Come so far. Unwanted sympathy cloaked Alice in a shroud of humiliation and she was wrenched back to when they were children; her watching Libby learn everything quickly and with ease, while she plodded and practiced until she was competent but never accomplished. Her parents had pushed cajoled and cheered her, but Libby had pulled Alice along in her slipstream, both championing and overshadowing her in everything except drawing. Art was where Alice aced her talented twin, but growing up, that had never felt enough.

“You wouldn’t be happy doing these jobs,” Alice said lightly, not wanting to discuss it any further. “But we both know I’m not you.”

Her phone beeped again and a zip of excitement tingled through her. Was it Tim41, responding to her flirty message? It was probably just an ABC News update or the wildfire app—she really must assign the dating app its own sound.

“You can check it, I don’t mind,” Libby said, glancing at the children. “It’s not like I don’t do it to you all the time when I’m on call.”

Alice knew she should say, “It’s okay,” but she gave in, desperate to know. Flipping her phone over, she read the first few words of the message on her screen and laughed.

Libby’s head swung round, her face keen with interest. “I know that laugh. Have you been keeping secrets from me?”

“No.”

“Liar.” With the skill born from years of being nosey, Libby plucked the phone out of Alice’s hand. “‘Challenge accepted. How’s your South American geography? Which river runs through San Paulo, Brazil?’ Oh.” Libby sounded disappointed. “Are you playing online trivia?”

Alice’s heart was pumping just a bit too fast and she forced herself to sound casual. “It’s more fun than Words with Friends.”

Libby’s eyes narrowed at the insult to one of her favorite games and Alice gave herself an internal high-five. Nice save!

Libby looked at the phone again. “Hang on. That’s a heart logo…” She squealed. “Is this a dating app?”

Her twin might be a doctor and a well-respected member of the community but when it came to other people’s relationships, she always acted like a teen, desperate to know all the details. Alice wanted to say no, but perhaps admitting to putting her toe in the dating waters might be the lesser of two evils—especially if it got her twin off her back about a real job.

“Yep. It felt right to try dating again.”

Libby hugged her. “Thank God. Tell me everything.”

Leo suddenly slid underneath the balls and Alice jumped to her feet. She plunged her hands under the moving sea of plastic and pulled him out and up into her arms. He gave a squawk of protest either from surprise or delayed shock and Alice hugged him before whispering into his curls, “Perfect timing, mate.”