Back then, life had been different. She had missed her father, but she'd known that he was in heaven looking over them; she'd known that the world was good, and people loved each other. Her aunt would send postcards from all over the world, and sometimes she would come to visit—for Christmas or summer vacation, or to surprise Jessica's mother for her birthday. After Ted came along, he seemed to drive Aunt Sam away. And once he killed Tally, Jessica had stopped believing that the world was a good place after all.

“Who's that standing so quietly over there?” Aunt Sam asked, putting on her eye shadow.

“It's me,” Jessica said, coming forward.

“Where's Flora? I've seen her around so much in the last two days, it seems as if I have another niece!”

“My sister Flora,” she said.

“Oh, it's great having a sister,” Sam said. “I don't know what I'd do without your mother.”

“Even though you didn't come to visit us for a long time?”

Aunt Sam lowered her hands, turned to face Jessica. She was dressed for the ceili in black jeans and a black ballet top, with bright blue Incan beads around her throat and a green ribbon in her curly red hair.

“Even so.”

“I thought you were mad,” Jessica said. “It was so different than before, when you used to visit all the time.”

Aunt Sam sat down on the loveseat, pulled Jessica to sit beside her. “You and your mother are the most important people in my life,” she said. “Sometimes sisters have disagreements. Or one sees the other doing something she thinks might be bad for her . . . if she speaks up, there might be hurt feelings. And if she stays quiet, well—she worries that something bad will happen.”

“Like Mom and Ted?”

Aunt Sam hesitated, and Jessica's stomach hurt. She didn't like it when adults didn't tell the whole truth, when they held back hard thoughts because they thought kids couldn't take them. But Aunt Sam made up her mind and nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “But your mother was very brave to get away, come all the way up here to start a new life. I'm so proud of her. I like seeing her fight back.”

“Thank you,” Jessica's mother said, coming into the room.

“I heard what Patrick said,” Aunt Sam said. “I don't like to see people like Ted get away with hurting others.”

“I know,” her mother said in a funny, thoughtful voice.

“Didn't Patrick say your friend has a court battle coming up?” Aunt Sam asked.

“He did say that.”