And instead of asking about Margaret, Holly began talking to Kate about her. The woman was full of questions, chatty and gossipy. She wanted to know about Kate’s time as a musician, the stars with whom she’d worked, the nightmare of touring. She asked how Kate had come to be running Harbour Street in the first place; about the kids and then about Robbie. ‘How did he die?’ Looking up from her latte with an interest and sympathy that Kate hadn’t expected.

In the bubble of the warm room, Kate began to talk about her marriage. She said things that she’d never even discussed with Margaret, though she’d sometimes suspected that Margaret had guessed what the relationship was like. ‘Robbie was a Scot. From the west coast. All dark hair, flashing eyes and Gallic passion. I was still in the music business then and we met at a gig.’ She paused, expecting more questions from Holly, questions about Margaret, but none came and Kate continued. ‘It was a lovely venue, an arts centre in the Borders. Intimate, you know. I started chatting to Robbie in the bar afterwards.’ And she relived the scene in her head: the smoky bar and Robbie Dewar, the handsomest man in the room, walking towards her as if in slow motion, like a scene in a really soppy movie. She’d been chatted up by fans before, but Robbie had charmed her with an old-fashioned courtesy. He’d made her laugh.

They’d spent the night together in her hotel room. She’d thought it would be a one-night stand – after all, she had no plans then to settle down – but two days later he was knocking at the door of her parents’ house, tidy in a clean shirt, carrying a bunch of roses, asking if she’d like to go out for a meal. Kate broke off in the middle of the story to look up at Holly. ‘He drove sixty miles that day just to spend an evening with me and drove back sixty miles at the end of the night.’

‘Wow!’ Holly smiled. ‘Romantic or what?’

And Kate agreed that it had been. ‘I was bowled over by him. Most men only seemed interested in my music. The money. Or managing my career. Robbie liked my singing, but he was too proud to live off me. He wanted to be the provider.’

‘So you stopped singing?’ Holly looked up, and Kate could tell that she was shocked. This woman wouldn’t let any man get in the way of her career.