‘Course I didn’t,’ said Evan. ‘But, while we’re on the subject, is she still with you? Only I was thinking I wouldn’t mind going back to Prague one day, and I wanted to ask if she could recommend any good hotels.’

‘Too late, she’s gone,’ Frank lied, seeing straight through the excuse. ‘Her friend picked her up this morning.’

‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ Evan sounded disappointed. ‘I don’t suppose she gave you her number before she went?’

‘No, she didn’t,’ said Frank. ‘And if that’s all you’re ringing for, I need to get off. Yvonne’s not answering her phone and Jo’s worried about her, so I said I’d go and check on her.’

‘You’d better hope she’s not dead,’ Evan snorted. ‘Can you imagine having to sit with her corpse while you wait for the roads to clear up enough for someone to come and get her?’

‘I’d rather not imagine it, if you don’t mind,’ Frank said, eager to get off the phone when he heard Irena coming out of the living room. ‘I’ll speak to you later. Bye.’

Turning when Irena came in, he handed one of the cups to her.

‘Thank you.’ She smiled and took a seat at the table. Then, giving him a curious look when he sat down and reached for his boots, she asked, ‘Are you go out?’

‘Yeah, I promised my daughter I’d go round and check on Yvonne,’ he said. ‘And then I need to do a walkabout to see if the storm caused any damage, so you’ll have the house to yourself for a while.’

‘Is OK if I look on computer to see if my brother has answer email?’

‘Help yourself,’ Frank said, taking a couple of swigs of tea. ‘See you in a bit.’

Evan hadn’t long finished talking to his dad when his wife walked into the room, and he narrowed his eyes when she huffed her way past him and slumped heavily down on the already flattened cushion of her armchair. She’d never been a raving beauty, but at least she’d always looked presentable in the past. Now, she spent the majority of her time slopping around in baggy T-shirts and over-stretched leggings, and it pissed him off that she’d stopped making an effort for him. He’d defended her when Jo had slagged her off, but some of his sister’s comments had hit a nerve. Marie complained that her legs swelled up if she had to stand for too long, but she was quite capable of sitting at a desk or working a till. She just didn’t want to, because she’d got used to doing nothing. And that was a waste, because she wasn’t stupid by any means. But she’d already given up on herself, and he couldn’t be arsed arguing about it any more.