Flora listened as he talked, and hiding her shock became more of a challenge when he told her that Becca had left him when Izzy was only three months old. It was hard not to judge, even though she tried not to.

Maybe Becca hadn’t been loved as a child, but she’d been loved as an adult. You could have a bad childhood and still make a good life. Choice came into it.

And that was true for her, too, of course. She could walk away from this, or she could choose to stay.

She carried on listening as Jack told her about the most recent affair.

It was the last thing she would have imagined of the perfect Becca. Except that she hadn’t been perfect, had she? She’d been human, as flawed and individual as every other person.

“She was going to leave me. Us. All of us.”

Flora put her hand on his. “Oh, Jack—” No wonder he’d struggled to talk about it. Who would want to?

But he was talking about it now, and he told her everything, outlined every painful detail of those last months and days, and she listened without interrupting, knowing that there would be time to ask questions later, time to tell him her thoughts and hear his.

“The kids didn’t know—at least I didn’t think they knew, but it turned out that Izzy had overheard her talking on the phone. I had no idea. She didn’t say anything and it didn’t occur to me. She planned to confront her mother about it, but Becca went out that night and never came back. Izzy was left in a horrible position. She assumed I didn’t know and she didn’t want to be the one to tell me. There seemed no point, as Becca was gone anyway.”

“So she’s been carrying this huge secret.” Flora’s heart ached for her.

“Yes.”

The final pieces of the puzzle slotted into place. “She knew her mother was leaving you, and she thought that would have been the end of your relationship, too.”

“Her thinking wasn’t as clear as that initially. She was in shock, devastated by the loss but angry with her mother. And it ate away at her feelings of security. She started to feel guilty, as if she was somehow responsible for her mother’s actions. She thought that I would no longer want her.”

“She probably felt she didn’t deserve to be with you. She was punishing herself for Becca.” Flora’s cheeks were wet. “Poor Izzy. I wish she’d told you.”

“I’m just relieved she said something to you or goodness knows how long this might have gone on, or how it would have ended.”

“She didn’t tell me any of that. I just picked up that she was angry with Becca.”