‘I hope you enjoy the coffee, Olivia,’ Connor said. ‘Rachel put two sugars in it as she doesn’t think heaven will have bad stuff like sugar.’
Kate smiled at me. ‘We should have brought Olivia some vodka.’
I nodded. ‘That will be next year’s birthday.’
After Connor told Olivia’s gravestone all about his latest online dating match, Kate talked about how she’d adopted a fourth cat called Bob. Then I began to tell Olivia’s stone about Christmas. ‘My family have conspired against me once again on WhatsApp, and I am now spending Christmas, looking after Humphrey, the dog, and Grandpa in Harp Brook.’
‘Olivia, please make the wind blow the trees if you want Rachel to disobey her sister’s rich husband and venture into the west wing,’ Connor announced.
We all gasped and then laughed when the trees hemming the graveyard began to sway as the chilly wind raced around them.
‘It’s a sign,’ said Connor. ‘You must be naughty in Harp Brook.’
‘Unlikely when I will be mostly tending to Grandpa and Humphrey.’
With tears in our eyes, we told Olivia how much we missed her. Connor poured her coffee around her stone as we didn’t want it to look as though we’d left a coffee cup on someone’s gravestone. We linked arms and trooped back to the car.
‘Do you remember that blind date she organised for you?’ Kate asked, unlocking her car. ‘Did you ever email that guy back?’
I shook my head and took out my phone. His email had arrived a few days after Olivia had messaged him. Even though I never replied to him I had kept it. I opened it:
Hi Rachel, I am assuming Olivia has told you about me and her idea of a blind date. If she hasn’t then this is very embarrassing, and you must think I am her weird stalker friend. If this has happened, I will have words the next time I see her.
As you may or not know, I am Ben and Olivia has agreed to be my dating consultant. We’ve been friends since university, and I know the following about her:
1. She can’t hold her drink.
2. She thinks she’s the next Barbara Cartland.
3. She has a heart of gold.
4. She claims her odd-shaped nose was because she once banged it on a cupboard but if you meet her mum, you will know the cupboard story is not true.
5. She loves Harry Styles and her own made-up dance sequences to his songs were questionable.
Hopefully, this will show you that I know Olivia very well and I am not a weird dude. If you want to go on a blind date, please get in touch. I know a great place for brunch and their coffee is out of this world.
Ben.
‘Rachel?’ Kate was nudging me. ‘Are you looking at his email? Why have you kept it?’
I shrugged. ‘I never replied to him. It didn’t feel right. I did think about emailing him when she died but that felt awkward too. It wouldn’t have worked.’
‘Why not?’ Connor asked.
Sam’s face appeared in my head. ‘My heart was still broken after what Sam did to me. It has taken me ages to get over him. Every time I open my flat door, I relive seeing Sam standing there about to break my heart.’
‘Sometimes I wonder whether your flat is doing you any good?’ Kate perused. ‘So many memories for you to deal with every day.’
Connor tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Where are you now on the romance front?’
‘I would like to find someone,’ I said, ‘but my self-confidence isn’t great, and I do spend a lot of my time getting upset about Olivia.’
‘Have you got those leaks sorted?’ Kate asked. ‘All that water and dampness cannot be good for you.’
I shook my head. ‘My landlord is ghosting me.’
‘Where will your grandfather sleep tomorrow night?’ Connor asked.
