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I love you to pieces, you know that right?

I do.

Cordelia saw the time.

Shit gotta go, FaceTiming with the fam in a few.

Tell Gary I said hi, Liz wrote with a winky face.

Cordelia sent back an eye roll.

Be nice, Liz said. It’s not the worst thing that your mom is happy with her boyfriend.

You sound like Niall.

OH MY GOD DO I???

Cordelia grimaced. She shouldn’t have said that. Just then her phone pinged with a text from Niall. A jolt ran through her as she read it.

Glad you’re coming tonight. Think you’ll like the menu xx

Cordelia stared at those two little exes, her heart thumping hard against her ribs. Exes stood for kisses. But maybe it was just an Irish thing. Should she send exes back?

Her phone began to ring and she answered it, smiling as her niece’s face filled the screen.

“Auntie Cordie!” Grace shrieked.

“Hi, Grace!” Cordelia said. “Oh my god, look at you. I love that headband!”

Grace was wearing a band with pink satin kitty ears on it.

“Gary got it for me,” she said, beaming.

First test, Cordelia thought. “Wow. That was super nice of him.”

“He got a Batman mask for Miles. Ow, Miles, stop it!”

Miles pulled the phone away from his sister, and Cordelia laughed to see him with the black mask over his eyes, one of his front teeth missing from his big smile.

“Hi, Auntie Cordie,” he said. “Look, I lost another tooth!” He smiled wider.

“Way cool,” Cordelia said. “Are you guys having fun at the cabin?”

“Yeah!” they both cried in unison.

“There’s a pool,” Miles said.

“We saw a baby deer,” Grace added.

“All right, you two, don’t hog the phone.” The camera swirled around, giving Cordelia a glimpse of a cosy living room with lots of teak paneling and tartan pillows before Nikki’s face appeared.

“Hey, Cord,” she said. She looked tired.

“Hi, Nikki,” Cordelia said. “How’s it going?”

“It’s nice to be out of the city for a bit. How’re things in Ireland?”

Cordelia glanced out the window. “Well, it’s not raining today.”