Miracles do happen.

Edward’s voice rang in her ears as clearly as if he were lying in bed next to her. She knew that was what he’d say if he were there now. He’d said it so often, trying to reassure her, to be strong enough for both of them. And later he’d said it again, but by then with such rage and disbelief it was as though a different man had inhabited his body and taken over his voice.

If Edward were there now, he would hold her hands in his and look directly into her eyes, determined to convince her that, in spite of the oncologist’s diagnosis, there was still a chance of recovery. This time, Audrey wondered, might she believe him?

4:09 a.m.

Audrey breathed silently into the darkness, thinking about Jess in the room next door and how there never seemed to be the space or time for the two of them to talk. When she had moved in, she had imagined them chatting late into the night over bottles of red wine and squares of dark chocolate, the drawbridge finally lowering, Jess at last confiding in Audrey what had troubled her all these years. In truth, she felt no closer to Jess now than she had two months ago.

A car door slammed and Audrey felt her body tense.

She rolled over, a sharp pain needling beneath her ribs that caused her to inhale short, staccato breaths. She thought about her conversation with Jess a few weeks ago, recalling the fury that had greeted her suggestion that Jess meet Lily after all these years. And before she knew it, a memory was edging into her thoughts: the memory of how, once before, she had got it all so horribly wrong.

Chapter 18

July 2003

Two little girls squeal as bubbles float through the air, popping on their hands as they reach out to catch them. “More, more!”

Audrey twists the stick in the plastic bottle, pulls it out, and blows gently, watching the bubbles drift off into the garden. Some glide over the fence, others land on waxy magnolia leaves, bee-laden lavender bushes, the multicolored petals of sweet peas, geraniums, begonias, fuchsias. The late afternoon sunshine illuminates the bubbles as they hover in the air, their rims glistening like the decisive moment of an annular eclipse.

“More, Granny, do some more!”

Audrey smiles as the girls jump and giggle, feeling the warmth of their camaraderie. She had known this would happen: that they would be friends, given the chance. For five years she has waited to test her belief and now her only regret is that she has left it so long.

Phoebe grabs Mia’s hand and they race to the far corner of the garden, stopping under the apple tree. Phoebe whispers something into her cousin’s ear before they grin at one another with wide-eyed wonder. Audrey can only speculate as to her granddaughters’ secret. It is long overdue, she thinks, the girls finally meeting. It is time they were allowed secrets of their own.