On the verge of bumping her case back down to the pavement, and going to find a warm café to sit in until her friend returned, Connie heard a shout and saw Tessa hurrying along the street, clutching a bulging mustard-yellow string bag in one hand and balancing a white cardboard cake box in the other. She was dressed in jumper and jeans, a red wool scarf round her neck – no coat – and sparkly silver sandals on her feet. Her right toe was swathed in a bulky bandage.

‘Connie!’ She arrived at the bottom of the steps pink-faced and breathless. ‘Sorry, sorry! I just popped out for some lunch and the queue was horrendous.’ She handed Connie the cake box and pulled out a huge bunch of keys, with a fluffy ball attached, from her back pocket. ‘You must be frozen to death.’

As soon as the front door was shut, Connie let out a quiet sigh of relief. Tessa took the box from her. ‘Come through, have a seat. Leave your case – I’ll show you your room in a minute.’

The kitchen-sitting room was to the left of the front door, the sitting area on the street side, with a large, worn olive-green velvet sofa, a wall-mounted television and books floor to ceiling on either side of a gas-log fire. The kitchen was at the back, looking onto the garden. It was cosy and cluttered and the decor hadn’t been updated for years. Connie instantly felt at home.

Plonking her purchases on the kitchen table, Tessa came back to where Connie was standing and wrapped her in a welcoming hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re here, Con,’ she said. ‘You have no idea. I think sometimes I’m going crazy, all by myself.’ She laughed and gave Connie a rueful smile. ‘You know me. I never was one to relish my own company.’

Connie laughed. ‘Me neither.’ She searched Tessa’s face, noticing the strain around her eyes, the look of vague distraction – as if she were not really present – that she’d seen in other recently bereaved friends.

Tessa was about her own height, with dark hair – now streaked becomingly with grey – in an untidy bob tucked behind her ears, the fringe brushing her large blue-grey eyes. Where Connie had small breasts, Tessa’s were full, her figure straight-backed and athletic – she was a lifelong jogger. But it was her open smile and extrovert charm that drew the eye. You always knew when Tessa was in the room.