She sat up, throwing off the heat pack and the blanket and pulling off the sweater as the fiery flash vanquished all traces of her chill. “I really hate this!”
“At least you don’t have hypothermia.” Harry picked up a magazine and fanned her.
“Small mercies?”
“Yep.” Harry’s phone rang and he frowned at the screen as if he didn’t recognize the number. “Sorry. I need to take this. It might be to do with the kids.”
“Of course.”
He stood up. “Harry Waxman … Ah, yes … No. Yes, of course. Hang on, I’ll ask her.” He pressed the mute button. “It’s Libby. She sounds exactly like you.”
“Utterly devastated?”
“That too. She wants to talk to you.”
The calm that Harry had instilled in Alice vanished and when she accepted the phone, her hand shook. “Hi, Libs.”
“Oh, thank God. We’ve been worried sick. Are you alright?”
“I don’t think so.”
“But you haven’t hurt yourself?”
Alice glanced down at her feet and saw dried blood on them. “Maybe a few scratches. I didn’t realize I wasn’t wearing shoes.” It suddenly occurred to her Libby didn’t know Harry. “How did you know I was here?”
“I didn’t. We thought you’d go to Dan’s. Nick drove over there and then found Dan at the sports center. They’re both out looking for you. I’ve called everyone you know. It was Dad who suggested Harry.”
The mention of Peter drove a knife into her heart. “How are they?”
“Dad’s beside himself and Mom’s asleep. She was in such a state, I had to sedate her.”
“Libs, I don’t understand any of this.”
“Me neither. Dad’s refusing to talk about it until Mom’s ready. I’m angry with them and my mind won’t stop spinning. ”
“I’m that and more.”
“Oh, Alice, I’m sorry. When I got the results, I thought I was doing the right thing telling everyone together. I didn’t want to upset you with unanswered whys and hows. I honestly thought that if I showed them irrefutable evidence, Mom and Dad would tell us the truth. I never imagined Mom would fall apart. I mean she’s a rock. I’ve never seen her like this.”
“No.” When it came to Karen, Alice was flailing between devastating betrayal and anxiety. How was it possible to be furious with someone and worried about them all at the same time?
“I was panicking that Mom was stroking out and I didn’t realize you’d left,” Libby said. “That’s when I lost it. We’ve all been frantic. I didn’t know if you would—Please come home.”
“I can’t go back to Pelican House.”
“Then come to Burrunan. Please. I need my twin.”
Alice’s hand fisted around the blanket. “But I’m not your twin, am I? I’ve never been your twin.”
“You will always be my twin.”
The tears, which were never far from the surface, spilled over then, choking her words. Harry lifted the phone out of her hand and spoke to Libby. Brutus bounded onto the couch, all long, sharp limbs, and licked her face before doing his best to sit on her lap. She cried into his silky-soft coat.
Harry ended the call and ordered Brutus to his bed. The dog rose but he didn’t jump down. Instead, he settled on the other side of her and lay his head in Alice’s lap.
“Now you’re milking it, Brutus,” Harry said.
The dog stared him out. Harry sighed and sat down. “This is why we have a big couch.”
“I never realized Brutus had a super power.”
“Oh, yeah. He’s great at empathy. Lately, we’ve been far too happy for him, but tonight he’s in his element. It’s very kind of you to have a personal crisis and help him out.”
“I’m good that way.” Alice laughed, wondering how she could swing from black despair to amusement and back again in a heartbeat.
“You’re good in lots of ways.”
The sincerity in his voice circled her but she didn’t know what to do with it. Last time he’d said something like that to her, she’d felt a spark of unreliable attraction. Later, he’d paid her for her help. With everything going on right now, she didn’t trust herself to understand anything so she did the easiest thing—she stroked Brutus’s head.
“Libby wants me to drive you to Burrunan.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to go?”
“I …”
“If you decide you don’t want to go, there’s a spare bed here. If you decide you do, just say the word and I’ll drive you. But there’s no rush, Alice. Take all the time you need. In the meantime, what do you want? Tea? Something stronger? Food? The distraction of crap TV?”
Her arms and legs felt like they weighed more now than they ever had before and it was too much effort for her to even hold her head up. She let it fall onto his chest and closed her eyes. “Can I just sit here a bit and regroup before we leave?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Thank you.”
He gave her arm a gentle and reassuring squeeze. “Any time, Alice. Any time at all.”
Chapter Twenty
Harry let her sleep for an hour before waking her. Despite the obvious wet patch on his shirt, he didn’t mention that she’d dribbled on him. This time, instead of being burned with acute embarrassment, Alice had pointed it out and laughed.
“All in all, I’m a nightmare employee.”
But Harry hadn’t laughed or joined in the joke with a fast rejoinder and she’d experienced a pang of disappointment. Instead he’d offered her a hot grilled cheese toastie before driving her to Burrunan. When they’d arrived, Nick had hugged her hard then vigorously shaken Harry’s hand. Libby hugged Harry and then Alice when Nick released her, but Libby didn’t let go of her hand, clearly worried that, if she did, Alice might vanish again.
“It will be okay,” Libby kept saying after Harry had left.
“Will it? They’ve kept an enormous lie for thirty-four years! I mean, Karen was open and honest about everything and she expected us to be too. God,
