thing he can't see the lake from any of those rooms.'

'Yeah. He'd probably have an apoplexy if he saw me skating on his lake. He'd set the dogs on me.'

'I didn't know they had dogs,' Bernard said.

Rosa shook her head. 'They don't, darling. It's a figure of speech.'

'They should have dogs.' There was a thoughtful look on Bernard's face. 'A house isn't a home without dogs.'

'Luke likes dogs,' Zoe said.

'So does Harrison.' Juliet bit her lip. 'I mean, so did Harrison. At least he said he did. But then he said a lot of things. Sorry. Not going there again. Okay. So I'll be back around twelve-ish. We'll have lunch and then do stuff around the house. Yes?'

'Sounds like a plan,' Rosa said.

'Always good to have a plan,' replied Bernard.

'Absolutely,' agreed Juliet.

Zoe grinned mischievously. 'I'm glad you all think that.'

'Oh?' Rosa gave her a curious look. 'Don't you then, sweetheart?'

'I definitely do. In fact, I have a couple of plans of my own. But they're top secret and on a strictly need-to-know basis.' She beamed at each of them. 'And for now, none of you need to know.'

'I hope your plan includes getting me a lovely Christmas present,' Juliet said, hastily eating her toast and draining the last dregs from her coffee cup.

'Oh it does, sis. And you have no idea how lovely.'

Juliet grinned at Zoe and rose to leave. 'Right. I'm out of here. See you all later. Have fun.'

'You too,' everyone replied.

Juliet grabbed her skates, almost falling over Cinnamon, who was munching a slice of buttered toast, retrieved her thick, black jacket from the coat hook and dashed out the front door onto an icy, Mistletoe Row. She nearly landed on her backside as her feet slipped beneath her, but she managed to grab the door handle and steady herself.

'That's twice I've almost fallen over,' she said out loud. 'And everything comes in threes.' She shook her head and sighed.

Glancing at her watch, she saw it was ten-to-ten and yet there wasn't a car in sight. No people, either. But it was such a lovely day. She took a deep breath of the cool, crisp morning air and then walked gingerly over the road to the park, where the ground was still covered in snow. She ran across the snow-covered grass, through the apple orchard and made her way to the back gate of the grounds and gardens of The Grange. The gate was unlocked, as Luke said it would be, but she hesitated before she pushed it open. This would be the first time in twenty years that she had set foot on this hallowed ground and she needed a moment to let it sink in.

Only a brief moment though. Her excitement got the better of her. She shoved the ornate, wrought iron gate open and quickly closed it behind her. The path was slippery but she didn't care. She ran, slipping and sliding as she went, to the lake, stopping the second she saw it.

Its beauty took her breath away. It hadn't changed one bit. Even the bench looked the same, but perhaps a little older and more weathered. She raced towards it.

'Hello bench,' she said, laughing heartily at her foolishness and then she sat, almost reverently, and sighed. Dropping her skates beside her, she stared ahead at the lake. 'Hello lake. You have no idea how much I've missed you.'

If it could talk, she was sure it would say the same.

It was several minutes before she looked away and she took a long, deep breath as she slipped off her boots and put on her skates.

She got up and stepped onto the ice and it was as if something magical shot through her entire body, from her feet to her head. She closed her eyes, stretched out her arms, gracefully shaping her fingers like those of an ice dancer, and pushed away with her left foot. She skated in circles of eight, moving her hands behind her and clasping her fingers as she retraced her glide path backwards. She lowered her body, bending one knee and stretching her other leg out in front of her.

Raising herself upright, she leapt into the air, stretching her legs wide apart and reaching forward to touch her toes, landing gracefully as she skated forward into a spin. That was followed by more jumps; a triple axel, a double Lutz. She was in her element. Her skin was glowing in the warmth of the sun, her blood was racing through her veins, her muscles flexed and toned. She didn't want to stop.

Skating faster, she made a circuit of the lake, and another. More jumps, more spins. She could stay there all day. Fleetingly, she saw a figure out of the corner of her eye. Had Luke come down to greet her? She carved her blades into the ice and skated into an area where she was blinded by the sun. She closed her eyes against the glare but as she moved forward she heard the crack and felt her blade catch as she came to an abrupt stop. She glanced down as lines, like lots of little blood vessels, fanned out from where she stood. Her eyes shot towards the figure and only now did she see who it was.

'Harrison!' she shrieked as the ice cracked open and she fell into the freezing waters of the lake.