The professionals, with their middle-class life experience and privileges, might dole out advice such as “Every parent does the best job they can given their circumstances”, but that didn’t make up for the massive damage some parents inflicted upon their children. Linda had not only let down Jess by failing to provide her with safety and security, but also by randomly giving and taking away her love and affection. Had it left Jess floundering in a moral and ethical morass when it came to the responsibilities inside friendships and intimate relationships? All Karen knew was her own parents had inflicted their warped religion and love on her but thankfully, she’d found Peter and Dot to love and guide her.

And Lisa?

Guilt screwed down so hard and fast, Karen almost cried out. She’d failed her sister. Had she failed Jess too? When Jess was a teen, Karen had tried to help and guide her, but Jess had never lived with them and seen the daily negotiations and choices that go hand in hand with a functioning relationship. Once, when Libby was seventeen, Karen had tried to point out to her daughter some of the problems that can arise from such an exclusive friendship. It had not gone down well.

“How would you know, Mom? It’s not like you even have a best friend!”

And she didn’t have a best friend. Her shuttered childhood had precluded making friends and she’d never really learned how. As an adult, she had plenty of female acquaintances, but not a best friend. Karen wanted to use Alice as an example of someone who had a few different friends, but immediately saw the flaw in that argument—Alice craved from Libby the same friendship Libby had with Jess.

As the years ticked over and the friendship flourished, Karen had thankfully concluded that unlike many women, Libby and Jess knew how to maintain their friendship. So, when Jess had returned to Kurnai Bay, Karen believed she loved Libby to the best of her ability. She just hadn’t realized Jess loved Nick too—none of them had twigged to that. Yet now, it was glaringly obvious to anyone who looked that Jess had loved both Libby and Nick for years.

“And what the hell is wrong with Libby?” Jess said. “One minute I’m family and we’re loving and mothering each other’s children and the next she’s treating Leo like he doesn’t exist. How can she turn her love on and off like that and hurt my gorgeous boy? Hurt her daughters? I know they miss Leo and me.”

Karen agreed with Jess that Libby was putting her own needs ahead of the children—it was the driving force behind her offer to do the transfers. But loyalty stopped her from saying so. She focused on the job at hand. “This afternoon will go quickly. It’s only three hours. Have you got something nice planned?”