‘Me too. I’m glad Helga isn’t here. She’d hate these crowds.’

‘How is she? Do you know?’

‘Getting better, I think, according to Maddy,’ Claire says, switching her phone off and putting it in the tow float with her keys. Tor does the same. Now it’s so crowded, they can’t leave valuables on the beach. ‘They say her surgery went well.’

‘Is she still being a good patient?’ Tor asks. ‘She was complaining when I went in.’

‘I hope they let her out soon,’ Claire says. ‘It’s driving her nuts.’

The sun is belting down and she knows that the crepey skin on her chest is burning. She frowns at Tor and they both pull a face at how awful it is now that there are so many people in the water. They stride in further and then Claire gives up when the water is thigh deep and starts swimming. They both swim right out and don’t stop until they get to the buoy.

By the time they get there, Claire is out of breath, but it’s good to swim and it’s good to be away from the crowds.

‘Oh, I needed that,’ Tor says, leaning back in the water. Her hair floats around her. She reminds Claire of the famous painting of Ophelia, her hair spread out in the water. ‘It’s been a tough week.’

‘Oh?’

‘Lotte.’

‘What’s going on?’

Tor explains that they’ve been scratchy and tense with each other. ‘It’s the usual thing. She’s cross about me not talking about us to my family. But she doesn’t understand.’

Claire thinks back to Lotte and what she said about not being noticed. ‘You know, I remember when Pim and I got together, he wouldn’t tell his family about me. It really upset me. I just wanted to be accepted, you know?’

‘And did they accept you?’

‘Eventually. But it took a while. It made things really tense between me and Pim, until I realised that even if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered.’

‘Why?’

‘Because Pim was adamant that he didn’t care how they felt. That what we had was bigger for him. He was happy to sacrifice his family for me.’

‘He was?’

‘Yes. And actually, it was seeing that love and how he felt that brought his family round.’

As they swim together, Claire thinks that she hasn’t thought back to those early days for so long. She’d struggled so hard to come to terms with his family’s rejection, not just of her, but of Pim, who she knew it had hurt far more. But Pim had been steadfast and true and had stood by her and he’d turned things round. His love had been so strong. So noble. It still is, she thinks. Just a bit covered in dust.

‘You know, if you love Lotte, then you have to make it official,’ Claire says. ‘Because they might surprise you … your family.’

‘Graham will be horrible. He’s my idiot of a brother-in-law.’

‘So? Who cares what he thinks?’