Liv wondered how many people lived in that alternate reality, until she recalled how much she’d spent in Sorrento’s.

“I hate to rush you,” Randall said. “We’re closing in ten minutes... I’ve found the dress to match the swimsuit. I’ll pop it on the hook outside for you.”

Liv tried on the green dress. It looked and felt gorgeous, cascading over her curves. She was too hungover to shop elsewhere and still had the expense cash envelope in her bag.

She hurriedly got dressed, and carried the dress, two swimsuits and bag to the counter.

Randall placed the items in a shiny bag and slid it across to her. “That’s £726 please,” he said. “I’ll pop in a free sun cream sample.”

Liv felt like she’d been shoved off a high diving board and smacked the water in a belly flop. That amount would pay her and Jake’s mortgage and household bills for a month. She pressed a hand to the counter to steady herself and knocked a starfish onto the floor.

“I’ll get that,” Randall said. “Cash or credit card?”

Liv needed a few moments of recovery time. She crouched down and picked up the starfish, trying to ward off her hyperventilation. Her neck strained as she got back to her feet. “Cash, please,” she said.

28

SPA DAY

“What actually happens today?” Johnny said from the back of the car as Jake pulled onto the gravel driveway of Hampton Hall for Katrina’s birthday. The former stately home looked like the setting for a BBC Victorian drama. “Do we bob around in the pool and eat lettuce leaves?”

He was still hamming up his broken arm, even though it had healed well. Sometimes he was eager to get back to normal, screwing up his eyes as he performed his physiotherapy exercises. On other occasions, he swore he couldn’t pick up his underpants off the bathroom floor, or hang his towel on the radiator. He was growing quieter as his university start date approached.

“We’ll just go with the flow,” Jake said. “Your aunt likes this kind of thing.”

“This kind of torture.” Mack laughed.

Liv turned to face her boys. “Look, let’s just try to enjoy ourselves,” she said, ordering herself to do the same thing.

When she got out of the car her dress looked parrot green in the daylight. She felt overdressed compared to Jake, Mack and Johnny, who wore jeans and T-shirts.

She and Jake performed air-kisses and embraces with a multitude of his relatives before heading into a room decorated with gold helium balloons and Happy 50th Birthday banners. A long table was set out with glasses of Buck’s Fizz and orange juice, and the tiniest bacon and egg sandwiches she’d ever seen.