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‘You must have known who she was and where she was from?’
    ‘All we ever knew about her was that her name was Carol and that she had run away from home when she found out that she was pregnant. She never even told us who your father was. I’m so sorry you had to find out like this, darling! I always hoped you would never need to know. But it doesn’t change how daddy and I think of you, I promise. You’ve been our own since the very first second I set eyes on you, and I couldn’t have loved you any more even if I had given birth to you myself.’
    ‘You’re telling me that my mother was a runaway unmarried mother?’ It was too unbelievable to be true, and Annabelle felt as if the bottom had dropped out of her world.
    Then temper took hold and she shouted accusingly, ‘You’re lying! Tell me you’re lying! Why are you doing this to me – and today of all days too?’
    But one glance at her mother’s pallid face told her that it was true, every single word of it, and she sagged onto the nearest chair.
    Dotty and Lucy glanced at each other feeling totally in the way and wondering if they should leave. This was such a private moment and they felt that Annabelle should have some time to come to terms with what she had just learned.
    ‘I er . . . think I should be going now,’ Lucy mumbled, getting unsteadily to her feet.
    ‘Yes,’ Dotty agreed, hastily joining her. ‘I think I might go and stay at Lucy’s with her and Harry for the rest of the weekend too – if Lucy doesn’t mind, that is?’
    When Lucy shook her head, Dotty said, ‘Right then – I’ll just go and shove a few clothes into a bag and we’ll er . . . see you at work on Monday, shall we, Annabelle? And have a happy . . .’ the words trailed away. How could what was left of Annabelle’s birthday possibly be happy now after the disclosure of such a momentous secret?
    No one tried to stop them. It was as if everyone in the room had been rendered speechless, so Lucy and Dotty made a hasty retreat.
    ‘Phew!’ Dotty said some minutes later as they walked away from the house with Dotty clutching a small bag. ‘That was some party, wasn’t it? Poor Annabelle. She’s always been so full of herself, hasn’t she? I mean, she truly believed that she’d been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, so this is going to hit her like a ton of bricks.’
    ‘Hmm, seems like I’m not the only one who had a secret in her past, doesn’t it?’
    They walked on in silence for a time until Dotty suddenly took Lucy’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Whoever we all are I’m glad we met and became friends,’ she said quietly. ‘And neither you nor Annabelle should feel ashamed of your past. Neither of you had a say in it, none of what happened was your fault.’
    ‘I just hope Annabelle will look at it like that,’ Lucy answered stoically.
    The two girls then moved on, their thoughts firmly fixed on Annabelle, who had possibly just had the worst birthday ever.
    *
     
    ‘Oh, good morning, Miss Smythe,’ Mrs Broadstairs said in astonishment the following Monday morning as she walked through the cosmetics department. Annabelle was behind her counter, but this girl looked nothing like the Annabelle that the woman was accustomed to seeing. Annabelle was usually so glamorous but today she was bordering on downright dowdy. Her beautiful blonde hair was scraped back into a severe ponytail at the nape of her neck and her face was bare of make-up.
    ‘Are you feeling unwell, dear?’ she asked as she stared at the transformation. She had often had cause to tell Annabelle off for being too glamorous, but now she realised that she actually preferred the glamorous to the dowdy.
    ‘I’m fine, thank you, Mrs Broadstairs,’ Annabelle answered meekly and again the woman was shocked. The girl had always been so full of herself and lippy into the bargain, but today she seemed positively subdued.
    ‘Good, good,’ she muttered and quickly moved on. Ah well, she thought to herself, we’re all entitled to our off days. Perhaps it’s the wrong time of the month? No doubt she’ll be back to her usual confident self tomorrow. She then continued with her inspection and moved on to the next department.
     
    ‘How are you feeling?’ Dotty asked when they all met up in the dining room for their break.
    Annabelle shrugged. ‘How would you expect me to be feeling? I dare say you’ve both had a good laugh at my expense now you know what I really