“Alice, you never go anywhere without lugging that giant bag of yours. You’re half-dressed for the weather and you’re in bare feet. It looks like you’ve run from a date gone very wrong.”

She stared at her feet, surprised not to see her shoes. “It wasn’t a date.”

He moved slightly and her shoulder shifted against his chest, but he didn’t let go of her. “If you don’t want to talk to me about it, then please promise me you’ll talk to someone. I hate the idea that you might find yourself this distraught and alone again.”

Whether it was his obvious worry for her or his calm force field and comforting bulk nestled behind her, the fact she wasn’t facing him or that over the preceding months he’d already learned most of her secrets—or none of those things—somehow it seemed perfectly natural to tell him.

“It’s messy. I don’t really understand it myself.”

“That’s okay. Telling me might help you make more sense of it.”

“Ha!” She blew her nose then sucked in a long breath. “Okay. Here goes. When I last saw you, I was reeling from the news I couldn’t have children, because I’m defective.”

“You are not defective, Alice.”

“We can debate that another time. Anyway, when I showed Libby the results of the blood tests there was some confusion over my blood group so she repeated the tests. Everything came back the same. I’m still in early menopause but my blood group was right after all. It means my parents aren’t my parents.” Her voice cracked. “And Libby’s not my twin.”

“Bloody hell.” He breathed the heartfelt words into her hair. “No wonder you’ve been wandering around in the dark and the cold. You’re in shock.”

“I feel numb but it hurts like hell too.” She turned and looked at him. “I mean how can it be true? I was raised on the story of my birth. I was the undiagnosed twin. Their surprise special baby girl. But it’s all lies!”

“Did you grow up feeling loved and special?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then it’s not all lies.”

“But it’s not the truth either.”

“No.” His arm, which had been slung casually along the length of hers, moved and he gently squeezed her hand. “What did your parents tell you?”

“Nothing. When Libby told us what my blood group meant, my mother collapsed. It was like everything was happening a long way away and I was watching it through a pair of binoculars. Da—Peter was fussing over Karen and Libby was in doctor mode, but I was detached from it all. I just walked out and—Oh!”

She sat up, throwing off the heat pack and the blanket and pulling off the sweater as the fiery flash vanquished all traces of her chill. “I really hate this!”