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He seemed distracted now, and thankfully the meal drew to a close not long after. They took the hovercraft-sleigh back through the forest to where the car was waiting.

‘Thank you very much,’ Charlotte said, as they started off back towards Brentwell. It was a little after ten o’clock, and she was keen to get home, but didn’t want to appear ungrateful. ‘The food was very nice, and the setting was lovely.’

The hovercraft ride had perked James up a little bit. ‘Not as lovely as the company,’ he said. He leaned forward and reached for her hand, but at that moment his phone buzzed in his pocket. He groaned, pulled it out, and pressed it to his ear.

‘Yes? Look, we’ll talk in the morning. Out of court. Of course out of court. Offer an extra five percent if they’re still stalling. I want this dealt with.’

Charlotte didn’t know where to look. She stared out of the window at the snowy countryside, spotting a house in the distance with fairy lights surrounding its roof, like a landing pad for Father Christmas. She hoped a couple of children lived here, and that they were feeling excited.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ James said. ‘When you’re in my line of work, the drama never stops. There’s always someone wanting a share of your limelight, a cut of your profits.’

‘It must be hard.’

‘Yes, it is.’

She feared he might start on another long monologue, but instead he lapsed into silence. Soon, the lights of Brentwell appeared; then they were moving slowly through the suburbs.

‘Isn’t it so Christmassy?’ Charlotte said. ‘Don’t you just love all the lights—’

‘Huh. Well, well.’

James was leaning between the front seats. He tapped on the glass, and the driver lowered the partition.

‘Can you see the man up there walking with the bicycle? Slow down, would you? I want to get a look at him.’

Up ahead, a man was walking along the street, pushing a bicycle through the snow, a bag bouncing under one arm. Charlotte let out a gasp of surprise. It was Jacob, she could tell from his coat and the bicycle. She opened her mouth to point out that she knew him, but James was already rolling the window down.

‘Hey there, in need of a lift?’ he called, and Charlotte wondered if she’d got James wrong all this time, that he was actually a decent person with a few social issues he needed to address. It couldn’t be easy, having to deal with fame.

They came up alongside Jacob. He looked up, into the window, meeting Charlotte’s eyes before she could even begin to understand the implications of it. She stared at him a moment, then James gave a sinister sneer and shouted, ‘Sorry, no time!’ He slammed a hand against the front seat. ‘Driver, go!’

On instruction, the car sped off. Charlotte turned to look out of the back in time to see Jacob showered by a spray of dirty slush from the drain alongside the road.

‘Why did you do that?’ she said, turning on James. ‘That was horrible. I can’t believe it.’

James looked at her, face grave. ‘Oh, you think so?’ He sniffed, then wiped away an imaginary tear. ‘That was him.’

‘Who?’

‘My stepbrother. The stepbrother who tried to ruin my career.’