Did we buy enough gifts for the twins? They’re only babies, I know they won’t remember their first Christmas morning. And there’s very little that they need — what with all the hand-me-downs from Callie and Tara. But still, I don’t want them to miss out.

This is what I should be thinking of.

Mimi loved the lead up to Christmas. She always had. The way the world felt different. Not just festive, that was a given. But magical. She still got a funny little jump in the pit of her stomach when a shopping centre Santa waved at her.

So why was she thinking about that woman right now, instead of about eggnog and candy canes?

It was because of the accident on the freeway.

It was just like when that girl was choking in the restaurant. There was an eerie silence. Then, the sound of someone grunting in pain.

And finally, something else. A woman’s tortured screams. She sounded just like the mother in the restaurant and Mimi was thinking: No. Not this again. No, no, no.

But then she realised. The person who’s screaming is me.

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Tuesday 1 December

Mimi

Mimi lay on her stomach on the rug, her sketchbook and pencils in front of her. A bead of sweat slipped down from her forehead and curved around her cheek. She should hop up and turn on the aircon. Summer had well and truly arrived.

The twins were side by side on their backs, both gazing up at the colourful mobiles hanging from their play gym. She should have been giving them some ‘tummy time’, but they hated being on their stomachs at the moment and she rather preferred happy gurgling twins over anguished screaming ones. Not to mention the fact that Elliot had recently mastered the art of rolling front to back. Now, as soon as Mimi put her on her stomach, she immediately flipped back over anyway. So what was the point? If anything, it would only mean Elliot showing off in front of James. What if that created some sort of rift between the sisters? What if years in the future, James was sitting in a therapist’s office, explaining how her inferiority complex first stemmed from the days when her mother placed her next to her capable rolling twin while she stayed stuck on her stomach and screamed.

Actually, they were probably both going to end up in therapists’ offices, complaining that their parents had wanted boys, not girls, as evidenced by their two very boyish names. Which wouldn’t be fair, really. Mimi was perfectly happy with having girls. It was Pete who’d been hoping for boys. He might have tried to hide it but it was bloody obvious. Whereas Mimi, well, Mimi hadn’t wanted any more children at all.