And who do I see? I see Jenny, hiking up the road, slipping backward in her sandals up the hill, carrying her swim bag. She hesitates outside Ollie’s door and takes a deep breath, as if summoning courage for something that is not just municipal swimming. “Jenny!” Freddie barrels into her arms. He is already wearing his red swimming goggles. “You going to walk upside down today?” “No chance!” She kneels down and peers directly into his goggles, as if looking through a telescope. “I’ve had my hair tinted. I don’t want to look like Shrek again.” “Smoky bacon?” The highlight of any swimming trip for Freddie has always been putting coins in the vending machine, watching the spirals rotate and that shiny packet of crisps falling magically into the black tray. “If you swim a length.” Ollie steps out of the kitchen into the hall, stifling a yawn. His face lights up when he sees her. “You look criminally well after the party last night.” “Croissants and painkillers.”
