She’s used to them all being noisy and chatty in the sea, but now she notices that today there’s an awed silence as the snow falls gently around them. It feels very elemental. Dominica is aware of her infinitesimal smallness in the universe.

They swim silently and she imagines them like nuns gliding along a cloister. There’s definitely something religious about the swim today.

But then, as they turn and head back, Dominica breaks the silence.

‘It’s Chris’s birthday today,’ she says. Somehow, in this quiet, magical space, it feels safe to share how she’s feeling. ‘He was such an adventurous spirit. I found footage from some of our old holidays this morning. He would have loved this.’

‘Oh, Dominica,’ Helga says. Her voice is full of empathy. ‘Then today is hard.’

‘You know, my husband, Pim, is a physics teacher?’ Claire asks.

She hadn’t known this, but it stands to reason that Claire is with someone bright. Despite the way she sometimes puts herself down, she’s very astute.

‘He’s always banging on about Einstein’s big ideas,’ Claire continues.

‘Oh?’ Dominica asks, intrigued.

‘That energy is constant. So maybe Chris’s energy is still out there. And he talked about time too, and how the past, present and future all exist forever. So all those moments on the video? They’re happening out there somewhere too.’

Dominica feels a great wave of emotion bubbling up and it comes out in a kind of sigh, up to the snow. She looks up into it, thinking that this moment – this very moment with her friends in the snow – is travelling with her in time, too. It’s a comforting thought.

‘I keep thinking that we’d be having a party,’ Dominica says. ‘I can see it in my mind so clearly.’

‘Maybe Claire’s right. It’s all going on somewhere,’ Maddy says. ‘And hopefully without any bloody Covid regulations scuppering it.’

‘I hope so. Although he’d have made an embarrassing speech,’ Dominica says, with a smile.

‘Embarrassing how?’ Maddy asks.

Dominica feels her throat tightening. ‘Only that he would have told everyone … would have said …’ She shakes her head. She knows the others are waiting for her to speak and the moment in the quiet snow requires honesty. ‘He would have told people I was the love of his life.’ She lets out a sob. ‘Sorry, it’s pathetic. I was always so embarrassed when he said things like that, but I should have … I should have …’

‘What?’ Helga asks.

‘I should have said thank you, I guess,’ she says.

‘But that love didn’t die,’ Claire says. ‘With him. It’s here. It’s in you.’

Dominica nods, her tears mixing with the salt water.

‘He sounds like a really good guy,’ Maddy says. ‘I’m so sorry it hurts.’

‘Well, if you’re listening, happy birthday, Chris,’ Helga says, leaning back and blinking.

‘Happy birthday,’ Maddy and Claire repeat, their eyelids fluttering in the snow.

Dominica nods and smiles, but she can’t speak, because her heart is so full.