Shirley arrived promptly at work. Her boss had said she could take a few days off to grieve for her friends, but the Grubbs needed the money so Shirley had no choice but to keep on working.

Hinton Grange had got gradually hotter with every day that the heatwave continued. It made the smell of the place more pungent and, therefore, the work more gruelling. Incontinent elderly people and hot weather were not a great mix. The place stank of urine and low-cost ready meals. Most of the residents were tired and bad tempered as a result of the heat and Shirley, who normally enjoyed the sunshine, found herself wishing it was midwinter.

As she stripped the beds and bundled the stinking sheets into the washing trolley, she tried her best to think about nicer things, but the death of her friend sat heavily on her mind. She missed Janet. Janet was the best friend she’d had and she wondered if she would ever have such a good friend again. Shirley had never really cared for most of the women in the book club; she got on well enough with Kim, but felt she was very much in Amy’s camp, and she certainly no longer had any desire to be friends with Amy.

Once upon a time she and Amy had got on, but in recent months their relationship had soured. Amy didn’t approve of Shirley’s sudden closeness to Toni because she saw it for what it was. That had left Shirley feeling uneasy and unable to relax in Amy’s company, which had cast a shadow over the whole group. What Shirley couldn’t understand, was why Amy cared if the friendship was hollow; Amy had shown recently that she had little time for Toni, so why did it matter to her? Shirley would never understand Amy’s position: Amy didn’t like Toni and she refused to lie, and pretend that she did, or use her.

Underneath it all, Shirley resented the fact that Amy had the conviction to be honest. Shirley’s grasp of loyalty had always been loose.

By lunchtime a dark patch of sweat had appeared on her uniform, below her bust, and her bra was rubbing. Her hair had taken on a life of its own and resembled a mane.

As she sat in the staffroom eating her lunch, her mobile phone vibrated in her pocket informing her she’d received a message. Struggling to slide the phone out of her tight pocket, she huffed and puffed before finally being able to read it.

Babe, you around today? I need to see you. We need to talk xxx

The message was sent from Kim. Shirley looked at the message, blinking. She was not expecting to hear from Kim, as they didn’t often have much contact. There was also something about the tone of the message that made her feel uneasy.