“Of course it’s not. It’s no one’s fault. It is the way it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s not hard sometimes.”

I looked away quickly. I didn’t want to acknowledge what she was saying at all.

“How’s your relationship with your parents?” She picked up a bright, pink succulent and shoved it in the soil.

“I’d say that my relationship with my dad is pretty nonexistent at the moment. He decided to cheat on my mom with a twenty-something-year-old and walked out on us.”

She stood up. “The clichéd male midlife crisis?”

“I’d say. And so would that bright-red sports car he’s now driving.”

I didn’t want to add that I was particularly hurt and angry with him at the moment. I’d asked if I could stay in Joburg with him, only for a few months, just until I’d finished school. Sorry, honey. It’s just bad timing, because Maddy and I are in the middle of moving into a new place.

“It happens more often than you think,” Vicki said, pulling me from my painful thoughts. “Half my clients who come for couple’s therapy have gone through it. But it can be worked through.”

“He didn’t want to go to therapy. He’s in love,” I said bitterly, hating that I sounded exactly like my mother. But honestly, I was bitter. More than bitter. It made me feel sick to my stomach to think of my dad as a guy who had sex in a hot tub. He was my dad. He wasn’t meant to be having sex and falling in love, he was too old. It was gross, not to mention truly and utterly selfish.

“How’s your mom?” she asked.

“She should be in therapy if you ask me.” I paused and looked at her for a while. “Ever heard of Barbara Palmer of Palm Luxury Realty?”

“Noooo! Of the YouTube videos? Seriously?”

“That would be she.” I picked up one of the succulents and placed it in the center of the area I’d just cleared, perhaps with a little more hostility than I should have.

“So in the last few years, your brother was diagnosed with autism, your parents went through what I’m guessing was a very acrimonious divorce, you’ve had your childhood perceptions of your parents shattered—your dad as the protector of the family and your mom as a nurturer and carer—and you’ve moved schools and cities. That’s a lot for anyone. I’m sure you’ve been deeply affected by all of it.”