“No. I’ve seen photographs.” What would she have done if she’d met her? Would she have slapped her? No, Joanna had never hit anyone. Would she have shouted at her? Do you know what you did? There was no point in even wondering because Ashley’s mother was dead, and Joanna was never going to meet her. It felt weird to have never met the person who had changed her life so profoundly.

Ashley licked her lips. “I don’t understand.”

Joanna didn’t understand, either, she never had, but she knew the facts.

“I don’t know what your mother told you, but she was Cliff’s first affair.”

Ashley stared at her. Swallowed. “Joanna—”

“And now a journalist who is slightly sharper than the others has somehow managed to figure it out. She probably found that old photograph, read about the suggestion of an affair, or maybe she noticed the resemblance as I did. I don’t know the details, but however it happened, she knows the truth.”

“The truth?”

Joanna stared at the pool, focused on the glistening discs of sunlight playing across the surface of the water.

“She knows that you weren’t Cliff’s lover,” she said. “You’re his daughter. And the story will be live tomorrow.”

12

Ashley

Story? How had her life turned into someone else’s story?

She felt shaky and also scared, because this whole thing was spiraling out of her control.

Ever since she’d first found out the truth about who her real father was, a part of her had been screaming inside. No, no, no. It was horrible. He was horrible. He’d actually flirted with her. Thinking about it made her feel sick. And now Joanna was telling her that the whole world was about to find out. Her private humiliation was about to be made public.

And Joanna had known who she was the whole time.

Ever since that moment in the hospital she’d been going over and over it in her mind, trying to figure out exactly when to tell Joanna the truth. It had never seemed like the right moment, but now she realized that the right moment would have been when Joanna had sat down next to her.

Hi, I’m Ashley and I’m your ex-husband’s daughter. You should probably leave now.

She was so angry with her mother for not being honest, but hadn’t she just done the same thing? She’d been planning to tell the truth at a time convenient to her, but Joanna had known the truth all along.

She’d known, but she’d brought her here, anyway. She’d taken care of her, even though Ashley was the living, breathing embodiment of Cliff’s transgressions.