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‘I’m sorry. She said something about Lucy and secrets, soI thought you’d told her. And sure she might have a good insight into how to handle it all.’

‘Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?’

Sarah sat down and looked at Jenny. ‘What do you think Lucy would do if Tom turned up and wanted to get involved with the kids?’

Jenny laughed. ‘Do you really need to ask me that? You know she’d freak, probably have a nervous breakdown and then maybe stab him.’

Sarah didn’t laugh. She looked worried. ‘Look, I grew up with no dad and it hurt like hell. I’ve never said this to Lucy obviously, butit still hurts me that my dad didn’t want to know me. I just wondered if maybe Tom didn’t know about the twins. What if Gabriel lied and told him Lucy had the abortion?’

Jenny tied her hair up in a knot on top of her head. ‘Even if Gabriel did lie to him, which is psychotic behaviour, Tom should never have run away and left Lucy in the first place. Technically, he abandoned her not actually knowingif she’d had the abortion or not. He left without checking, so he is a rat.’

‘True, but if Tom was lied to by Gabriel, he’s spent all of this time not knowing he was a dad, and maybe he would be a great one.’

Jenny grabbed Sarah’s arm. ‘What exactly is going on here?’

Sarah took a deep breath. ‘A few weeks ago, Tom contacted me out of the blue.’ She filled Jenny in on the whole story.

Foronce in her life, Jenny was utterly speechless. Tom never knew? Gabriel lied to him? He wanted to know his kids? He was heartbroken, divorced, childless … ‘But he can’t just waltz back in now. He just can’t! It’d kill Lucy.’

‘I know that. But he does have a right to meet his kids, Jenny. They’ll be eighteen soon and they can make their owndecisions. I’ve told him to stay away for the momentwhile I try to figure out a way to tell Lucy, but I’m finding it impossible.’

‘Don’t do it,’ Jenny said. ‘I’m sorry, but he doesn’t get to run away like a coward and then come storming back into their lives.’

‘That’s how I felt at first too, but if you look at it from his point of view, he didn’t know and he’s heartbroken that he’s missed out on their lives.’

Jenny thought about her sister.It had been a long uphill road for her. The twins were almost adults now. How could they let Tom crash in and turn their lives upside-down? No way. Parenthood was Lucy’s life’s work. Her self-worth was completely wrapped up in those twins. Tom would threaten everything she’d worked so hard to build if he turned up wanting to muscle in and be a dad to them.

‘You have to keep him away, Sarah,’Jenny said urgently. ‘He can’t come back here now. Maybe when they’ve finished school, but not now.’

‘I’ll do my best, I promise, but I may need your help. He’s absolutely desperate to see them.’

‘If I have to go to America and tie him up, I will. He is not coming back now. I don’t care how sad he is. He made his bed and he can bloody well lie in it for a bit longer.’