“There’s nothing wrong with having sex, Jess, if you enjoy it,” Karen said quietly. “But it comes with responsibility. I just want you to be happy, healthy and safe so you can achieve your full potential.”

No one had ever talked to Jess like this before and although her insides were squirming, something made her say, “What if I don’t enjoy it?”

“Sex?”

“Yeah.”

Karen’s hand left the steering wheel and she patted Jess’s knee. “Then ask yourself why you’re having it. If it’s to hurt your mother, you’re only hurting yourself.”

“What would you know?” Jess hated that Karen understood.

Karen sighed. “My mother wasn’t the mother I wanted her to be either and my father was worse.”

Jess’s head snapped round, stunned by this revelation. “Did yours drink too?”

Karen murmured something unintelligible before clearing her throat. “We don’t get to choose our parents, Jess. Believe me, you can waste a lot of energy being angry and acting out, hoping it will shock Linda into cleaning up her act. But all it does is hurt you. I decided to live my life very differently from my parents. I chose to put myself first and protect the people I love. It didn’t mean I wasn’t angry. I was angry for a long time, but I channeled it into getting out and staying away.”

Jess couldn’t imagine Karen angry. “Does Libby know this?”

Karen shook her head, her face suddenly stricken. “Can it be our secret?”

For a moment, Jess considered telling her friend for no other reason than she could. But then the harsh truth broke over her and she realized what set herself and Karen apart from the twins. “Sure. There’s no way Libby or Alice would get it.”

“No, they wouldn’t.” Karen’s mouth tweaked up into a rueful smile. “Thank you for understanding.”

Warmth bloomed in Jess’s chest. At that moment, she would have done anything for Karen and she tried hard to make choices Karen would approve of, but sometimes her anger with Linda flowed fast like a river in flood. She’d continued to take risks—drinking and using ecstasy at parties—but when she chose to have sex she used protection and insisted on a bed.

She still lived by those rules. Mostly. And if a few Kurnai Bay women were going to hold ridiculous grudges for something she’d done years earlier and gloss over their own teenage mistakes, then so be it. But her worries were unfounded, and the women welcomed her warmly. Although she’d never be as close to any of them as she was to Libby—they shared a once-in-a-lifetime friendship—Jess was enjoying her new circle of friends. They were more socially reliable than a busy doctor.