“I’m good,” I lie. I think about all the secrets I have from Steph right now. Exalted said it’s my Scorpio moon. That damn moon seems to be the source of a lot of my problems. I wish I had a Leo moon. I wish my chart was all Leo, the best sign. Pierre jumps up on my lap. “Bo just texted me.”

“Aw,” Steph says. “How is my little angel?” Steph has always adored Bo, especially since she doesn’t have any kids of her own. And Bo likes Steph too, perhaps because I’m not super close to my family, so Steph is like his aunt. He calls her Aunt Steph. At least he used to.

“He’s good,” I say. “He got a new job.” That isn’t a lie. Bo told me he got a job waiting tables and that information crushed me. My biggest nightmare was always that Bo would become a waiter like me.

“Good for him.” Steph looks at her phone and starts giggling.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Exalted did ‘Leo Bingo.’”

“Oh my god,” I say. “What’s on there?”

“‘Great hair,’” says Steph.

“Obviously. What else?”

“‘Outdoor voices,’” she says.

I laugh.

“‘Drama.’ ‘Gold jewelry.’ ‘Pride.’ ‘Gossip.’”

“Yep, yep, yep, and yep,” I say.

“‘Attention.’ ‘Bossiness.’ ‘Bragging.’ ‘Loyalty.’”

“That’s us,” I say. “What else?”

“‘Practices sexual reactions in mirror while humping bed.’”

We both laugh.

When it gets dark and chilly, Steph and I go inside. We are both pretty tipsy at this point. I plop on the couch in the TV room, and Steph disappears. She returns with a bottle of tequila, two shot glasses, and a bag of white powder.

“Look what I found,” she says.

“When Beth’s away the mice will play.” I pour myself a shot.

“Are we too old for cocaine?” Steph asks as she pours the contents of the bag on top of a coffee-table book on French bulldogs.

“Hell no,” I say. But I’m not sure if it’s true. We’re almost fifty. Steph and I had a serious coke phase in our early twenties, when Bo was just a boy. Bo seemed to love me when I was high, giggling hysterically at everything I said. Tara didn’t like me doing it, so I stopped for a while. I feel too old to buy it at this point, but I am excited that Steph has some. “It’s not like we do it all the time. It’s a special occasion.”

“What’s the occasion?” Steph asks.

“Hmm.” Lots of things come to mind. The heatwave. Bo meeting his dad, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I still haven’t responded to the text.

“You and Beth are back together,” I say finally.

Steph smiles.

“And she’s out of town.” I wink.

Steph laughs. “Amen.”

We clink shot glasses.