Now Roy was giving her an exasperated look, as if to say, Get off her, you daft old woman, and then Lorna began thinking the same, that Olivia almost certainly didn’t want a second hug from Aidan’s old mum, the first was probably more than enough – except that, in the next moment, Olivia let out a sob and leaned hard against Lorna, winding her arms around the older woman’s back so tightly that Lorna feared for the stems of her sunflowers. ‘Oh, darling,’ she crooned, taken aback by the passion of Olivia’s tears. ‘I know. We’re sad too. We’re so, so sad.’

‘Sorry,’ Olivia said, disentangling herself after a moment and blowing her nose. She seemed to make an enormous effort to regain her composure, after which she repeated, ‘Sorry’ and cleared her throat. ‘This isn’t about me. I’ll leave you to it.’

‘You don’t have to,’ Roy told her, but she was insistent.

‘No, no, I’ve had my little chat with him. Poured out my problems.’ She gave a shaky laugh, but looked so miserable Lorna felt worried for her. ‘He’s all yours.’ Then her hand was up in a self-conscious sort of wave and she took another step backwards. ‘It’s good to see you both again. Even under these circumstances.’

‘Wait,’ said Lorna as Olivia turned to depart. ‘Please. I’d like a minute with him, yes, we both would, but after that . . . Well, all we usually do from here is go and have a fried breakfast in Aidan’s favourite café. If you’re not busy, then . . . you could join us?’ She caught Roy’s eye, worried suddenly that he wouldn’t want an extra person there with them for their ritual anniversary eggs on toast, but he was nodding in agreement.

‘You’d be very welcome,’ he said.

Olivia’s mouth folded into itself, in a weak approximation of a smile, although the anxiety was still visible around her eyes. ‘I’m not busy,’ she replied. ‘Thank you, that would be nice, if you’re sure. I’ll wait for you on the bench near the entrance, shall I? Obviously take as long as you want.’

Tears were rolling down Lorna’s face, but they were not the usual tears of devastation. She felt . . . was it odd to say that she felt happy for Aidan in that moment, that his girlfriend had come back? Happy that she still thought about him and cared? What a wonderful person he had been, to have inspired such devotion!