‘Did you know Erin?’ Tara asked, playing with the cancer stick in her hand but making no further attempt to pretend-smoke.

‘We worked together years ago,’ Olivia said. ‘We were good friends for a while, but you know how it is, life took over. Did you know her?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ April said before Tara could respond with the practised explanation of why they wanted to support the hospice. Now was not the time to be sidetracked by someone else’s story. They needed to hear Olivia’s and they only had the time it would take for her cigarette to burn down, or for one of them to die of hypothermia, whichever came first. ‘We’re simply here to support the hospice, but Erin sounds like she made a big impression on a lot of people. Josh in particular.’

Olivia smiled drunkenly. ‘You can say that again. I can’t claim to know Josh particularly well, but she was lucky to find him.’

‘They sound like they were soul mates,’ said April.

This time Olivia hesitated. She took a long drag of her cigarette. ‘I managed to go in and see her before she died and it was heartbreaking to watch them together. She couldn’t have asked for anyone better by her side.’

The conversation had reached a natural, if somewhat premature conclusion. April’s frozen fingers and toes stung with pain, but panic forced heat to her chest. ‘We’re glad we came,’ she said quickly. ‘It was an old friend of Erin’s who told us about the fundraiser. Nick.’

Other than the smoke swirling in front of Olivia’s face, she remained utterly still. ‘Nick Malford?’

‘Yes, although we don’t know him very well,’ Tara said, her eyes flicking a warning towards April.

‘He would have liked to be here tonight,’ April said, ‘but he couldn’t make it.’

‘I bet he couldn’t,’ Olivia replied coldly.

‘You know him?’

‘He’s my brother.’

April adjusted her expression to one of surprise. ‘From what he’s told us, he cared a lot about Erin.’

Olivia’s laugh was closer to a snarl. ‘You could say that,’ she said as she clamped a finger and thumb over the end of her cigarette, pinching off the glowing embers. ‘I should get back.’

Before she could walk away, April said, ‘He’s dating a friend of ours.’

Olivia swayed. Pressing her hand to her forehead, she said, ‘I refuse to be drawn into another of my brother’s messes. Good luck to them. I hope he treats her better than he treated Erin.’

‘What do you mean?’ Tara asked. She was no longer there simply to humour her friend. ‘What did he do?’