“Perhaps in that moment she was and that’s why she sent it to me. She wanted me to believe it too. Of course, we found out later how desperately miserable she really was. I didn’t know she was pregnant until you were born.” Karen smiled for the first time since she’d started talking. “I don’t believe in God, but I’ve always believed it was meant to be that you and Libby were born on the same day.”

Libby’s hand slipped into Alice’s. “Told you we’re twins.”

“How did you find out about me?” Alice asked, trying to piece everything together.

“After Libby was born, I went home for a shower,” Peter said. “There was a message on the voicemail from a social worker at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Lisa had listed Karen as her next of kin, but she’d vanished three hours after giving birth to a premature baby. I raced back to the hospital.”

“It was awful,” Karen said softly. “One minute I was in my private room, sipping wine and gazing in awe at my baby, and the next the police were standing in the doorway. I thought they’d come to ask me if I knew where Lisa might have gone. One look at their faces told me it wasn’t that.” Her fingers thrashed the lace. “They were very sorry, but they’d found Lisa dead in a squat with a needle in her arm. I couldn’t take it in. My beautiful baby sister was dead from a heroin overdose and her baby was fighting the same addiction.”

“Oh, God, Mom. How awful!” Libby hugged Karen.

Heroin? Suddenly, Karen’s long teaching moments about the evils of drugs by using horrifying pictures that had given Alice nightmares made some sense. It had left her with a strong aversion to taking Tylenol, let alone anything stronger, A bubble of anger permeated her shock. Her birth mother had used drugs when she’d been pregnant with her! That drug habit was the reason Alice was born so underweight. It was the reason for the years of catch-up therapies and tutoring. Why she’d spent her childhood feeling like she’d never be good at anything.

Alice’s fingers released the photo of Lisa and it fluttered to the floor. “How could she do that to me?”

“She was obviously sick,” Libby said kindly. “Drug addiction’s pretty complicated.”

“She loved you, Alice,” Karen said.

Alice didn’t want to know. “How can you say that? She took drugs and abandoned me!”

“She didn’t!” Two red spots burned Karen’s pale cheeks. “She made sure you were safe.”