‘And every night,’ she goes on, ‘just before lights out, he kissed a photo of Mom and begged for her forgiveness.’

An unexpected tear springs to my eye.

‘He would love to see you,’ she says. ‘But he’s not holding out much hope.’

A breath catches in my throat. ‘So he dispatched you to bring me back?’ I say bitterly.

‘What?’ she rasps. ‘Of course not. Me coming here has got nothing to do with him. I needed to do this for me – to see if there was any way of us getting back to how we once were.’

I sigh heavily. ‘That was in another lifetime.’

‘It doesn’t have to be,’ she says, sounding wounded. ‘We could be sisters again – if you’ll just give me the chance.’

It’s as if a dagger is piercing my heart and every word she utters is driving it in a millimetre more.

‘And you thought that showing up here and turning my life upside down would achieve that?’ I cry. ‘Is that honestly how you thought we could build bridges?’

‘N-no,’ she stutters. ‘I never meant to upset you. I’m so sorry if I have, but I’m just as scared as you are.’

About what? I can’t help but ask myself. That this is all going to backfire on you?

‘You have to believe me,’ she goes on. ‘I’m not the person I used to be. I’m not going to hurt you again.’

Something inside me breaks. She’s saying all the right things. Making all the right noises. Do I dare believe that she’s telling the truth and that whatever’s going on has got nothing to do with her?

‘Listen—’ I start.

‘We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,’ she says.

I don’t know what I want any more.

‘It wasn’t my fault,’ is all I can think to say. It’s all I’ve wanted to say for twenty-six years.

‘I know,’ she says softly. ‘And I’m sorry that every time you tried to reach out to me, I let you down.’

‘No, I let you down,’ I say. It had felt like I’d left no stone unturned in my quest to find and save her, but now looking back, I didn’t try nearly hard enough.

‘It was nobody else’s fault but mine,’ she says. ‘I was pretty unreachable.’

‘But why now, Jen?’ I ask, as my suspicions rally again, refusing to be silenced. ‘Why now? After all this time.’

‘You’re my sister,’ she says, her voice breaking. ‘We were torn apart when we needed each other the most. That should never have been allowed to happen, but it did and it’s down to us to right the wrongs that have befallen us.’

‘I’m just not sure I can do this right now,’ I say. ‘There’s a lot going on.’