“Mama!” Max wailed. “You didn’t see my squiggly poo.”
“Was it a funny shape?”
“No, it had noodles in it that moved.”
Bad news.She sent an SOS to Adam:Max has worms.
A howl from the garden told her the message had been received.
“You’ll need some mebendazole,” Anne said downstairs. “I’ll get it, my step count today is a disgrace.”
“I’ll get it,” Coralie said. “I have to pick up the cake.”
“I’ll come.” Adam poked his head through the French doors. “You’ll probably need a hand.”
This was a transparent ploy to get out of setting up the trestle table and chairs. But Anne just pulled Max onto her lap and waved them both away. They couldn’t believe their luck. They snuck out while they could.
“Granny,” Max was saying. “Can we play BPM?”
“What’s BPM?” Coralie whispered at the door.
“It’s where they look at the Health bit of her Apple Watch,” Adam said. “Maxi thinks that it’s a game.”
The hollyhocks near the estate bins were waving in the breeze. Above them, the seagulls soared and dipped and screamed. The summer had been a washout, but suddenly it was warm. Adam had taken a month off. When he went back to the studio, it would be to host the show at midday. Drop-offs, dinners, bedtimes—he was back. Coralie had started freelancing. Her latest project had ended right before the holidays. Over the summer she had finished a draft of her novel. Lydia was reading it now, and she was reading Lydia’s. Every night from eight o’clock they exchanged screenshots of their favorite quotes.Genius,the captions said.Genius, genius, genius!
In a week, yes, Coralie would be forty. And yes, she was feeling glad about it.
“Worms!” the woman in the pharmacy exclaimed. The other shoppers cocked their ears. “You’ll need the family pack.”
“Oh,” Coralie said. “I don’t thinkwehave them.”
Adam bowed his head, dejected. “Speak for yourself.”
The woman slid two boxes across the counter. “Liquid for kids, tablets for you. Change your sheets, take the tablet, have a shower, change your clothes. In that order.”
They emerged into the busy Saturday market, red in the face and laughing. “Oh, look,” Coralie said. “The flat’s for rent.”
They stared up at Coralie’s old flat. “Good old flat,” Adam said. “I wish we could spend just a day in there, alone. Just the two of us, and our millions of microscopic threadworms.”
“Romantic,” Coralie said.
“Very romantic,” Adam said. “Ithink.”
They pulled to the side of the market and shared a lingering kiss. “I don’t mind that you have worms,” Coralie said.
“I don’t mind that you’re pretending you don’t.”
When they got back, Zora was over, Daniel had arrived with Lady Diana, and Lydia had come with Nancy. Everyone was in the garden, hanging bunting in the bay tree and stuffing the piñata with sweets.
“I hear you have worms,” Lydia said. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m keepin’ well out of it,” Daniel made his new poodle say in a Cockney voice.
“I personallydon’t,” Coralie said, “have worms, actually.” She looked around. “Where’s Adam?”
He came outside looking flushed. “What’s in Daddy’s pocket?” Flo asked.
“Gather round,” Adam said. “And quickly, before the guests arrive.”
