Chapter 44

He folded his arms over his chest and hunched his shoulders. “There’s this boy,” he said eventually.

Mum paused. “A boy.”

“Yeah,” Tab said, pushing the moment of—of attention, maybe not quite lucidity. “Two boys, actually. One’s funny and sweet, and the other’s gorgeous and sticks up for me, but I can’t have both.”

Mum smiled, wide and beatific, like a flower blooming at speed. “Of course you can,” she murmured. “Don’t limit yourself. Have everything. Have the world. As long as it’s in rhythm. Where’s Edward?”

Tab paused. “Uncle Eddie?” His name was Edmund, not Edward.

“Edward,” Mum insisted. “I’ve told him. Dad’s told him. He’s not to use that silly nickname.”

“Oh-kay,” Tab said slowly. Edward was Granddad, not Uncle Eddie.

Toby, over Tab’s shoulder, sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. “She seems to be developing some confusion with time,” he said quietly.